Notable people who died on May 23 include: Urban I, Li Sizhao, Guibert of Gembloux, Henry V, Jehan de Lescurel.

Notable Deaths on May 23

Q: What is Ron Hill known for?

Ron Hill, English long-distance runner (born 1938)

2021 — Ron Hill

English long-distance runner (born 1938)

May 23 has seen 92 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 230 – 2024. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.

By thisDay.info Editorial Team · May 23 — Wikipedia

Notable Deaths 92 people 230 – 2024

Did you know

He ran two Olympic Marathons, and achieved a personal marathon record of 2:09:28

Did you know

In 1970, Hill won the 74th Boston Marathon in a course record 2:10:30

Did you know

He also won gold medals for the marathon at the European Championships in 1969 and the Commonwealth Games in 1970

Did you know

He was the second man to break 2:10 in the marathon; he set world records at four other distances, and laid claim to the marathon world record

Did you know

Hill laid claim to the longest streak of consecutive days running – every day for 52 years and 39 days from 1964 to 2017.

Urban I

pope of the Catholic Church

Pope Urban I, also known as Saint Urban (175?–230), was the bishop of Rome from 222 to 23 May 230. He was born in Rome and succeeded Callixtus I, who had been martyred. It was believed for centuries that Urban I was…

230

Li Sizhao

Chinese general and governor

Li Sizhao, né Han (韓), known at one point as Li Jintong (李進通), courtesy name Yiguang (益光), formally the Prince of Longxi (隴西王), was a Chinese military general and politician. He served as major general under Li Keyong…

922

Guibert of Gembloux

Frankish abbot (born 892)

Wicbert or Guibert was a nobleman who became a hermit and founded Gembloux Abbey. He was canonized as a saint in 1211. Saint Guibert's feast day is observed on 23 May.

962

Henry V

Holy Roman Emperor (born 1086)

Henry V was King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor, as the fourth and last ruler of the Salian dynasty. He was made co-ruler by his father, Henry IV, in 1098.

1125

Jehan de Lescurel

French poet and composer

Jehan de Lescurel was a composer-poet of late medieval music. Jehan's extensive surviving oeuvre is an important and rare examples of the formes fixes before the time of Guillaume de Machaut; it consists of 34 works: 20…

1304

Alice de Warenne

Countess of Arundel, English noble (born 1287)

Alice de Warenne, Countess of Arundel was an English noblewoman and heir apparent to the Earldom of Surrey. In 1305, she married Edmund FitzAlan, 2nd Earl of Arundel.

1338

Toghon Temür

Mongol emperor (born 1320)

Toghon Temür, also known by his temple name as Emperor Huizong of Yuan and by his posthumous name as Emperor Shun of Yuan, was the last emperor of the Yuan dynasty and the first emperor of the Northern Yuan dynasty. He…

1370

Antipope Benedict XIII (born 1328)

Pedro Martínez de Luna y Pérez de Gotor, known as el Papa Luna or Pope Luna, was an Aragonese nobleman who was antipope with the regnal name Benedict XIII during the Western Schism.

1423

Girolamo Savonarola

Italian friar and preacher (born 1452)

Girolamo Savonarola, OP, also referred to as Jerome Savonarola, was an Italian ascetic Dominican friar from Ferrara and a preacher active in Renaissance Florence. He became known for his prophecies of civic glory, his…

1498

Ashikaga Yoshitane

Japanese shōgun (born 1466)

Ashikaga Yoshitane , also known as Ashikaga Yoshiki , was the 10th shōgun of the Ashikaga shogunate who headed the shogunate first from 1490 to 1493 and then again from 1508 to 1521 during the Muromachi period of Japan.

1523

Ismail I

First Emperor of Safavid Empire (born 1487)

Ismail I was the founder and first shah of Safavid Iran, ruling from 1501 until his death in 1524. His reign is one of the most vital in the history of Iran, and the Safavid era is often considered the beginning of…

1524

John Blitheman

English organist and composer (born 1525)

John Blitheman was an English composer and organist.

1591

John Gauden

English bishop (born 1605)

John Gauden was an English cleric. He was Bishop of Exeter then Bishop of Worcester. He was also a writer, and the reputed author of the important Royalist work Eikon Basilike.

1662

Ferdinando II de' Medici

Grand Duke of Tuscany (born 1610)

Ferdinando II de' Medici was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1621 to 1670. He was the eldest son of Cosimo II de' Medici and Maria Maddalena of Austria. Remembered by his contemporaries as a man of culture and science, he…

1670

Adrien Auzout

French astronomer and instrument maker (born 1622)

Adrien Auzout French pronunciation: [ozu.(t‿)] was a French astronomer.

