Holidays Calendar for May 23, 2025
May 1 is reserved by many countries as Labor Day, but Jamaica annually celebrates this holiday on May 23. The date was chosen to commemorate the labor rebellion, that arouse in 1938.
According to Buddhist tradition, at the age of 80, Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) reached parinirvana, the final state after the death of the body that implies a release from the Saṃsāra, karma and rebirth. Most Buddhists celebrate Parinirvana Day that commemorates this event on February 8 or 15. However, in Bhutan it is celebrated on the 15th day of the 4th month of the Bhutanese calendar. It is also a public holiday in Mongolia, where it is known as Buddha Day.
World Wrestling Day is celebrated annually on May 23 to commemorate the first Greco-Roman Wrestling World Championships that were held in Vienna in 1904. It is observed by amateur wrestlers all over the world.
The employees of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan annually observe their professional holiday on May 23. Day of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources was established by the Presidential Decree of Ilham Aliyev in May 2007.
Naval Infantry Day is an official holiday in the Armed Forces of Ukraine celebrated on May 23. It was established by acting President Oleksandr Turchynov in March 2014.
Although there is International Students Day celebrated around the world on November 17, many countries have their own holidays dedicated to students. For example, Students Day in Mexico is observed on May 23.
World Turtle Day was created by American Tortoise Rescue. The day is annually observed on May 23.
Aromanian National Day is the national day of a Romance ethnic group of the Balkans, known as the Aromanians, Vlachs, or Macedo-Romanians. It is celebrated on May 23 to commemorate the recognition of the Aromanians as a separate millet (linguistic and ethno-religious community) within the Ottoman Empire in 1905.
Heroes’ Day is an unofficial holiday celebrated in Ukraine on May 23; it is mostly popular in the western part of the country. It is dedicated to all Ukrainians who gave their lives for the freedom and independence of their homeland throughout the entirety of its history, from Kyivan Rus to the present-day Russian invasion of Ukraine.
May 23 is National Taffy Day. Today you can snack with your favorite candies at any time, of course in form of celebration.
May 23 is a great day to treat yourself to a delicious asparagus dish because it is National Asparagus Day in the United States. It falls right in the middle of the asparagus season.
In some Bulgarian and Greek villages, people still perform an old fire-walking ritual. This originally pagan tradition is now associated with the feast day of Saint Constantine and Saint Helen. It is called the nestinarstvo in Bulgaria and the anastenaria in Greece.
May 23 is International Day of End of Obstetric Fistula. The observance belongs to one of the UN international days.
Youth Day is annually observed in Tajikistan on May 23. The holiday was established in 1997 by President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon.
Walk Safely to School Day is a national event in Australia, encouraging children of primary school walk to school and promote road safety, health, public transport and the environment. It's annually observed on the fourth Friday in May.
This Day in History
- 2021 Ryanair Flight 4978 from Athens to Vilnius was diverted by the Belarusian government to Minsk National Airport in order to arrest two of its passengers, opposition activist and journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega.
- 2014 6 people were killed and 13 others injured in a killing spree near the campus of University of California, Santa Barbara. The perpetrator committed suicide.
- 2013 The I-5 Skagit River Bridge that connected the cities of Mount Vernon and Burlington in the state of Washington collapsed into the river below.
- 2010 Died: Simon Monjack, British screenwriter, film director, and producer. He died five months after the death of his wife, actress Brittany Murphy.
- 2009 Died: Roh Moo-hyun, the ninth President of South Korea (from 2003 to 2008). He committed suicide by jumping from a mountain cliff.
- 2004 At Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, part of Terminal 2E collapsed, killing 4 people and injuring 3 others. The terminal was reconstructed and reopened in 2008.
- 1994 Died: Joe Pass, American virtuoso jazz guitarist who is considered to be one of the most influential jazz guitarists of the 20th century.
- 1986 Born: Ryan Coogler, American filmmaker. His notable credits include Fruitvale Station, Creed, Black Panther, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
- 1977 Born: Richard Ayoade, British comedian, actor, writer and director. He is best known for playing the role of Maurice Moss in Channel 4 sitcom The IT Crowd.
- 1974 Born: Ken Jennings, American game show contestant who is noted for holding the record for the longest winning streak on Jeopardy!
- 1970 Born: Yigal Amir, Israeli activist who assassinated Prime Minister of Israel Yitzhak Rabin. He is currently serving a life sentence plus 14 years.
- 1965 Born: Melissa McBride, American actress whose breakout role was Carol Peletier on The Walking Dead, and later its spinoff The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon.
- 1960 Died: Georges Claude, French engineer and inventor primarily remembered for the invention and commercialization of neon lighting.
- 1960 Born: Linden Ashby, American actor and martial artist best known for his roles as Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat and Sheriff Stilinski on Teen Wolf.
- 1958 The first satellite of the United States Explorer 1 ceased transmission. Its launch began the Cold War Space Race between the USA and the USSR.
- 1951 Born: Anatoly Karpov, Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster. He was World Champion from 1975 to 1985 and then again from 1993 to 1999.
- 1949 The Federal Republic of Germany (also known as West Germany) was established from 11 states in the Allied zones of occupation.
- 1945 Died: Heinrich Himmler, German military commander and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He committed suicide by biting into a cyanide pill.
- 1937 Died: John D. Rockefeller, American business magnate and philanthropist who is best known as a co-founder of the Standard Oil Company.
- 1934 Died: Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, American outlaws and robbers. They were ambushed and killed in Louisiana by police officers.
- 1934 Born: Robert Moog, American electronic music pioneer best known as the inventor of the Moog synthesizer. He founded Moog Music in 1953.
- 1933 Born: Joan Collins, English stage, film and television actress, author, and columnist. She is best known for her role as Alexis Carrington on Dynasty.
- 1928 Born: Rosemary Clooney, American singer and actress whose best known hits include "Come On-a My House", "Mambo Italiano", and "Tenderly".
- 1911 The main branch of the New York Public Library was officially opened. The opening ceremony was presided over by President William Howard Taft.
- 1906 Died: Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian playwright, poet, and theater director. His major works include Brand, Peer Gynt, A Doll's House, The Wild Duck, The Master Builder.
- 1883 Born: Douglas Fairbanks, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. He was also a founding member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.
- 1873 Queen Victoria established the North-West Mounted Police, a Canadian police force. It was the forerunner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
- 1857 Died: Augustin-Louis Cauchy, French mathematician who is regarded as an early pioneer of mathematical analysis, specifically complex analysis.
- 1829 The patent for the accordion was officially granted to Cyrill Demian, an organ and piano maker from Vienna, and his two sons, Guido and Karl.
- 1734 Born: Franz Mesmer, German physician primarily remembered for his theory of animal magnetism, sometimes later referred to as mesmerism.
- 1707 Born: Carl Linnaeus, Swedish botanist, zoologist, and physician who laid the foundations for the modern biological naming scheme of binomial nomenclature.
- 1618 The Second Defenestration of Prague took place. It precipitated the Thirty Years' War, one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in the history of Europe.
- 1498 Died: Girolamo Savonarola, Italian Dominic friar and preacher known for his prophecies. He was hanged and burned for defying the pope.
- 1430 Joan of Arc was captured by the Burgundians during the Siege of Compiègne. They imprisoned her at Beaurevoir Castle and tried for heresy.