May 23rd, 1881

Born on May 23rd, 1881

Age in days, weeks and months
Wow, over 52,000 days old!

Why not celebrate an alternative birthday? In 798 days, exactly on July 2nd, 2026, people who were born on May 23rd, 1881 will be 53,000 days old!

... in seconds, minutes and hours

What happened on May 23rd?

May 23rd, 2008

The International Court of Justice awarded the Middle Rocks to Malaysia and Pedra Branca to Singapore, resolving a 29-year-old territorial dispute in the Singapore Strait.

May 23rd, 1999

Professional wrestler Owen Hart died immediately before a match after dropping 70 feet (21 m) onto the ring during a botched entrance.

May 23rd, 1974

The Airbus A300, the first twin-engined wide-body airliner, went into service with Air France.

May 23rd, 1939

The U.S. Navy submarine Squalus sank off Portsmouth, New Hampshire, during tests, causing 26 men to drown.

May 23rd, 1895

Backed by Samuel J. Tilden, the Astor Library and the Lenox Library agreed to merge and form the New York Public Library.

May 23rd, 1873

The North-West Mounted Police, the forerunner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, was established to bring law and order to and assert Canadian sovereignty over the Northwest Territories.

May 23rd, 1862

American Civil War: Confederate troops under Stonewall Jackson defeated a Union force at the Battle of Front Royal in Virginia, taking around 700 prisoners.

May 23rd, 1706

War of the Spanish Succession: The Grand Alliance armies routed the Franco-Spanish-Bavarian army in Ramillies, present-day Belgium.

May 23rd, 1555

Gian Pietro Carafa became Pope Paul IV, beginning a tumultuous four-year papacy during which the Papal States suffered a serious military defeat.

May 23rd, 1533

Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, annulled Henry VIII's marriage to his first wife Catherine of Aragon (pictured), beginning events that would culminate in the English Reformation.

May 23rd, 1430

Hundred Years' War: Joan of Arc (pictured) was captured by Burgundian forces at the Siege of Compiègne.

May 23rd, 1949

Cold War: The Western occupying powers approve the Basic Law and establish a new German state, the Federal Republic of Germany.

May 23rd, 1948

Thomas C. Wasson, the US Consul-General, is assassinated in Jerusalem, Israel.

May 23rd, 1945

World War II: Germany's Flensburg Government under Karl Dönitz is dissolved when its members are arrested by British forces.

May 23rd, 1939

The U.S. Navy submarine USS Squalus sinks off the coast of New Hampshire during a test dive, causing the death of 24 sailors and two civilian technicians. The remaining 32 sailors and one civilian naval architect are rescued the following day.

Birthdays
... of famous people, actors, celebrities and stars on May 23rd

Born on May 23rd, 1881

70

Ludwig Kaas

German politician (1881-1952)

*May 23rd, 1881, Trier †April 15th, 1952, Rome

Same Day
Who's birthday is on May 23rd?

90

Gayatri Devi

Maharani of Jaipur and Indian politician (1919–2009)

*May 23rd, 1919, London †July 29th, 2009, Jaipur

31

Jordan Rakei

New Zealander-Australian musician, singer, songwriter and record producer

*May 23rd, 1992, Hamilton

35

Sara Hjort Ditlevsen

Danish actress

*May 23rd, 1988, Copenhagen

66

Martin McGuinness

Sinn Féin politician and deputy First Minister (1950-2017)

*May 23rd, 1950, Derry †March 21st, 2017, Altnagelvin Area Hospital

70

Carl Linnaeus

Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist (1707–1778)

*May 23rd, 1707, Råshult †January 10th, 1778, Linnaeus Hammarby

32

Lena Meyer-Landrut

German singer

*May 23rd, 1991, Hanover

90

Joan Collins

English actress, author and columnist

*May 23rd, 1933, London

76

James Gleason

American actor (1882-1959)

*May 23rd, 1882, New York City †April 12th, 1959, Woodland Hills

87

Tudor Arghezi

Romanian writer

*May 23rd, 1880, Bucharest †July 14th, 1967, Bucharest

77

John Payne

American actor 1912-1989

*May 23rd, 1912, Roanoke †December 6th, 1989, Malibu

80

Corrado Gini

Italian statistician (1884-1965)

*May 23rd, 1884, Motta di Livenza †March 13th, 1965, Rome

75

Herbert Marshall

Actor (1890-1966)

