May 23

May 23 is the 143rd day of the year (144th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 222 days remain until the end of the year.

• 1430 – Joan of Arc is captured at the Siege of Compiègne by troops from the Burgundian faction.^[1]
• 1498 – Girolamo Savonarola is burned at the stake in Florence, Italy.
• 1533 – The marriage of King Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon is declared null and void.^[2]
• 1568 – Dutch rebels led by Louis of Nassau, defeat Jean de Ligne, Duke of Arenberg, and his loyalist troops in the Battle of Heiligerlee, opening the Eighty Years' War.

• 1609 – Official ratification of the Second Virginia Charter takes place.
• 1618 – The Second Defenestration of Prague precipitates the Thirty Years' War.
• 1706 – John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, defeats a French army under Marshal François de Neufville, duc de Villeroy at the Battle of Ramillies.^[3]
• 1788 – South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify the United States Constitution.^[2]
• 1793 – Battle of Famars during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition.
• 1829 – Accordion patent granted to Cyrill Demian in Vienna, Austrian Empire.
• 1844 – Báb: A merchant of Shiraz announces that he is a Prophet and founds a religious movement. He is considered to be a forerunner of the Baháʼí Faith.
• 1846 – Mexican–American War: President Mariano Paredes of Mexico unofficially declares war on the United States.
• 1863 – The General German Workers' Association, a precursor of the modern Social Democratic Party of Germany, is founded in Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony.
• 1873 – The Canadian Parliament establishes the North-West Mounted Police, the forerunner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.^[2]
• 1900 – American Civil War: Sergeant William Harvey Carney is awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism in the Assault on the Battery Wagner in 1863.

• 1905 – Sultan Abdul Hamid II publicly announces the creation of the Ullah millet for the Aromanians of the empire, which had been established one day earlier. For this reason, the Aromanian National Day is usually celebrated on May 23,^[4] although some do so on May 22 instead.^[5]
• 1907 – The unicameral Parliament of Finland gathers for its first plenary session.
• 1911 – The New York Public Library is dedicated.
• 1915 – World War I: Italy joins the Allies, fulfilling its part of the Treaty of London.
• 1932 – In Brazil, four students are shot and killed during a manifestation against the Brazilian dictator Getúlio Vargas, which resulted in the outbreak of the Constitutionalist Revolution several weeks later.
• 1934 – American bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde are ambushed by police and killed in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.
• 1934 – The Auto-Lite strike culminates in the "Battle of Toledo", a five-day melée between 1,300 troops of the Ohio National Guard and 6,000 picketers.
• 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.
• 1945 – World War II: Heinrich Himmler, head of the Schutzstaffel, commits suicide while in Allied custody.^[6]
• 1945 – World War II: Germany's Flensburg Government under Karl Dönitz is dissolved when its members are arrested by British forces.