1691

William Kidd

Scottish pirate (born 1645)

William Kidd, also known as Captain William Kidd or simply Captain Kidd, was a Scottish privateer. Conflicting accounts exist regarding his early life, but he was likely born in Dundee and later settled in New York…

1701

Abraham ben Abraham

Polish martyr (born 1700)

Abraham ben Abraham, also known as Count Valentine Potocki, was a Polish nobleman (szlachta) of the Potocki family who converted to Judaism and was burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic Church for apostasy.…

1749

William Bradford

English-American printer (born 1663)

William Bradford was an early American colonial printer and publisher in British America. Bradford is best known for establishing the first printing press in the Middle Colonies of the Thirteen Colonies, founding the…

1752

John Wood

the Elder, English architect, designed The Circus and Queen Square (born 1704)

John Wood, the Elder was an English architect, working mainly in Bath.

1754

James Otis Jr.

American lawyer and politician (born 1725)

James Otis Jr. was an American lawyer, politician, and activist who was an early supporter of patriotic causes in the Province of Massachusetts Bay at the beginning of the American Revolution. Otis was a fervent…

1783

Géraud Duroc

French general and diplomat (born 1772)

Géraud Christophe Michel Duroc, Duke of Frioul, was a French general and diplomat who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his friendship with Napoleon Bonaparte, who…

1813

Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg

American clergyman and botanist (born 1753)

Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg was an American clergyman and botanist.

1815

Franz Xaver von Baader

German philosopher and theologian (born 1765)

Benedict Franz von Baader, born Benedikt Franz Xaver Baader, was a Catholic theologian, philosopher, and mining engineer from Germany. Resisting the empiricism of his day, he denounced most Western philosophy since…

1841

Charles Robert Malden

English lieutenant and explorer (born 1797)

Charles Robert Malden was a nineteenth-century British naval officer, surveyor and educator. He is the discoverer of Malden Island in the central Pacific, which is named in his honour. He also founded Windlesham House…

1855

Augustin-Louis Cauchy

French mathematician and academic (born 1789)

Baron Augustin-Louis Cauchy was a French mathematician, engineer, and physicist. He was one of the first to rigorously state and prove the key theorems of calculus, pioneered the field complex analysis, and the study of…

1857

Kit Carson

American general (born 1809)

Christopher Houston Carson, popularly known as Kit Carson, was an American frontiersman, fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent and U.S. Army officer.

1868

Leopold von Ranke

German historian and academic (born 1795)

Leopold von Ranke was a German historian and a founder of modern source-based history. He was able to implement the seminar teaching method in his classroom and focused on archival research and the analysis of…

1886

Anton von Schmerling

Austrian politician (born 1805)

Anton Ritter von Schmerling was an Austrian statesman.

1893

Franz Ernst Neumann

German mineralogist, physicist, and mathematician (born 1798)

Franz Ernst Neumann was a German mineralogist and physicist. He devised the first formulas to calculate inductance. He also formulated Neumann's law for molecular heat. In electromagnetism, he is credited for…

1895

Henrik Ibsen

Norwegian director, playwright, and poet (born 1828)

Henrik Johan Ibsen was a Norwegian playwright. He is considered one of the world's pre-eminent writers of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama". He pioneered theatrical realism but…

1906

François Coppée

French poet and author (born 1842)

François Édouard Joachim Coppée was a French poet and novelist.

1908

Svetozar Boroević

Croatian-Austrian field marshal (born 1856)

Svetozar Boroević von Bojna was an Austro-Hungarian field marshal who was described as one of the finest defensive strategists of the First World War. He commanded Austro-Hungarian forces in the Isonzo front, for which…

1920

August Nilsson

Swedish shot putter and tug of war competitor (born 1872)

August Nilsson was a Swedish track and field athlete and tug of war competitor who competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.

1921

Clyde Barrow

American criminal (born 1909)

Bonnie Elizabeth Parker and Clyde Chestnut "Champion" Barrow were outlaws who traveled the Central United States with their gang during the Great Depression, committing a series of criminal acts such as bank robberies,…

1934

Mihkel Martna

Estonian journalist and politician (born 1860)

Mihkel Martna was an Estonian politician and journalist.

