March 23
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
March 23 is the 82nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (83rd in leap years). There are 283 days remaining.
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[change] Events
- 752 – Stephen II becomes Pope.
- 1568 – Peace of Longjumeau ends the Second War of Religion in France. Again Catherine of Medici and Charles IX of France make substantial concessions to the Huguenots.
- 1708 – James Francis Edward Stuart lands at the Firth of Forth.
- 1775 – American Revolutionary War: Patrick Henry delivers his famous speech – "give me liberty or give me death" at St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia.
- 1801 – Tsar Paul I of Russia is struck with a sword, then strangled, and finally trampled to death in his bedroom at St. Michael Palace.
- 1806 – After traveling through the Louisiana Purchase and reaching the Pacific Ocean, explorers Lewis and Clark and their "Corps of Discovery" begin their arduous journey home.
- 1839 – First recorded use of "OK" as an abbreviation for "oll korrect" in the Boston Morning Post.
- 1848 – The ship John Wickliffe arrives at Port Chalmers carrying the first Scottish settlers for Dunedin, New Zealand. Otago province is founded.
- 1857 – Elisha Otis's first elevator is installed at 488 Broadway, New York City.
- Death of Emile L'Angelier in Glasgow, Scotland -- possibly by the hand of Madeleine Smith.
- 1868 – The University of California is founded in Oakland, California when the Organic Act is signed into law.
- 1889 – Land run: President Benjamin Harrison opens Oklahoma to white settlement starting on April 22.
- The free Woolwich Ferry officially opens in east London.
- 1903 – The Wright Brothers apply for a patent on their invention of one of the first successful airplanes after much hard work.
- 1909 – Theodore Roosevelt leaves New York for a post-presidency safari in Africa. The trip is sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society.
- 1919 – In Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini founds his Fascist political movement.
- 1931 – Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt embrace the gallows during the Indian struggle for independence. Their request to be shot by a firing squad is refused.
- 1933 – The Reichstag passes the Enabling Act, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany.
- 1935 – Signing of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Philippines
- 1940 – The Lahore Resolution (Qarardad-e-Pakistan or the then Qarardad-e-Lahore) is put forward at the Annual General Convention of the All India Muslim League.
- 1942 – World War II: In the Indian Ocean, Japanese forces capture the Andaman Islands.
- 1956 – Pakistan becomes the first Islamic Republic in the world.
- 1962 – NS Savannah, the first nuclear-powered cargo-passenger ship, was launched as a showcase for Dwight D. Eisenhower's Atoms for Peace initiative.
- 1963 – In London, United Kingdom, Grethe & Jørgen Ingmann win the eighth Eurovision Song Contest for Denmark singing "Dansevise" (Dancing tune).
- 1965 – NASA launches Gemini 3, the United States' first two-man space flight (crew: Gus Grissom and John Young).
- 1978 – The first UNIFIL troops arrived in Lebanon for peacekeeping mission along the Blue Line.
- 1983 – Strategic Defense Initiative: US President Ronald Reagan makes his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles.
- 1989 – Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann announce cold fusion at the University of Utah.
- A 1,000-foot diameter Near-Earth asteroid misses the Earth by 400,000 miles.
- 1994 – At an election rally in Tijuana, Mexican presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio is assassinated by Mario Aburto Martínez.
- 1996 – Taiwan holds its first direct elections and chooses Lee Teng-hui as President
- 1999 – Gunmen assassinate Paraguay's Vice President Luis María Argaña.
- 2001 – The Russian Mir space station is disposed of, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji.
- The World Wrestling Federation (WWF) (now World Wrestling Entertainment) purchases rival organization World Championship Wrestling (WCW) for an estimated $5 million.
- 2003 – In Nasiriyah, Iraq, 18 U.S. Marines are killed during the first major conflict of Operation Iraqi Freedom
- 2004 – Andhra Pradesh Federation of Trade Unions holds its first conference in Hyderabad, India.
- 2005 – The United States 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, refuses to order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube.
