Title: March 23 Content: == Events == === Up to 1900 === * 752 – Stephen II becomes Pope. * 1400 - The Tran Dynasty of Vietnam is deposed after 175 years in power, by Ho Quy Ly, a court official. * 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. * 1821 - Greek War of Independence: Battle of Kalamata and fall of the city of Kalamata. * 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. * 1848 - Venice declares independence from Austria. This leads to the creation of the Republic of San Marco, under Prime Minister Daniele Manin, which lasts until August 23, 1849. * 1857 – Elisha Otis's first elevator is installed at 488 Broadway, New York City. * 1862 - American Civil War: First Battle of Kernstown - start of Stonewall Jackson's valley campaign. * 1868 – The University of California is founded in Oakland, California when the Organic Act is signed into law. * 1879 - War of the Pacific: The Battle of Topater, the first major battle of the war, is fought between Chile and the joint forces of Peru and Bolivia. * 1888 - In England, the Football League first meets. * 1889 – Land run: President Benjamin Harrison opens Oklahoma to white settlement starting on April 22. * 1889 – The free Woolwich Ferry officially opens in east London. === 1901 2000 === * 1901 - President of the Philippines Emilio Aguinaldo is captured by US forces. * 1903 – The Wright Brothers apply for a patent on their invention of one of the first successful airplanes after much hard work. * 1905 - Eleftherios Venizelos calls for Crete's union with Greece. * 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. * 1918 - World War I: Third day of the German spring offensive - the 10th Battalion of the Royal West Kent Regiment is heavily defeated, with many being taken prisoner. * 1919 – In Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini founds his Fascist political movement. * 1931 – Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt are hanged 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. * 1937 - Spanish Civil War: Republican forces have their last major victory of the war in the Battle of Guadalajara. * 1939 - The Hungarian air force attacks the headquarters of the Slovakian air force in the city of Spisska Nova Ves, killing 13 people. * 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. * 1950 - World Meteorological Organization is founded. * 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). * 1972 - The United Tasmania Front is founded in Hobart, Tasmania, led by Richard Jones, as the world's first "Green Party". * 1978 – The first UNIFIL troops arrived in Lebanon for peacekeeping mission along the Blue Line. * 1982 - Guatemala's government, led by Fernando Romeo Lucas Garcia is overthrown in a military coup by right-wing General Efrain Rios Montt. * 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. * 1989 – A 1,000-foot diameter Near-Earth asteroid misses the Earth by 400,000 miles. * 1991 - The 11-year Sierra Leone Civil War begins. * 1994 – At an election rally in Tijuana, Mexican presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio is assassinated by Mario Aburto Martinez. * 1994 - Aeroflot Flight 593 crashes in Siberia, when the pilot's 15-year-old son accidentally disengages the autopilot, killing all 75 people on board. * 1996 – Taiwan holds its first direct elections and chooses Lee Teng-hui as President. * 1998 - James Cameron's movie Titanic wins several Academy Awards on one night, making it one of Hollywood's most successful movies ever. * 1999 – Gunmen assassinate Paraguay's Vice President Luis María Argaña. === From 2001 === * 2001 – The Russian Mir space station is disposed of, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji. * 2001 – 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. * 2003 - In Slovenia, referendums are held on memberships of the EU and NATO, with a majority in favor of both proposals. * 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. * 2013 - Pope Francis meets former Pope Benedict XVI at Castel Gandolfo, Italy, making it the first such meeting between a Pope and a former Pope. * 2015 - A multi-vehicle pile-up, including a bus crash, kills 36 people in Harmey, 320 kilometers north of Lima. == Births == === Up to 1900 === * 1429 – Margaret of Anjou, Queen Consort of