1934

Bonnie Parker

American criminal (born 1910)

1934

John D. Rockefeller

American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Standard Oil Company and Rockefeller University (born 1839)

John Davison Rockefeller Sr. was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest Americans of all time and one of the richest people in modern history. Rockefeller was born into a large family…

1937

Frederick Ruple

Swiss-American painter (born 1871)

Frederick Ruple was a 20th-century Swiss-American painter, primarily of portraits. He was commissioned to paint Confederate Civil War battle scenes and murals. At times Ruple lived in Arkansas and Oklahoma where he…

1938

Panagiotis Toundas

Greek composer and conductor (born 1886)

Panagiotis Toundas was a Greek composer of the early 20th century.

1942

Heinrich Himmler

German commander and politician, Reich Minister of the Interior and head of the SS (born 1900)

Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was a German Nazi politician and military leader. He was the 4th Reichsführer of the Schutzstaffel from 1929 to 1945. He was a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful…

1945

Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz

Swiss author and poet (born 1878)

Charles Ferdinand Ramuz was a French-speaking Swiss writer.

1947

Jan Frans De Boever

Belgian painter and illustrator (born 1872)

Jan Frans De Boever was a Belgian Symbolist painter, known for his paintings of voluptuous nude women in morbid contexts. Skeletons, death and eroticism flood his oeuvre. He made illustrations in gouache for Charles…

1949

Gustav Suits

Latvian-Estonian poet and politician (born 1883)

Gustav Suits is considered one of the greatest Estonian poets. He was also an early leader of the literary movement group Noor-Eesti.

1956

Georges Claude

French engineer and inventor, created Neon lighting (born 1870)

Georges Claude was a French engineer and inventor. He is noted for his early work on the industrial liquefaction of air, for the invention and commercialization of neon lighting, and for a large experiment on generating…

1960

Louis Coatalen

French engineer (born 1879)

Louis Hervé Coatalen was an automobile engineer and racing driver born in Brittany who spent much of his adult life in Britain and took British nationality. He was a pioneer of the design and development of internal…

1962

August Jakobson

Estonian author and politician (born 1904)

August Jakobson was an Estonian writer and politician. He was one of the few Estonian playwright among his contemporaries whose plays were untouched by Soviet censorship and reached other Soviet states. He has been…

1963

David Smith

American sculptor (born 1906)

Roland David Smith was an American abstract expressionist sculptor and painter, best known for creating large steel abstract geometric sculptures.

1965

Moms Mabley

American comedian and actor (born 1894)

Loretta Mary Aiken, known by her stage name Jackie "Moms" Mabley, was an American stand-up comedian and actress. Mabley began her career on the theater stage in the 1920s and became a veteran entertainer of the Chitlin'…

1975

S. Selvanayagam

Sri Lankan geographer and academic (born 1932)

Somasundaram Selvanayagam was a Ceylon Tamil geographer, academic and head of the Department of Geography at the University of Jaffna.

1979

Gene Green

American baseball player (born 1933)

Gene Leroy Green was an American Major League Baseball outfielder and catcher who played all or portions of seven MLB seasons for the St. Louis Cardinals (1957–1959), Baltimore Orioles (1960), Washington Senators…

1981

Rayner Heppenstall

English author and poet (born 1911)

John Rayner Heppenstall was a British novelist, poet, diarist, and a BBC radio producer.

1981

George Jessel

American actor, singer, and producer (born 1898)

George Albert "Georgie" Jessel was an American actor, singer, songwriter, and film producer. He was famous in his lifetime as a multitalented comedic entertainer, achieving a level of recognition that transcended his…

1981

David Lewis

Belarusian-Canadian lawyer and politician (born 1909)

David Lewis was a Canadian labour lawyer and social democratic politician. He was national secretary of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) from 1936 to 1950 and one of the key architects of the New…

1981

Sterling Hayden

American actor (born 1916)

Sterling Walter Hayden was an American actor. A leading man for most of his career, he specialized in Westerns and film noir throughout the 1950s, in films such as John Huston's The Asphalt Jungle (1950), Nicholas Ray's…

1986

Georgy Tovstonogov

Russian director and producer (born 1915)

Georgy Aleksandrovich Tovstonogov was a Russian-Georgian theatre director.

1989

Karl Koch

German computer hacker (born 1965)

Karl Werner Lothar Koch was a German hacker in the 1980s, who called himself "hagbard", after Hagbard Celine. He was involved in a Cold War computer espionage incident.

1989

Wilhelm Kempff

German pianist and composer (born 1895)

Wilhelm Walter Friedrich Kempff was a German pianist, teacher and composer. Although his repertoire included Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt and Brahms, Kempff was particularly well known for his interpretations…

1991

Jean Van Houtte

Belgian academic and politician, 50th Prime Minister of Belgium (born 1907)

Jean Marie Joseph "Jan", Baron Van Houtte was a Belgian politician who served as the Prime Minister of Belgium from 1952 to 1954.

