Explore fascinating moments from history that shaped our world
Prayut Chan-o-cha (pictured), the commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army, launched a coup d'état against the caretaker government following six months of political crisis.
Upon landing in Mangalore, Air India Express Flight 812 overshot the runway and fell down a hillside, killing 158 of the 166 people on board.
Police announced that the skeletal remains of Federal Bureau of Prisons intern Chandra Levy, who had been missing for a year, had been found in Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C.
In Public Prosecutor v Taw Cheng Kong, the Court of Appeal of Singapore overruled a High Court decision in the only time a statute in Singapore had been ruled unconstitutional.
During Hindu–Muslim rioting in Meerut, India, 19 members of the Provincial Armed Constabulary allegedly massacred 42 Muslims and dumped their bodies in water canals.

Location testing for Pac-Man, a Japanese arcade game that became an icon of 1980s popular culture, began in Shibuya, Tokyo.
The Dominion of Ceylon changed its name to Sri Lanka, adopted a new constitution, and officially became a republic within the Commonwealth.
The most powerful earthquake ever recorded, registering approximately 9.5 Mw, struck near Valdivia, Chile, generating tsunamis that reached Hawaii and Japan.

Ethnic riots mostly targeting the minority Sri Lankan Tamils broke out in Ceylon, resulting in at least 158 deaths over the next few days.
Germany and Italy signed the Pact of Steel, a military and political alliance.
California's Lassen Peak violently erupted, the only volcanic eruption in the contiguous U.S. in the 20th century until Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980.
Sultan Abdul Hamid II established the Ullah millet, a separate millet for the Aromanians within the Ottoman Empire.
The first Blackwall Tunnel under the River Thames was opened to improve commerce and trade in the East End of London.
Giuseppe Verdi's Requiem was first performed in the San Marco church in Milan to commemorate the first anniversary of Alessandro Manzoni's death.
Senator Charles Sumner (pictured) was assaulted by Representative Preston Brooks in the United States Senate chamber in retaliation for a speech in which Sumner fiercely criticized slaveholders.
Abraham Lincoln was issued a patent for an invention to lift boats over obstacles in a river, making him the only U.S. president ever to hold a patent.
In Shiraz, Iran, the Báb declared himself to be a messenger of God to Mullá Husayn, leading to the foundation of Bábism, considered to be a precursor to the Baháʼí Faith.
A riot broke out in Littleport, England, over high unemployment and rising grain costs, spreading to Ely the next day before being quelled by troops.
A magnitude-7.1 earthquake struck Constantinople and was followed by a tsunami that caused significant damage.
The Trevi Fountain (pictured) in Rome was officially inaugurated by Pope Clement XIII.
Albrecht von Wallenstein and King Christian IV of Denmark signed the Treaty of Lübeck to end Danish intervention in the Thirty Years' War.
Arab–Byzantine wars: The Byzantine navy began a raid on the Nile Delta port city of Damietta, whose garrison was absent at the time.
Hypothermia kills 21 runners in the 100 km (60-mile) Gansu ultramarathon disaster in China.
Pakistan International Airlines Flight 8303 crashes in Model Colony near Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 98 people.
Twenty-two people are killed at an Ariana Grande concert in the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing.
United States President Donald Trump visits the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and becomes the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Western Wall.
The Republic of Ireland becomes the first nation in the world to utilise a public referendum to legalise gay marriage.
General Prayut Chan-o-cha becomes interim leader of Thailand in a military coup d'état, following six months of political turmoil.
An explosion occurs in Ürümqi, capital of China's far-western Xinjiang region, resulting in at least 43 deaths and 91 injuries.
Fusilier Lee Rigby is murdered by 2 Islamic extremists in Woolwich, Southeast London
Tokyo Skytree opens to the public. It is the tallest tower in the world (634 m), and the second tallest man-made structure on Earth after Burj Khalifa (829.8 m).
SpaceX COTS Demo Flight 2 launches a Dragon capsule on a Falcon 9 rocket in the first commercial flight to the International Space Station.
An EF5 tornado strikes Joplin, Missouri, killing 158 people and wreaking $2.8 billion in damages, the costliest and seventh-deadliest single tornado in U.S. history.
Air India Express Flight 812, a Boeing 737 crashes over a cliff upon landing at Mangalore, India, killing 158 of 166 people on board, becoming the deadliest crash involving a Boeing 737 until the crash of Lion Air Flight 610.
Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich 2–0 in the UEFA Champions League final in Madrid, Spain to become the first, and so far only, Italian team to win the historic treble (Serie A, Coppa Italia, Champions League).
Civil rights movement: A jury in Birmingham, Alabama, convicts former Ku Klux Klan member Bobby Frank Cherry of the 1963 murder of four girls in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.
In Sri Lanka, over 150 Tamil rebels are killed over two days of fighting for control in Jaffna.
A U.S. federal judge rules that U.S. Secret Service agents can be compelled to testify before a grand jury concerning the Lewinsky scandal involving President Bill Clinton.
The Burmese military regime jails 71 supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi in a bid to block a pro-democracy meeting.
A worldwide trade embargo against Haiti goes into effect to punish its military rulers for not reinstating the country's ousted elected leader, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia join the United Nations.
North and South Yemen are unified to create the Republic of Yemen.
Hashimpura massacre occurs in Meerut, India.
First ever Rugby World Cup kicks off with New Zealand playing Italy at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand.
Ceylon adopts a new constitution, becoming a republic and changing its name to Sri Lanka.
Over 400 women in Derry, Northern Ireland attack the offices of Sinn Féin following the shooting by the Irish Republican Army of a young British soldier on leave.
Apollo 10's Lunar Module flies within 8.4 nautical miles (16 km) of the Moon's surface.
The nuclear-powered submarine USS Scorpion sinks with 99 men aboard, 400 nautical miles (740 km) southwest of the Azores.
Egypt closes the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping.
L'Innovation department store in Brussels, Belgium, burns down, resulting in 323 dead or missing and 150 injured, the most devastating fire in Belgian history.
U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson launches his Great Society program.

