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

Events

1500-1899

• 1578 - Martin Frobisher sails from Harwich, England, destined to mine fool's gold at Frobisher Bay, which is used to pave streets in London.
• 1779 - Citing poor eyesight, Samuel Pepys records the last event in his diary.
• 1678 - The Godiva procession through Coventry begins.
• 1759 - The Province of Pennsylvania bans all theater productions.
• 1790 - Alferez Manuel Quimper explores the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
• 1862 - American Civil War: The Battle of Seven Pines.
• 1864 - American Civil War: The Battle of Cold Harbor begins.
• 1866 - In the Fenian Invasion of Canada, John O'Neill leads 800 Fenian raiders across the Niagara River at Buffalo, New York/Fort Erie, Ontario, as part of an effort to free Ireland from the English.
• 1884 - John Harvey Kellogg patents corn flakes.
• 1889 - Johnstown Flood: Over 2200 people die in the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

1900-1999

• 1902 - Second Boer War: The last Afrikaner resistance forces sign a peace treaty with the British at Pretoria, ending the war, and ensuring British control of South Africa.
• 1910 - Creation of the Union of South Africa.
• 1913 - The Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, authorizing direct election of United States Senators, is declared ratified.
• 1916 - World War I: The Battle of Jutland.
• 1921 - Tulsa Race Riot: More than 300 were killed in a race riot in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
• 1921 - Comedian Buster Keaton marries actress Natalie Talmadge.
• 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
• 1942 - The Luftwaffe bombs Coventry, England
• 1952 - Dwight D. Eisenhower retires from active service in the United States Army.
• 1961 - Creation of the Republic of South Africa.
• 1962 - The West Indies Federation dissolves
• 1974 - Syria and Israel sign a disengagement agreement to resolve the Yom Kippur War
• 1977 - The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System is completed.
• 1985 - The US-Canadian Outbreak occurred. Forty-one tornadoes occurred in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Ontario. Seventy-six dead.
• 1997 - The Confederation Bridge opens.

2000-2099

• 2002 - May 31 through June 30 - 17th Football World Cup in Japan and South Korea.
• 2003 - Eric Rudolph is captured in Murphy, North Carolina.
• 2004 - A foul-up during routine software update at the Royal Bank of Canada leads to a three-day misplacement of ten million account balances.

Births

1000-1899

• 1048 - Omar Khayyam, Persian poet, astronomer, mathematician and philosopher (d. 1131)
• 1443 - Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII of England (d. 1509)
• 1469 - King Manuel I of Portugal (d. 1521)
• 1656 - Marin Marais, French composer and viol player.
• 1750 - Karl August of Hardenberg, statesman and reformer (d. 1822)
• 1753 - Pierre Victurnien Vergniaud, French revolutionist (d. 1793)
• 1773 - Ludwig Tieck, German poet and writer (d. 1853)
• 1801 - Johann Georg Baiter, Swiss philologist (d. 1887)
• 1819 - Walt Whitman, American poet (d. 1892)
• 1838 - Henry Sidgwick, English philosopher (d. 1900)
• 1857 - Pope Pius XI (d. 1939)
• 1860 - Walter Sickert, English painter (d. 1942)
• 1872 - Heath Robinson, English cartoonist (d. 1944)
• 1883 - Lauri Kristian Relander, Finnish president (d. 1942)
• 1892 - Michel Kikoine, Belarus paitner (d. 1968)
• 1894 - Fred Allen, American comedian (d. 1956)
• 1898 - Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, American clergyman (d. 1993)

1900-1999

• 1908 - Don Ameche, American actor (d. 1993)
• 1912 - Alfred Deller, English countertenor (d. 1979)
• 1922 - Denholm Elliott, English actor (d. 1992)
• 1923 - Prince Rainier III of Monaco
• 1926 - James Krüss, author (d. 1997)
• 1929 - Menahem Golan, producer
• 1930 - Clint Eastwood, American actor, director, producer
• 1931 - Shirley Verrett, American soprano
• 1932 - Jay Miner, American microchip designer (d. 1994)
• 1938 - Johnny PayCheck, American country music singer (d. 2003)
• 1938 - John Prescott, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• 1938 - Peter Yarrow, American folk singer ("Peter, Paul and Mary")
• 1939 - Terry Waite, British humanitarian
• 1943 - Sharon Gless, American actress
• 1943 - Joe Namath, American football star
• 1945 - Rainer Werner Fassbinder, director (d. 1982)
• 1948 - John Bonham, drummer ("Led Zeppelin") (d. 1980)
• 1949 - Tom Berenger, actor
• 1950 - Gregory Harrison, actor
• 1960 - Chris Elliott, comedian
• 1961 - Lea Thompson, actress
• 1962 - Corey Hart, singer/songwriter
• 1963 - Wesley Willis, musician
• 1965 - Brooke Shields, American model and actress
• 1976 - Colin Farrell, actor
• 1984 - Jason Smith, Australian actor
• 1986 - Cecilie Stokkedal, guitar player ("The Air Band")

Deaths

400-1899

• 455 - Valentinian III, Roman Emperor
• 455 - Petronius Maximus, Roman Emperor (killed by a mob)
• 1246 - Queen consort Isabella of Angouleme
• 1408 - Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, Ashikaga shogun (b. 1358)
• 1680 - Joachim Neander, clergyman
• 1740 - King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia
• 1747 - Andrei Osterman, Russian statesman (b. 1686)
• 1799 - Pierre Lemonnier, astronomer
• 1809 - Joseph Haydn, composer
• 1809 - Jean Lannes, French Marshal of Empire
• 1831 - Samuel Bentham, mechanical engineer
• 1846 - Philip Marheineke, German Protestant divine
• 1848 - Eugénie de Guérin, writer

1900-1999

• 1910 - Elizabeth Blackwell, first female physician in the United States
• 1957 - Leopold Staff, Polish poet (b. 1878)
• 1960 - Walther Funk, Nazi leader
• 1962 - Adolf Eichmann, Nazi official
• 1977 - William Castle, American director
• 1983 - Jack Dempsey, American boxer
• 1996 - Paul Peter Piech, artist
• 1996 - Timothy Leary, American LSD advocate

2000-2099

• 2000 - Tito Puente, musician
• 2000 - Johnnie Taylor, vocalist
• 2004 - Robert Quine, punk rock guitarist (b. 1942)

Holidays and observances

• Feast day of Mary, Mediatrix of all Graces
• The Godiva procession
• World No Tobacco day
• Syaday (Discordianism) (5th day of the season of Confusion, honors Apostle Sri Syadasti)

May 30 - June 1 - April 30 - June 30 - listing of all days