Date·Lore

On This Day · The 134th day of the year

May 14

May 14 carries 10 recorded events spanning between 1811 and 1980. Paraguay: Pedro Juan Caballero, Fulgencio Yegros and José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia start actions to depose the Spanish governor.

♉ZodiacTaurus ◈BirthstoneEmerald ❀Birth flowerLily of the Valley

Compiled & reviewed by · Last reviewed July 13, 2026

What happened on May 14?

May 14 is the 134th day of the year. It marks 10 notable events in history, dated between 1811 and 1980. Famous people born on May 14 include Miranda Cosgrove, Big Van Vader and Mark Zuckerberg.

The shape of the day

This year marks the 75th anniversary of Talyllyn Railway — May 14 carries the weight of round numbers. Its center of gravity is the 20th century, and conflict is a recurring thread.

Taurus is the sign for May 14 — read more on the Taurus page, or see May's birthstone & birth flower.

Released on May 14

Movies, games, albums & shows

2026

  • Movie Karuppu
  • Movie Kattalan
  • Game Subnautica 2
  • TV Nemesis
  • Movie Is God Is
  • Movie The Crash

2025

  • Game Cubic Odyssey
  • Movie Final Destination Bloodlines

2024

  • Game Robobeat

Release data from TMDB & IGDB.

Events

10 notable moments
  1. 1811

    Paraguay

    Paraguay: Pedro Juan Caballero, Fulgencio Yegros and José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia start actions to depose the Spanish governor.

  2. 1857

    Mindon Min

    Mindon Min is crowned as King of Burma in Mandalay, Burma.

  3. 1863

    American Civil War

    American Civil War: During the Vicksburg campaign, Union forces drive Confederates under Joseph E. Johnston out of Jackson, Mississippi in the Battle of Jackson.

  4. 1868

    Boshin War

    Boshin War: The Battle of Utsunomiya Castle ends as former Tokugawa shogunate forces withdraw northward.

  5. 1878

    Salem witchcraft trial (1878)

    The last witchcraft trial held in the United States begins in Salem, Massachusetts, after Lucretia Brown, an adherent of Christian Science, accused Daniel Spofford of attempting to harm her through his mental powers.

  6. 1918

    Harry Hands

    Cape Town Mayor, Sir Harry Hands, inaugurates the two-minute silence.

  7. 1940

    World War II

    World War II: Rotterdam, Netherlands, is bombed by the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany despite a ceasefire, killing about 900 people and destroying the historic city center.

  8. 1951

    Talyllyn Railway

    Trains run on the Talyllyn Railway in Wales for the first time since preservation, making it the first railway in the world to be operated by volunteers.

  9. 1955

    Cold War

    Cold War: Eight Communist bloc countries, including the Soviet Union, sign a mutual defense treaty called the Warsaw Pact.

  10. 1980

    Salvadoran Civil War

    Salvadoran Civil War: The Sumpul River massacre occurs in Chalatenango, El Salvador.

Famous birthday twins

Born on May 14

Miranda Cosgrove

b. 1993

American actress and singer

Big Van Vader

b. 1955

American wrestler and football player

Mark Zuckerberg

b. 1984

American computer programmer and businessman, co-founded Facebook

George Lucas

b. 1944

American director, producer, and screenwriter, founded Lucasfilm

Marquinhos

b. 1994

Brazilian footballer

Adolf Frederick of Sweden

b. 1710

King of Sweden

Wilhelm List

b. 1880

German field marshal

Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson

b. 1943

Icelandic academic and politician, 5th President of Iceland

Deaths

  • 1998Frank Sinatra
  • 1988Willem Drees
  • 1987Rita Hayworth
  • 1912August Strindberg
  • 1893Ernst Kummer
  • 1847Fanny Hensel

Holidays & observances

  • —Christian feast day: Boniface of Tarsus
  • —Christian feast day: Justa, Justina and Henedina
  • —Christian feast day: Maria Domenica Mazzarello
  • —Christian feast day: Matthias the Apostle (Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)
  • —Christian feast day: Michael Garicoïts
  • —Christian feast day: Mo Chutu of Lismore (Roman Catholic Church)
  • —Christian feast day: Théodore Guérin
  • —Christian feast day: Victor and Corona

Historical facts, event summaries, and biographical lines above are adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license. DateLore adds curation, structure, and original editorial commentary. DateLore is not affiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation.

About the author

Roman Tailor compiles and reviews every date on DateLore. He's the writer and editor behind the site's editorial essays and the day-by-day almanac. Corrections and questions are welcome — read more about DateLore or get in touch.

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