England (d. 1482) * 1501 - Pietro Andrea Mattioli, Italian physician and botanist (d. 1577) * 1599 - Thomas Selle, German composer (d. 1663) * 1638 - Frederik Ruysch, Dutch physician and anatomist (d. 1731) * 1643 - Mary of Jesus de Leon y Delgado, Spanish saint (d. 1731) * 1645 – William Kidd, Scottish sailor (d. 1701) * 1723 – Agha Mohammad Khan Ghajar, King of Persia (d. 1771) * 1732 - Marie Adelaide of France (d. 1800) * 1749 - Pierre-Simon Laplace, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1827) * 1754 – Jurij Vega, Slovenian mathematician, physicist and artillery officer (d. 1802) * 1769 - William Smith, English geologist (d. 1839) * 1795 - Bernt Michael Holmboe, Norwegian mathematician (d. 1850) * 1799 - Joshua Baker, Governor of Louisiana (d. 1885) * 1814 - Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda, Cuban writer, poet and activist (d. 1873) * 1823 – Schuyler Colfax, 17th Vice President of the United States (d. 1885) * 1826 - Ludwig Minkus, Austrian ballet composer, violin virtuoso and teacher (d. 1917) * 1829 - N. R. Pogson, English astronomer and mathematician (d. 1891) * 1831 – Eduard Schlagintweit, German writer (d. 1866) * 1854 - Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner, British politician (d. 1925) * 1858 – Ludwig Quidde, German pacifist, Nobel Peace Prize winner (d. 1941) * 1862 - Nathaniel Reed, American outlaw-turned-evangelist (d. 1950) * 1869 - Calouste Gulbenkian, Armenian businessman and philanthropist (d. 1955) * 1871 - Heinrich Schroth, German actor (d. 1945) * 1872 - Michael Joseph Savage, 23rd Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1940) * 1876 - Ziya Gökalp, Turkish sociologist, poet and activist (d. 1924) * 1876 - Thakin Kodaw Hmaing, Burmese poet, writer and politician (d. 1964) * 1880 – Heikki Ritavuori, Finnish politician (d. 1922) * 1881 – Roger Martin du Gard, French writer (d. 1958) * 1881 – Hermann Staudinger, German chemist (d. 1965) * 1881 - Lacey Hearn, American athlete and sprinter (d. 1969) * 1882 – Emmy Noether, German mathematician (d. 1935) * 1887 – Juan Gris, Spanish Cubist painter (d. 1927) * 1887 – Felix Yusupov, Russian, assassin of Grigori Rasputin (d. 1967) * 1893 - G. D. Naidu, Indian inventor and engineer (d. 1974) * 1895 - Encarnacion Alzona, Filipino historian and educator (d. 2001) * 1895 - Dane Rudhyar, French-American astrologer, author and composer (d. 1985) * 1899 – Dora Gerson, German actress and singer (d. 1943) * 1900 – Erich Fromm, German-born psychoanalyst (d. 1980) === 1901 1950 === * 1904 - German Busch, President of Bolivia (d. 1939) * 1905 – Lale Andersen, German singer and actress (d. 1972) * 1905 – Joan Crawford, American actress (d. 1977) * 1906 - José Della Torre, Argentine footballer (d. 1979) * 1907 – Daniel Bovet, Swiss scientist (d. 1992) * 1910 – Akira Kurosawa, Japanese movie director (d. 1998) * 1912 – Wernher von Braun, German physicist and engineer (d. 1977) * 1915 – Vasily Zaytsev, Soviet World War II figure (d. 1991) * 1915 - Thomas Pashby, Canadian advocate for safety in ice hockey (d. 2005) * 1918 - Stanley Armour Dunham, Barack Obama's grandfather (d. 1992) * 1918 - Emile Derlin Zinsou, former President of Benin * 1920 - Tetsuharu Kawakami, Japanese baseball player and coach * 1921 – Donald Campbell, British car and motorboat racer (d. 1967) * 1922 - Marty Allen, American comedian and actor * 1922 - Ugo Tognazzi, Italian actor, director and screenwriter (d. 1990) * 1923 - Martha Wright, American actress (d. 2016) * 1924 - Bette Nesmith Graham, American inventor (d. 1980) * 1925 - David Watkin, British cinematographer (d. 2008) * 1929 – Roger Bannister, British runner * 1931 – Yevgeny Grishin, Russian speed skater (d. 2005) * 1931 – Viktor Korchnoi, Russian chess player * 1931 - Yevdokiya Mekshilo, Russian skier (d. 2013) * 1932 – Louisiana Red, American blues musician (d. 2012) * 1934 - Ludvig Faddeev, Russian mathematician and physicist * 1934 - Mark Rydell, American director * 1935 - Barry Cryer, British writer and comedian * 1937 - Ibrahim Abouleish, Egyptian chemist and businessman * 1937 – Craig Breedlove, American land speed record holder * 1937 - Tony Burton, American actor (d. 2016) * 1937 - Robert Gallo, American virologist * 1938 - Dave Pike, American jazz musician * 1940 - Ama Ata Aidoo, Ghanaian