May 31

May 31 is the 151st day of the year (152nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 214 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 455 – Emperor Petronius Maximus is stoned to death by an angry mob while fleeing Rome.
• 526 – A devastating earthquake strikes Antioch, Turkey, killing 250,000.
• 1223 – Mongol invasion of the Cumans: Battle of the Kalka River – Mongol armies of Genghis Khan led by Subutai defeat Kievan Rus and Cumans.
• 1279 BC – Rameses II (The Great) (19th dynasty) becomes pharaoh of Ancient Egypt.
• 1578 – Martin Frobisher sails from Harwich, England to Frobisher Bay, Canada, eventually to mine fool's gold, used to pave streets in London.
• 1578 – King Henry III lays the first stone of the Pont Neuf (New Bridge), the oldest bridge of Paris.
• 1669 – Citing poor eyesight, Samuel Pepys records the last event in his diary.
• 1678 – The Godiva procession through Coventry begins.
• 1775 – American Revolution: The Mecklenburg Resolutions are allegedly adopted in the Province of North Carolina.
• 1790 – Alferez Manuel Quimper explores the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
• 1790 – The United States enacts its first copyright statute, the Copyright Act of 1790.
• 1795 – French Revolution: the Revolutionary Tribunal is suppressed.
• 1805 – French and Spanish forces begin the assault against British forces occupying Diamond Rock
• 1813 – In Australia, Lawson, Blaxland and Wentworth, reached Mount Blaxland, effectively marking the end of a route across the Blue Mountains.
• 1854 – The civil death procedure is abolished in France.
• 1859 – The clock tower at the Houses of Parliament, which houses Big Ben, starts keeping time.
• 1862 – American Civil War Peninsula Campaign: Battle of Seven Pines or (Battle of Fair Oaks) – Confederate forces under Joseph E. Johnston & G. W. Smith engage Union forces under George B. McClellan outside Richmond, Virginia.
• 1864 – American Civil War Overland Campaign: Battle of Cold Harbor – The Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee engages the Army of the Potomac under Ulysses S. Grant & George G. Meade.
• 1866 – In the Fenian Invasion of Canada, John O'Neill leads 850 Fenian raiders across the Niagara River at Buffalo, New York/Fort Erie, Ontario, as part of an effort to free Ireland from the United Kingdom. Canadian militia and British regulars repulse the invaders in over the next three days, at a cost of 9 dead and 38 wounded to the Fenian's 19 dead and about 17 wounded.
• 1879 – New York, New York's Gilmores Garden is renamed Madison Square Garden by William Henry Vanderbilt and is opened to the public at 26th Street and Madison Avenue.
• 1884 – Arrival at Plymouth of Tawhiao, King of Maoris, to claim protection of Queen Victoria
• 1889 – Johnstown Flood: Over 2,200 people die after a dam break sends a 60-foot (18-meter) wall of water over the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
• 1902 – Second Boer War: The Treaty of Vereeniging ends the war and ensures British control of South Africa.
• 1909 – The National Negro Committee, forerunner to the NAACP, convenes for the first time.
• 1910 – Creation of the Union of South Africa.
• 1911 – The hull of the ocean liner RMS Titanic is launched.
• 1911 – President of Mexico Porfirio Díaz flees the country during the Mexican Revolution.
• 1916 – World War I: Battle of Jutland – The British Grand Fleet under the command of Sir John Jellicoe & Sir David Beatty engage the Kaiserliche Marine under the command of Reinhard Scheer & Franz von Hipper in the largest naval battle of the war, which proves indecisive.
• 1921 – Tulsa Race Riot: A civil unrest in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States, the official death toll is 39, but recent investigations suggest the actual toll may be much higher.
• 1924 – The Soviet Union signs an agreement with the Peking government, referring to Outer Mongolia as an "integral part of the Republic of China", whose "sovereignty" therein the Soviet Union promises to respect.
• 1927 – The last Ford Model T rolls off the assembly line after a production run of 15,007,003 vehicles.
• 1929 – The first talking cartoon of Mickey Mouse, "The Karnival Kid", is released.
• 1935 – A 7.7 Mw earthquake destroys Quetta in modern-day Pakistan: 40,000 dead.
• 1941 – A Luftwaffe air raid in Dublin, Ireland, claims 38 lives.
