May 31st, 1940

Born on May 31st, 1940

Age in days, weeks and months
Wow, over 30,000 days old!

Why not celebrate an alternative birthday? In 361 days, exactly on April 15th, 2025, people who were born on May 31st, 1940 will be 31,000 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

Born on May 31st, 1940

83

Dino Zandegù

Italian racing cyclist

*May 31st, 1940, Rubano

83

Augie Meyers

American musician

*May 31st, 1940, San Antonio

83

Gilbert Louis

French priest

*May 31st, 1940, Champsecret

83

Alain Duhamel

French journalist

*May 31st, 1940, Caen

83

Gilbert Shelton

Cartoonist

*May 31st, 1940, Houston

83

Anatolii Bondarchuk

Ukrainian hammer thrower

*May 31st, 1940, Starokostiantyniv

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

82

Karin Tietze-Ludwig

German television presenter

*May 31st, 1941, Siegen

70

Michael Wittenborn

German actor

*May 31st, 1953, Bielefeld

88

Jim Bolger

Prime minister of New Zealand from 1990 to 1997

*May 31st, 1935, Ōpunake

93

Bernhard Hassenstein

German biologist

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

60

Viktor Orbán

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

*May 31st, 1963, Székesfehérvár

82

William Nordhaus

American economist

*May 31st, 1941, Albuquerque

93

Clint Eastwood

American actor and film director (born 1930)

*May 31st, 1930, San Francisco

45

Jim Hutton

Actor (1934-1979)

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

77

Luís Carlos Miele

Brazilian actor, producer and director

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

47

Colin Farrell

Irish actor (born 1976)

*May 31st, 1976, Dublin

76

Gabriele Hinzmann

East German discus thrower

*May 31st, 1947, Schwerin

78

Laurent Gbagbo

4th President of Ivory Coast

*May 31st, 1945, Gagnoa

58

Brooke Shields

American actress (born 1965)

*May 31st, 1965, Manhattan

99

Maurice Allais

French economist (1911–2010)

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

82

Louis Ignarro

American physiologist

*May 31st, 1941, Brooklyn

88

Saint-John Perse

French poet and diplomat

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

75

Svetlana Aleksievich

Belarusian investigative journalist and non-fiction prose writer

*May 31st, 1948, Ivano-Frankivsk

34

Marco Reus

German footballer (born 1989)

*May 31st, 1989, Dortmund

66

Jim Craig

American ice hockey goaltender

*May 31st, 1957, Easton

89

Frei Otto

German architect (1925-2015)

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

Same year
Born in 1940

83

Onur Öymen

Turkish politician and diplomat

*October 18th, 1940, Kadıköy

84

Lorns Skjemstad

Norwegian cross-country skier

*March 10th, 1940, Inderøy Municipality

40

John Lennon

British musician (1940–1980)

*October 9th, 1940, Liverpool †December 8th, 1980, New York City

83

Jeannie Seely

American singer

*July 6th, 1940, Titusville

76

Al Jarreau

American singer (1940–2017)

*March 12th, 1940, Milwaukee †February 12th, 2017, Los Angeles

82

Pelé

Brazilian footballer (1940–2022)

*October 23rd, 1940, Três Corações †December 29th, 2022, Morumbi District

83

Al Pacino

American actor (born 1940)

*April 25th, 1940, Manhattan

77

Michael Parks

American actor (1940–2017)

*April 24th, 1940, Corona †May 9th, 2017, Los Angeles

83

Annie Ernaux

French writer (born 1940)

*September 1st, 1940, Lillebonne

82

James Caan

American actor (1940–2022)

*March 26th, 1940, The Bronx †July 6th, 2022, Los Angeles

80

Wolfgang Clement

German politician

*July 7th, 1940, Bochum †September 27th, 2020, Bonn

84

Nancy Pelosi

American politician (born 1940)

*March 26th, 1940, Baltimore

32

Bruce Lee

Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor (1940–1973)

*November 27th, 1940, San Francisco Chinese Hospital †July 20th, 1973, Kowloon Tong

84

Jana Brejchová

Czech actress

*January 20th, 1940, Prague

55

Joseph Brodsky

Russian-American poet (1940-1996)

*May 24th, 1940, Saint Petersburg †January 28th, 1996, Brooklyn

76

Manfred Jung

German singer and operatic tenor

*July 9th, 1940, Oberhausen †April 14th, 2017, Essen

79

Tilo Prückner

German actor and author

*October 26th, 1940, Augsburg †July 2nd, 2020, Berlin

83

Ringo Starr

British musician, drummer for the Beatles

*July 7th, 1940, Liverpool

83

Patrick Stewart

British actor (born 1940)

*July 13th, 1940, Mirfield

77

John Hurt

British actor (1940–2017)

*January 22nd, 1940, Chesterfield †January 25th, 2017, Norfolk

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

Born on May 31st, 1940
Future birthdays

Leap year

Yes: 1940 is a leap year, therefore has a 29th of February with an additional leap day and a total of 366 days (instead of the usual 365 days in a normal year).

Calendar
May 1940