Calendar date · May

What happened on May 23

On May 23, 1430: Joan of Arc is captured at the Siege of Compiègne by troops from the Burgundian faction.

Events

51

across history

Notable births

50

Notable deaths

50

Zodiac

Gemini

Featured moment · 1430

Joan of Arc is captured at the Siege of Compiègne by troops from the Burgundian faction.

Joan of Arc is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronation of Charles VII of France during the Hundred Years' War. Stating that she acted under divine guidance, she became a military leader who gained recognition as a savior of France.

People

Born on May 23

Rayane Messi 2007– French footballer (born 2007)
Alexandra Eala 2005– Filipino tennis player (born 2005)
Brennan Johnson 2001– Wales international footballer (born 2001)
Felipe Drugovich 2000– Brazilian racing driver (born 2000)
Israel Reyes 2000– Mexican footballer (born 2000)
James Charles 1999– American internet personality (born 1999)
Trinidad Cardona 1999– American singer, songwriter and social media personality (born 1999)
Sandro Mamukelashvili 1999– Georgian basketball player (born 1999)
Sérgio Sette Câmara 1998– Brazilian racing driver (born 1998)
Show 9 more — notable births on May 23
Salwa Eid Naser 1998– Bahraini sprinter
Luca de la Torre 1998– American soccer player (born 1998)
Pedro Chirivella 1997– Spanish footballer (born 1997)
Coy Craft 1997– Former FC Dallas and USMNT player
Joe Gomez 1997– English footballer (born 1997)
Maximilian Kilman 1997– English footballer (born 1997)
Gustaf Nilsson 1997– Swedish footballer (born 1997)
Sam Timmins 1997– New Zealand basketball player (born 1997)
Katharina Althaus 1996– German ski jumper (born 1996)

People

Died on May 23

Caleb Carr American military historian and author (1955–2024)
Morgan Spurlock American filmmaker (1970–2024)
Ron Hill British long-distance runner (1938–2021)
Eric Carle American author and illustrator (1929–2021)
Hana Kimura Japanese joshi puroresu wrestler (1997–2020)
Roger Moore English actor (1927–2017)
Anne Meara American comedian and actress (1929–2015)
Aleksey Mozgovoy Pro-Russian rebel and warlord in Eastern Ukraine
Alicia Nash Salvadoran-American physicist (1933–2015)
Show 9 more — notable deaths on May 23
John Forbes Nash Jr. American mathematician and Nobel Laureate (1928–2015)
Mikhail Egorovich Alekseev Russian linguist and academic (born 1949)
Madhav Mantri Indian cricketer (1921–2014)
Epy Guerrero Dominican baseball player, coach, and scout (born 1942)
Hayri Kozakçıoğlu Turkish politician
Georges Moustaki Musical artist
Flynn Robinson American basketball player (1941–2013)
Paul Fussell American cultural and literary historian (1924–2012)
Xavier Tondo Spanish cyclist (1978–2011)

Timeline

Every May 23 on record

  1. 1430 Joan of Arc is captured at the Siege of Compiègne by troops from the Burgundian faction.

    French folk heroine and saint (1412–1431)

    Joan of Arc is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronation of Charles VII of France during the Hundred Years' War. Stating that she acted under divine guidance, she became a military leader who gained recognition as a savior of France.

  2. 1498 Girolamo Savonarola is burned at the stake in Florence, Italy.

    De facto ruler of Florence from 1494 to 1498; Dominican friar and reformer

    Girolamo Savonarola, OP, also referred to as Jerome Savonarola, was an ascetic Dominican friar from Ferrara and a preacher active in Renaissance Florence. He became known for his prophecies of civic glory, his advocacy of the destruction of secular art and culture, and his calls for Christian renewal. He denounced clerical corruption, despotic rule, and the exploitation of the poor.

  3. 1533 The marriage of King Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon is declared null and void.

    King of England from 1509 to 1547

    Henry VIII was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. After the Pope refused to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Henry passed legislation that severed England and Ireland from the Roman Catholic Church and established the monarch as Supreme Head of the Church of England, initiating the English Reformation. He subsequently married five more times; two marriages were annulled, and two wives were executed.