• 1946 – The start of a two-day tornado outbreak across the Central United States that spawned at least 15 significant tornadoes.^[7][8]
• 1948 – Thomas C. Wasson, the US Consul-General, is assassinated in Jerusalem, Israel.
• 1949 – Cold War: The Western occupying powers approve the Basic Law and establish a new German state, the Federal Republic of Germany.^[9]
• 1951 – Tibetans sign the Seventeen Point Agreement with China.
• 1960 – A tsunami caused by an earthquake in Chile the previous day kills 61 people in Hilo, Hawaii.^[10]
• 1971 – Seventy-eight people are killed when Aviogenex Flight 130 crashes on approach to Rijeka Airport in present-day Rijeka, Croatia (then the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia).^[11]
• 1971 – The Intercontinental Hotel in Bucharest opens, becoming the second-tallest building in the city.^[12]
• 1978 – A Tupolev Tu-144 crashes near the Russian town of Yegoryevsk, killing two.^[13]
• 1991 – Aeroflot Flight 8556 crashes at Pulkovo Airport, killing 13.^[14]
• 1992 – Italy's most prominent anti-mafia judge Giovanni Falcone, his wife and three body guards are killed by the Corleonesi clan with a half-ton bomb near Capaci, Sicily. His friend and colleague Paolo Borsellino will be assassinated less than two months later, making 1992 a turning point in the history of Italian Mafia prosecutions.
• 1995 – The first version of the Java programming language is released.
• 1998 – The Good Friday Agreement is accepted in a referendum in Northern Ireland with roughly 75% voting yes.^[15]
• 2002 – The "55 parties" clause of the Kyoto Protocol is reached after its ratification by Iceland.
• 2006 – Alaskan stratovolcano Mount Cleveland erupts.
• 2008 – The International Court of Justice (ICJ) awards Middle Rocks to Malaysia and Pedra Branca (Pulau Batu Puteh) to Singapore, ending a 29-year territorial dispute between the two countries.
• 2013 – A freeway bridge carrying Interstate 5 over the Skagit River collapses in Mount Vernon, Washington.
• 2014 – Seven people, including the perpetrator, are killed and another 14 injured in a killing spree near the campus of University of California, Santa Barbara.
• 2015 – At least 30 people are killed as a result of floods and tornadoes in Texas, Oklahoma, and northern Mexico.
• 2016 – Two suicide bombings, conducted by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, kill at least 45 potential army recruits in Aden, Yemen.
• 2016 – Eight bombings are carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in Jableh and Tartus, coastline cities in Syria. One hundred eighty-four people are killed and at least 200 people injured.
• 2017 – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declares martial law in Mindanao, following the Maute's attack in Marawi.
• 2021 – A cable car falls from a mountain near Lake Maggiore in northern Italy, killing 14 people.
• 2021 – Ryanair Flight 4978 is forced to land by Belarusian authorities to detain dissident journalist Roman Protasevich.^[16]
• 2022 – Anthony Albanese of the Australian Labor Party is sworn in as the 31st Prime Minister of Australia after winning the 2022 Australian federal election, ending 9 years of conservative rule.^[17]

