May 31st, 1278

Born on May 31st, 1278

Age in days, weeks and months
Wow, over 272,000 days old!

Why not celebrate an alternative birthday? In 563 days, exactly on November 11th, 2025, people who were born on May 31st, 1278 will be 273,000 days old!

... in seconds, minutes and hours

What happened on May 31st?

May 31st, 2013

A tornado struck Central Oklahoma, killing 8 people and injuring more than 150.

May 31st, 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.

May 31st, 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 Library in Sri Lanka.

May 31st, 1941

The United Kingdom completed its re-occupation of Iraq, returning Abd al-Ilah to power as regent for Faisal II.

May 31st, 1935

An earthquake registering 7.7 Mw struck Balochistan in British India, now part of Pakistan, killing between 30,000 and 60,000 people.

May 31st, 1902

The Second Boer War came to an end with the signing of the Treaty of Vereeniging in Pretoria, South Africa.

May 31st, 1879

Gilmore's Garden in New York City was renamed Madison Square Garden, the city's first venue to use that name.

May 31st, 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.

May 31st, 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 Parliament.

May 31st, 1468

Cardinal Bessarion (pictured) announced his donation of 746 Greek and Latin codices to the Republic of Venice, forming the Biblioteca Marciana.

May 31st, 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.

May 31st, 1223

Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus': Mongol forces defeated a Kievan Rus' army at the Kalka River in present-day Ukraine.

May 31st, 1215

A Mongol army under Genghis Khan captures Zhongdu (modern Beijing), the capital of the Jin dynasty.

May 31st, 0455

Petronius Maximus, ruler of the Western Roman Empire, was stoned to death by a mob as he fled Rome ahead of the arrival of a Vandal force that sacked the city.

May 31st, 2019

A shooting occurs inside a municipal building at Virginia Beach, Virginia, leaving 13 people dead, including the shooter, and four others injured.

Birthdays
... of famous people, actors, celebrities and stars on May 31st

Same Day
Who's birthday is on May 31st?

46

Philip IV of France

King of France 1285-1314

*May 31st, 1268, Fontainebleau †November 29th, 1314, Fontainebleau

70

Michael Wittenborn

German actor

*May 31st, 1953, Bielefeld

66

Margaret Beaufort

Noblewoman; Mother of King Henry VII

*May 31st, 1443, Bedfordshire †June 29th, 1509, Westminster

60

Viktor Orbán

Prime Minister of Hungary (1998–2002; 2010–present)

*May 31st, 1963, Székesfehérvár

93

Bernhard Hassenstein

German biologist

*May 31st, 1922, Potsdam †April 16th, 2016, Freiburg im Breisgau

88

Saint-John Perse

French poet and diplomat

*May 31st, 1887, Pointe-à-Pitre †September 20th, 1975, Hyères

65

Genghis Khan

Founder and first khan of the Mongol Empire

*May 31st, 1162, Delüün Boldog †August 18th, 1227, Yinchuan

47

Colin Farrell

Irish actor (born 1976)

*May 31st, 1976, Dublin

82

Karin Tietze-Ludwig

German television presenter

*May 31st, 1941, Siegen

99

Maurice Allais

French economist (1911–2010)

*May 31st, 1911, Paris †October 9th, 2010, Saint-Cloud

58

Brooke Shields

American actress (born 1965)

*May 31st, 1965, Manhattan

34

Marco Reus

German footballer (born 1989)

*May 31st, 1989, Dortmund

72

Walt Whitman

American poet, essayist and journalist

*May 31st, 1819, West Hills †March 26th, 1892, Camden

93

Clint Eastwood

American actor and film director (born 1930)

*May 31st, 1930, San Francisco

27

Normani

American singer and dancer

*May 31st, 1996, Atlanta

88

Jim Bolger

Prime minister of New Zealand from 1990 to 1997

*May 31st, 1935, Ōpunake

81

Pius XI

Pope of the Catholic Church from 1922 to 1939

*May 31st, 1857, Desio †February 10th, 1939, Vatican City

101

Bernard Lewis

British-American historian (1916–2018)

*May 31st, 1916, London †May 19th, 2018, Voorhees Township

33

Daniela Samulski

German swimmer

*May 31st, 1984, Berlin †May 22nd, 2018

45

Jim Hutton

Actor (1934-1979)

*May 31st, 1934, Binghamton †June 2nd, 1979, Los Angeles

71

Nicolas Poussin

French painter (1594-1665)

*May 31st, 1594, Les Andelys †November 19th, 1665, Rome

37

Robert Gesink

Road bicycle racer

*May 31st, 1986, Varsseveld

27

Joachim Andersen

Danish association football player

*May 31st, 1996, Frederiksberg

66

Jim Craig

American ice hockey goaltender

*May 31st, 1957, Easton

76

Gabriele Hinzmann

East German discus thrower

*May 31st, 1947, Schwerin

89

Frei Otto

German architect (1925-2015)

*May 31st, 1925, Siegmar †March 9th, 2015, Leonberg

40

Feodor I of Russia

Tsar of Russia (1557-1598)

*May 31st, 1557, Pereslavl-Zalessky †January 7th, 1598, Moscow

67

James II of Majorca

King of Majorca

*May 31st, 1243, Montpellier †May 29th, 1311, Palma de Mallorca

78

Laurent Gbagbo

4th President of Ivory Coast

*May 31st, 1945, Gagnoa

48

Merle Dandridge

American actress and singer

*May 31st, 1975, Okinawa Prefecture

75

Svetlana Aleksievich

Belarusian investigative journalist and non-fiction prose writer

*May 31st, 1948, Ivano-Frankivsk

90

Joe Robinson

English actor (1927-2017)

*May 31st, 1927, Newcastle upon Tyne †July 3rd, 2017, Brighton

88

John Robert Schrieffer

American physicist (1931-2019)

*May 31st, 1931, Oak Park †July 27th, 2019, Tallahassee

77

Luís Carlos Miele

Brazilian actor, producer and director

*May 31st, 1938, São Paulo †October 14th, 2015, Rio de Janeiro

61

Dina Boluarte

President of Peru since 2022

*May 31st, 1962, Chalhuanca

84

Chien-Shiung Wu

Chinese-American experimental physicist

*May 31st, 1912, Taicang †February 16th, 1997, New York City

53

Paolo Sorrentino

Italian film director and screenwriter

*May 31st, 1970, Naples

70

Denholm Elliott

British actor (1922–1992)

*May 31st, 1922, Ealing †October 6th, 1992, Santa Eulària des Riu

82

William Nordhaus

American economist

*May 31st, 1941, Albuquerque

89

Erich Meuthen

German medievalist and archivist

*May 31st, 1929, Mönchengladbach †June 11th, 2018, Cologne

Birthdays of famous people

Public holidays on May 31st

Fixed holidays (Christian feast day) which are celebrated on May 31st.

Date as a Roman numeral / digit

Leap year

No: With 365 days 1278 is a normal year and no leap year.

Calendar
May 1278