  4. 1568 Dutch rebels led by Louis of Nassau defeat Jean de Ligne and his loyalist troops in the Battle of Heiligerlee, opening the Eighty Years' War.

    16th-century Dutch noble and leader in the Dutch Revolt against Spain

    Louis of Nassau was a Dutch nobleman, the third son of William I, Count of Nassau-Siegen and Juliana of Stolberg, and the younger brother of Prince William of Orange Nassau.

  5. 1609 Official ratification of the Second Virginia Charter takes place.

    1609 legal document

    The Second Virginia Charter, also known as the Charter of 1609, is a document that provided "a further Enlargement and Explanation of the said [first] Grant, Privileges, and Liberties", which gave the London Company adventurers influence in determining the policies of the company, extended the Company's rights to land extending "up into the Land throughout from Sea to Sea", and allowed English merchant companies and individuals to invest in the colonization effort. The charter includes a detailed list of the names of some 650 noblemen, gentlemen, officials, companies, and individuals who subscribed as investors.

  6. 1618 The Third Defenestration of Prague precipitates the Thirty Years' War.
  7. 1706 John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, defeats a French army under Marshal François de Neufville, duc de Villeroy at the Battle of Ramillies.
  8. 1788 South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify the United States Constitution.
  9. 1793 Battle of Famars during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition.
  10. 1829 Accordion patent granted to Cyrill Demian in Vienna, Austrian Empire.
  11. 1844 Báb: A merchant of Shiraz announces that he is a Prophet and founds a religious movement. He is considered to be a forerunner of the Baháʼí Faith.
  12. 1846 Mexican–American War: President Mariano Paredes of Mexico unofficially declares war on the United States.
  13. 1863 The General German Workers' Association, a precursor of the modern Social Democratic Party of Germany, is founded in Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony.
  14. 1873 The Canadian Parliament establishes the North-West Mounted Police, the forerunner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
  15. 1900 American Civil War: Sergeant William Harvey Carney is awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism in the Assault on the Battery Wagner in 1863.
Show 15 earlier entries from May 23
  1. 1905 Abdul Hamid II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, publicly announces the creation of the Ullah millet for the Aromanians of the empire, which had been established one day earlier. For this reason, the Aromanian National Day is usually celebrated on May 23, although some do so on May 22 instead.
  2. 1907 The unicameral Parliament of Finland gathers for its first plenary session.
  3. 1911 The New York Public Library is dedicated.
  4. 1915 World War I: Italy joins the Allies, fulfilling its part of the Treaty of London.
  5. 1919 Sheikh Mahmud Barzanji, a Kurdish sheikh and at-the-time governor of the Slêmanî Province of British Iraq, initiates the first Mahmud Barzanji revolt.
  6. 1932 In Brazil, four students are shot and killed during a manifestation against the Brazilian dictator Getúlio Vargas, which resulted in the outbreak of the Constitutionalist Revolution several weeks later.
  7. 1934 American bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde are ambushed by police and killed in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.
  8. 1934 The Auto-Lite strike culminates in the "Battle of Toledo", a five-day melée between 1,300 troops of the Ohio National Guard and 6,000 picketers.
  9. 1939 The U.S. Navy submarine USS Squalus sinks off the coast of New Hampshire during a test dive, causing the death of 24 sailors and two civilian technicians. The remaining 32 sailors and one civilian naval architect are rescued the following day.
  10. 1941 World War II: German paratroopers start a series of mass executions of Greek civilians in Missiria for their participation in the ongoing Battle of Crete.
  11. 1945 World War II: Heinrich Himmler, head of the Schutzstaffel, commits suicide while in Allied custody.
  12. 1945 World War II: Germany's Flensburg Government under Karl Dönitz is dissolved when its members are arrested by British forces.
  13. 1946 The start of a two-day tornado outbreak across the Central United States that spawned at least 15 significant tornadoes.
  14. 1948 Thomas C. Wasson, the US Consul-General, is assassinated in Jerusalem, Israel.
  15. 1949 Cold War: The Western occupying powers approve the Basic Law and establish a new German state, the Federal Republic of Germany.

Around the world

Holidays on May 23

Keep going

More to explore

The zodiac sign covering May 23 Gemini Browse the calendar Every day in May Browse the calendar Every day in May