Greek left-wing politician Grigoris Lambrakis is clubbed over the head, causing his death five days later.
Continental Airlines Flight 11 crashes in Unionville, Missouri after bombs explode on board, killing 45.
The Great Chilean earthquake, measuring 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale, hits southern Chile, becoming the most powerful earthquake ever recorded.

The 1958 riots in Ceylon become a watershed in the race relations of various ethnic communities of Sri Lanka. The total deaths are estimated at 300, mostly Tamils.
South Africa's government approves of racial separation in universities.
Finnish President J. K. Paasikivi releases Yrjö Leino from his duties as interior minister after the Finnish parliament adopted a motion of censure of Leino with connection to his illegal handing over of nineteen people to the Soviet Union in 1945.
Cold War: The Truman Doctrine goes into effect, aiding Turkey and Greece.
Joseph Stalin disbands the Comintern.
Mexico enters the Second World War on the side of the Allies.
During the Anglo-Iraqi War, British troops take Fallujah.
World War II: Germany and Italy sign the Pact of Steel.
Near Xining, China, an 8.3 magnitude earthquake causes 200,000 deaths in one of the world's most destructive earthquakes.
Chiang Kai-shek replaces the communists in Kuomintang China.[vague]
Lassen Peak erupts with a powerful force, the only volcano besides Mount St. Helens to erupt in the contiguous U.S. during the 20th century.
Three trains collide in the Quintinshill rail disaster near Gretna Green, Scotland, killing 227 people and injuring 246.
The Wright brothers are granted U.S. patent number 821,393 for their "Flying-Machine".
The Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Abdul Hamid II establishes the Ullah millet for the Aromanians of the empire. For this reason, the Aromanian National Day is sometimes celebrated on this day, although most do so on May 23 instead, which is when this event was publicly announced.
Verdi's Requiem was first performed at San Marco in Milan on the first anniversary of Manzoni's death.
Reconstruction Era: President Ulysses S. Grant signs the Amnesty Act into law, restoring full civil and political rights to all but about 500 Confederate sympathizers.