*May 23rd, 1890, London †January 22nd, 1966, Beverly Hills

56

Wotan Wilke Möhring

German actor

*May 23rd, 1967, Detmold

56

Douglas Fairbanks

American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer (1883–1939)

*May 23rd, 1883, Denver †December 12th, 1939, Santa Monica

65

Lea DeLaria

American actor, comedian and singer

*May 23rd, 1958, Belleville

72

Anatoly Karpov

Russian chess player

*May 23rd, 1951, Zlatoust

65

Thomas Bestvater

Swiss actor

*May 23rd, 1958, Herrliberg

83

Pär Lagerkvist

Swedish writer (1891–1974)

*May 23rd, 1891, Växjö †July 11th, 1974, Danderyd

46

Hans Frank

German lawyer, Nazi politician, General Governor of Nazi occupied Poland and convicted war criminal (1900-1946)

*May 23rd, 1900, Karlsruhe †October 16th, 1946, Nuremberg

82

John Bardeen

American physicist and engineer

*May 23rd, 1908, Madison †January 30th, 1991, Boston

Same year
Born in 1881

91

Pablo Picasso

Spanish painter and sculptor (1881–1973)

*October 25th, 1881, Málaga †April 8th, 1973, Mas Notre-Dame-de-Vie de Mougins

91

George Alan Thomas

English badminton, chess and tennis player

*June 14th, 1881, Tarabya †July 23rd, 1972, London

88

Dora Boothby

English badminton and tennis player

*August 2nd, 1881, Finchley †February 22nd, 1970, Hammersmith

63

Harry Hillman

American athletics competitor

*September 8th, 1881, Brooklyn †August 9th, 1945, Hanover

49

Anna Pavlova

Russian ballet dancer

*February 12th, 1881, Saint Petersburg †January 23rd, 1931, The Hague

73

Alcide De Gasperi

Italian politician and founder of the Christian Democratic Party (1881-1954)

*April 3rd, 1881, Pieve Tesino †August 19th, 1954, Borgo Valsugana

81

John XXIII

Head of the Catholic Church from 1958 to 1963 (1881-1963)

*November 25th, 1881, Sotto il Monte Giovanni XXIII †June 3rd, 1963, Apostolic Palace

73

Alexander Fleming

Scottish biologist, pharmacologist, botanist, and Nobel laureate (1881–1955)

*August 6th, 1881, Lochfield †March 11th, 1955, London

93

P. G. Wodehouse

English author (1881–1975)

*October 15th, 1881, Guildford †February 14th, 1975, Village of Southampton

64

Béla Bartók

Hungarian composer and pianist

*March 25th, 1881, Sânnicolau Mare †September 26th, 1945, New York City

60

Stefan Zweig

Austrian writer (1881-1942)

*November 28th, 1881, Vienna †February 23rd, 1942, Petrópolis

84

Eleanor Farjeon

English children's writer

*February 13th, 1881, London †June 5th, 1965, Hampstead

77

Roger Martin du Gard

French writer

*March 23rd, 1881, Neuilly-sur-Seine †August 22nd, 1958, Château du Tertre

62

Ulrich von Hassell

German diplomat and resistance fighter against National Socialism (1881–1944)

*November 12th, 1881, Anklam †September 8th, 1944, Plötzensee Prison

76

Clinton Davisson

American physicist (1881-1958)

*October 22nd, 1881, Bloomington †February 1st, 1958, Charlottesville

80

Felix Rütten

German priest, church historian, theologian and historian (1881-1961)

*January 7th, 1881, Kempen †December 18th, 1961, Kempen

76

Irving Langmuir

American chemist and physicist

*January 31st, 1881, Brooklyn †August 16th, 1957, Woods Hole

76

Juan Ramón Jiménez

Spanish poet

*December 23rd, 1881, Moguer †May 29th, 1958, San Juan

77

Cecil B. DeMille

American film director, producer and actor (1881–1959)

*August 12th, 1881, Ashfield †January 21st, 1959, Hollywood

92

Ludwig von Mises

Austrian-American economist

*September 29th, 1881, Lviv †October 10th, 1973, New York City

Birthdays of famous people

Public holidays on May 23rd

Fixed holidays (Christian feast day) which are celebrated on May 23rd.

Date as a Roman numeral / digit

Leap year

No: With 365 days 1881 is a normal year and no leap year.

Calendar
May 1881