ON THIS DAY MAY 23
Henry I crowns his son Philip I (aka the Amorous) King of France.
Joan of Arc is captured and sold to the English.
Sheik Yusuf, Islamic leader and brother of the sultan of Macassar, who was banished to the Cape, dies at Zandvliet in the Cape. Born in Macassar in 1626, he is regarded as the founder of the Islamic faith in the Cape.
After being convicted of piracy and of killing a shipmate, Captain William Kidd – whose fabled treasure is said to lie off Madagascar – is hanged in London.
Benjamin Franklin announces his invention of bifocals.
The Battle of Congella starts. At midnight, Captain Charlton Smith leads his sixth (Inniskillings) Dragoons regiment on a pre-emptive attack on the Boers, led by Andries Pretorius, at the well-defended village of “Kongela” (Congella). It’s a disaster. Smith has to retire, leaving behind 31 wounded men, who are nursed by the Voortrekkers.
A merchant of Shiraz announces that he is a prophet and founds a religious movement that is later brutally crushed by the Persian government. He is considered to be a forerunner of the Bahá’i faith.
Buenos Aires gains independence, albeit short-lived, from Argentina.
Johannesburg gold digger FB Deeming is hanged in Australia for killing his wife and casting her in a cement block.
British troops arrive at the Renoster River, only to find that the Boers have destroyed the bridge.
Infamous bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde are ambushed and killed by police.
The first great dogfight between Spitfires of the Royal Air Force and the Luftwaffe takes place.
Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS, commits suicide in Allied custody.
An earthquake in Chile causes a tsunami that kills 61 people in Hawaii.
Albert Luthuli’s ban expires again, but he is served with a stricter order.
The Good Friday Agreement (a peace deal between Britain and Ireland) is accepted in Northern Ireland.
Archaeologists announce findings of the earliest use of barley in China to make beer (3400-2900BC).
Hamburg, Germany, is the first city to ban diesel cars.