• 635 – Kʼinich Kan Bahlam II, Mayan king (d. 702)
• 675 – Perumbidugu Mutharaiyar II, King of Mutharaiyar dynasty, Tamil Nadu, India
• 1052 – Philip I of France (d. 1108)
• 1100 – Emperor Qinzong of Song (d. 1161)
• 1127 – Uijong of Goryeo, Korean monarch of the Goryeo dynasty (d. 1173)
• 1330 – Gongmin of Goryeo, Korean ruler (d. 1374)
• 1586 – Paul Siefert, German composer and organist (d. 1666)

• 1606 – Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz, Spanish mathematician and philosopher (d. 1682)
• 1614 – Bertholet Flemalle, Flemish Baroque painter (d. 1675)
• 1617 – Elias Ashmole, English astrologer and politician (d. 1692)
• 1629 – William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, noble of Hesse-Kassel (d. 1663)
• 1707 – Carl Linnaeus, Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist (d. 1778)
• 1718 – William Hunter, Scottish-English anatomist and physician (d. 1783)
• 1729 – Giuseppe Parini, Italian poet and educator (d. 1799)
• 1730 – Prince Augustus Ferdinand of Prussia, Prussian prince and general (d. 1813)
• 1734 – Franz Mesmer, German physician and astrologer (d. 1815)
• 1741 – Andrea Luchesi, Italian organist and composer (d. 1801)
• 1789 – Franz Schlik, Austrian earl and general (d. 1862)
• 1790 – Jules Dumont d'Urville, French admiral and explorer (d. 1842)
• 1790 – James Pradier, French neoclassical sculptor (d. 1852)
• 1794 – Ignaz Moscheles, Czech pianist and composer (d. 1870)
• 1795 – Charles Barry, English architect, designed the Upper Brook Street Chapel and Halifax Town Hall (d. 1860)
• 1800 – Rómulo Díaz de la Vega, Mexican general and president (1855) (d. 1877)^[18]
• 1810 – Margaret Fuller, American journalist and critic (d. 1850)
• 1817 – Manuel Robles Pezuela, Unconstitutional Mexican interim president (d. 1862)^[19]
• 1820 – James Buchanan Eads, American engineer, designed the Eads Bridge (d. 1887)
• 1820 – Lorenzo Sawyer, American lawyer and judge (d. 1891)
• 1824 – Ambrose Burnside, American general and politician, 30th Governor of Rhode Island (d. 1881)
• 1834 – Jānis Frīdrihs Baumanis, Latvian architect (d. 1891)
• 1834 – Carl Bloch, Danish painter and academic (d. 1890)
• 1837 – Anatole Mallet, Swiss mechanical engineer and inventor (d. 1919)
• 1837 – Józef Wieniawski, Polish pianist and composer (d. 1912)
• 1838 – Amaldus Nielsen, Norwegian painter (d. 1932)
• 1840 – George Throssell, Irish-Australian politician, 2nd Premier of Western Australia (d. 1910)
• 1844 – ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, Iranian religious leader (d. 1921)
• 1848 – Otto Lilienthal, German pilot and engineer (d. 1896)
• 1855 – Isabella Ford, English author and activist (d. 1924)
• 1861 – József Rippl-Rónai, Hungarian painter (d. 1927)
• 1863 – Władysław Horodecki, Polish architect (d. 1930)
• 1864 – William O'Connor, American fencer (d. 1939)
• 1865 – Epitácio Pessoa, Brazilian jurist and politician, 11th President of Brazil (d. 1942)
• 1875 – Alfred P. Sloan, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1966)
• 1882 – William Halpenny, Canadian pole vaulter (d. 1960)
• 1883 – Douglas Fairbanks, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1939)
• 1884 – Corrado Gini, Italian sociologist and demographer (d. 1965)
• 1887 – Thoralf Skolem, Norwegian mathematician and theorist (d. 1963)
• 1887 – Nikolai Vekšin, Estonian-Russian sailor and captain (d. 1951)
• 1887 – C. R. M. F. Cruttwell, English historian (d. 1941)^[20]
• 1888 – Adriaan Roland Holst, Dutch writer (d. 1976)
• 1888 – Zack Wheat, American baseball player and police officer (d. 1972)
• 1889 – Ernst Niekisch, German educator and politician (d. 1967)
• 1890 – Herbert Marshall, English-American actor and singer (d. 1966)
• 1891 – Pär Lagerkvist, Swedish novelist, playwright, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1974)
• 1892 – Albert Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer, British peer (d. 1975)
• 1896 – Felix Steiner, Russian-German SS officer (d. 1966)
• 1897 – Jimmie Guthrie, Scottish motorcycle racer (d. 1937)
• 1898 – Scott O'Dell, American soldier, journalist, and author (d. 1989)
• 1898 – Josef Terboven, German soldier and politician (d. 1945)
• 1899 – Jeralean Talley, American super-centenarian (d. 2015)
• 1900 – Hans Frank, German lawyer and politician (d. 1946)
• 1900 – Franz Leopold Neumann, German lawyer and theorist (d. 1954)