• 1941 – Anglo-Iraqi War: The United Kingdom completes the re-occupation of Iraq and returns 'Abd al-Ilah to power as regent for Faisal II.
• 1942 – World War II: Imperial Japanese Navy midget submarines begin a series of attacks on Sydney, Australia.
• 1961 – The Union of South Africa becomes the Republic of South Africa.
• 1961 – In Moscow City Court, the Rokotov–Faibishenko show trial begins, despite the Khrushchev Thaw to reverse Stalinist elements in Soviet society.
• 1962 – The West Indies Federation dissolves.
• 1962 – Adolf Eichmann is hanged in Israel.
• 1970 – The Ancash earthquake causes a landslide that buries the town of Yungay, Peru; more than 47,000 people are killed.
• 1971 – In accordance with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1968, observation of Memorial Day occurs on the last Monday in May for the first time, rather than on the traditional Memorial Day of May 30.
• 1973 – The United States Senate votes to cut off funding for the bombing of Khmer Rouge targets within Cambodia, hastening the end of the Cambodian Civil War.
• 1977 – The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System completed.
• 1981 – Burning of Jaffna library, Sri Lanka, It is one of the violent examples of ethnic biblioclasm of the twentieth century.
• 1985 – 1985 United States-Canadian tornado outbreak: Forty-one tornadoes hit Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario, leaving 76 dead.
• 1989 – A group of six members of the guerrilla group Revolutionary Movement Tupac Amaru (MRTA) of Peru, shot dead eight transsexuals, in the city of Tarapoto.
• 1991 – Bicesse Accords in Angola lay out a transition to multi-party democracy under the supervision of the United Nations' UNAVEM II mission.
• 2005 – Vanity Fair reveals that Mark Felt was Deep Throat
• 2010 – In international waters, armed Shayetet 13 commandos, intending to force the flotilla to anchor at the Ashdod port, boarded ships trying to break the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip, resulting in 9 civilian deaths.

Births

• 1443 – Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby, English mother of Henry VII of England (d. 1509)
• 1469 – Manuel I of Portugal (d. 1521)
• 1535 – Alessandro Allori, Italian painter (d. 1607)
• 1557 – Feodor I of Russia (d. 1598)
• 1613 – John George II, Elector of Saxony (d. 1680)
• 1640 – Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki, Polish king (d. 1673)
• 1641 – Patriarch Dositheos II of Jerusalem, Greek theologian (d. 1707)
• 1656 – Marin Marais, French composer (d. 1728)
• 1683 – Jean-Pierre Christin, French physicist (d. 1755)
• 1732 – Count Hieronymus von Colloredo, Austrian archbishop (d. 1812)
• 1753 – Pierre Victurnien Vergniaud, French lawyer and statesman (d. 1793)
• 1754 – Andrea Appiani, Italian painter (d. 1817)
• 1773 – Ludwig Tieck, German writer (d. 1853)
• 1801 – Johann Georg Baiter, Swiss philologist (d. 1887)
• 1818 – John Albion Andrew, American politician (d. 1867)
• 1819 – Walt Whitman, American poet (d. 1892)
• 1835 – Hijikata Toshizō, Japanese military leader (d. 1869)
• 1838 – Henry Sidgwick, English philosopher (d. 1900)
• 1847 – William Pirrie, 1st Viscount Pirrie, Irish shipbuilder and businessman (d. 1924)
• 1852 – Francisco Moreno, Argentine explorer and academic (d. 1919)
• 1857 – Pope Pius XI (d. 1939)
• 1860 – Walter Sickert, English painter (d. 1942)
• 1863 – Francis Younghusband, English army officer, explorer, and writer (d. 1942)
• 1872 – W. Heath Robinson, English cartoonist (d. 1944)
• 1879 – Frances Alda, New Zealand-Australian soprano (d. 1952)
• 1882 – Sándor Graf Festetics, Hungarian politician (d. 1956)
• 1883 – Lauri Kristian Relander, Finnish politician (d. 1942)
• 1885 – Alois Hudal, Austrian bishop (d. 1963)
• 1887 – Saint-John Perse, French diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1975)
• 1892 – Michel Kikoine, Belarusian painter (d. 1968)
• 1892 – Erich Neumann, German Nazi politician (d. 1951)
• 1892 – Konstantin Paustovsky, Russian writer (d. 1968)
• 1892 – Gregor Strasser, German Nazi politician (d. 1934)
• 1894 – Fred Allen, American comedian (d. 1956)
• 1898 – Norman Vincent Peale, American minister and author (d. 1993)
• 1901 – Alfredo Antonini, Italian-American conductor and composer (d. 1983)
• 1902 – Billy Mayerl, English pianist and composer (d. 1959)
