Tuesday 31st of May 1594

Painter Tintoretto aka Il Furioso dies of fever at the age of 76 in Fondamenta dei Mori, Venezia, Veneto, Italy.

Tintoretto was seized with severe stomach pains that prevented him from sleeping and eating for almost a fortnight.

Wednesday 31st of May 1809

Composer Franz Joseph Haydn aka The Father of the Symphony dies of natural causes at the age of 77 in Wien, Wien, Austria.

Haydn's last words were "My children, have no fear, for where Haydn is, no harm can fall".

Monday 31st of May 1819

Poet and writer Walt Walter Whitman aka The Father of Free Verse is born in West Hills, New York, United States.

Sunday 31st of May 1857

259th Pope Pius XI is born as Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti in Desio, Lombardia, Italy.

Friday 31st of May 1878

Murderer Eugène-Marie Chantrelle is executed by hanging at the age of 44 in Calton Prison, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom.

Chantrelle poisoned his 26-year-old wife Elizabeth Dyer by inserting opium into her food.

Wednesday 31st of May 1922

Solicitor and murderer Herbert Rowse Armstrong is executed by hanging Armstrong was the only solicitor in the history of the United Kingdom to have been hanged for murder. at the age of 53 in Gloucester Prison, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom.

Thursday 31st of May 1928

Cop killer Frederick Guy Browne is executed by hanging at the age of 47 in HM Prison Pentonville, Caledonian Road, London, Islington, Greater London, United Kingdom.

While waiting for sentence to be carried out Browne tried to commit suicide three times, once by hanging himself and then by cutting his throat. He even tried to go on a hunger strike and had to be force fed.

Thursday 31st of May 1928

Cop killer William Henry Kennedy is executed by hanging at the age of 37 in Wandsworth Prison, London, Wandsworth, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Saturday 31st of May 1930

Actor and film director Clint Clinton Eastwood is born in San Francisco, California, United States.

Thursday 31st of May 1945

Film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder is born in Bad Wörishofen, Bayern, Germany.

Sunday 31st of May 1953

Artist Vladimir Yevgraphovich Tatlin dies of unknown causes at the age of 68 in Moscow, Central Federal District, Russia.

Tuesday 31st of May 1960

Writer Willem Elsschot dies of skin cancer at the age of 78 in Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Belgium.

Thursday 31st of May 1962

SS-Obersturmbannführer Adolf Otto Eichmann known for organising the Holocaust is executed by hanging at the age of 56 in Ayalon Prison, Ramla, Center District, Israel.

Monday 31st of May 1965

Actress and child star Brooke Christa Shields is born in New York, Manhattan, New York, United States.

Monday 31st of May 1965

37-year-old Founder of the Five-Percent Nation Clarence 13X aka The Father is arrested and charged with assault and battery, conspiracy, disorderly conduct, marijuana possession, resisting arrest, and unlawful assembly in New York City, New York, United States.

Tuesday 31st of May 1966

Victim of Christian Ranucci aka Le Pull-Over Rouge Marie-Dolorès Rambla is born in Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France.

Wednesday 31st of May 1967

80-year-old Jan Donse aka Oom Cupido is stabbed to death by serial killer Hans van Zon in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands.

Friday 31st of May 1968

12-year-old Child killer Mary Flora Bell aka Child of Hell and Norma Bell break into the local nursery, leaving notes referring to the murder of 4-year-old Martin Brown in Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, United Kingdom.

The police dismissed the incident as a prank.

Wednesday 31st of May 1972

In a taped speech 38-year-old Journalist and leader of the Rote Armee Fraktion Ulrike Marie Meinhof calls up students to take up arms and fight the system in Goethe Universität Hörsaal VI, Mertonstraße 17, Frankfurt am Main, Hessen, Germany.

Friday 31st of May 1974

Bomb attack by the Radical left organisation the Weather Underground on the office of the California Attorney General in Sacramento, California, United States.

The attack was in response to the killing of six members of the Symbionese Liberation Army.

Thursday 31st of May 1984

30-year-old Spree killer Linwood Earl Briley leads the escape of 6 convicted killers from the Mecklenberg Correctional Centre in Mecklenburg Correctional Center, Boydton, Virginia, United States.

Linwood and James Briley, Lem Tuggle, Earl Clanton, Derick Peterson and Willie Jones were all arrested within 3 weeks.

Wednesday 31st of May 1989

Fashion model Daul Kim is born in Seoul, Seoul National Capital Area, South Korea.

Thursday 31st of May 1990

78-year-old Joseph Joe Proce is shot in the back by serial killer Heriberto Seda aka The New York Zodiac Killer in 74-27 87th Road, New York, Queens, New York, United States.

Proce survived the attack but died in the hospital on 24 June.

Friday 31st of May 1991

Writer Angus Frank Johnstone Wilson dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 78 in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, United Kingdom.

Friday 31st of May 1996

Psychologist and writer Timothy Francis Leary known for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs dies of prostate cancer at the age of 76 in Los Angeles, California, United States.

Leary's death was videotaped for posterity at his request, capturing his final words. His last word, according to his son Zach was "beautiful."

Wednesday 31st of May 2000

Mass murderer Robert Earl Carter is executed by lethal injection at the age of 34 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Saturday 31st of May 2003

Wind-beaten trees in Kunsthalle Lophem, Torhoutsesteenweg 52a, Zedelgem, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.

Monday 31st of May 2010

Artist Louise Joséphine Bourgeois aka Spiderwoman dies of a heart attack at the age of 99 in Beth Israel Medical Center, First Avenue at 16th Street, New York City, New York, United States.

Sunday 31st of May 2020

Artist Javacheff Vladimirov Christo dies of natural causes at the age of 85 in New York City, New York, United States.

Friday 31st of May 2024

Serial killer Robert William 'Willie' Pickton aka The Pig Farmer Killer dies from injuries sustained in an assault by fellow inmate Martin Charest on 19 May 2024 at the age of 75 in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.