As of today – May 31, 2023

Historical and political events that happened on May 31 in Greece and the world

1678….In England, Lady Godiva wife of Earl Leofric III of Coventry rides naked through the streets of Coventry – with only her long hair “clothing” – to convince her husband to reduce the high taxes he had imposed on his subjects – which he succeeded in doing.

An elaborate equestrian figure of the naked Godiva, the work of the Scottish sculptor William Reid Dick, has adorned the city since 1949.

According to chronicles of the time, Godaiva had asked the inhabitants of the city to stay in their homes while she would return to the city naked.

In gratitude for her deed, all the inhabitants locked themselves in their houses at the appointed time, and only one tailor, Tom, secretly watched her from his window. Peeping Tom (Peeping Tom) has since become synonymous with voyeurism. The story of the tailor became part of legend during the 17th century, where according to most accounts, as punishment, he is blinded on the spot.

Lady Godaiva died around 1080 and according to the ‘Chronicle of Evesham’ she was buried in the Church of the Holy Trinity in Evesham, which no longer exists. But the opinion is also supported that she was buried with her husband in the city of Coventry.

1884…. The American doctor, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, patents cornflakes.

1902… In Spain, King Alfonso XII dissolves Parliament and imposes martial law to deal with labor unrest.

1907….The first taxi is on the streets of New York.

Woman passenger in a 1910 taxi cab, New York, USA
@viewing.nyc: Female passenger in one of New York’s first cabs

1910…. At a special conference in Britain, the Union of South Africa is established, which in 1961 is renamed the Republic of South Africa.

1924…. The Soviet Union signs an agreement with the Peking Government in which Mongolia is referred to as an “autonomous part of the Republic of China”, whose sovereignty the Soviet Union promises to respect

1961…. The Republic of South Africa is established.

1962… Arch-Nazi Adolf Eichmann is executed by hanging in Israel.

1999…. The trial of Abdullah Ocalan, leader of the Kurds in Turkey, begins.

In GREECE

1915…. Triumph of Eleftherios Venizelos in the elections. He takes 185 of the 316 seats in the Parliament with the Liberal Party. The voters sided with Venizelos’s position to go to war on the side of “Attat”.

1952…. Nikolaos Plastiras takes over as Prime Minister of Greece.

Born on this day: in 1923 Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, in 1930 the American actor and director Clint Eastwood and in 1945 the German film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

On the same day in 1809 passed away the Austrian composer, Joseph Haydn, and in 1905, the prime minister, Theodoros Diligiannis, was assassinated during his visit to the Parliament, by the card player and club owner Antonis Costagerakaris. Reason, the decision of Diligiannis to close the gambling clubs.