On this day: May 31

Events on May 31

• 1215 A Mongol army under Genghis Khan captured Zhongdu (modern Beijing), the capital of the Jin dynasty of China. Wikipedia
• 1215 Zhongdu (now Beijing), then under the control of the Jurchen ruler Emperor Xuanzong of Jin, is captured by the Mongols under Genghis Khan, ending the Battle of Zhongdu. Wikipedia
• 1223 Mongol invasion of the Cumans: Battle of the Kalka River: Mongol armies of Genghis Khan led by Subutai defeat Kievan Rus' and Cumans. Wikipedia
• 1578 King Henry III lays the first stone of the Pont Neuf (New Bridge), the oldest bridge of Paris, France. Wikipedia
• 1795 French Revolution: The Revolutionary Tribunal is suppressed. Wikipedia
• 1847 Qajar Iran and the Ottoman Empire determine their international boundary in the second treaty of Erzurum. Wikipedia
• 1862 American Civil War: Confederate troops under Joseph E. Johnston and G. W. Smith engaged Union forces under George B. McClellan at the Battle of Seven Pines outside Richmond, Virginia. Wikipedia
• 1884 The arrival at Plymouth of Tāwhiao, King of Maoris, to claim the protection of Queen Victoria. Wikipedia
• 1902 The Second Boer War came to an end with the signing of the Treaty of Vereeniging in Pretoria, South Africa. Wikipedia
• 1916 World War I: Battle of Jutland: The British Grand Fleet engages the High Seas Fleet in the largest naval battle of the war, which proves indecisive. Wikipedia
• 1935 A 7.7 Mw earthquake destroys Quetta in modern-day Pakistan killing 40,000. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1941 World War II: German forces dropped four bombs on neutral Ireland, killing 28 people and damaging Áras an Uachtaráin, the residence of the President of Ireland. Wikipedia
• 1942 World War II: Imperial Japanese Navy midget submarines begin a series of attacks on Sydney, Australia. Wikipedia
• 1961 The South African Constitution of 1961 becomes effective, thus creating the Republic of South Africa, which remains outside the Commonwealth of Nations until 1 June 1994, when South Africa is returned to Commonwealth membership. Wikipedia
• 1970 The 7.9 Mw Ancash earthquake shakes Peru with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe) and a landslide buries the town of Yungay, Peru. Between 66,794 and 70,000 were killed and 50,000 were injured. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1973 Indian Airlines Flight 440 crashes near Palam Airport in Delhi, killing 48. Wikipedia
• 1985 United States–Canada tornado outbreak: Forty-one tornadoes hit Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario, leaving 76 dead. Wikipedia
• 1991 Bicesse Accords in Angola lay out a transition to multi-party democracy under the supervision of the United Nations' UNAVEM II peacekeeping mission. Wikipedia
• 2010 Israeli Shayetet 13 commandos board the Gaza Freedom Flotilla while still in international waters trying to break the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip; nine Turkish citizens on the flotilla were killed in the ensuing violent affray. Wikipedia
• 2013 The asteroid 1998 QE2 and its moon make their closest approach to Earth for the next two centuries. Wikipedia
• 2017 A car bomb exploded near the German embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing more than 90 people and injuring 463 others. Wikipedia
• 2017 A car bomb explodes in a crowded intersection in Kabul near the German embassy during rush hour, killing over 90 and injuring 463. Wikipedia
• 2019 A shooting occurs inside a municipal building at Virginia Beach, Virginia, leaving 13 people dead, including the shooter, and four others injured. Wikipedia

Born on May 31

• 1469 Manuel I of Portugal (died 1521) Wikipedia
• 1725 Ahilyabai Holkar, Queen of the Malwa Kingdom under the Maratha Empire (died 1795) Wikipedia
• 1819 Walt Whitman, American poet, essayist, and journalist (died 1892) Wikipedia
• 1857 Pope Pius XI (died 1939) Wikipedia
• 1887 Saint-John Perse, French poet and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1975) Wikipedia
• 1911 Maurice Allais, French economist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2010) Wikipedia
• 1912 Chien-Shiung Wu, Chinese-American experimental physicist (died 1997) Wikipedia
• 1918 Robert Osterloh, American actor (died 2001)[better source needed] Wikipedia
• 1930 Clint Eastwood, American actor, director, musician, and producer Wikipedia
• 1931 John Robert Schrieffer, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2019) Wikipedia
• 1941 Louis Ignarro, American pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1941 William Nordhaus, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1945 Laurent Gbagbo, Ivorian academic and politician, 4th President of Côte d'Ivoire Wikipedia
• 1945 Rainer Werner Fassbinder, German actor, director, and screenwriter (died 1982) Wikipedia
• 1948 Svetlana Alexievich, Belarusian journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1962 Dina Boluarte, Peruvian politician, 64th President of Peru Wikipedia
• 1963 Viktor Orbán, Hungarian politician, 38th Prime Minister of Hungary Wikipedia
• 1963 David Leigh, holder of the Sir Samuel Hall Chair of Chemistry at the University of Manchester Wikipedia
• 1965 Brooke Shields, American model, actress, and producer Wikipedia
• 1976 Colin Farrell, Irish actor Wikipedia
• 1989 Marco Reus, German footballer Wikipedia
• 2001 Iga Świątek, Polish tennis player Wikipedia

Died on May 31

• 455 Petronius Maximus, Roman emperor (born 396) Wikipedia
• 1594 Tintoretto, Italian painter and educator (born 1518) Wikipedia
• 1740 Frederick William I of Prussia (born 1688) Wikipedia
• 1809 Joseph Haydn, Austrian pianist and composer (born 1732) Wikipedia
• 1832 Évariste Galois, French mathematician and theorist (born 1811) Wikipedia
• 1910 Elizabeth Blackwell, English-American physician and educator (born 1821) Wikipedia
• 1945 Odilo Globocnik, Italian-Austrian SS officer (born 1904) Wikipedia
• 1976 Jacques Monod, French biologist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1910) Wikipedia
• 1986 James Rainwater, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1917) Wikipedia
• 1996 Timothy Leary, American psychologist and author (born 1920) Wikipedia
• 2006 Raymond Davis Jr., American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1914) Wikipedia
• 2009 Danny La Rue, Irish-British drag queen performer and singer (born 1927) Wikipedia
• 2010 Louise Bourgeois, French-American sculptor and painter (born 1911) Wikipedia
• 2024 Marian Robinson, mother of Michelle Obama (born 1937) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Anniversary of Royal Brunei Malay Regiment (Brunei) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Camilla Battista da Varano Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Cantius, Cantianus, and Cantianilla Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Hermias Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Mariano da Roccacasale Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Petronella Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Robert Thorpe Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Visitation of Mary (Western Christianity) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: May 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Kaamatan, harvest festival in the state of Sabah and the federal territory of Labuan (Malaysia) Wikipedia
• World No Tobacco Day (International) Wikipedia
• Borobi Day (Australia) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “May 31” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.