- 1010 Emperor Renzong of China, Emperor of the Song dynasty (d. 1063)
Alexander Nevsky
1220 Alexander Nevsky, Prince of Novgorod and Grand Prince of Vladimir, considered the key figure in medieval Rus (1252-63), born in Pereslavl-Zalessky, Vladimir-Suzdal (now Russia) (d. 1263)
Alexander Nevsky
- 1423 Georg von Purbach, Austrian mathematician and astronomer (best known for his streamlined presentation of Ptolemaic astronomy in the Theoricae Novae Planetarum), born in Peuerbach, Austria (d. 1461)
- 1524 Selim II "the blonde", 11th Ottoman Sultan (1566-74), born in Istanbul, Ottoman Empire (d. 1574)
- 1623 Wallerant Vaillant, French painter and engraver, born in Lille, France (d. 1677)
- 1623 John Egerton, 2nd Earl of Bridgewater, English politician (d. 1686)
- 1653 Claudia Felicitas of Austria, Empress consort of Germany, born in Florence, Tuscany (d. 1676)
- 1664 Giulio Alberoni, Spanish-Italian minister and cardinal, born in Piacenza, duchy of Parma (d. 1752)
- 1718 Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire, British politician, born in Fairford, Gloucestershire (d. 1793)
- 1719 Roger Newdigate, British politician (sat in the House of Commons 1742-80), born in Arbury, Warwickshire (d. 1806)
Henry Addington
1757 Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, British Prime Minister (Tory: 1801-04), born in London (d. 1844)
Henry Addington
- 1800 Karl Wilhelm Feuerbach, German mathematician (Position of Feuerbach), born in Jena, Saxe-Weimar, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1834)
- 1812 John Alexander McClernand, American politician and Major General (Union Army), born in Breckinridge County, Kentucky (d. 1900)
- 1814 Eugène Charles Catalan, French-Belgian mathematician (worked on continued fractions, descriptive geometry, number theory and combinatorics), born in Bruges, Belgium (d. 1894)
- 1819 William McMurdo, British army officer (d. 1894)
- 1820 Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau, French Canadian politician (1st Premier of Quebec), born in Charlesbourg, Quebec (d. 1890)
- 1829 Levin Goldschmidt, German business law expert, born in Gdańsk, Poland (d. 1897)
- 1830 Edward Winslow Hinks, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Bucksport, Maine (d. 1894)
- 1832 George Doherty Johnston, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Hillsborough, North Carolina (d. 1910)
- 1835 Alfred Austin, English poet laureate of England (Garden), born in Headingley, Yorkshire, England (d. 1913)
- 1845 Amadeus/Amadeo I, duke of Aosta and King of Spain (1870-73), born in Turin, Italy (d. 1890)
- 1846 Peter Carl Fabergé, Russian goldsmith and jeweler (famous for Fabergé eggs), born in Saint Petersburg, Russia (d. 1920)
- 1847 Alice Stopford Green, Irish historian and proponent of Irish independence, born in Kells, Ireland (d. 1929)
- 1859 Pierre Janet, French psychologist and neurologist (contributed to the modern concept of mental and emotional disorders involving anxiety, phobias, and other abnormal behaviour), born in Paris (d. 1947)
- 1867 Arthur Vining Davis, American industrialist and CEO (Alcoa-1910-57), born in Sharon, Massachusetts (d. 1962)
- 1875 Giovanni Gentile, Italian philosopher (The Doctrine of Fascism), born in Castelvetrano, Italy (d. 1944)
- 1881 Georg von Küchler, German field marshal and WWII war criminal, born in Schloss Philippsruh, German Empire (d. 1968)
- 1886 Randolph Bourne, American writer (Education and Living), born in Bloomfield, New Jersey (d. 1918)
- 1887 Alexander Archipenko, Ukrainian-American sculptor and lithographer, born in Kyiv, Russian Empire (d. 1964)
- 1888 James A Farley, postmaster general (1932-38)
- 1891 Iman J van den Bosch, Belgian resistance fighter
- 1892 Fernando Amorsolo, Filipino painter (d. 1972)
- 1894 Hubertus J van Mook, Dutch minister of Colonies (1942-45)
- 1901 Cornelia Otis Skinner, Chic, writer (When Our Hearts Were Young & Gay)
- 1902 Seton Howard Frederick Lloyd, English Archaeologist (Arzawa civilization, Turkey)
- 1903 Countee Cullen, African American poet of the Harlem Renaissance (Black Christ & Other Poems), born in Baltimore, Maryland
- 1903 Ray Howard-Jones, artist
- 1904 Ernesto de la Guardia Jr, President of Panama (1956-60)
- 1906 Bruno Gröning, German faith healer (d. 1959)
- 1907 Elly Beinhorn, German pilot (d. 2007)
