Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/May 31
This is a list of selected May 31 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 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.
Images
Use only ONE image at a time
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Johnstown flood debris -
Faisal II of Iraq (age 5) -
MV Mavi Marmara -
Samuel Pepys
Ineligible
| Blurb | Reason |
|---|---|
| 1889 – The South Fork Dam near Johnstown, Pennsylvania, failed, unleashing a torrent of 18.1 million cubic meters (4.8 billion gallons) of water that killed over 2,200 people. | refimprove |
| 1910 – The previously separate colonies of the Cape, Natal, Transvaal and the Orange Free State united to form the Union of South Africa, exactly 51 years before it would become the Republic of South Africa. | no footnotes |
| 1916 – The German Kaiserliche Marine and British Royal Navy clashed in the Battle of Jutland, the largest naval battle of the First World War. | refimprove section |
| 1970 – The Ancash earthquake devastated various coastal towns in Peru and resulted in a massive avalanche on the north side of Nevado Huascarán, burying the town of Yungay. | refimprove, stubby |
Eligible
- 1669 – Citing poor eyesight, English naval administrator and Member of Parliament Samuel Pepys recorded his last entry in his diary, one of the most important primary sources for the English Restoration period.
- 1921 – A large-scale race riot began in Tulsa, Oklahoma, US, in which the wealthiest African-American community in the United States, the Greenwood District, was destroyed by fire.
- 1935 – A 7.7 Mw earthquake struck Balochistan in the British Raj, now part of Pakistan, killing anywhere between 30,000 and 60,000 people.
- 1981 – An organized mob of police and government-sponsored paramilitias began burning the public library in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, destroying over 97,000 items in one of the most violent examples of ethnic biblioclasm of the 20th century.
- 2009 – American physician George Tiller, who was nationally known for being one of the few doctors in the United States to perform late-term abortions, was shot and killed by Scott Roeder, an anti-abortion activist.
May 31: World No Tobacco Day; Feast of the Visitation (Roman Catholicism and Anglicanism)
- 1279 BC – Ramesses II (statue pictured) became Pharaoh of Egypt.
- 1223 – Mongol invasions: Mongol forces defeated a combined army of Kiev, Galich, and the Cumans at the Kalchik River in present-day Ukraine.
- 1862 – American Civil War: Confederate forces under Joseph E. Johnston and G. W. Smith engaged Union forces under George B. McClellan at the Battle of Seven Pines outside Richmond, Virginia.
- 1941 – The United Kingdom completed its re-occupation of Iraq, returning 'Abd al-Ilah to power as regent for Faisal II.
- 2010 – During an attempt to break the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli Navy engaged in armed conflict with the crew of the MV Mavi Marmara, resulting in nine civilian deaths.