• 1908 – John Bardeen, American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991)
• 1908 – Hélène Boucher, French pilot (d. 1934)
• 1908 – Tomiko Itooka, Japanese supercentenarian^[21]
• 1908 – Annemarie Schwarzenbach, Swiss author and photographer (d. 1942)^[22]
• 1910 – Margaret Wise Brown, American author and educator (d. 1952)
• 1910 – Hugh Casson, English architect and academic (d. 1999)
• 1910 – Scatman Crothers, American actor and comedian (d. 1986)
• 1910 – Franz Kline, American painter and academic (d. 1962)
• 1910 – Artie Shaw, American clarinet player, composer, and bandleader (d. 2004)
• 1911 – Lou Brouillard, Canadian boxer (d. 1984)
• 1911 – Paul Augustin Mayer, German cardinal (d. 2010)
• 1911 – Betty Nuthall, English tennis player (d. 1983)
• 1912 – Jean Françaix, French pianist and composer (d. 1997)
• 1912 – John Payne, American actor (d. 1989)
• 1914 – Harold Hitchcock, English visionary landscape artist (d. 2009)
• 1914 – Celestine Sibley, American journalist and author (d. 1999)
• 1914 – Barbara Ward, Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth, English economist, journalist, and prominent Catholic layperson (d. 1981)
• 1915 – S. Donald Stookey, American physicist and chemist, invented CorningWare (d. 2014)
• 1917 – Edward Norton Lorenz, American mathematician and meteorologist (d. 2008)
• 1918 – Denis Compton, English cricketer and sportscaster (d. 1997)
• 1919 – Robert Bernstein, American author and playwright (d. 1988)
• 1919 – Ruth Fernández, Puerto Rican contralto and a member of the Puerto Rican Senate (d. 2012)
• 1919 – Betty Garrett, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2011)
• 1920 – Helen O'Connell, American singer (d. 1993)
• 1921 – Humphrey Lyttelton, British jazz musician and broadcaster (d. 2008)
• 1923 – Alicia de Larrocha, Catalan-Spanish pianist (d. 2009)
• 1923 – Irving Millman, American virologist and microbiologist (d. 2012)
• 1924 – Karlheinz Deschner, German author and activist (d. 2014)
• 1925 – Joshua Lederberg, American biologist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2008)
• 1926 – Basil Salvadore D'Souza, Indian bishop (d. 1996)
• 1926 – Joe Slovo, Lithuanian-South African activist and politician (d. 1995)
• 1928 – Rosemary Clooney, American singer and actress (d. 2002)
• 1928 – Nigel Davenport, English actor (d. 2013)
• 1928 – Nina Otkalenko, Russian runner (d. 2015)
• 1929 – Ulla Jacobsson, Swedish-Austrian actress (d. 1982)
• 1930 – Friedrich Achleitner, German poet and critic (d. 2019)
• 1931 – Barbara Barrie, American actress
• 1932 – Kevork Ajemian, Syrian-French journalist and author (d. 1998)
• 1933 – Joan Collins, English actress
• 1933 – Ove Fundin, Swedish motorcycle racer
• 1934 – Robert Moog, electronic engineer and inventor of the Moog synthesizer (d. 2005)
• 1935 – Lasse Strömstedt, Swedish author (d. 2009)
• 1936 – Ingeborg Hallstein, German soprano and actress
• 1936 – Charles Kimbrough, American actor (d. 2023)
• 1939 – Michel Colombier, French-American composer and conductor (d. 2004)
• 1939 – Reinhard Hauff, German director and screenwriter
• 1940 – Bjørn Johansen (musician), Norwegian saxophonist (d. 2002)
• 1940 – Gérard Larrousse, French race car driver
• 1940 – Cora Sadosky, Argentinian mathematician and academic (d. 2010)
• 1941 – Zalman King, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
• 1941 – Rod Thorn, American basketball player, coach, and executive^[23]
• 1942 – Gabriel Liiceanu, Romanian philosopher, author, and academic
• 1942 – Kovelamudi Raghavendra Rao, Indian director, screenwriter, and choreographer
• 1943 – Peter Kenilorea, Solomon Islands politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands (d. 2016)
• 1944 – John Newcombe, Australian tennis player and sportscaster
• 1945 – Padmarajan, Indian director, screenwriter, and author (d. 1991)
• 1946 – David Graham, Australian golfer
• 1947 – Jane Kenyon, American poet and translator (d. 1995)
• 1948 – Myriam Boyer, French actress, director, and producer
• 1949 – Daniel DiNardo, American cardinal
• 1949 – Alan García, Peruvian lawyer and politician, 61st and 64th President of Peru (d. 2019)
• 1950 – Martin McGuinness, Irish republican and Sinn Féin politician, Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland (d. 2017)
• 1950 – Richard Chase, American serial killer (d. 1980)^[24]
• 1951 – Anatoly Karpov, Russian chess player
• 1951 – Antonis Samaras, Greek economist and politician, 185th Prime Minister of Greece