Oliver Winchester founded the Winchester Repeating Arms.
American Civil War: After ten weeks, the Union Army's Red River Campaign ends in failure.
American Civil War: Union forces begin the Siege of Port Hudson which lasts 48 days, the longest siege in U.S. military history.
Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina severely beats Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts with a cane in the hall of the United States Senate for a speech Sumner had made regarding Southerners and slavery.
Future U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is issued a patent for an invention to lift boats, making him the only U.S. president to ever hold a patent.
Slavery is abolished in Martinique.
The Associated Press is formed in New York City as a non-profit news cooperative.
The penal transportation of British convicts to the New South Wales colony is abolished.
HMS Beagle departs on its first voyage.
SS Savannah leaves port at Savannah, Georgia, United States, on a voyage to become the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
A mob in Littleport, Cambridgeshire, England, riots over high unemployment and rising grain costs, and the riots spread to Ely the next day.
On the second and last day of the Battle of Aspern-Essling (near Vienna, Austria), Napoleon I is defeated in a major battle for the first time in his career, and repelled by an enemy army for the first time in a decade.
A grand jury indicts former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr on a charge of treason.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition officially begins as the Corps of Discovery departs from St. Charles, Missouri.
A large earthquake causes heavy damage and loss of life in Istanbul and the Marmara region.
Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Hamburg.
Trevi Fountain is officially completed and inaugurated in Rome.
Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II and Danish King Christian IV sign the Treaty of Lübeck ending Danish intervention in the Thirty Years' War.
The massacre at the festival of Tóxcatl takes place during the Fall of Tenochtitlan, resulting in turning the Aztecs against the Spanish.
Start of the Wars of the Roses: At the First Battle of St Albans, Richard, Duke of York, defeats and captures King Henry VI of England.

Pope Gregory XI issues five papal bulls to denounce the doctrines of English theologian John Wycliffe.
Brussels massacre: An estimated 13 Jews are murdered and the rest of the Jewish community is banished from Brussels, Belgium, for allegedly desecrating consecrated Host.
Serbian King Stefan Uroš I and the Republic of Venice sign a peace treaty.
Henry Raspe is elected anti-king of the Kingdom of Germany in opposition to Conrad IV.

King John of England and King Philip II of France sign the Treaty of Le Goulet.
The Hashshashin (Assassins) attempt to assassinate Saladin near Aleppo.
A Byzantine fleet sacks and destroys undefended Damietta in Egypt.
Fourteenth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
Dong Zhuo is assassinated by his adopted son Lü Bu.
Peyton Elizabeth Lee, American actress
Anthony Richardson, American football player
Enzo Barrenechea, Argentine footballer
Emma Chamberlain, American internet personality
Joshua Zirkzee, Dutch footballer
Julián Carranza, Argentine footballer
Samuel Chukwueze, Nigerian footballer
Femke Huijzer, Dutch model
Hōshōryū Tomokatsu, Mongolian sumo wrestler
Samile Bermannelli, Brazilian fashion model
Lauri Markkanen, Finnish basketball player
Florian Luger, Austrian male model
Athena Manoukian, Greek-Armenian singer and songwriter
Anna Baryshnikov, American actress
Joel Obi, Nigerian footballer
Suho, South Korean singer and actor
Wyatt Roy, Australian politician
Corey Dickerson, American baseball player
Heida Reed, Icelandic-British actress
Novak Djokovic, Serbian tennis player
Arturo Vidal, Chilean footballer
Julian Edelman, American football player
Matt Jarvis, English footballer
Tatiana Volosozhar, Russian figure skater
Tranquillo Barnetta, Swiss footballer
Mauro Boselli, Argentine footballer me
Tao Okamoto, Japanese model and actress
Clara Amfo, English television and radio presenter
Karoline Herfurth, German actress
Didier Ya Konan, Ivorian footballer
Dustin Moskovitz, American entrepreneur, co-founder of Facebook
Natasha Kai, American soccer player and Olympic medalist
Erin McNaught, Australian model and actress
Apolo Ohno, American speed skater
Hong Yong-jo, North Korean footballer
Bryan Danielson, American wrestler
Bassel Khartabil, Syrian computer programmer and engineer (died 2015)
Jürgen Melzer, Austrian tennis player
Mark O'Meley, Australian rugby league player
Tarin Bradford, Australian rugby league player
Sharice Davids, American politician
Lucy Gordon, British actress and model (died 2009)
Nazanin Boniadi, Iranian-American actress
Tihomir Dovramadjiev, Bulgarian Chess boxer
Maggie Q, American actress
Ginnifer Goodwin, American actress
Katie Price, English television personality and glamour model
Pat Smullen, Irish jockey (died 2020)
Christian Vande Velde, American cyclist
Salva Ballesta, Spanish footballer and manager
Sean Gunn, American actor
Garba Lawal, Nigerian footballer

