May 31

 Holidays and Observances
(Alphabetical Order)

2024 Daily Holidays that fall on May 31, include:

• European Neighbors' Day - May 31, 2024 (Last Friday in May)
• National Autonomous Vehicle Day 
• National Macaroon Day 
  
• National Meditation Day 
• National Save Your Hearing Day 
• National Smile Day 
• National Speak in Complete Sentences Day 
• Necrotizing Fasciitis Awareness Day 
• What You Think Upon Grows Day 
• World No-Tobacco Day 
• World Parrot Day 

2024 Weekly Holidays that include May 31, are:

• Click It or Ticket Mobilization (Covers Memorial Day Weekend) - May 20 - June 2, 2024
  
• Great American Brass Band Week - May 30 - June 1, 2024
• Prepare Tomorrow's Parents Month - May 12 - June 16, 2024 (Mother's Day to Father's Day)
  
• Week of Solidarity with the Peoples of Non Self-Governing Territories - May 25-31
  

2024 Monthly Holidays that include May 31, are:

There are too many monthly holidays to include here, so please check out our May Holidays page to see all of the holidays that are celebrated the entire month of May.

NOTE:

1. A page on each holiday will be coming soon and linked above.
2. If a date is a movable holiday, that is different every year, I'll include the year as well as the date rule above. Otherwise, the holiday falls on the same date each year.

World Festivals and Events
(Date Order)

• Vivid Sydney - May 24 - June 15, 2024 located in Sydney, Australia is where art, technology, and commerce intersect, and is an event of light, music, and ideas. Featuring outdoor lighting sculptures, cutting edge contemporary music, and the illumination of the Sydney Opera House. Check out our Holidays in Australia page!

Astrological Sign

The Astrological Sign for May 31 is Gemini.

Birth Flower of the Month

The Birth Flower(s) for the Month for May are:

• The Lily of the Valley - Humility, Chastity and Sweetness - signifies a return to happiness
• Hawthorn

Birthstone

The Birthstone(s) for May is the Emerald which is a symbol of rebirth and is believed to grant the owner foresight, good fortune, and youth.

Famous Birthdays

• 1819 - Walt Whitman, American poet called the Father of Free Verse (Leaves of Grass) (d. 1892)
• 1866 - John Ringling, one of the seven Ringling Brothers who founded the Ringling Brothers Circus (d. 1936)
• 1898 - Norman Vincent Peale, American minister and author who wrote The Power of Positive Thinking (d. 1993)
• 1923 - Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (d. 2005)
• 1930 - Clint Eastwood, American actor, director and producer (Rawhide, Dirty Harry)
• 1943 - Sharon Gless, American actress (Cagney & Lacey, Burn Notice)
• 1943 - Joe Namath, American football quarterback, sportscaster, and actor
• 1949 - Tom Berenger, American actor and producer (Platoon)
• 1965 - Brooke Shields, American model, actress, and producer (Pretty Baby, Blue Lagoon)
• 1976 - Colin Farrell - Irish actor (The Recruit, S.W.A.T)

Famous Deaths

• 2013 - Jean Stapleton, Amercan actress (Edith Bunker on All in the Family) (b. 1923)

Famous Weddings and Divorces

• 1919 - The first wedding ever held in an aircraft happens over Houston, Texas
• 1949 Actress Doris Day divorces musician George Weidler after 3 years
• 1991 - Minnie Munro at 102 marries Dudley Reid, 83, in Australia. She is the oldest bride on record
• 2014 - Singer Melissa Etheridge marries actress Linda Wallem

Quote of the Day

Believe in Your Dreams!

Healthy Diet Habit Tip of the Day 
or a Recipe of the Day

The month of May is National Salad Month!

Preparing great salad recipes on a daily basis, is one of the best lifestyle solutions for weight control! Salads are such a simple way to practice healthy eating by increasing your vegetables, yet few of you eat the recommended daily allowances!

Check out Kerry's Healthy Salad Recipes page on her Healthy Diet Habits website! She shares the health benefits of salads, some guidelines to keep your salad calories low, and shares her favorite salad recipes! 

This Day in History

• 1578 - King Henry III lays the first stone of the oldest bridge of Paris, France
• 1790 - The U.S. enacts the Copyright Act of 1790
• 1879 - William Henry Vanderbilt renames Gilmores Garden in NYC to Madison Square Garden and opens it to the public
• 1889 - The town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania is flooded with a 60-foot wall of water after a dam fails. Over 2,200 people die.
• 1927 - After 15,007,003 vehicles, production ends for the Ford Model T
• 1970 - A 7.9 earthquake shakes Peru and a landslide buries the town of Yungay, Peru. Close to 70,000 people killed and 50,000 injured.
• 1971 - Observation of Memorial Day occurs on the last Monday in May for the first time, due to the Uniform Monday Holiday Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1968
• 1977 - The Trans-Alaska Pipeline is completed
• 1985 - Forty-one tornadoes hit Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Ontario, Canada, killing 76
• 2013 - There are eight fatalities and over 150 injuries in El Reno, Oklahoma after a record 2.6 mile wide tornado strikes

This Day in Music

• 1956 - Buddy Holly writes That'll be the Day after seeing the John Wayne film The Searchers
• 1961 - Jimi Hendrix enlists in the Army for 3 year as a member of the Screaming Eagles fighting squad. Over a year later he breaks his ankle during a parachute jump and is honorably discharged
• 1971 - Day After Day is recorded by Badfinger (video below)
• 1974 - Gordon Lightfoot's Sundown album is certified Gold
• 1975 - One of These Nights is released by The Eagles
• 1998 - Geri Halliwell announces that she has left the Spice Girls
• 2016 - Alicia Keys announces that she will stop wearing makeup

Above is Day After Day, by Badfinger

This Day in Sports

• 1967 - A.J. Foyt wins the Indianapolis 500
• 2015 - At age 92, Harriette Thomson becomes the oldest woman to complete a marathon

Word of the Day from Wiktionary

Wishing You a Great Day Today!