23rd May is the 143rd day of the year (144th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. 222 days remain until the end of the year. Today also marks World Turtle Day. Find out some important events that occurred on this day, 23rd May, in history.

 

Historical events

1059 — Henri I crowns his son King Philip I (called the Amorous) of France.

1275 — King Edward I of England orders cessation of persecution of French Jews.

1420 — Jews of Syria and Austria imprisoned and expelled.

1430 — French soldier and national heroine Joan of Arc is captured at Compiegne and sold to the English.

1555 — Giampietro Caraffa elected Pope Paul IV.

1568 — The Netherlands declares independence from Spain.

1576 — Tycho Brahe receives Hveen Island to build Uraniborg Observatory.

1660 — King Charles II returns from exile sails from Scheveningen to England.

1701 — Pirate legend Captain William Kidd is hanged in London after being convicted of piracy and the murder of William Moore.

1785 — The United States founding father Benjamin Franklin announces his invention of bifocals.

1788 — South Carolina becomes the eighth state to ratify US constitution.

 

23rd May in the 19th Century

1813 — South American independence leader Simón Bolívar enters Mérida, leading the invasion of Venezuela, and is proclaimed El Libertador (“The Liberator”).

1853 — Buenos Aires gains independence from Argentina (reunited 1859).

1863 — Organisation of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Battle Creek, Michigan.

1865 — Flag flown at full mast over White House for the first time since Lincoln was shot.

1867 — Outlaw Jesse James gang robs a bank in Richmond, Missouri ( two die, $4,000 taken).

1873 — Postal cards sold in San Francisco for the first time.

1887 — The first transcontinental train arrives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

1900 — William Harvey Carney becomes the first African-American soldier awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Civil War at the Battle of Fort Wagner.

 

23rd May in the 20th Century

1903 — The first automobile trip across the US leaves San Francisco for New York, (arrives July 26).

1918 — King Oil/Shell refinery on Curacao officially opens.

1920 — Pope Benedictus XV publishes encyclical Pacem Dei.

1920 — President Falls From Grace Paul Deschanel had the makings of a fine President of France – until a series of bizarre incidents culminated in him falling out the window of a moving train.

1921 — “Shuffle Along” 1st black musical comedy, opens in NYC.

1922 — Animator Walt Disney incorporates his first film company Laugh-O-Gram Films.

1926 — Lebanese constitution forms under French mandate.

1934 — American outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow – Bonnie and Clyde – are killed by police in an ambush near Sailes, Louisiana.

1939 — British parliament plans to make Palestine independent by 1949.

1939 — Dictator of Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler proclaims he wants to move into Poland.

1943 — Thomas Mann begins writing his novel, Dr Faustus.

1945 — German island of Helgoland in the North Sea surrenders to the British.

1947 — PC Hooft prize forms for literature.

1948 — Ramat Rahel gateway to Jerusalem is repossessed by Israel.

1962 — OAS leader general Raoul Salan sentenced to life.

1962 — Scott Carpenter orbits Earth 3 times in US Aurora 7.

1963 — 16th Cannes Film Festival: “The Leopard” directed by Luchino Visconti wins the Palme d’Or.

1964 — Dale Greig runs female marathon world record (3:27:45).

1966 — The Beatles release “Paperback Writer”.

1967 — Government bans submarines near South Africa.

1969 — The Who release rock opera “Tommy”.

1970 — A fire breaks out in the Britannia Bridge over the Menai Straits in north Wales contributing to its partial destruction and causing approximately £1,000,000 worth of fire damage.

 

More dates

1971 — Rock group Iron Butterfly disbands.

1974 — Great Britain performs a nuclear test at the Nevada Test Site.

1977 — Benin adopts its constitution.

1977 — Moluccan extremists hold 105 schoolchildren & 50 others hostage on a hijacked train in Neth, children released May 27, siege ends June 11.

1978 — General strike in Peru.

1980 — Horror film “The Shining” released directed by Stanley Kubrick, starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall, based on the book by Stephen King.

1982 — BBC warns Britain will bomb Argentina.

1982 — Colin Wilson rides a surfboard 294 miles.

1984 — “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”, 2nd in the film series, directed by Stephen Spielberg, produced by George Lucas and starring Harrison Ford, opens in the US.

1986 — The US and Western Europe veto heavier sanctions against South Africa.

1988 — Maryland stops the sale of cheap pistols on 1st Jan 1990.

1989 — Angela Visser, 22, of Holland, crowned 38th Miss Universe.

1989 — Lincoln Square in the Bronx named.

1990 — Cost of rescuing savings and loan failures put at up to $130 billion.

1994 — “Star Trek: The Next Generation” finale airs this week in syndication.

1994 — 47th Cannes Film Festival: “Pulp Fiction” directed by Quentin Tarantino wins the Palme d’Or.

1998 — The Good Friday Agreement accepted in a referendum in Northern Ireland with 75% voting yes.

1999 — 52nd Cannes Film Festival: “Rosetta” directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne wins the Palme d’Or.

2000 — Rapper Eminem releases 3rd studio album “The Marshall Mathers LP”, is fastest ever selling studio album (Grammy – Best Rap Album 2001).

 

23rd May in the 21st Century

2001 — Marco Siffredi becomes the first person to snowboard down Mount Everest via the Norton Couloir (some share record accreditation with Stefan Gatt).

2010 — 63rd Cannes Film Festival: “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives” directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul wins the Palme d’Or.

2014 — Russia and China veto the U.N. Security Council resolution to establish an International Criminal Court for war crimes in Syria.

2017 — The UK raises the terror threat level to critical following the Manchester bombing.

2017 — US President Donald Trump meets Pope Francis at the Vatican.

2018 — Hamburg, Germany, becomes the first city to ban diesel cars on some roads.

2018 — NFL owners approve new NFL national anthem policy whereby players required to stand if they choose to be on the field for pre-game presentations.