author, playwright and academic * 1942 – Michael Haneke, Austrian movie maker and writer * 1942 - Walter Rodney, Guyanese historian and politician * 1944 – Tony McPhee, British singer and guitarist * 1944 - Michael Nyman, British composer * 1945 - Franco Battiato, Italian singer, songwriter and movie maker * 1945 - David Grisman, American bluegrass musician * 1945 - Erik De Vlaeminck, Belgian cyclist (d. 2015) * 1950 – Valgerdur Sverrisdottir, Icelandic politician * 1950 – Mike Easley, American politician, former Governor of North Carolina * 1950 - Corinne Cléry, French actress === 1951 1975 === * 1952 - Francesco Clemente, Italian artist * 1952 - Pola Kinski, German actress * 1952 - Kim Stanley Robinson, American author * 1952 - Rex Tillerson, 69th United States Secretary of State and former Chief Executive of ExxonMobil * 1953 – Chaka Khan, American singer * 1955 - Moses Malone, American basketball player (d. 2015) * 1956 – José Manuel Barroso, Portuguese politician, former President of the European Commission * 1956 - Andrew Mitchell, British politician * 1957 – Lucio Gutiérrez, former President of Ecuador * 1957 - Amanda Plummer, American actress * 1958 - Bengt-Ake Gustafsson, Swedish ice hockey player and coach * 1958 - Serena Grandi, Italian actress * 1958 – Eldon Hoke, American singer and drummer (d. 1997) * 1960 – Nicol Stephen, Scottish politician * 1961 - Colin Pitchfork, English murderer * 1962 - Bassel al-Assad, Syrian engineer, colonel and politician (d. 1994) * 1962 – Steve Redgrave, English rower, five-time Olympic champion * 1963 - Michel, Spanish footballer * 1964 – Hope Davis, American actress * 1964 - John Pinette, American comedian and actor (d. 2014) * 1965 - Jonathan Dow, British actor * 1965 – Marti Pellow, Scottish singer * 1965 - Richard Grieco, American actor * 1965 - Steve Turner, American rock musician * 1966 - Alfred Nijhuis, Dutch footballer * 1968 – Damon Albarn, British singer (Blur) * 1968 – Fernando Hierro, Spanish footballer * 1968 – Mike Atherton, English cricketer * 1970 - Melissa Errico, American actress and singer * 1970 - Gianni Infantino, 9th President of FIFA * 1971 – Gail Porter, Scottish television presenter * 1971 - Alexander Selivanov, Russian ice hockey player * 1971 - Karen McDougal, American model and actress * 1972 – Joe Calzaghe, Welsh boxer * 1972 - Jonas Bjorkman, Swedish tennis player * 1973 – Jerzy Dudek, Polish footballer * 1973 – Jason Kidd, American basketball player === From 1976 === * 1976 – Chris Hoy, Scottish cyclist, six-time Olympic champion * 1976 – Michelle Monaghan, American actress * 1976 – Keri Russell, American actress * 1978 – Walter Samuel, Argentine footballer * 1978 – Perez Hilton, American blogger * 1978 - Nicholle Tom, American actress * 1980 – Russell Howard, English comedian * 1980 - Ryan Day, Welsh snooker player * 1981 – Shelley Rudman, English skeleton bobsledder * 1982 – José Raul Contreras, Chilean footballer * 1983 – Mo Farah, British track-and-field athlete, four-time Olympic gold medallist * 1983 – Sascha Riether, German footballer * 1983 – Jerome Thomas, English footballer * 1983 - Hakan Balta, Turkish footballer * 1986 – Andrea Dovizioso, Italian motorcycle racer * 1985 - Stevie McCrorie, Scottish singer * 1987 - Kangna Ranaut, Indian actress * 1988 - Jason Kenny, English cyclist, Olympic champion * 1989 - Mai Nishida, Japanese model, entertainer and actress * 1990 – Princess Eugenie of York, member of the British royal family * 1991 - Gregg Wylde, Scottish footballer * 1992 - Kyrie Irving, Australian-American basketball player * 1992 – Vanessa Morgan, Canadian actress and singer * 1994 - Nick Powell, English footballer == Deaths == === Up to 1900 === * 851 - Zhou Chi, Chinese historian and politician (b. 713) * 1103 – Eudes I, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1058) * 1361 – Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster (b. 1310) * 1369 – King Peter of Castile (b. 1334) * 1555 – Pope Julius III (b. 1489) * 1559 - Emperor Gelawdewos of Ethiopia * 1606 – Justus Lipsius, Flemish humanist (b. 1547) * 1675 - Antoni van Goordt, Dutch composer and organist (b. 1619) * 1680 - Nicolas Fouquet, French statesman (b. 1615) * 1742 – Jean-Baptiste Dubos, French writer (b. 1670) * 1748 - Johann Gottfried Walther, German music