Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 05:09, 19 August 2014

May 22 is the 142nd day of the year (143rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 223 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 334 BC – The Macedonian army of Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of the Granicus.
• 853 – A Byzantine fleet sacks and destroys undefended Damietta in Egypt.
• 1176 – The Hashshashin (Assassins) attempt to murder Saladin near Aleppo.
• 1200 – King John of England and King Philip II of France sign the Treaty of Le Goulet.
• 1246 – Henry Raspe is elected anti-king of the Kingdom of Germany, in opposition to Conrad IV.
• 1254 – Serbian King Stephen Uroš I and the Republic of Venice sign a peace treaty.
• 1377 – Pope Gregory XI issues five papal bulls to denounce the doctrines of English theologian John Wycliffe.
• 1455 – 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.
• 1629 – Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II and Danish King Christian IV sign the Treaty of Lübeck to end the Danish intervention in the Thirty Years' War.
• 1762 – Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Hamburg.
• 1807 – A grand jury indicts former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr on a charge of treason.
• 1807 – Most of the English town of Chudleigh is destroyed by fire.
• 1809 – On the second and last day of the Battle of Aspern-Essling (near Vienna, Austria), Napoleon I is repelled by an enemy army for the first time.
• 1816 – A mob in Littleport, Cambridgeshire, England, riots over high unemployment and rising grain costs; the rioting spreads to Ely the next day.
• 1819 – The SS Savannah leaves port at Savannah, Georgia, United States, on a voyage to become the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. The ship arrived at Liverpool, England, on June 20.
• 1826 – HMS Beagle departs on its first voyage.
• 1840 – The transportation of British convicts to the New South Wales colony is abolished.
• 1848 – Slavery is abolished in Martinique.
• 1849 – Future U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is issued a patent for an invention to lift boats over obstacles in a river, making him the only U.S. President to ever hold a patent.
• 1856 – Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina beats Senator Charles Sumner with a cane in the hall of the United States Senate for a speech Sumner had made attacking Southerners who sympathized with the pro-slavery violence in Kansas ("Bleeding Kansas").
• 1863 – American Civil War: Siege of Port Hudson – Union forces begin to lay siege to the Confederate-controlled Port Hudson, Louisiana.
• 1864 – American Civil War: After ten weeks, the Union Army's Red River Campaign ends with the Union unable to achieve any of its objectives.
• 1871 – The U.S. Army issues an order for abandonment of Fort Kearny in Nebraska.
• 1872 – Reconstruction: U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant signs the Amnesty Act into law restoring full civil and political rights to all but about 500 Confederate sympathizers.
• 1885 – Prior to burial in the Panthéon, the body of Victor Hugo was exposed under the Arc de Triomphe during the night.
• 1897 – The Blackwall Tunnel under the River Thames is officially opened
• 1903 – Launch of the White Star Liner, SS Ionic.
• 1906 – The Wright brothers are granted U.S. patent number 821,393 for their "Flying-Machine".
• 1915 – Lassen Peak erupts with a powerful force, and is the only mountain other than Mount St. Helens to erupt in the contiguous US during the 20th century.
• 1915 – Three trains collide in the Quintinshill rail disaster near Gretna Green, Scotland, killing 227 people and injuring 246; the accident is found to be the result of non-standard operating practices during a shift change at a busy junction.
• 1926 – Chiang Kai-shek replaces communists in Kuomintang, China.
• 1939 – World War II: Germany and Italy sign the Pact of Steel.
• 1942 – Mexico enters World War II on the side of the Allies.
• 1942 – The Steel Workers Organizing Committee disbands, and a new trade union, the United Steelworkers, is formed.
• 1942 – World War II: Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox enlists in the United States Marine Corps as a flight instructor.
• 1943 – Joseph Stalin disbands Comintern.
• 1945 – Operation Paperclip – United States Army Major Robert B. Staver recommends that the U.S. evacuate German scientists and engineers to help in the development of rocket technology.
• 1947 – Cold War: in an effort to fight the spread of Communism, the U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs an act into law that will later be called the Truman Doctrine. The act grants $400 million in military and economic aid to Turkey and Greece, each battling an internal Communist movement.