• 1952 – Martin Parr, English photographer and journalist
• 1954 – Gerry Armstrong, Northern Irish international footballer^[25]
• 1954 – Marvelous Marvin Hagler, American boxer and actor (d. 2021)^[26]
• 1955 – Luka Bloom, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1956 – Andrea Pazienza, Italian illustrator and painter (d. 1988)
• 1956 – Ursula Plassnik, Austrian politician and diplomat, Foreign Minister of Austria
• 1956 – Buck Showalter, American baseball player, coach, and manager
• 1958 – Mitch Albom, American journalist, author, and screenwriter
• 1958 – Drew Carey, American actor, game show host, and entrepreneur
• 1958 – Lea DeLaria, American actress and singer
• 1959 – Marcella Mesker, Dutch tennis player and sportscaster
• 1960 – Linden Ashby, American actor
• 1961 – Daniele Massaro, Italian footballer and manager
• 1961 – Norrie May-Welby, Scottish Australian gender activist^[27]
• 1962 – Karen Duffy, American actress
• 1963 – Viviane Baladi, Swiss mathematician
• 1964 – Ruth Metzler, Swiss lawyer and politician
• 1965 – Manuel Sanchís Hontiyuelo, Spanish footballer
• 1965 – Tom Tykwer, German director, producer, screenwriter, and composer
• 1965 – Melissa McBride, American actress
• 1965 – Paul Sironen, Australian rugby league player
• 1966 – Graeme Hick, Zimbabwean-English cricketer and coach
• 1966 – Gary Roberts, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1967 – Luís Roberto Alves, Mexican footballer
• 1967 – Anna Ibrisagic, Swedish politician
• 1967 – Philip Selway, English musician^[28]
• 1968 – Guinevere Turner, American actress and screenwriter
• 1970 – Bryan Herta, American race car driver and businessman, co-founded Bryan Herta Autosport
• 1971 – George Osborne, English journalist and politician, former Chancellor of the Exchequer
• 1972 – Rubens Barrichello, Brazilian race car driver
• 1972 – Poppy King, Australian entrepreneur^[29]
• 1972 – Martin Saggers, English cricketer and umpire
• 1973 – Maxwell, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1974 – Jewel, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actress, and poet
• 1974 – Manuela Schwesig, German politician, German Federal Minister of Family Affairs
• 1976 – Ricardinho, Brazilian footballer and manager
• 1977 – Richard Ayoade, British actor, director and writer
• 1977 – Ilia Kulik, Russian figure skater
• 1978 – Scott Raynor, American drummer
• 1979 – Rasual Butler, American basketball player (d. 2018)
• 1979 – Brian Campbell, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1980 – Theofanis Gekas, Greek footballer
• 1980 – Ben Ross, Australian rugby league player
• 1983 – Silvio Proto, Belgian-Italian footballer
• 1984 – Hugo Almeida, Portuguese footballer
• 1985 – Sebastián Fernández, Uruguayan footballer
• 1985 – Teymuraz Gabashvili, Russian tennis player
• 1985 – Wim Stroetinga, Dutch cyclist
• 1985 – Ross Wallace, Scottish footballer
• 1986 – Ryan Coogler, American film director and screenwriter
• 1986 – Alexei Sitnikov, Russian-Azerbaijani figure skater
• 1986 – Alice Tait, Australian swimmer
• 1986 – Ruben Zadkovich, Australian footballer
• 1987 – Gracie Otto, Australian actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1987 – Bray Wyatt, American wrestler (d. 2023)
• 1988 – Rosanna Crawford, Canadian biathlete
• 1988 – Angelo Ogbonna, Italian footballer
• 1988 – Morgan Pressel, American golfer
• 1989 – Ezequiel Schelotto, Italian footballer
• 1990 – Dan Evans, British tennis player
• 1990 – Kristína Kučová, Slovakian tennis player^[30]
• 1990 – Oliver Venno, Estonian volleyball player
• 1991 – Aaron Donald, American football player
• 1991 – Lena Meyer-Landrut, German singer-songwriter^[31]
• 1991 – César Pinares, Chilean footballer
• 1996 – Katharina Althaus, German ski jumper
• 1996 – Emmanuel Boateng, Ghanaian footballer
• 1996 – Răzvan Marin, Romanian footballer
• 1997 – Pedro Chirivella, Spanish footballer
• 1997 – Coy Craft, American footballer
• 1997 – Joe Gomez, English footballer
• 1997 – Gustaf Nilsson, Swedish footballer
• 1997 – Sam Timmins, New Zealand basketball player
• 1998 – Sérgio Sette Câmara, Brazilian racing driver
• 1998 – Salwa Eid Naser, Bahraini track and field sprinter
• 1999 – James Charles, American internet personality^[32]
• 1999 – Trinidad Cardona, American singer and songwriter^[33]
• 1999 – Sandro Mamukelashvili, Georgian-American basketball player^[34]
• 2000 – Felipe Drugovich, Brazilian-Italian racing driver^[35]