Henrietta Ónodi, Hungarian Olympic gymnast
Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Ukrainian politician
Canek Sánchez Guevara, Cuban author and dissident (died 2015)
Anne Beathe Tvinnereim, Norwegian politician
Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Danish actor
Max Brooks, American author and screenwriter
Naomi Campbell, English model

Brody Stevens, American comedian and actor (died 2019)
Michael Kelly, American actor
Cathy McMorris Rodgers, American lawyer and politician
Graham Linehan, Irish comedy writer and activist
Johnny Gill, American singer-songwriter and producer
Wang Xiaoshuai, Chinese director and screenwriter
Jay Carney, American journalist, 29th White House Press Secretary
Claude Closky, French contemporary artist
Andrew Magee, French-American golfer

Brian Pillman, American football player and wrestler (died 1997)
Hideaki Anno, Japanese animator, director, and screenwriter
David Blatt, Israeli-American basketball player and coach
Olin Browne, American golfer
Morrissey, English singer-songwriter and performer
Kwak Jae-yong, South Korean director and screenwriter
Mehbooba Mufti, Indian politician
Lisa Murkowski, American lawyer and politician
Lucie Brock-Broido, American poet (died 2018)
Iva Davies, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
Barbara May Cameron, Native American human rights activist (died 2002)
Shuji Nakamura, Japanese-American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate
François Bon, French writer
Cha Bum-kun, South Korean footballer and manager

Paul Mariner, English footballer, coach, and manager (died 2021)

Kenneth Bianchi, American serial killer and rapist
Bernie Taupin, English singer-songwriter and poet
Cheryl Campbell, English actress
Valentin Inzko, Austrian diplomat
Tomás Sánchez, Cuban painter and engraver
Nedumudi Venu, Indian actor and screenwriter (died 2021)
George Best, Northern Irish footballer and manager (died 2005)
Michael Green, English physicist and academic
Howard Kendall, English footballer and manager (died 2015)
Andrei Marga, Romanian philosopher, political scientist, politician
Lyudmila Zhuravleva, Russian-Ukrainian astronomer
Bob Katter, Australian politician
John Flanagan, Australian fantasy author
Betty Williams, Northern Irish peace activist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2020)

Tommy John, American baseball player

Roger Brown, American basketball player (died 1997)
Ted Kaczynski, American academic and mathematician turned anarchist and serial murderer (Unabomber) (died 2023)

Barbara Parkins, Canadian actress

Richard Oakes, Native American civil rights activist (died 1972)
Menzies Campbell, Scottish sprinter and politician
Kieth Merrill, American filmmaker
E. A. S. Prasanna, Indian cricketer

Michael Sarrazin, Canadian actor (died 2011)
Bernard Shaw, American journalist (died 2022)
Mick Tingelhoff, American football player (died 2021)
Paul Winfield, American actor (died 2004)
Richard Benjamin, American actor and director
Susan Strasberg, American actress (died 1999)
Facundo Cabral, Argentinian singer-songwriter (died 2011)
Tomáš Janovic, Slovak writer (died 2023)
George H. Heilmeier, American engineer (died 2014)
Billy Rayner, Australian rugby league player (died 2006)