• 1958 – Sri Lankan riots of 1958: This riot is a watershed event in the race relationship of the various ethnic communities of Sri Lanka. The total number of deaths is estimated to be 300, mostly Sri Lankan Tamils.
• 1960 – An earthquake measuring 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale, now known as the Great Chilean Earthquake, hits southern Chile. It is the most powerful earthquake ever recorded.
• 1961 – An earthquake rocks New South Wales.
• 1962 – Continental Airlines Flight 11 crashes after bombs explode on board.
• 1963 – An assassination attempt of Greek left-wing politician Grigoris Lambrakis, who will die five days later.
• 1964 – The U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announces the goals of his Great Society social reforms to bring an "end to poverty and racial injustice" in America.
• 1967 – The L'Innovation department store in the center of Brussels, Belgium, burns down. It is the most devastating fire in Belgian history, resulting in 323 dead and missing and 150 injured.
• 1967 – Vietnam War: Vinh Xuan massacre.
• 1968 – The nuclear-powered submarine the USS Scorpion sinks with 99 men aboard 400 miles southwest of the Azores.
• 1969 – Apollo 10 's lunar module flies within 8.4 nautical miles (16 km) of the moon's surface.
• 1972 – Ceylon adopts a new constitution, thus becoming a Republic, changes its name to Sri Lanka, and joins the Commonwealth of Nations.
• 1980 – Namco releases the highly influential arcade game Pac-Man.
• 1987 – Hashimpura massacre in Meerut, India.
• 1987 – First ever Rugby World Cup kicks off with New Zealand playing Italy at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand.
• 1990 – North and South Yemen are unified to create the Republic of Yemen.
• 1990 – Microsoft releases the Windows 3.0 operating system.
• 1992 – After 30 years, 66-year-old Johnny Carson hosts The Tonight Show for the last time.
• 1992 – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia join the United Nations.
• 1997 – Kelly Flinn, the US Air Force's first female bomber pilot certified for combat, accepts a general discharge in order to avoid a court-martial.
• 1998 – Lewinsky scandal: a federal judge rules that United States Secret Service agents can be compelled to testify before a grand jury concerning the scandal, involving President Bill Clinton.
• 2002 – In Washington, D.C., the remains of the missing Chandra Levy are found in Rock Creek Park.
• 2002 – American civil rights movement: a jury in Birmingham, Alabama, convicts former Ku Klux Klan member Bobby Frank Cherry of the 1963 murders of four girls in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church.
• 2003 – In Fort Worth, Texas, Annika Sörenstam becomes the first woman to play the PGA Tour in 58 years.
• 2004 – The U.S. town of Hallam, Nebraska is wiped out by a powerful F4 tornado (part of the May 2004 tornado outbreak sequence) which kills one resident, and becomes the widest tornado on record at 2.5 miles (4.0 km) wide; a record that wouldn't be broken until a the El Reno tornado on May 31, 2013.
• 2005 - A Presidential election is held in Mongolia; the result is a victory for Nambariin Enkhbayar of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP).
• 2008 – The Late-May 2008 tornado outbreak sequence unleashes 235 tornadoes, including an EF4 and an EF5 tornado, between May 22 and May 31, 2008. The tornadoes strike 19 states and one Canadian province.
• 2010 – An Air India Express Boeing 737 goes over a cliff and crashes upon landing at Mangalore, India, killing 158 of the 166 people on board. It is the worst crash involving a Boeing 737.
• 2011 – An EF5 tornado strikes Joplin, Missouri, killing 162 people and wreaking $2.8 billion worth in damage—the costliest and seventh-deadliest single tornado in U.S. history.
• 2012 – Tokyo Skytree is opened to public. It is the tallest tower in world (634 m), and the second tallest man-made structure on Earth, after Burj Khalifa (829.8 m).
• 2014 – General Prayuth Chan-ocha of the Royal Thai Armed Forces announces a military coup d'état, following six months of political turmoil.
• 2014 – An explosion occurs in the city of Ürümqi, the capital of China's far-western Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, resulting in at least 43 deaths and 91 injuries.