theorist, organist and composer (b. 1684) * 1783 - Charles Carroll of Carrollton, American lawyer and politician (b. 1723) * 1801 – Tsar Paul I of Russia (b. 1754) * 1819 – August von Kotzebue, German dramatist and writer (b. 1761) * 1842 – Stendhal, French writer (b. 1783) * 1881 – Nikolai Rubinstein, Russian composer (b. 1835) === 1901 2000 === * 1923 – Hovhannes Tumanyan Armenian poet and writer (b. 1869) * 1927 - Paul César Helleu, French painter (b. 1859) * 1931 – Bhagat Singh, Indian freedom writer (b. 1907) * 1931 – Rajguru, Indian freedom fighter (b. 1908) * 1931 – Sukhdev, Indian freedom fighter (b. 1907) * 1935 - Florence Moore, American actress (b. 1886) * 1938 - Thomas Walter Scott, Premier of Saskatchewan (b. 1867) * 1945 – Tadamichi Kuribayashi, Japanese commander (b. 1891) * 1947 - Archduchess Luise of Austria, Princess of Tuscany (b. 1870) * 1948 – Nikolai Berdyaev, Russian philosopher (b. 1874) * 1953 – Raoul Dufy, French painter (b. 1877) * 1955 – Artur da Silva Bernardes, President of Brazil (b. 1875) * 1960 - Raoul Paoli, French athlete, boxer and rower (b. 1887) * 1964 – Peter Lorre, Hungarian-born actor (b. 1904) * 1965 - Mae Murray, American actress, dancer, producer and screenwriter (b. 1885) * 1971 - Simon Vestdijk, Dutch writer (b. 1898) * 1972 - Cristobal Balenciaga, Spanish fashion designer (b. 1895) * 1978 - Haim Ernst Wertheimer, Israeli biochemist (b. 1893) * 1979 – Ted Anderson, English footballer (b. 1911) * 1981 - Beatrice Tinsley, New Zealand astronomer (b. 1941) * 1985 - Richard Beeching, British physicist and engineer (b. 1913) * 1985 – Zoot Sims, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1925) * 1990 – John Dexter, English stage and movie director (b. 1925) * 1992 – Friedrich Hayek, Austrian economist (b. 1899) * 1994 – Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mexican politician (b. 1950) * 1994 - Giulietta Masina, Italian actress (b. 1921) * 1994 - Donald Swann, British composer, musician and entertainer (b. 1923) === From 2001 === * 2002 – Ben Hollioake, English cricketer (b. 1977) * 2003 – Fritz Spiegl, Austrian-born journalist (b. 1926) * 2004 - Rupert Hamer, Australian politician, 39th Premier of Victoria (b. 1916) * 2006 – Cindy Walker, American singer, songwriter and dancer (b. 1918) * 2008 – Rafael Azcona, Spanish screenwriter (b. 1926) * 2009 – Ghukas Chubaryan, Armenian sculptor (b. 1923) * 2011 – Elizabeth Taylor, British- American actress (b. 1932) * 2012 – Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, former President of Somalia (b. 1934) * 2012 - Chico Anysio, Brazilian actor, writer, comedian and composer (b. 1931) * 2013 - Boris Berezovsky, Russian businessman and oligarch (b. 1946) * 2013 - Joe Weider, American bodybuilder (b. 1920) * 2013 - Virgil Trucks, American baseball player (b. 1917) * 2014 - Adolfo Suarez, former Prime Minister of Spain (b. 1932) * 2014 - Dave Brockie, Canadian-American musician (b. 1963) * 2014 - Peter Oakley, British internet vlogger (b. 1927) * 2014 - Jürg Neuenschwander, Swiss organist and composer (b. 1947) * 2014 - David Henshaw, New Zealand cartoonist (b. 1939) * 2015 - Lee Kuan Yew, first Prime Minister of Singapore (b. 1923) * 2015 - Lil' Chris, English singer and television personality (b. 1990) * 2015 - Herberto Hélder, Portuguese poet and author (b. 1930) * 2015 - Bobby Lowther, American basketball player (b. 1923) * 2016 - Ken Howard, American actor (b. 1944) * 2016 - Joe Garagiola, Sr., American baseball player (b. 1926) * 2016 - Jimmy Riley, Jamaican reggae musician (b. 1954) * 2017 - Lola Albright, American actress (b. 1924) * 2017 - Ashokamitran, Indian writer (b. 1931) * 2017 - Meir Einstein, Israeli sports broadcaster (b. 1951) * 2017 - William H. Keeler, American cardinal (b. 1931) * 2017 - Cino Tortorella, Italian television presenter and comedian (b. 1927) * 2017 - Denis Voronenkov, Russian politician (b. 1971) == Observances == * Republic Day/Pakistan Day (Pakistan) * Polish-Hungarian friendship day * Day of the Sea (Bolivia) * World Meteorological Day * Family Day (South Africa) * Western Christianity - Earliest possible date for Easter Monday (April 26 is the latest) * Western Christianity - Second-earliest possible date for Easter, last occurred on this date in 2008, next in 2160. Category:Days of the year