1991

Fletcher Markle

Canadian director, screenwriter, and producer (born 1921)

Fletcher Markle was a Canadian actor, screenwriter, television producer and director. Markle began a radio career in Canada, then worked in radio, film and television in the United States.

1991

Kostas Davourlis

Greek footballer (born 1948)

Konstantinos Davourlis born in Agyia, Patras, popularly nicknamed The Black Prince, was a former Greek footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. A gifted and talented player, he was voted by the Greek sports…

1992

Giovanni Falcone

Italian lawyer and judge (born 1939)

Giovanni Falcone was an Italian judge and prosecuting magistrate. From his office in the Palace of Justice in Palermo, Sicily, he spent most of his professional life trying to overthrow the power of the Sicilian Mafia.…

1992

Olav Hauge

Norwegian poet (born 1908)

Olav Håkonson Hauge was a Norwegian horticulturist, translator and poet.

1994

Kronid Lyubarsky

Russian journalist and activist (born 1934)

Kronid Arkadyevich Lyubarsky was a Russian journalist, dissident, human rights activist and political prisoner.

1996

Telford Taylor

American general and lawyer (born 1908)

Telford Taylor was an American lawyer and professor. Taylor was known for his role as lead counsel in the prosecution of war criminals after World War II, his opposition to McCarthyism in the 1950s, and his outspoken…

1998

Owen Hart

Canadian-American wrestler (born 1965)

Owen James Hart was a Canadian professional wrestler who worked for several promotions including Stampede Wrestling, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wrestling Federation…

1999

Big Bill Neidjie

Australian activist and last speaker of the Gaagudju language (born c. 1920)

Bill Neidjie, nicknamed "Kakadu Man", was the last surviving speaker of the Gaagudju language, an Aboriginal Australian language from northern Kakadu, after which Kakadu National Park is named. He was an elder of the…

2002

Sam Snead

American golfer and journalist (born 1912)

Samuel Jackson Snead was an American professional golfer who was one of the top players in the world for the better part of four decades and widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. Snead was awarded…

2002

Lloyd Bentsen

American colonel and politician, 69th United States Secretary of the Treasury (born 1921)

Lloyd Millard Bentsen Jr. was an American politician who served as the 69th United States secretary of the treasury under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1994. He served as a United States senator from Texas from…

2006

Kazimierz Górski

Polish footballer and manager (born 1921)

Kazimierz Klaudiusz Górski was a Polish professional football manager. He was also a football player, capped once for Poland.

2006

Iñaki Ochoa de Olza

Spanish mountaineer (born 1967)

Iñaki Ochoa de Olza was a Spanish climber. Ochoa de Olza took part in more than thirty separate climbing expeditions in the Himalayas over the course of his career, and was involved in more than 200 expeditions as a…

2008

Utah Phillips

American singer-songwriter and poet (born 1935)

Bruce Duncan "Utah" Phillips was an American labor organizer, folk singer, storyteller and poet. He described the struggles of labor unions and the power of direct action, self-identifying as an anarchist. He often…

2008

Roh Moo-hyun

South Korean soldier and politician, 9th President of South Korea (born 1946)

Roh Moo-hyun was a South Korean politician and lawyer who served as the ninth president of South Korea from 2003 to 2008.

2009

José Lima

Dominican-American baseball player (born 1972)

José Desiderio Rodriguez Lima was a Dominican right-handed pitcher who spent 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros (1997–2001), Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Dodgers (2004)…

2010

Simon Monjack

English director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1970)

Simon Mark Monjack was an English screenwriter, film director, producer and make-up artist. He was the husband and later widower of Brittany Murphy.

2010

Xavier Tondo

Spanish cyclist (born 1978)

Xavier Tondo Volpini was a Spanish professional road racing cyclist who specialized in mountain stages of bicycle races.