Births

• 1539 – Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Somerset (d. 1621)
• 1558 – Françoise de Cezelli, French soldier (d. 1615)
• 1570 – John II, Duke of Saxe-Weimar (d. 1605)
• 1622 – Louis de Buade de Frontenac, French soldier and politician, 3rd Governor General of New France (d. 1698)
• 1645 – Charles Louis Simonneau, French engraver (d. 1728)
• 1678 – Alexander Forbes, 4th Lord Forbes of Pitsligo, Scottish author (d. 1762)
• 1682 – Peter Zorn, German librarian, philologist and theologist (d. 1746)
• 1694 – Daniel Gran, Austrian painter (d. 1757)
• 1700 – Michel-François Dandré-Bardon, French painter and illustrator (d. 1785)
• 1715 – François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis, French cardinal (d. 1794)
• 1724 – Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, French cartographer and explorer (d. 1772)
• 1733 – Hubert Robert, French painter (d. 1808)
• 1737 – Tethart Philipp Christian Haag, German-Dutch painter (d. 1812)
• 1748 – Thomas Roberts, Irish painter (d. 1778)
• 1762 – Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst, English politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (d. 1834)
• 1770 – Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom (d. 1840)
• 1772 – Ram Mohan Roy, Indian philosopher and reformer (d. 1833)
• 1783 – William Sturgeon, English physicist and inventor, invented the electromagnet and electric motor (d. 1850)
• 1788 – William Broughton, English bishop (d. 1853)
• 1808 – Gérard de Nerval, French poet (d. 1855)
• 1813 – Richard Wagner, German director and composer (d. 1883)
• 1814 – Amalia Lindegren, Swedish painter (d. 1891)
• 1820 – Alexander Fesca, German pianist and composer (d. 1849)
• 1823 – Solomon Bundy, American politician (d. 1889)
• 1823 – Isabella Glyn, English actress (d. 1889)
• 1831 – Henry Vandyke Carter, English anatomist and surgeon (d. 1897)
• 1833 – Félix Bracquemond, French painter and etcher (d. 1914)
• 1834 – Niwa Nagakuni, Japanese daimyo (d. 1904)
• 1837 – Guillaume Fouace, French painter (d. 1895)
• 1841 – Catulle Mendès, French poet (d. 1909)
• 1844 – Mary Cassatt, American painter (d. 1926)
• 1848 – Fritz von Uhde, German painter (d. 1911)
• 1849 – Louis Perrier, Swiss colonel and politician (d. 1913)
• 1849 – Aston Webb, English architect and academic, designed the Victoria Memorial and The Mall (d. 1930)
• 1852 – Hector Sévin, French cardinal (d. 1916)
• 1859 – Arthur Conan Doyle, Scottish physician and author (d. 1930)
• 1859 – Tsubouchi Shōyō, Japanese author, playwright, and educator (d. 1935)
• 1864 – Willy Stöwer, German illustrator (d. 1931)
• 1871 – Harold Nelson, English illustrator and engraver (d. 1948)
• 1874 – Daniel François Malan, South African clergyman and politician, 5th Prime Minister of South Africa (d. 1959)
• 1876 – Antonius Bouwens, Dutch target shooter (d. 1963)
• 1879 – Warwick Armstrong, Australian cricketer (d. 1947)
• 1879 – Jean Cras, French admiral and composer (d. 1932)
• 1885 – Giacomo Matteotti, Italian politician (d. 1924)
• 1885 – Soemu Toyoda, Japanese admiral (d. 1957)
• 1887 – Frederick Garfield Gilmore, Canadian-American boxer (d. 1969)
• 1887 – Frank Nelson, American pole vaulter (d. 1970)
• 1889 – Hugh Miller, English actor (d. 1976)
• 1890 – Per Collinder, Swedish astronomer, founded Collinder catalog (d. 1975)
• 1891 – Eddie Edwards, American baseball player and trombonist (Original Dixieland Jazz Band) (d. 1963)
• 1897 – Jeanne de Casalis, Mosotho-English actress (d. 1966)
• 1897 – Marcelle Meyer, French pianist (d. 1958)