Peter Nero, American pianist and conductor (died 2023)
Fred Anderson, Australian-South African rugby league player (died 2012)
Chen Jingrun, Chinese mathematician and academic (died 1996)
Robert Spitzer, American psychiatrist and academic (died 2015)

Kenny Ball, English jazz trumpet player, vocalist, and bandleader (died 2013)
Marisol Escobar, French-American sculptor (died 2016)
Harvey Milk, American lieutenant and politician (died 1978)

Ahmed Fouad Negm, Egyptian poet (died 2013)
Serge Doubrovsky, French theorist and author (died 2017)
John Mackenzie, Scottish director and producer (died 2011)
T. Boone Pickens, American businessman (died 2019)
Hiroshi Sano, Japanese novelist (died 2013)
Michael Constantine, American actor (died 2021)
Peter Matthiessen, American novelist, short story writer, editor, co-founded The Paris Review (died 2014)
George Andrew Olah, Hungarian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2017)
Jean Tinguely, Swiss painter and sculptor (died 1991)
Charles Aznavour, French-Armenian singer-songwriter and actor (died 2018)
Quinn Martin, American screenwriter and producer (died 1987)
George S. Hammond, American scientist (died 2005)

Thomas Gold, Austrian-American astrophysicist and academic (died 2004)
Paul Vanden Boeynants, Belgian businessman and politician, 55th Prime Minister of Belgium (died 2001)
George Aratani, American businessman and philanthropist (died 2013)
Jean-Louis Curtis, French author (died 1995)
Max Kohnstamm, Dutch historian and diplomat (died 2010)
Sun Ra, American pianist, composer, bandleader, poet (died 1993)
Rafael Gil, Spanish director and screenwriter (died 1986)
Dominique Rolin, Belgian author (died 2012)

Herbert C. Brown, English-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2004)
Bob Dyer, American-Australian radio and television host (died 1984)
Margaret Mee, English illustrator and educator (died 1988)

Horton Smith, American golfer and captain (died 1963)

Hergé, Belgian author and illustrator (died 1983)
Laurence Olivier, English actor, director, and producer (died 1989)
Bodo von Borries, German physicist and academic, co-invented the electron microscope (died 1956)
Tom Driberg, British politician (died 1976)
Uno Lamm, Swedish electrical engineer and inventor (died 1989)
Jack Lambert, English footballer and manager (died 1940)
Al Simmons, American baseball player and coach (died 1956)
Maurice J. Tobin, American politician, 6th United States Secretary of Labor (died 1953)
Juan Arvizu, Mexican lyric opera tenor and bolero vocalist (died 1985)
Robert Neumann, German and English-speaking author (died 1975)
Friedrich Pollock, German sociologist and philosopher (died 1970)
Johannes R. Becher, German politician, novelist, and poet (died 1958)
A. W. Sandberg, Danish film director and screenwriter (died 1938)
Giacomo Matteotti, Italian lawyer and politician (died 1924)
Soemu Toyoda, Japanese admiral (died 1957)
Wilhelmina Hay Abbott, Scottish suffragist and feminist (died 1957)
Francis de Miomandre, French author and translator (died 1959)
Warwick Armstrong, Australian cricketer and journalist (died 1947)
Jean Cras, French admiral and composer (died 1932)
Symon Petliura, Ukrainian statesman and independence leader (died 1926)
Julius Klinger, Austrian painter and illustrator (died 1942)

Daniel François Malan, South African clergyman and politician, 5th Prime Minister of South Africa (died 1959)
Augusto Pestana, Brazilian engineer and politician (died 1934)
Willy Stöwer, German author and illustrator (died 1931)
Arthur Conan Doyle, British writer (died 1930)
Tsubouchi Shōyō, Japanese author, playwright, and educator (died 1935)
Belmiro de Almeida, Brazilian painter, illustrator, sculptor (died 1935)
Aston Webb, English architect and academic (died 1930)
Fritz von Uhde, German painter and educator (died 1911)
Rita Cetina Gutiérrez, Mexican poet, educator, and activist (died 1908)
Mary Cassatt, American painter and educator (died 1926)
Catulle Mendès, French poet, author, and playwright (died 1909)
Félix Bracquemond, French painter and etcher (died 1914)
Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla, Spanish politician, Prime Minister of Spain (died 1895)
Henry Vandyke Carter, English anatomist and surgeon (died 1897)
Albrecht von Graefe, German ophthalmologist and academic (died 1870)
Worthington Whittredge, American painter (died 1910)

