Today in History: Death of Bonnie and Clyde

The following is a chronological list of notable events that occurred on May 23 throughout history:

1430 – Joan of Arc captured
Joan of Arc was captured by Burgundian forces during a skirmish outside Compiègne on May 23, 1430. She was later handed over to the English, leading to her trial and execution.

1498 – Execution of Girolamo Savonarola
Florentine friar and reformer Girolamo Savonarola was executed by hanging and burning for heresy and sedition on May 23, 1498.

1533 – Annulment of Henry VIII’s marriage
On May 23, 1533, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer declared the marriage between King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon null and void, a pivotal moment leading to England’s break from the Roman Catholic Church.

1618 – Second Defenestration of Prague
On May 23, 1618, Protestant nobles threw two Catholic officials out of a castle window in Prague, an event that escalated tensions and ignited the Thirty Years’ War across Central Europe.

1706 – Battle of Ramillies
During the War of the Spanish Succession, Allied forces under the Duke of Marlborough defeated the French army at Ramillies on May 23, 1706, leading to significant territorial gains.

1788 – South Carolina ratifies the U.S. Constitution
South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify the United States Constitution on May 23, 1788, contributing to the formation of the federal government.

1844 – Declaration of the Báb
On May 23, 1844, Siyyid `Alí Muḥammad Shírází proclaimed himself the Báb (“Gate”), founding Bábism, a religious movement considered a precursor to the Bahá’í Faith.

1934 – Death of Bonnie and Clyde
Notorious American outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were ambushed and killed by law enforcement officers in Bienville Parish, Louisiana, on May 23, 1934, ending their crime spree during the Great Depression.

1945 – Suicide of Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler, head of Nazi Germany’s SS and a principal architect of the Holocaust, committed suicide by cyanide ingestion while in British custody on May 23, 1945, shortly after Germany’s surrender in World War II.

1949 - Federal Republic of [West] Germany created out of the American, British and French occupation zones.

1992 – Assassination of Giovanni Falcone
Italian anti-mafia judge Giovanni Falcone, his wife, and three bodyguards were killed by a roadside bomb near Capaci, Sicily, on May 23, 1992, in an attack orchestrated by the Sicilian Mafia.

1998 - The Good Friday Agreement is accepted in a referendum in Northern Ireland with 75% voting yes.

1999 – The film “Star Wars: Episode 1 — The Phantom Menace” became the first to make more than $100 million in five days.

2002 – Sam Snead, whose unmatched 135 tournament victories worldwide and trademark straw hat made him a golfing legend, died aged 89.

2007 – Apa Sherpa scales Mount Everest for record 17th time.

2007 – Helicopter pilots Jennifer Murray and Colin Bodill complete world aviation record by flying around the world via the North and South Poles.

2009 – South Korea’s former President Roh Moo-hyun, hounded for weeks over links to a corruption scandal, jumped to his death in the mountains near his home.

2013 – Highway bridge collapses in Mt. Vernon, Washington.

2016 – Official opening of world’s first functional 3D printed offices in Dubai.