• 1898 – Rito Selvaggi, Italian pianist, composer, conductor, and poet (d. 1972)
• 1900 – Yvonne de Gaulle, French wife of Charles de Gaulle (d. 1979)
• 1901 – Maurice J. Tobin, American politician, 6th United States Secretary of Labor (d. 1953)
• 1902 – Al Simmons, American baseball player and coach (d. 1956)
• 1903 – Yves Rocard, French physicist (d. 1992)
• 1904 – Pyotr Sobolevsky, Russian actor (d. 1977)
• 1904 – Paul Viiding, Estonian author, poet, and critic (d. 1962)
• 1905 – Bodo von Borries, German physicist, co-invented the electron microscope (d. 1956)
• 1907 – Hergé, Belgian illustrator (d. 1983)
• 1907 – Martha Angelici, French soprano (d. 1973)
• 1907 – Eugène Claudius-Petit, French politician (d. 1989)
• 1907 – Laurence Olivier, English actor, director, and producer (d. 1989)
• 1908 – Rattana Pestonji, Thai director, producer, screenwriter, and cinematographer (d. 1970)
• 1908 – Horton Smith. American golfer (d. 1963)
• 1910 – Johnny Olson, American game show host and announcer (d. 1985)
• 1911 – Anatol Rapoport, Russian-American psychologist (d. 2007)
• 1911 – Minoru Kawabata, Japanese artist (d. 2001)
• 1912 – Herbert C. Brown, English-American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
• 1913 – František Jílek, Czech conductor (d. 1993)
• 1914 – Maurice Blackburn, Canadian composer and conductor (d. 1988)
• 1914 – Vance Packard, American journalist and author (d. 1996)
• 1914 – Sun Ra, American pianist, composer, bandleader, and poet (d. 1993)
• 1914 – Edward Arthur Thompson, Irish historian, author, and educator (d. 1994)
• 1917 – Jean-Louis Curtis, French author (d. 1995)
• 1917 – Nathan Davis, American actor (d. 2008)
• 1917 – Daniel Nagrin, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2008)
• 1917 – Georg Tintner, Austrian-Canadian conductor (d. 1999)
• 1919 – Paul Vanden Boeynants, Belgian politician, 55th Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 2001)
• 1920 – Thomas Gold, Austrian-American astrophysicist (d. 2004)
• 1921 – Jalil Shahnaz, Iranian tar player (d. 2013)
• 1922 – Quinn Martin, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1987)
• 1923 – Denise Pelletier, Canadian actress (d. 1976)
• 1924 – Charles Aznavour, French-Armenian singer-songwriter and actor
• 1925 – Jean Tinguely, Swiss painter and sculptor (d. 1991)
• 1926 – Elek Bacsik, Hungarian-American violinist and guitarist (d. 1993)
• 1927 – Peter Matthiessen, American journalist and author, co-founded The Paris Review (d. 2014)
• 1927 – George Andrew Olah, Hungarian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1928 – T. Boone Pickens, American businessman
• 1930 – Kenny Ball, English trumpet player (d. 2013)
• 1930 – Harvey Milk, American lieutenant and politician (d. 1978)
• 1932 – Irwin Stelzer, American economist and journalist
• 1933 – Gamaliel Onosode, Nigerian technocrat, administrator and politician
• 1934 – Don Cupitt, English priest, philosopher, and theologian
• 1934 – Peter Nero, American pianist and conductor
• 1935 – Ron Piché, Canadian baseball player (d. 2011)
• 1936 – George H. Heilmeier, American engineer (d. 2014)
• 1936 – M. Scott Peck, American psychiatrist and author (d. 2005)
• 1937 – Guy Marchand, French actor and singer
• 1938 – Richard Benjamin, American actor and director
• 1938 – Susan Strasberg, American actress (d. 1999)
• 1939 – Dick Berk, American drummer and bandleader (d. 2014)
• 1939 – Paul Winfield, American actor (d. 2004)
• 1940 – Michael Sarrazin, Canadian actor (d. 2011)
• 1940 – Bernard Shaw, American journalist
• 1941 – Menzies Campbell, Scottish sprinter and politician
