May 31 is the 154th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (155th in leap years). There are 211 days remaining.
- 1578 - Martin Frobisher sails from Harwich, England, destined to mine fool's gold at Frobisher Bay, which is used to pave streets in London.
- 1759 - The colony of Pennsylvania bans all theater productions
- 1790 - Alferez Manuel Quimper[?] explores the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
- 1862 - American Civil War: The Battle of Seven Pines[?]
- 1864 - American Civil War: The Battle of Cold Harbor begins
- 1866 - John O'Neill[?] leads 800 Fenian[?] raiders across the Niagara River at Buffalo, New York/Fort Erie, Ontario, as part of an effort to free Ireland from the English
- 1884 - John Harvey Kellogg[?] patents corn flakes
- 1889 - The Johnstown Flood[?]: Over 2200 people die in the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania
- 1902 - Second Boer War: The last Afrikaner resistance forces sign a peace treaty with the British at Pretoria, ending the war, and ensuring British control of South Africa.
- 1910 - Creation of the Union of South Africa
- 1913 - The Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, authorizing direct election of United States Senators, is declared ratified
- 1916 - World War I: The Battle of Jutland
- 1924 - The U.S.S.R. signs an agreement with the Peking government, referring to Outer Mongolia as an "integral part of the Republic of China," whose "sovereignty" therein the Soviet Union promises to respect
- 1942 - The Luftwaffe bombs Coventry, England
- 1952 - Dwight D. Eisenhower retires from active service
- 1961 - Creation of the Republic of South Africa
- 1962 The West Indies Federation dissolves
- 1974 - Syria and Israel sign a disengagement agreement to resolve the Yom Kippur War
- 1977 - The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System is completed
- 1997 - The Confederation Bridge opens
- 2002 - May 31 through June 30 - 17th Football World Cup[?] in Japan and South Korea
- 2003 - The final flight of an Air France Concorde takes place.
- 1443 - Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII of England (+ 1509)
- 1469 - King Manuel I of Portugal (+ 1521)
- 1750 - Karl August of Hardenberg[?], statesman and reformer (+ 1822)
- 1753 - Pierre Victurnien Vergniaud, revolutionist (+ 1793)
- 1773 - Ludwig Tieck, poet and writer (+ 1853)
- 1801 - Johann Georg Baiter, philologist (+ 1887)
- 1819 - Walt Whitman, poet (+ 1892)
- 1838 - Henry Sidgwick, philosopher (+ 1900)
- 1857 - Pope Pius XI (+ 1939)
- 1860 - Walter Sickert, painter (+ 1942)
- 1872 - Heath Robinson, cartoonist (+ 1944)
- 1883 - Lauri Kristian Relander, Finnish president (+ 1942)
- 1894 - Fred Allen, comedian (+ 1956)
- 1898 - Dr. Norman Vincent Peale[?], clergyman (+ 1993)
- 1908 - Don Ameche[?], actor (+ 1993)
- 1912 - Alfred Deller, singer, early modern countertenor (+ 1979)
- 1922 - Denholm Elliott, actor (+ 1992)
- 1923 - Prince Rainier III of Monaco
- 1926 - James Krüss[?], author (+ 1997)
- 1929 - Menahem Golan[?], producer
- 1930 - Clint Eastwood, actor, director, producer
- 1932 - Jay Miner, microchip[?] designer (+ 1994)
- 1938 - Peter Yarrow, singer ("Peter, Paul and Mary")
- 1938 - John Prescott, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- 1939 - Terry Waite, humanitarian
- 1941 - Johnny Paycheck[?], singer (+ 2003)
- 1943 - Sharon Gless[?], actress
- 1943 - Joe Namath[?], American football star
- 1945 - Rainer Werner Fassbinder, director (+ 1982)
- 1948 - John Bonham, drummer ("Led Zeppelin") (+ 1980)
- 1949 - Tom Berenger[?], actor
- 1950 - Gregory Harrison[?], actor
- 1960 - Chris Elliott, comedian
- 1961 - Lea Thompson[?], actress
- 1962 - Corey Hart[?], singer/songwriter
- 1965 - Brooke Shields, model and actress
- 1976 - Colin Farrell, actor
- 455 - Valentinian III, Roman Emperor
- 455 - Petronius Maximus, Roman Emperor (killed by a mob)
- 1246 - Queen consort Isabella of Angouleme
- 1680 - Joachim Neander, clergyman
- 1740 - King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia
- 1799 - Pierre Charles Lemonnier, astronomer
- 1809 - Joseph Haydn, composer
- 1846 - Philip Konrad Marheineke, German Protestant divine
- 1848 - Eugénie de Guérin, writer
- 1960 - Walther Funk[?], Nazi leader
- 1962 - Adolf Eichmann, Nazi official
- 1977 - William Castle[?], director
- 1983 - Jack Dempsey, boxer
- 1996 - Paul Peter Piech, artist
- 1996 - Timothy Leary, LSD advocate
- 2000 - Tito Puente, musician
- 2000 - Johnnie Taylor, vocalist
- Feast day of Mary, Mediatrix of all Graces
- The Godiva procession
See Also:
May 30 - June 1 - April 30 - June 30 -- listing of all days
January, February, March, April, May, June, July,
August, September, October, November, December