• 1905 – Florence Desmond, English actress and comedian (d. 1993)
• 1908 – Don Ameche, American actor (d. 1993)
• 1908 – Nils Poppe, Swedish actor (d. 2000)
• 1909 – Art Coulter, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2000)
• 1909 – Aurore Gagnon, French-Canadian child abuse victim (d. 1920)
• 1911 – Maurice Allais, French economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2010)
• 1912 – Alfred Deller, English singer (d. 1979)
• 1914 – Akira Ifukube, Japanese composer (d. 2006)
• 1916 – Bert Haanstra, Dutch director (d. 1997)
• 1916 – Bernard Lewis, English-American historian
• 1919 – Robie Macauley, American novelist and critic (d. 1995)
• 1919 – Huy Can, Vietnamese poet
• 1921 – Alida Valli, Italian actress (d. 2006)
• 1921 – Howard Reig, American radio and television announcer (d. 2008)
• 1922 – Denholm Elliott, English actor (d. 1992)
• 1923 – Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (d. 2005)
• 1928 – Pankaj Roy, Indian cricketer (d. 2001)
• 1930 – Clint Eastwood, American actor and director
• 1931 – John Robert Schrieffer, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1931 – Shirley Verrett, American soprano (d. 2010)
• 1932 – Ed Lincoln, Brazilian musician, composer, and producer
• 1932 – Jay Miner, American integrated circuit designer, (d. 1994)
• 1933 – Henry B. Eyring, American educational administrator, author, and religious leader
• 1934 – Jim Hutton, American actor (d. 1979)
• 1935 – Jim Bolger, New Zealand politician, 35th Prime Minister of New Zealand
• 1938 – Johnny Paycheck, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2003)
• 1938 – John Prescott, Welsh politician
• 1938 – Peter Yarrow, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Peter, Paul and Mary)
• 1939 – Terry Waite, English humanitarian and author
• 1940 – Gilbert Shelton, American illustrator
• 1941 – Louis J. Ignarro, American pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1943 – Sharon Gless, American actress
• 1943 – Joe Namath, American football player and actor
• 1945 – Rainer Werner Fassbinder, German director (d. 1982)
• 1945 – Laurent Gbagbo, Ivorian politician, 4th President of Côte d'Ivoire
• 1945 – Bernard Goldberg, American journalist
• 1946 – Ted Baehr, American publisher and critic
• 1946 – Steve Bucknor, Jamaican cricketer
• 1947 – Junior Campbell, Scottish singer-songwriter, musician, producer, and composer (The Marmalade)
• 1948 – John Bonham, English drummer and songwriter (Led Zeppelin) (d. 1980)
• 1948 – Duncan Hunter, American politician
• 1948 – Lynda Bellingham, Canadian-English actress and broadcaster
• 1949 – Tom Berenger, American actor
• 1949 – Nancy Shade, American soprano and actress
• 1950 – Gregory Harrison, American actor
• 1950 – Jean Chalopin, French director, producer, and writer, founder of DiC Entertainment
• 1950 – Edgar Savisaar, Estonian politician
• 1952 – Karl Bartos, German singer and musician (Kraftwerk and Electronic)
• 1952 – Isikia Savua, Fijian diplomat (d. 2011)
• 1953 – Pirkka-Pekka Petelius, Finnish actor
• 1954 – Vicki Sue Robinson, American actress and singer (d. 2000)
• 1954 – Thomas Mavros, Greek footballer
• 1955 – Bruce Adolphe, American composer, scholar, author, and pianist
• 1955 – Tommy Emmanuel, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (Dragon)
• 1955 – Susie Essman, American actress
• 1956 – Fritz Hilpert, German musician (Kraftwerk)
• 1957 – Jim Craig, American ice hockey player
• 1959 – Andrea de Cesaris, Italian race car driver
• 1960 – Greg Adams, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1960 – Chris Elliott, American actor, comedian, and writer
• 1960 – Peter Winterbottom, English Rugby player
• 1961 – Ray Cote, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1961 – Lea Thompson, American actress
• 1961 – Justin Madden, Australian footballer and politician
• 1962 – Corey Hart, Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, and producer
• 1962 – Sebastian Koch, German actor
• 1963 – Hugh Dillon, Canadian singer, producer, and actor (Headstones)
• 1963 – Viktor Orbán, Hungarian politician
• 1963 – Wesley Willis, American singer and keyboardist (Wesley Willis Fiasco) (d. 2003)
• 1964 – Leonard Asper, Canadian businessman and lawyer
• 1964 – Yukio Edano, Japanese politician
• 1964 – Scotti Hill, American guitarist and songwriter (Skid Row)
• 1964 – Darryl McDaniels, American rapper and producer (Run-D.M.C.)