• 1941 – Nangolo Ithete, Namibian politician (d. 2002)
• 1941 – Martha Langbein, German runner
• 1942 – Ted Kaczynski, American mathematician and academic
• 1942 – Barbara Parkins, Canadian-American actress
• 1943 – Kurt Bendlin, German decathlete
• 1943 – David Bernstein, English businessman
• 1943 – Jean-Louis Heinrich, French footballer (d. 2012)
• 1943 – Tommy John, American baseball player and manager
• 1943 – Gesine Schwan, German political scientist
• 1943 – Betty Williams, Irish activist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1944 – Vaiko, Indian politician
• 1944 – Lynn Barber, English journalist
• 1944 – Beaton Tulk, Canadian educator and politician, 7th Premier of Newfoundland
• 1946 – George Best, Irish-English footballer (d. 2005)
• 1946 – Michael Green, English physicist and academic
• 1946 – Howard Kendall, English footballer and manager
• 1947 – Joseph P. McFadden, American bishop (d. 2013)
• 1947 – Andreas Gerasimos Michalitsianos, Egyptian-American astronomer and astrophysicist (d. 1997)
• 1948 – Richard Baker, American politician
• 1949 – Ieuan Wyn Jones, Welsh politician, Deputy First Minister for Wales
• 1950 – Alekos Alavanos, Greek politician
• 1950 – Bernie Taupin, English singer-songwriter and poet
• 1950 – Bill Whelan, Irish keyboard player, songwriter, and producer (Planxty)
• 1952 – Bernhard Brinkmann, German politician
• 1952 – Louise Christian, English lawyer and author
• 1953 – Doris Barnett, German politician
• 1953 – Peter Bazalgette, English television producer
• 1953 – Cha Bum-Kun, South Korean footballer and manager
• 1953 – Paul Mariner, English footballer, coach, and manager
• 1955 – Chalmers Alford, American guitarist (d. 2008)
• 1955 – Jerry Dammers, Indian-English keyboard player and songwriter
• 1955 – Iva Davies, Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Icehouse)
• 1955 – Maggie Jones, Baroness Jones of Whitchurch, Welsh union leader and politician
• 1955 – Dale Winton, English radio and television host
• 1956 – Al Corley, American actor, singer, and producer
• 1956 – Natasha Shneider, Russian-American singer, keyboard player, and actress (Eleven) (d. 2008)
• 1957 – Lisa Murkowski, American lawyer and politician
• 1957 – Gary Sweet, Australian actor
• 1958 – Denise Welch, English actress and dancer
• 1959 – Morrissey, English singer-songwriter and pianist (The Smiths, The Nosebleeds, and Slaughter & The Dogs)
• 1959 – Andres Luure, Estonian mathematician, philosopher, and academic
• 1959 – Jon Sopel, English journalist
• 1959 – Harry Standjofski, Canadian actor, director, and playwright
• 1960 – Hideaki Anno, Japanese animator, director, and screenwriter
• 1961 – Mike Breen, American sportscaster
• 1961 – Ann Cusack, American actress
• 1962 – Brian Pillman, American football player and wrestler (d. 1997)
• 1964 – Ramūnas Butautas, Lithuanian basketball player and coach
• 1964 – Mark Christopher Lawrence, American actor and comedian
• 1964 – Nigel Murray, English boccia player
• 1964 – Maya Usova, Russian ice dancer
• 1965 – Jay Carney, American journalist, 29th White House Press Secretary
• 1965 – John Cherry, Australian journalist and politician
• 1965 – Fanis Christodoulou, Greek basketball player
• 1966 – Johnny Gill, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (New Edition, LSG, and Heads of State)
• 1966 – José Mesa, Dominican-American baseball player
• 1966 – Scott Putski, American wrestler
• 1966 – Wang Xiaoshuai, Chinese film director and screenwriter
• 1967 – Christophe Gagliano, French judoka
• 1967 – Brooke Smith, American actress
