# On this day: May 31

May 31 is the 151st day of the year (152nd in leap years), with 214 days left until the end of the year.

## May 31 in one line

Headline entries for May 31, from Wikipedia: in 455, Petronius Maximus, the ruler of the Western Roman Empire, was stoned to death by a mob as he fled Rome before Vandal forces arrived and sacked the city; born 1819: Walt Whitman, American poet, essayist, and journalist (died 1892); died 1809: Joseph Haydn, Austrian pianist and composer (born 1732). In 2026 it is a Sunday, in 2027 a Monday.

## Events on May 31

- 455 Petronius Maximus, the ruler of the Western Roman Empire, was stoned to death by a mob as he fled Rome before Vandal forces arrived and sacked the city. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petronius_Maximus)
- 1215 A Mongol army under Genghis Khan captured Zhongdu (modern Beijing), the capital of the Jin dynasty of China. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sieges_of_Zhongdu)
- 1223 Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus': Mongol forces defeated a Kievan Rus' army at the Battle of the Kalka River in present-day Ukraine. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Kalka_River)
- 1293 Majapahit forces under Raden Wijaya won a major victory in the Mongol invasion of Java, now considered to be the founding date of the Indonesian city of Surabaya. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongol_invasion_of_Java)
- 1468 Cardinal Bessarion announced his donation of 746 Greek and Latin codices to the Republic of Venice, forming the Biblioteca Marciana. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblioteca_Marciana)
- 1775 American Revolution: The Committee of Safety of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, adopted the Mecklenburg Resolves, which annulled and vacated all laws originating from the authority of the king or the Parliament of Great Britain. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mecklenburg_Resolves)
- 1795 French Revolution: The Revolutionary Tribunal is suppressed. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutionary_Tribunal)
- 1859 The Great Clock at the Houses of Parliament (now known as the Elizabeth Tower) starts keeping time. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Ben)
- 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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Seven_Pines)
- 1902 The Second Boer War came to an end with the signing of the Treaty of Vereeniging in Pretoria, South Africa. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Vereeniging)
- 1910 The South Africa Act comes into force, establishing the Union of South Africa. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa_Act_1909)
- 1911 The RMS Titanic is launched in Belfast, Northern Ireland. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanic)
- 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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jutland)
- 1921 The Tulsa race massacre kills at least 39, but other estimates of black fatalities vary from 55 to about 300. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulsa_race_massacre)
- 1935 A magnitude-7.7 earthquake struck Balochistan in British India, now part of Pakistan, killing between 30,000 and 60,000 people [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1935_Quetta_earthquake)
- 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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Dublin_in_World_War_II)
- 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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Iraqi_War)
- 1981 An organized mob of police and government-sponsored Sinhalese paramilitary forces began three days of attacks that led to the burning of the Jaffna Public Library in Sri Lanka, destroying more than 97,000 items in one of the most violent 20th-century examples of ethnic biblioclasm. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_of_the_Jaffna_Public_Library)
- 2003 Air France retires its fleet of Concorde aircraft. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France)
- 2008 Usain Bolt breaks the world record in the 100m sprint, with a wind-legal (+1.7 m/s) 9.72 seconds. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usain_Bolt)
- 2008 Space Shuttle Discovery launches on STS-124 carrying the second portion of the Japanese Kibō module to the International Space Station. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-124)
- 2009 American physician George Tiller, one of the few doctors in the country who performed late-term abortions, was shot and killed by Scott Roeder, an anti-abortion activist. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Tiller)
- 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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Gaza_flotilla_raid)
- 2013 An extremely large, powerful, and erratic tornado struck Central Oklahoma, killing eight people and injuring more than 150 others. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_El_Reno_tornado)
- 2017 A car bomb exploded near the German embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing more than 90 people and injuring 463 others. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_2017_Kabul_bombing)
- 2019 A shooting at a municipal building in Virginia Beach, United States, left 13 people dead, including the gunman, and injured four others. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Virginia_Beach_shooting)