• 1965 – Giorgos Gasparis, Greek basketball player
• 1965 – Brooke Shields, American actress and model
• 1966 – Jeremy Hotz, Canadian comedian and actor
• 1966 – Nick Scotti, American actor, model, and singer
• 1966 – Roshan Mahanama, Sri Lankan cricketer
• 1967 – Sandrine Bonnaire, French actress
• 1967 – Phil Keoghan, New Zealand television host and producer
• 1967 – Kenny Lofton, American baseball player
• 1967 – Vampiro, Canadian-Mexican wrestler
• 1968 – John Connolly, Irish author
• 1968 – Stéphane E. Roy, Canadian actor and comedian
• 1969 – Mindi Abair, American singer, musician, and composer
• 1971 – Diana Damrau, German soprano
• 1972 – Frode Estil, Norwegian skier
• 1972 – Sarah Murdoch, Australian model and actress
• 1972 – Karl Geary, Irish actor
• 1972 – Dave Roberts, American baseball player
• 1972 – Archie Panjabi, English actress
• 1972 – Antti Niemi, Finnish footballer
• 1973 – Dominique Van Roost, Belgian tennis player
• 1974 – Chad Campbell, American golfer
• 1974 – Zsolt Erdei, Hungarian boxer
• 1974 – Adrian Tomine, American cartoonist
• 1974 – Sean Kent, American comedian, actor, and writer
• 1975 – Yiasoumis Yiasoumi, Greek-Cypriot footballer
• 1976 – Colin Farrell, Irish actor
• 1976 – Matt Harpring, American basketball player
• 1976 – Tonka Tomicic, Chilean model and television host, Miss World Chile 1995
• 1977 – Theodoros Baev, Bulgarian-Greek volleyball player
• 1977 – Phil Devey, Canadian baseball player
• 1977 – Domenico Fioravanti, Italian swimmer
• 1977 – Scott Klopfenstein, American singer-songwriter and musician (Reel Big Fish, The Littlest Man Band, The Scholars, and Nuckle Brothers)
• 1977 – Greg Leeb, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1977 – Eric Christian Olsen, American actor
• 1977 – Joachim Olsen, Danish athlete
• 1977 – Joel Ross, English disc jockey
• 1977 – June Sarpong, English television host
• 1977 – Moses Sichone, Zambian footballer
• 1977 – Petr Tenkrát, Czech ice hockey player
• 1979 – Jean-François Gillet, Belgian footballer
• 1980 – Craig Bolton, Australian rules footballer
• 1980 – Andy Hurley, American drummer (Fall Out Boy, The Damned Things, Project Rocket, and Racetraitor)
• 1981 – Mikael Antonsson, Swedish footballer
• 1981 – Yoon Mi-rae, American-Korean singer and rapper (Uptown)
• 1981 – Jake Peavy, American baseball player
• 1982 – Jonathan Tucker, American actor
• 1983 – David Hernandez, American singer-songwriter and model
• 1983 – Dustin Wells, New Zealand footballer
• 1983 – Reggie Yates, English television presenter
• 1984 – Andrew Bailey, American baseball player
• 1984 – Milorad Čavić, Serbian swimmer
• 1984 – Nate Robinson, American basketball player
• 1984 – Jason Smith, Australian actor
• 1985 – Navene Koperweis, American musician, producer, and composer (Animals as Leaders, Animosity, and The Faceless)
• 1985 – Ian Vougioukas, Greek basketball player
• 1986 – Waka Flocka Flame, American rapper (1017 Brick Squad)
• 1986 – Robert Gesink, Dutch cyclist
• 1986 – Melissa McIntyre, Canadian actress
• 1987 – Shaun Fleming, American actor
• 1987 – Meredith Hagner, American actress
• 1987 – Curtis Williams, American actor and rapper
• 1987 – Nagi Yanagi, Japanese singer
• 1988 – Lisa Bund, German singer
• 1988 – Hope Partlow, American singer