• 1967 – Gundars Vētra, Latvian basketball player and coach
• 1968 – Pedro Bleyer, Bolivian fencer
• 1968 – Randy Brown, American basketball player
• 1968 – Graham Linehan, Irish comedian, actor, and author
• 1969 – Michael Joseph Kelly, American actor
• 1969 – Cathy McMorris Rodgers, American politician
• 1970 – Paddy Atkinson, Singaporean-English footballer and manager
• 1970 – Naomi Campbell, English model and actress
• 1970 – Pedro Diniz, Brazilian race car driver
• 1970 – Nadia Khan, Pakistani actress and producer
• 1970 – Zoltan Lunka, German boxer
• 1971 – Daryn Cresswell, Australian footballer
• 1971 – Raimund Marasigan, Filipino singer-songwriter, drummer, and producer (Eraserheads, Sandwich, Pedicab, Cambio, and Project 1)
• 1972 – Andrus Aug, Estonian cyclist
• 1972 – Jaouad Gharib, Moroccan runner
• 1973 – Donell Jones, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1973 – Julián Tavárez, Dominican-American baseball player
• 1973 – Danny Tiatto, Australian footballer
• 1974 – John Bale, American baseball player
• 1974 – Graham Fenton, English footballer and manager
• 1974 – Sean Gunn, American actor
• 1974 – A. J. Langer, American actress
• 1975 – Salva Ballesta, Spanish footballer
• 1975 – Tracy Brookshaw, Canadian-American wrestler and referee
• 1975 – Janne Niinimaa, Finnish ice hockey player
• 1975 – Enrique Palacios, Venezuelan model
• 1975 – Janne Tuohino, Finnish race car driver
• 1976 – Daniel Erlandsson, Swedish drummer (Arch Enemy, Eucharist, Armageddon, and Carcass)
• 1976 – Christian Vande Velde, American road racing cyclist
• 1977 – A-1, Canadian bodybuilder and wrestler
• 1977 – Dré Bly, American football player
• 1977 – Tom Chambers, English actor
• 1977 – Tarmo Mitt, Estonian strongman
• 1977 – Seán Óg Ó hAilpín, Fijian-Irish hurler and footballer
• 1977 – Vinnie Potestivo, American casting director and producer
• 1978 – Ginnifer Goodwin, American actress
• 1978 – Katie Price, English model, businesswoman, and author
• 1979 – Maggie Q, American actress and model
• 1980 – Steven Baker, Australian footballer
• 1980 – Björn Barta, German ice hockey player
• 1980 – Rhett Fisher, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
• 1980 – Lucy Gordon, English model and actress (d. 2009)
• 1980 – Chad Tracy, American baseball player
• 1980 – Tommy Smith, English footballer
• 1981 – Daniel Bryan, American wrestler
• 1981 – Lee Bullock, English footballer
• 1981 – Melissa Gregory, American ice dancer
• 1981 – Jana Hlaváčková, Czech tennis player
• 1981 – Bassel Khartabil, Syrian computer programmer and engineer
• 1981 – Jürgen Melzer, Austrian tennis player
• 1982 – Erin McNaught, Australian model and actress, Miss Australia 2006
• 1982 – Fred Murray, Irish footballer
• 1982 – Apolo Ohno, American speed skater
• 1982 – Tom Scudamore, English jockey
• 1982 – Hong Yong-Jo, North Korean footballer
• 1983 – Abdulrahman Al-Qahtani, Saudi Arabian footballer
• 1983 – John Hopkins, American motorcycle racer
• 1984 – Bismarck du Plessis, South African rugby player
• 1984 – Laurence Halsted, English fencer
• 1984 – Karoline Herfurth, German actress
• 1984 – Peter Jungschläger, Dutch footballer
• 1984 – Daniel Woolard, American soccer player
• 1984 – Didier Ya Konan, Ivorian footballer
• 1985 – Gloria Asumnu, American-Nigerian sprinter
• 1985 – Tranquillo Barnetta, Swiss footballer
• 1985 – Mauro Boselli, Argentinian footballer
• 1985 – Chrissie Chau, Chinese actress and model
• 1985 – Francisco Dorronsoro, Spanish footballer
• 1985 – Marc-Antoine Pouliot, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1985 – Hideaki Takeda, Japanese footballer