[change] Births
- 1429 – Margaret of Anjou, Queen Consort of England (d. 1482)
- 1645 – William Kidd, Scottish sailor (d. 1701)
- 1823 – Schuyler Colfax, 17th Vice President of the United States (d. 1885)
- 1831 – Eduard Schlagintweit, German writer (d. 1866)
- 1858 – Ludwig Quidde, German pacifist (d. 1941)
- 1881 – Roger Martin du Gard, French writer (d. 1958)
- 1881 – Hermann Staudinger, German chemist (d. 1965)
- 1900 – Erich Fromm, German-born psychoanalyst (d. 1980)
- 1905 – Joan Crawford, American actress (d. 1977)
- 1907 – Daniel Bovet, Swiss scientist (d. 1992)
- 1910 – Akira Kurosawa, Japanese film director (d. 1998)
- 1912 – Wernher von Braun, German physicist and engineer (d. 1977)
- 1915 – Vasily Zaytsev, Soviet World War II figure (d. 1991)
- 1921 – Donald Campbell, British car and motorboat racer (d. 1967)
- 1929 – Roger Bannister, British runner
- 1931 – Yevgeny Grishin, Russian speed skater (d. 2005)
- 1931 – Viktor Korchnoi, Russian chess player
- 1937 – Craig Breedlove, American land speed record holder
- 1944 – Tony McPhee, British singer and guitarist
- 1953 – Chaka Khan, American singer
- 1956 – Jose Manuel Barroso, Portuguese politician
- 1957 – Lucio Gutierrez, former President of Ecuador
- 1960 – Nicol Stephen, Scottish politician
- 1962 – Steve Redgrave, British rower
- 1965 – Marti Pellow, Scottish singer
- 1968 – Damon Albarn, British singer (Blur)
- 1968 – Fernando Hierro, Spanish footballer
- 1971 – Gail Porter, Scottish television presenter
- 1972 – Joe Calzaghe, Welsh boxer
- 1973 – Jerzy Dudek, Polish footballer
- 1973 – Jason Kidd, American basketball player
- 1976 – Chris Hoy, Scottish cyclist
- 1976 – Michelle Monaghan, American actress
- 1976 – Keri Russell, American actress
- 1978 – Walter Samuel, Argentine footballer
- 1980 – Russell Howard, British comedian
- 1981 – Shelley Rudman, British skeleton bobsledder
- 1983 – Jerome Thomas, English footballer
- 1990 – Princess Eugenie of York, member of the British royal family
[change] Deaths
- 1555 – Pope Julius III (b. 1489)
- 1606 – Justus Lipsius, Flemish humanist (b. 1547)
- 1742 – Jean-Baptiste Dubos, French writer (b. 1670)
- 1801 – Tsar Paul I of Russia (b. 1754)
- 1809 – August von Kotzebue, German dramatist and writer (b. 1761)
- 1842 – Stendhal, French writer (b. 1783)
- 1881 – Nikolai Rubinstein, Russian composer (b. 1835)
- 1923 – Hovhannes Tumanyan Armenian poet and writer (b. 1869)
- 1931 – Bhagat Singh, Indian freedom writer (b. 1907)
- 1931 – Rajguru, Indian freedom fighter (b. 1908)
- 1931 – Sukhdev, Indian freedom fighter (b. 1907)
- 1945 – Tadamichi Kuribayashi, Japanese commander (b. 1891)
- 1955 – Artur da Silva Bernardes, President of Brazil (b. 1875)
- 1964 – Peter Lorre, Hungarian-born actor (b. 1904)
- 1990 – John Dexter, English stage and film director (b. 1925)
- 1992 – Friedrich Hayek, Austrian economist (b. 1899)
- 1994 – Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mexican politician (b. 1950)
- 2002 – Ben Hollioake, English cricketer (b. 1977)
- 2003 – Fritz Spiegl, Austrian-born journalist (b. 1926)
- 2006 – Cindy Walker, American singer, songwriter and dancer (b. 1918)
- 2009 – Ghukas Chubaryan, Armenian sculptor (b. 1923)
- 2011 – Elizabeth Taylor, British-American actress (b. 1932)
[change] Observances
- Republic Day (Pakistan)
- Polish-Hungarian friendship day
