Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/May 23
This is a list of selected May 23 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Please read the selected anniversaries guidelines before making your edit. However, if your addition might be controversial or on a day that is or will soon be on the Main Page, please post your suggestion on the talk page instead.
Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on how important or significant their subjects are. Only four to five events are posted at a time and thus not everything that is "most important and significant" can be listed. In addition, an event is generally not posted this year if it is also the subject of the scheduled featured article, featured list or picture of the day.
To report an error when this appears on the Main Page, see Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
May 23: Lag Ba'omer (Judaism, 2008)
- 1430 – Hundred Years' War: Joan of Arc was captured at the Siege of Compiègne.
- 1498 – Girolamo Savonarola (pictured) of Florence was executed for heresy, uttering prophecies, sedition, and other crimes.
- 1533 – The marriage of Henry VIII of England and his first wife Catherine of Aragon was annulled.
- 1568 – The Dutch Revolt broke out when rebels led by Louis of Nassau invaded Friesland at the Battle of Heiligerlee.
- 1873 – The North West Mounted Police, the forerunner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, was established to bring law and order to and assert Canadian sovereignty over the Northwest Territories.
- 1934 – American criminals Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were ambushed and killed by police on a desolate road near their Bienville Parish, Louisiana hideout outside the Town of Gibsland.