• 1986 – Luca Gentili, Italian footballer
• 1986 – Matt Jarvis, English footballer
• 1986 – Thanduyise Khuboni, South African footballer
• 1987 – Novak Djokovic, Serbian tennis player
• 1987 – Vladimir Granat, Russian footballer
• 1987 – José Luis Miñano, Spanish footballer
• 1987 – Arturo Vidal, Chilean footballer
• 1988 – Anthony Andreu, French footballer
• 1988 – Chase Budinger, American basketball player
• 1988 – Pape M'Bow, Senegalese footballer
• 1988 – Markus Müller, German footballer
• 1989 – Giordano Benedetti, Italian runner
• 1989 – Trevor Reckling, Baseball player
• 1990 – Mikk Reintam, Estonian footballer
• 1990 – Anne-Julia Hagen, German beauty pageant winner, Miss Germany
• 1991 – Kyle Bartley, English footballer
• 1991 – José Higón, Spanish footballer
• 1991 – Joel Obi, Nigerian footballer
• 1992 – Tommaso Cancellotti, Italian footballer
• 1992 – Robin Knoche, German footballer
• 1992 – Chinami Tokunaga, Japanese singer (Berryz Kobo and ZYX)
• 1993 – Philipp Knochner, German footballer

Deaths

• 192 – Dong Zhuo, Chinese warlord and politician (b. 138)
• 337 – Constantine the Great, Roman emperor (b. 272)
• 748 – Empress Genshō of Japan (b. 683)
• 1068 – Emperor Go-Reizei of Japan (b. 1025)
• 1455 – Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, English commander (b. 1406)
• 1455 – Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland, English commander (b. 1393)
• 1457 – Rita of Cascia, Italian nun and saint (b. 1381)
• 1553 – Giovanni Bernardi, Italian gem engraver (b. 1494)
• 1538 – John Forest, English friar and martyr (b. 1471)
• 1540 – Francesco Guicciardini, Italian historian and politician (b. 1483)
• 1602 – Renata of Lorraine, Duchess of Bavaria (b. 1544)
• 1609 – Pieter Willemsz. Verhoeff, Dutch naval commander (b. c.1573)
• 1666 – Gaspar Schott, German physicist and mathematician (b. 1608)
• 1667 – Pope Alexander VII (b. 1599)
• 1745 – François-Marie, 1st duc de Broglie, French general (b. 1671)
• 1760 – Baal Shem Tov, Polish rabbi (b. 1700)
• 1772 – Durastante Natalucci, Italian historian (b. 1687)
• 1795 – Ewald Friedrich von Hertzberg, Prussian politician, Foreign Minister of Prussia (b. 1725)
• 1802 – Martha Washington, American wife of George Washington, 1st First Lady of the United States (b. 1731)
• 1851 – Mordecai Manuel Noah, American journalist and diplomat (b. 1755)
• 1859 – Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies (b. 1810)
• 1861 – Thornsbury Bailey Brown, American soldier (b. 1829)
• 1868 – Julius Plücker, German mathematician and physicist (b. 1801)
• 1885 – Victor Hugo, French author, poet, and playwright (b. 1802)
• 1901 – Gaetano Bresci, Italian-American anarchist, assassin of Umberto I of Italy (b. 1869)
• 1910 – Jules Renard, French author and playwright (b. 1864)
• 1932 – Augusta, Lady Gregory, Irish playwright, co-founded the Abbey Theatre (b. 1852)
• 1933 – Tsengeltiin Jigjidjav, prime minister of Mongolia 1930-32 (b. 1894)
• 1939 – Ernst Toller, German playwright (b. 1893)
• 1939 – Jiří Mahen, Czech author and playwright (b. 1882)
• 1947 – Edwin Hedley, American rower (b. 1864)
• 1954 – Chief Bender, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1884)
• 1965 – Christopher Stone, English radio host (b. 1882)
• 1966 – Tom Goddard, English cricketer (b. 1900)
• 1967 – Langston Hughes, American author, poet, and playwright (b. 1902)
• 1972 – Cecil Day-Lewis, Irish-English poet and author (b. 1904)
• 1972 – Margaret Rutherford, English actress (b. 1892)
• 1975 – Lefty Grove, American baseball player (b. 1900)