• 230 – Urban I, pope of the Catholic Church
• 922 – Li Sizhao, Chinese general and governor
• 962 – Guibert of Gembloux, Frankish abbot (b. 892)
• 1125 – Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1086)^[36]
• 1304 – Jehan de Lescurel, French poet and composer
• 1338 – Alice de Warenne, Countess of Arundel, English noble (b. 1287)
• 1370 – Toghon Temür, Mongol emperor (b. 1320)
• 1423 – Antipope Benedict XIII (b. 1328)^[37]
• 1498 – Girolamo Savonarola, Italian friar and preacher (b. 1452)
• 1523 – Ashikaga Yoshitane, Japanese shōgun (b. 1466)
• 1524 – Ismail I, First Emperor of Safavid Empire (b. 1487)
• 1591 – John Blitheman, English organist and composer (b. 1525)

• 1662 – John Gauden, English bishop (b. 1605)
• 1670 – Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1610)
• 1691 – Adrien Auzout, French astronomer and instrument maker (b. 1622)
• 1701 – William Kidd, Scottish pirate (b. 1645)
• 1749 – Abraham ben Abraham, Polish martyr (b. 1700)
• 1752 – William Bradford, English-American printer (b. 1663)
• 1754 – John Wood, the Elder, English architect, designed The Circus and Queen Square (b. 1704)
• 1783 – James Otis Jr., American lawyer and politician (b. 1725)
• 1813 – Géraud Duroc, French general and diplomat (b. 1772)
• 1815 – Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg, American clergyman and botanist (b. 1753)
• 1841 – Franz Xaver von Baader, German philosopher and theologian (b. 1765)
• 1855 – Charles Robert Malden, English lieutenant and explorer (b. 1797)
• 1857 – Augustin-Louis Cauchy, French mathematician and academic (b. 1789)
• 1868 – Kit Carson, American general (b. 1809)
• 1886 – Leopold von Ranke, German historian and academic (b. 1795)
• 1893 – Anton von Schmerling, Austrian politician (b. 1805)
• 1895 – Franz Ernst Neumann, German mineralogist, physicist, and mathematician (b. 1798)