Amalia Lindegren, Swedish painter (died 1891)
Richard Wagner, German composer (died 1883)
Giulia Grisi, Italian soprano (died 1869)
Henry Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle, English politician (died 1864)
Gérard de Nerval, French poet and translator (died 1855)

William Sturgeon, English physicist and inventor, invented the electromagnet and electric motor (died 1850)
Hirose Tansō, Japanese neo-Confucian scholar, teacher, writer (died 1856)
Johann Nepomuk Schödlberger, Austrian painter (died 1853)
Ram Mohan Roy, Indian philosopher and reformer (died 1833)
Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom (died 1840)
Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst, English politician (died 1834)
Louis Legendre, French butcher and politician (died 1797)
Hubert Robert, French painter (died 1808)
François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis, French cardinal and diplomat (died 1794)

Daniel Gran, Austrian painter (died 1757)
Magnus Stenbock, Swedish field marshal and Royal Councillor (died 1717)
Richard Brakenburgh, Dutch Golden Age painter (died 1702)
Gabriël Grupello, Flemish Baroque sculptor (died 1730)
Louis de Buade de Frontenac, French soldier and governor (died 1698)
Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford (died 1621)
Annamacharya, Hindu saint (died 1503)
Su Xun, Chinese writer (died 1066)
Itzam K'an Ahk I, Mayan king (died 686)
David Wilkie, Scottish swimmer (born 1954)
Dervla Murphy, Irish touring cyclist and author (born 1931)
Denise Cronenberg, Canadian costume designer (born 1938)
Judith Kerr, German-born British writer and illustrator (born 1923)
Nicky Hayden, American motorcycle racer (born 1981)
Velimir "Bata" Živojinović, Serbian actor and politician (born 1933)
Marques Haynes, American basketball player and coach (born 1926)

Vladimir Katriuk, Ukrainian-Canadian SS officer (born 1921)
Sigurd Ottovich Schmidt, Russian historian and ethnographer (born 1922)
Muzafar Bhutto, Pakistani politician (born 1970)

Wesley A. Brown, American lieutenant and engineer (born 1927)

Joseph Brooks, American director, producer, screenwriter, and composer (born 1938)
Martin Gardner, American mathematician, cryptographer, and author (born 1914)
Robert Asprin, American soldier and author (born 1946)
Pemba Doma Sherpa, Nepalese mountaineer (born 1970)
Lee Jong-wook, South Korean physician and diplomat (born 1945)

Charilaos Florakis, Greek politician (born 1914)

Thurl Ravenscroft, American voice actor and singer (born 1914)
Richard Biggs, American actor (born 1960)
Mikhail Voronin, Russian gymnast (born 1945)
Davie Fulton, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (born 1916)
John Derek, American actor, director, and photographer (born 1926)
José Enrique Moyal, Israeli physicist and engineer (born 1910)
Alziro Bergonzo, Italian architect and painter (born 1906)

Alfred Hershey, American biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1908)
Mieczysław Horszowski, Polish-American pianist and composer (born 1892)

Zellig Harris, American linguist and academic (born 1909)

Lino Brocka, Filipino director and screenwriter (born 1939)
Shripad Amrit Dange, Indian lawyer and politician (born 1899)

Stan Mortensen, English footballer and manager (born 1921)

Rocky Graziano, American boxer (born 1922)

Steven De Groote, South African pianist and educator (born 1953)

Giorgio Almirante, Italian journalist and politician (born 1914)
Wolfgang Reitherman, German-American animator, director, and producer (born 1909)
Karl-August Fagerholm, Finnish politician, valtioneuvos, the Speaker of the Parliament and the Prime Minister of Finland (born 1901)
Albert Claude, Belgian biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1899)
Erna Scheffler, German lawyer and justice of the Federal Constitutional Court (born 1893)
Cevdet Sunay, Turkish general and politician, 5th President of Turkey (born 1899)