• 1983 – Albert Claude, Belgian biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
• 1985 – Wolfgang Reitherman, German-American animator, director, and producer (b. 1909)
• 1986 – Umar al-Tilmisani, Egyptian Islamic leader, 3rd General Guide of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood
• 1988 – Giorgio Almirante, Italian journalist and politician (b. 1914)
• 1989 – Steven De Groote, South African pianist (b. 1953)
• 1990 – Rocky Graziano, American boxer (b. 1922)
• 1991 – Shripad Amrit Dange, Indian politician (b. 1899)
• 1991 – Stan Mortensen, English footballer and manager (b. 1921)
• 1992 – Zellig Harris, American linguist and academic (b. 1909)
• 1993 – Mieczysław Horszowski, Ukrainian-American pianist (b. 1892)
• 1997 – Alfred Hershey, American biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1908)
• 1997 – Renzo Montagnani, Italian actor (b. 1930)
• 1998 – John Derek, American actor, director, and photographer (b. 1926)
• 1998 – José Enrique Moyal, Israeli physicist and engineer (b. 1910)
• 2000 – Davie Fulton, Canadian politician and judge (b. 1916)
• 2003 – Ousmane Zongo, Burkinabe-American arts trader (b. 1960)
• 2004 – Richard Biggs, American actor (b. 1960)
• 2004 – Mikhail Voronin, Russian gymnast (b. 1945)
• 2005 – Charilaos Florakis, Greek politician (b. 1914)
• 2005 – Julia Randall, American poet and academic (b. 1924)
• 2005 – Thurl Ravenscroft, American voice actor and singer (b. 1914)
• 2006 – Heather Crowe, Canadian waitress and activist (b. 1945)
• 2006 – Lee Jong-wook, South Korean diplomat (b. 1945)
• 2007 – Pemba Doma Sherpa, Nepalese mountaineer (b. 1970)
• 2008 – Robert Asprin, American author (b. 1946)
• 2010 – Martin Gardner, American mathematics and science writer (b. 1914)
• 2010 – Lwandile Zwelenkosi Matanzima, South African clan leader, king of Western Thembuland (b. c.1970)
• 2011 – Joseph Brooks, American director, producer, screenwriter, and composer (b. 1938)
• 2012 – Muzafar Bhutto, Pakistani politician (b. 1970)
• 2012 – Wesley A. Brown, American lieutenant and engineer (b. 1927)
• 2012 – Janet Carroll, American actress and singer (b. 1940)
• 2012 – Shiu-Ying Hu, Chinese botanist (b. 1910)
• 2012 – Flinder Anderson Khonglam, Indian physician and politician, 18th Chief Minister of Meghalaya (b. 1945)
• 2012 – Dave Mann, American-Canadian football player (b. 1932)
• 2012 – John Moores, Jr., English businessman and academic (b. 1928)
• 2013 – Bill Austin, American football player and coach (b. 1928)
• 2013 – Mick McManus, English wrestler (b. 1920)
• 2013 – Lee Rigby, English soldier and drummer (b. 1987)
• 2013 – Sigurd Ottovich Schmidt, Russian historian and ethnographer (b. 1922)
• 2013 – Ibragim Todashev, Russian-American mixed martial artist (b. 1985)
• 2014 – Sergio de Bustamante, Mexican actor (b. 1934)
• 2014 – Imre Gedővári, Hungarian fencer (b. 1951)
• 2014 – Dragoljub Velimirović, Serbian chess player (b. 1942)

Holidays and observances

• Abolition Day (Martinique)
• Christian Feast Day:
  • Castus and Emilius
  • Fulk
  • Humilita
  • Quiteria
  • Rita of Cascia
  • Romanus of Subiaco
  • May 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Harvey Milk Day (California)
• International Day for Biological Diversity (International)
• National Maritime Day (United States)
• National Sovereignty Day (Haiti)
• Republic Day (Sri Lanka)
• Unity Day or National Day, celebrate the unification of North and South Yemen into the Republic of Yemen in 1990.

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

• Days of the year
• May