- 1907 Germaine Tillion, French anthropologist, member of French Resistance (d. 2008)
- 1912 Alexander Langsdorf, physicist
- 1912 Joseph Stein, American dramatist and playwright (Fiddler on the Roof), born in NYC, New York (d. 2010)
- 1912 Julian Gustave Symons, writer
- 1915 Jerome Bert Weisner, military scientist/disarmer
- 1916 Joseph W Kennedy, scientist (1 of 4 discoverers of plutonium)
- 1918 Guadalupe "Pita" Amor, Mexican poet (d. 2000)
- 1918 Bob Evans, American restaurateur (d. 2007)
- 1919 René Barrientos, President of Bolivia (d. 1969)
- 1922 Hal Clement [Harry Clement Stubbs], US sci-fi author (Needle, Iceworld), born in Somerville, Massachusetts
- 1925 Eddy Bruma, Suriname politician
- 1925 Gerard John Toorenaar, political commissar in Amsterdam (1975-79)
- 1926 Christine Jorgensen, pioneer transsexual (born George William Jorgensen, Jr)
- 1926 James Whitman McLamore, businessman
- 1927 Evelyn Wesler Zemel, American author (American Glass Animals)
- 1928 John Keith Wright, English economist, Assistant Secretary of State (1971-84)
- 1928 Agnès Varda, Belgium-born French director (Vagabond), born in Ixelles, Belgium (d. 2019)
- 1928 Pro Hart, Australian artist (d. 2006)
- 1930 Mark Birley, British nightclub owner (d. 2007)
- 1930 Robert Ryman, American painter
Alexey Leonov
1934 Alexey Leonov, Russian cosmonaut (Voskhod 2, first man to walk in space), born in Listvyanka, Soviet Union
Alexey Leonov
- 1937 Arthur C. Jacobs, Scottish poet, born in Glasgow (d. 1994)
- 1938 Wilfried de Pree, Dutch politician and theologian (PvdA)/theologist
- 1942 Dan Miller, (Rep-R-Florida)
- 1944 Lenny Davidson, rocker (Dave Clark 5-Glad All Over), born in London, England
- 1946 Candy Lightner, American political activist/founder (MADD), born in Pasadena, California
- 1950 Bertrand Delanoë, French politician
- 1951 Fernando Lugo, Paraguayan politician
Brian Kobilka
1955 Brian Kobilka, American Nobel Prize winning chemistry professor (G protein-coupled receptors), born in Little Falls, Minnesota
Brian Kobilka
- 1956 Jonathan Idema, Poughkeepsie, New York, torturer, kidnapper and con artist (d. 2012)
- 1956 David-Maria Sassoli, Italian politician and journalist, European President (2019-), born in Florence, Italy
- 1957 Allison Roe, marathoner (NYC-1981), born in Auckland, New Zealand
- 1957 Hervé Leroux, French fashion designer and founder of Hervé Léger fashion house, born in Bapaume, France (d. 2017)
- 1958 Michael E Lopez-Alegria, Lt Cmdr/astro (STS 73, sk 92), born in Madrid, Spain
- 1958 Steve Israel, American politician, member of the United States House of Representatives (D-New York)
- 1959 Frank Vanhecke, Belgian politician, born in Bruges, Belgium
- 1959 Claudia Alexander, Canadian-born American NASA Scientist (led Galileo mission to Jupiter), born in Vancouver, British Columbia (d. 2015)
- 1962 Kevin Eastman, American comic book creator
- 1963 Helen Patricia Sharman, Great Britain, cosmonaut (Soyuz TM-12)
- 1968 Zacarias Moussaoui, French citizen found guilty relating to September 11, 2001 attacks
- 1968 Kelley Armstrong, Canadian novelist (Women of the Otherworld), born in Sudbury, Ontario
- 1970 Ness Wadia, Indian industrialist
- 1972 Soichiro Hoshi, Japanese seiyuu
- 1975 Marissa Mayer, American technology executive (CEO of Yahoo, designed Google home page), born in Wausau, Wisconsin
- 1978 Lyoto Machida, Brazilian mixed martial artist
- 1984 Matt Maguire, Australian rules footballer
- 1986 Ashley Slaney, daughter of Olympians Mary Decker & Richard Slaney
May in History
Ship that Changed the Face of Britain
Britain was on its knees after the Second World War, its economy and infrastructure in tatters. For help the Mother Country turned to the Commonwealth.
May 27, 1948A Modern Major-General of Light Entertainment
William Gilbert, celebrated as the unique lyricist behind the highly popular Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas, met his death in highly unexpected circumstances.
May 29, 1911Voltaire: Writer, Wit, Philosopher and Rebel
They burned his books, sent him to the Bastille and into exile, but Voltaire, who died on this day, remained rich, successful – and defiant.
May 30, 1778Cloak And Dagger World of Walter Raleigh
Sir Walter Raleigh's secret marriage to a lady-in-waiting was uncovered on this day. It ruined his career, but things were to get much worse.
May 31, 1592