Lefty Grove, American baseball player (born 1900)

Irmgard Flügge-Lotz, German-American mathematician and aerospace engineer (born 1903)

Cecil Day-Lewis, Anglo-Irish poet and author (born 1904)
Margaret Rutherford, English actress (born 1892)
Langston Hughes, American poet, social activist, novelist, and playwright (born 1902)
Charlotte Serber, American Librarian of the Manhattan Project's Los Alamos site (born 1911)
Tom Goddard, English cricketer (born 1900)
Christopher Stone, English radio host (born 1882)
Chief Bender, American baseball player, coach, and manager (born 1884)
Claude McKay, Jamaican writer and poet (born 1889)
Ernst Toller, German playwright and author (born 1893)
Jiří Mahen, Czech author and playwright (born 1882)
William Glackens, American painter and illustrator (born 1870)
Tsengeltiin Jigjidjav, Mongolian politician, 10th Prime Minister of Mongolia (born 1894)

Augusta, Lady Gregory, Anglo-Irish activist, landlord, and playwright, co-founded the Abbey Theatre (born 1852)
Jules Renard, French author and playwright (born 1864)
Gaetano Bresci, Italian-American anarchist, assassin of Umberto I of Italy (born 1869)
Victor Hugo, French novelist, poet, and playwright (born 1802)
Julius Plücker, German mathematician and physicist (born 1801)
Thornsbury Bailey Brown, American soldier (born 1829)
Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies (born 1810)

Mordecai Manuel Noah, American journalist and diplomat (born 1755)
Martha Washington, First, First Lady of the United States (born 1731)
Ewald Friedrich von Hertzberg, Prussian politician, Foreign Minister of Prussia (born 1725)
Durastante Natalucci, Italian historian and academic (born 1687)
Baal Shem Tov, Polish rabbi and author (born 1700)
François-Marie, 1st duc de Broglie, French general (born 1671)
Pope Alexander VII (born 1599)
Gaspar Schott, German physicist and mathematician (born 1608)
Pieter Willemsz. Verhoeff, Dutch captain (born 1573)
Renata of Lorraine (born 1544)
Giovanni Bernardi, Italian sculptor and engraver (born 1495)
Sher Shah Suri, Indian ruler (born 1486)
Francesco Guicciardini, Italian historian and politician (born 1483)

John Forest, English friar and martyr (born 1471)
Edmund Grey, 1st Earl of Kent, English administrator, nobleman and magnate (born 1416)
Rita of Cascia, Italian nun and saint (born 1381)
Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, English commander (born 1406)
Thomas Clifford, 8th Baron de Clifford, Lancastrian commander (born 1414)
Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland, English commander (born 1393)
Blanche of England, sister of King Henry V (born 1392)
Saint Humility, founder of the Vallumbrosan religious order of nuns (born c.1226)
Emperor Go-Reizei of Japan (born 1025)
Empress Genshō of Japan (born 683)
Constantine the Great, Roman emperor (born 272)
Dong Zhuo, Chinese warlord and politician (born 138)
Abolition Day (Martinique)
Aromanian National Day (marginal, celebration on May 23 is more common)
Christian feast day: Castus and Emilius
Christian feast day: Fulk
Christian feast day: Humilita

Christian feast day: Michael Hồ Đình Hy (one of Vietnamese Martyrs)
Christian feast day: Quiteria
Christian feast day: Rita of Cascia
Christian feast day: Romanus of Subiaco
Christian feast day: May 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Harvey Milk Day (California)
International Day for Biological Diversity (International)
United States National Maritime Day
National Sovereignty Day (Haiti)
Republic Day (Sri Lanka)
Translation of the Relics of Saint Nicholas from Myra to Bari (Ukraine)
Unity Day (Yemen), celebrates the unification of North and South Yemen into the Republic of Yemen in 1990.

World Goth Day