• 1988 – T.J. Tauvao, Australian singer (Random)
• 1989 – Pablo Alborán, Spanish singer and musician
• 1989 – Bas Dost, Dutch footballer
• 1989 – Marco Reus, German footballer
• 1990 – Erik Karlsson, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1991 – Azealia Banks, American rapper and songwriter

Deaths

• 455 – Petronius Maximus, Roman emperor
• 1076 – Waltheof of Northumbria, Anglo-Danish nobleman (b. 1050)
• 1162 – Géza II of Hungary (b. 1130)
• 1246 – Isabella of Angoulême (b. 1188)
• 1349 – Thomas Wake, 2nd Baron Wake of Liddell, English politician (b. 1297)
• 1408 – Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, Japanese shogun (b. 1358)
• 1410 – Martin of Aragon (b. 1356)
• 1495 – Cecily Neville, Duchess of York (b. 1415)
• 1558 – Philip Hoby, English politician (b. 1505)
• 1567 – Guido de Bres, Belgian theologian (b. 1522)
• 1594 – Tintoretto, Italian painter (b. 1518)
• 1680 – Joachim Neander, German theologian, writer, and educator (b. 1650)
• 1740 – Frederick William I of Prussia (b. 1688)
• 1747 – Andrei Osterman, Russian statesman (b. 1686)
• 1799 – Pierre Lemonnier, French astronomer (b. 1715)
• 1809 – Joseph Haydn, Austrian composer (b. 1732)
• 1809 – Jean Lannes, French marshal (b. 1769)
• 1831 – Samuel Bentham, English mechanical engineer (b. 1757)
• 1832 – Évariste Galois, French mathematician (b. 1811)
• 1837 – Joseph Grimaldi, English actor and comedian, created the clown (b. 1779)
• 1846 – Philip Marheineke, German clergyman (b. 1780)
• 1847 – Thomas Chalmers, Scottish pastor (b. 1780)
• 1848 – Eugénie de Guérin, French writer (b. 1805)
• 1908 – Louis-Honoré Fréchette, French-Canadian poet (b. 1839)
• 1910 – Elizabeth Blackwell, American physician (b. 1821)
• 1931 – Felix-Raymond-Marie Rouleau, French-Canadian cardinal (b. 1866)
• 1931 – Willy Stöwer, German artist (b. 1864)
• 1945 – Odilo Globocnik, Austrian SS officer (b. 1904)
• 1954 – Antonis Benakis, Greek politician and art collector (b. 1873)
• 1957 – Stefanos Sarafis, Greek army officer (b. 1890)
• 1957 – Leopold Staff, Polish poet (b. 1878)
• 1960 – Willem Elsschot, Flemish writer (b. 1882)
• 1960 – Walther Funk, Nazi leader (b. 1890)
• 1961 – Walter Little, Canadian politician (b. 1877)
• 1962 – Henry Fountain Ashurst, American politician (b. 1874)
• 1962 – Adolf Eichmann, German Nazi official (b. 1906)
• 1963 – Edith Hamilton, German-American educator and author (b. 1867)
• 1967 – Billy Strayhorn, American composer, pianist, and arranger (b. 1915)
• 1970 – Terry Sawchuk, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1929)
• 1972 – Walter Freeman, American physician and neurologist (b. 1895)
• 1976 – Jacques Monod, French biologist, Nobel laureate (b. 1910)
• 1977 – William Castle, American director (b. 1914)
• 1978 – József Bozsik, Hungarian footballer (b. 1925)
• 1982 – Carlo Mauri, Italian mountaineer (b. 1930)
• 1983 – Jack Dempsey, American boxer (b. 1895)
• 1985 – Gaston Rébuffat, French mountaineer (b. 1921)
• 1986 – Jane Frank, American artist (b. 1918)
• 1986 – James Rainwater, American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1917)
• 1987 – John Abraham, Indian director (b. 1937)
• 1992 – Walter Neugebauer, Croatian writer and illustrator (b. 1921)