• 1906 – Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian director, playwright, and poet (b. 1828)
• 1908 – François Coppée, French poet and author (b. 1842)
• 1920 – Svetozar Boroević, Croatian-Austrian field marshal (b. 1856)
• 1921 – August Nilsson, Swedish shot putter and tug of war competitor (b. 1872)
• 1934 – Clyde Barrow, American criminal (b. 1909)
• 1934 – Mihkel Martna, Estonian journalist and politician (b. 1860)
• 1934 – Bonnie Parker, American criminal (b. 1910)
• 1937 – John D. Rockefeller, American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Standard Oil Company and Rockefeller University (b. 1839)
• 1938 – Frederick Ruple, Swiss-American painter (b. 1871)
• 1942 – Panagiotis Toundas, Greek composer and conductor (b. 1886)
• 1945 – Heinrich Himmler, German commander and politician, Reich Minister of the Interior (b. 1900)
• 1947 – Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz, Swiss author and poet (b. 1878)
• 1949 – Jan Frans De Boever, Belgian painter and illustrator (b. 1872)
• 1956 – Gustav Suits, Latvian-Estonian poet and politician (b. 1883)
• 1960 – Georges Claude, French engineer and inventor, created Neon lighting (b. 1870)
• 1962 – Louis Coatalen, French engineer (b. 1879)
• 1963 – August Jakobson, Estonian author and politician (b. 1904)
• 1965 – David Smith, American sculptor (b. 1906)
• 1975 – Moms Mabley, American comedian and actor (b. 1894)
• 1979 – S. Selvanayagam, Sri Lankan geographer and academic (b. 1932)
• 1981 – Gene Green, American baseball player (b. 1933)
• 1981 – Rayner Heppenstall, English author and poet (b. 1911)
• 1981 – George Jessel, American actor, singer, and producer (b. 1898)
• 1981 – David Lewis, Belarusian-Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1909)
• 1986 – Sterling Hayden, American actor (b. 1916)
• 1989 – Georgy Tovstonogov, Russian director and producer (b. 1915)
• 1989 – Karl Koch, German computer hacker (b. 1965)
• 1991 – Wilhelm Kempff, German pianist and composer (b. 1895)
• 1991 – Jean Van Houtte, Belgian academic and politician, 50th Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1907)
• 1991 – Fletcher Markle, Canadian director, screenwriter, and producer (b. 1921)
• 1992 – Kostas Davourlis, Greek footballer (b. 1948)
• 1992 – Giovanni Falcone, Italian lawyer and judge (b. 1939)
• 1994 – Olav Hauge, Norwegian poet (b. 1908)
• 1996 – Kronid Lyubarsky, Russian journalist and activist (b. 1934)
• 1998 – Telford Taylor, American general and lawyer (b. 1908)
• 1999 – Owen Hart, Canadian-American wrestler (b. 1965)
• 2002 – Big Bill Neidjie, Australian activist and last speaker of the Gaagudju language (b. c. 1920)
• 2002 – Sam Snead, American golfer and journalist (b. 1912)
• 2006 – Lloyd Bentsen, American colonel and politician, 69th United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1921)
• 2006 – Kazimierz Górski, Polish footballer and manager (b. 1921)
• 2008 – Iñaki Ochoa de Olza, Spanish mountaineer (b. 1967)
• 2008 – Utah Phillips, American singer-songwriter and poet (b. 1935)
• 2009 – Roh Moo-hyun, South Korean soldier and politician, 9th President of South Korea (b. 1946)
• 2010 – José Lima, Dominican-American baseball player (b. 1972)
• 2010 – Simon Monjack, English director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1970)
• 2011 – Xavier Tondo, Spanish cyclist (b. 1978)^[38]
• 2012 – Paul Fussell, American historian, author, and academic (b. 1924)
• 2013 – Epy Guerrero, Dominican baseball player, coach, and scout (b. 1942)
• 2013 – Hayri Kozakçıoğlu, Turkish police officer and politician, 15th Governor of Istanbul Province (b. 1938)
• 2013 – Georges Moustaki, Egyptian-French singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1934)
• 2013 – Flynn Robinson, American basketball player (b. 1941)
• 2014 – Mikhail Egorovich Alekseev, Russian linguist and academic (b. 1949)
• 2014 – Madhav Mantri, Indian cricketer (b. 1921)
• 2015 – Anne Meara, American actress, comedian and playwright (b. 1929)
• 2015 – Aleksey Mozgovoy, Pro-Russian Ukrainian separatist leader (b. 1975)
• 2015 – Alicia Nash, Salvadoran-American physicist and engineer (b. 1933)
• 2015 – John Forbes Nash Jr., American mathematician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1928)
• 2017 – Roger Moore, English actor (b. 1927)
• 2020 – Hana Kimura, Japanese professional wrestler (b. 1997)^[39]
• 2021 – Ron Hill, English long-distance runner (b. 1938)^[40]
• 2021 – Eric Carle, American children's book designer, illustrator, and writer best known for The Very Hungry Caterpillar (b. 1929)^[41]
• 2024 – Caleb Carr, American military historian and author (b. 1955)^[42]
• 2024 – Morgan Spurlock, American filmmaker (b. 1970)^[43]

• Aromanian National Day^[44]
• Christian feast day:
  • Aaron the Illustrious (Syriac Orthodox Church)
  • Desiderius of Vienne
  • Giovanni Battista de' Rossi
  • Julia of Corsica
  • Nicolaus Copernicus and Johannes Kepler (Episcopal Church (USA))
  • Quintian, Lucius and Julian
  • William of Perth
  • May 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Constitution Day (Germany)
• Labour Day (Jamaica)
• Students' Day (Mexico)
• World Turtle Day

Wikimedia Commons has media related to May 23.

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• Historical Events on May 23