2011

Paul Fussell

American historian, author, and academic (born 1924)

Paul Fussell Jr. was an American cultural and literary historian, author and university professor. His writings cover a variety of topics, from scholarly works on eighteenth-century English literature to commentary on…

2012

Epy Guerrero

Dominican baseball player, coach, and scout (born 1942)

Epifanio Obdulio "Epy" Guerrero was a Dominican baseball scout who signed more than 50 Major League Baseball (MLB) players for the Houston Astros, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays and Milwaukee Brewers. Epy was the…

2013

Hayri Kozakçıoğlu

Turkish police officer and politician, 15th Governor of Istanbul Province (born 1938)

Hayri Kozakçıoğlu was a Turkish high-ranking civil servant and politician. He served as district governor, police chief, province governor in various administrative divisions. He was known as the first regional governor…

2013

Georges Moustaki

Egyptian-French singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1934)

Georges Moustaki was an Egyptian-French singer-songwriter of Greek-Jewish origin. He wrote about 300 songs for some of the most popular singers in France, including Édith Piaf, Dalida, Françoise Hardy, Yves Montand,…

2013

Flynn Robinson

American basketball player (born 1941)

Flynn James Robinson was an American professional basketball player.

2013

Mikhail Egorovich Alekseev

Russian linguist and academic (born 1949)

Mikhail Egorovich Alekseev was a Soviet and Russian linguist specializing in Nakh-Daghestanian languages.

2014

Madhav Mantri

Indian cricketer (born 1921)

Madhav Krishnaji Mantri was an Indian cricketer who played in four Test matches between 1951 and 1955. Born in Nasik, Maharashtra, he was a right-handed opening batsman and specialist wicket-keeper who represented…

2014

Anne Meara

American actress, comedian and playwright (born 1929)

Anne Meara was an American comedian and actress. Along with her husband Jerry Stiller, she was one-half of the prominent 1960s comedy team Stiller and Meara. Their son is actor, director, and producer Ben Stiller. She…

2015

Aleksey Mozgovoy

Pro-Russian Ukrainian separatist leader (born 1975)

Aleksey Borisovich Mozgovoy was a commander of the Russian-installed separatist Luhansk People's Republic in Ukraine. He was the leader of the pro-Russian Prizrak Brigade.

2015

Alicia Nash

Salvadoran-American physicist and engineer (born 1933)

Alicia Esther Nash was a Salvadoran-American physicist. The wife of mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr., she was a mental-health care advocate, who gave up her professional aspirations to support her husband and son, who…

2015

John Forbes Nash Jr.

American mathematician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1928)

John Forbes Nash Jr., known and published as John Nash, was an American mathematician who made fundamental contributions to game theory, real algebraic geometry, differential geometry, and partial differential…

2015

Roger Moore

English actor (born 1927)

Sir Roger George Moore was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray Ian Fleming's fictional secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions/MGM Studios film series, playing the character in seven feature…

2017

Hana Kimura

Japanese professional wrestler (born 1997)

Hana Kimura was a Japanese professional wrestler. She worked for Japanese promotions such as World Wonder Ring Stardom and Wrestle-1, in addition to making appearances for foreign companies such as Ring of Honor,…

2020

Eric Carle

American children's book designer, illustrator, and writer best known for The Very Hungry Caterpillar (born 1929)

Eric Carle was an American author, designer and illustrator of children's books. His picture book The Very Hungry Caterpillar, first published in 1969, has been translated into more than 66 languages and sold more than…

2021

Caleb Carr

American military historian and author (born 1955)

Caleb Carr was an American military historian and author. Carr was the second of three sons born to Lucien Carr and Francesca Von Hartz.

2024

Morgan Spurlock

American filmmaker (born 1970)

Morgan Valentine Spurlock was an American documentary filmmaker, writer and television producer. He directed 23 films and was the producer of nearly 70 films throughout his career. Spurlock received acclaim for…

2024

May 23 in the Blog

Robert the Bruce's Victory at Inverurie — May 23, 1308

1308: Robert the Bruce defeats John Comyn in Inverurie, Scotland, securing a crucial victory with no reported death toll, in the First War of Scottish I...

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Notable deaths

Who died on May 23?

Ron Hill — British long-distance runner (1938–2021)

FeaturedRon Hill

Death year2021

Known forHe was the second man to break 2:10 in the marathon; he set world records at four other distances, and laid claim to the marathon world record

Deaths on this date92 (230 – 2024)

Explore May 23

Jump between the main pages for this date to compare events, people, and the daily quiz.

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Also on May 23 in History

2022

Anthony Albanese of the Australian Labor Party is sworn in as the 31st Prime Minister of Australia after winning the 2022 Australian federal election, ending 9 years of conservative rule. Wikipedia →

2021

A cable car falls from a mountain near Lake Maggiore in northern Italy, killing 14 people. Wikipedia →

2021

Ryanair Flight 4978 is forced to land by Belarusian authorities to detain dissident journalist Roman Protasevich. Wikipedia →

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2021 — Ron Hill

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