• 1993 – Francis Lynch, American politician (b. 1920)
• 1994 – Herva Nelli, Italian soprano (b. 1909)
• 1996 – Timothy Leary, American psychologist and writer (b. 1920)
• 1997 – James Bennett Griffin, American archaeologist (b. 1905)
• 1998 – Charles Van Acker, Belgian race car driver (b. 1912)
• 2000 – Tito Puente, American musician and producer (b. 1923)
• 2000 – Johnnie Taylor, American singer (b. 1938)
• 2001 – Arlene Francis, American actress (b. 1907)
• 2002 – Subhash Gupte, Indian cricketer (b. 1929)
• 2004 – Robert Quine, American guitarist (Richard Hell and the Voidoids and Material) (b. 1941)
• 2004 – Étienne Roda-Gil, French songwriter and screenwriter (b. 1941)
• 2006 – Ryan Bennett, American sportscaster (b. 1970)
• 2006 – Miguel Berrocal, Spanish sculptor (b. 1933)
• 2006 – Raymond Davis Jr., American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1914)
• 2006 – Lula Mae Hardaway, American songwriter, mother of singer Stevie Wonder (b. 1930)
• 2009 – Millvina Dean, English survivor of the RMS Titanic sinking (b. 1912)
• 2009 – George Tiller, American physician (b. 1941)
• 2009 – Danny La Rue, Irish-English actor and singer (b. 1927)
• 2010 – Louise Bourgeois, French-American sculptor (b. 1911)
• 2010 – Brian Duffy, English photographer and producer (b. 1933)
• 2010 – William A. Fraker, American cinematographer (b. 1923)
• 2010 – Rubén Juárez, Argentine singer-songwriter and musician (b. 1947)
• 2010 – Benjamin Lees, American composer (b. 1924)
• 2010 – Merata Mita, New Zealand director, producer, and writer (b. 1942)
• 2011 – Pauline Betz, American tennis player (b. 1919)
• 2011 – Jonas Bevacqua, American fashion designer, co-founded Lifted Research Group (b. 1977)
• 2011 – Conrado Estrella, Sr., Filipino politician (b. 1917)
• 2011 – Derek Hodge, U.S. Virgin Islander politician and lawyer (b. 1941)
• 2011 – Keith Irvine, Scottish-American interior designer (b. 1928)
• 2011 – Hans Keilson, German-Dutch novelist, poet, and psychoanalyst (b. 1909)
• 2011 – John Martin, English admiral (b. 1918)
• 2011 – Adolfas Mekas, Lithuanian-American director (b. 1925)
• 2011 – Andy Robustelli, American football player (b. 1925)
• 2011 – Philip Rose, American director and producer (b. 1921)
• 2011 – Ezzatollah Sahabi, Iranian scholar, humanitarian, activist, and politician (b. 1930)
• 2011 – Hugh Stewart, English editor and producer (b. 1910)
• 2011 – Grant Sullivan, American actor (b. 1924)
• 2011 – Ram Man Trishit, Nepali songwriter (b. 1941)
• 2011 – Sølvi Wang, Norwegian actress and singer (b. 1929)
• 2011 – Jennifer Worth, English nurse and author (b. 1935)
• 2012 – Farid Habib, Lebanese politician (b. 1935)
• 2012 – Randall B. Kester, American attorney and judge (b. 1916)
• 2012 – Mark Midler, Russian fencer (b. 1931)
• 2012 – Orlando Woolridge, American basketball player (b. 1959)

Holidays and observances

• Anniversary of Royal Brunei Malay Regiment (Brunei)
• Castile–La Mancha Day (Castile–La Mancha)
• Christian Feast Day:
  • Petronella
  • Hermias
  • May 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Visitation of Mary (Western Christianity)
• World No Tobacco Day (International)

External links

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

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