## Born on May 31

- 1469 Manuel I of Portugal (died 1521) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_I_of_Portugal)
- 1773 Ludwig Tieck, German poet, author, and critic (died 1853) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Tieck)
- 1819 Walt Whitman, American poet, essayist, and journalist (died 1892) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Whitman)
- 1857 Pope Pius XI (died 1939) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Pius_XI)
- 1887 Saint-John Perse, French poet and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1975) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-John_Perse)
- 1908 Don Ameche, American actor (died 1993) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Ameche)
- 1911 Maurice Allais, French economist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2010) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Allais)
- 1912 Chien-Shiung Wu, Chinese-American experimental physicist (died 1997) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chien-Shiung_Wu)
- 1923 Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (died 2005) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainier_III_of_Monaco)
- 1930 Clint Eastwood, American actor, director, musician, and producer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clint_Eastwood)
- 1931 John Robert Schrieffer, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2019) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Robert_Schrieffer)
- 1941 William Nordhaus, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Nordhaus)
- 1945 Laurent Gbagbo, Ivorian academic and politician, 4th President of Côte d'Ivoire [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurent_Gbagbo)
- 1945 Rainer Werner Fassbinder, German actor, director, and screenwriter (died 1982) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainer_Werner_Fassbinder)
- 1948 Svetlana Alexievich, Belarusian journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svetlana_Alexievich)
- 1948 John Bonham, English musician, songwriter and drummer (died 1980) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bonham)
- 1962 Dina Boluarte, Peruvian politician, 64th President of Peru [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dina_Boluarte)
- 1963 Viktor Orbán, Hungarian politician, 38th Prime Minister of Hungary [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Orb%C3%A1n)
- 1965 Brooke Shields, American model, actress, and producer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooke_Shields)
- 1976 Colin Farrell, Irish actor [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Farrell)
- 1989 Marco Reus, German footballer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Reus)
- 2001 Iga Świątek, Polish tennis player [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iga_%C5%9Awi%C4%85tek)

## Died on May 31

- 455 Petronius Maximus, Roman emperor (born 396) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petronius_Maximus)
- 1594 Tintoretto, Italian painter and educator (born 1518) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tintoretto)
- 1740 Frederick William I of Prussia (born 1688) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_William_I_of_Prussia)
- 1809 Joseph Haydn, Austrian pianist and composer (born 1732) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Haydn)
- 1809 Jean Lannes, French general (born 1769) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Lannes)
- 1832 Évariste Galois, French mathematician and theorist (born 1811) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89variste_Galois)
- 1910 Elizabeth Blackwell, English-American physician and educator (born 1821) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Blackwell)
- 1960 Walther Funk, German economist, journalist, and politician, German Minister of Economics (born 1890) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walther_Funk)
- 1976 Jacques Monod, French biologist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1910) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Monod)
- 1983 Jack Dempsey, American boxer and lieutenant (born 1895) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Dempsey)
- 1986 James Rainwater, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1917) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Rainwater)
- 1996 Timothy Leary, American psychologist and author (born 1920) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Leary)
- 2006 Raymond Davis Jr., American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1914) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Davis_Jr.)
- 2010 Louise Bourgeois, French-American sculptor and painter (born 1911) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Bourgeois)

## Holidays and observances

- Anniversary of Royal Brunei Malay Regiment (Brunei) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Brunei_Land_Force)
- Christian feast day: Blessed Camilla Battista da Varano [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camilla_Battista_da_Varano)
- Christian feast day: Cantius, Cantianus, and Cantianilla [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantius%2C_Cantianus%2C_and_Cantianilla)
- Christian feast day: Hermias [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Hermias)
- Christian feast day: Blessed Mariano da Roccacasale [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariano_da_Roccacasale)
- Christian feast day: Petronella [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Petronilla)
- Christian feast day: Blessed Robert Thorpe [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Thorpe_(priest))
- Christian feast day: Visitation of Mary (Western Christianity) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visitation_(Christianity))
- Christian feast day: May 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_31_(Eastern_Orthodox_liturgics))
- Kaamatan, harvest festival in the state of Sabah and the federal territory of Labuan (Malaysia) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaamatan)
- World No Tobacco Day (International) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_No_Tobacco_Day)
- Borobi Day (Australia) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borobi)

## Sources

- [Wikipedia — “May 31”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_31) — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
- [Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/May 31”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Selected_anniversaries/May_31) — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/) — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
- [vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence)](https://github.com/vacanza/holidays) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article [“May 31”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_31) and the articles it links to ([authors and history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_31?action=history)), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/); this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for May 31 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.

## May 31 in the calendar

| Year | Weekday | ISO week | Moon (UTC) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026 | Sunday | 2026-W22 | 🌕 Full Moon |
| 2027 | Monday | 2027-W22 | 🌘 Waning Crescent |
| 2028 | Wednesday | 2028-W22 | 🌓 First Quarter |
| 2029 | Thursday | 2029-W22 | 🌖 Waning Gibbous |
| 2030 | Friday | 2030-W22 | 🌘 Waning Crescent |

Moon phases are for the day in UTC; at the edges of a phase your local date can differ.

## Public holidays on May 31

- [🇺🇸 United States](https://whathappen.today/holidays/united-states/): Memorial Day (2027)
- [🇬🇧 United Kingdom](https://whathappen.today/holidays/united-kingdom/): Spring bank holiday (2027)
- [🇸🇬 Singapore](https://whathappen.today/holidays/singapore/): Vesak Day (2026)
- [🇨🇴 Colombia](https://whathappen.today/holidays/colombia/): Corpus Christi (2027)

[Today's holidays in 28 countries →](https://whathappen.today/holidays/)

## Nearby dates

[← May 30](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/may-30/) · [June 1 →](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/june-1/)

[All 366 days](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/)

Last updated: 15 October 2026

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Web page: https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/may-31/