October 23

Events
Up to 1900
42 BC - Roman civil wars: Second Battle of Philippi - Mark Antony and Octavian defeat the army of Marcus Junius Brutus, who commits suicide shortly after.
425 - Valentinian III becomes Roman Emperor, at the age of 6.
1086 - Battle of az-Zallaqah: The army of Yusuf ibn Tashfa defeats forces of King Alfonso VI of Castile.
1157 - The Battle of Grathe-Heath ends the civil war in Denmark. King Sweyn III is killed and Valdemar I of Denmark takes over.
1295 - Scotland and France sign the first treaty of the 'Auld Alliance' in Paris, against England.
1520 - Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor is crowned in Aachen.
1642 - English Civil War: The Battle of Edgehill
1707 - The first parliament of Great Britain meets.
1739 - War of Jenkins' Ear: British Prime Minister Robert Walpole reluctantly declares war on Spain.
1812 - Charles Francois de Malet, a French general, begins a conspiracy to overthrow then-Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, by falsely claiming that he (Napoleon) had died in his attempt to conquer Russia.
1850 - The first National Women's Rights Convention begins in Worcester, Massachusetts.
1864 - American Civil War: Union forces defeat the Confederates in the Battle of Westport.
1870 - Franco-Prussian War: The Siege of Metz concludes with a decisive Prussian victory.
1901 2000
1906 - Alberto Santos-Dumont flies an aircraft in the first heavier-than-air flight, in Paris.
1912 - The Battle of Kumanovo between Russian and Ottoman forces begins.
1915 - 25,000 to 33,000 women march on Fifth Avenue in New York City to advocate their right to vote.
1917 - Vladimir Lenin calls for the October Revolution in Russia.
1929 - Great Depression: The first signs of panic show.
1940 - Norwegian Hurtigruten passenger steamer Prinsesse Ragnhild sinks after an explosion off northern Norway, killing 299 people on board.
1941 - World War II: Georgy Zhukov takes command of the Red Army operation to prevent the Nazis' further advances into Russia.
1942 - World War II: The Second Battle of El Alamein takes place, as the British Eighth Army begins an offensive to expel the Axis armies from Egypt.
1942 - World War II: The Battle of Henderson Field begins in the Guadalcanal Campaign, lasting until October 26.
1944 - World War II: The Red Army enters Hungary.
1944 - World War II: The Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines.
1946 - In New York, the UN General Assembly meets for the first time.
1956 - The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 against Soviet rule begins.
1958 - The Smurfs cartoons appear for the first time.
1958 - The Springhill Mine Bump mining disaster in Nova Scotia, killing 74 people, with 100 surviving the accident.
1970 - Gary Gabelich sets a land-speed record in a rocket-powered automobile called the Blue Flame, fueled by natural gas.
1972 - Vietnam War: Operation Linebacker - The US ends a bombing campaign of North Vietnam following the Easter Offensive.
1973 - A UN-sanctioned ceasefire officially ends the Yom Kippur War between Israel and Syria.
1983 - A truck bomb hits a US barracks in Lebanon, killing 241 troops. On the same day, another truck bomb hits a French barracks, killing 58 military personnel.
1989 - The Hungarian Republic is declared.
1989 - The Philips Disaster in Pasadena, Texas kills 23 people.
1992 - Akihito becomes the first Japanese Emperor to stand on Chinese soil.
1995 - Yolanda Saldivar is convicted of murdering the singer Selena on March 31 of the same year.
From 2001
2001 - The iPod is released.
2002 - The Moscow Theatre Siege begins, as Chechen terrorists take around 700 theatregoers hostage.
2003 - The Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California, designed by Frank Gehry, is opened.
2004 - An earthquake in the Niigata Prefecture in Japan kills 35 people and injures around 2,200.
2005 - Hurricane Wilma hits the Yucatan, in Mexico.
2005 - Lech Kaczynski is elected President of Poland, ahead of Donald Tusk.
2011 - New Zealand wins the Rugby World Cup, defeating France 8-7 in Auckland.
2011 - Motorcycle rider Marco Simoncelli is killed in a crash at the Malaysian Moto GP.
2011 - A powerful magnitude 7.2 earthquake hits Van Province, in eastern Turkey.
2012 - The BBC ends its 38-year teletext service Ceefax, with Northern Ireland completing the United Kingdom's transition to digital television broadcasting.
2015 - Hurricane Patricia is measured as the heaviest hurricane ever to hit North or Central America, as it hits the Pacific Ocean coast of Mexico.
2015 - 43 people, mostly pensioners on a day-trip, die in a coach crash in Southwestern France, in one of the country's deadliest-ever road accidents.
2018 - The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge is officially opened by Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping.
2018 - October 2018 United States mail bombing attempts: A mail bomb addressed to former United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is caught by police, after one addressed to George Soros was caught the previous day.
2019 - The bodies of 39 people are found in a lorry trailer at Purfleet, Essex, England.
Births
Up to 1900
63 BC - Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, Roman general (d. 12 BC)
1503 - Isabella of Portugal (d. 1539)
1516 - Charlotte of Valois, French princess (d. 1524)
1634 - Hedvig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp (d. 1715)
1654 - Johann Bernhard Staudt, Austrian Jesuit composer (d. 1712)
1713 - Pieter Burman the Younger, Dutch philologist (d. 1778)
1715 - Tsar Peter II of Russia (d. 1730)
1762 - Samuel Morey, American inventor (d. 1843)
1770 - George Ramsay, 9th Earl of Dalhousie, Scottish soldier and colonial administrator (d. 1838)
1771 - Jean-Andoche Junot, French general (d. 1813)
1796 - Stefano Franscini, Swiss Federal Councillor (d. 1857)
1801 - Albert Lortzing, German composer (d. 1851)
1813 - Ludwig Leichhardt, German explorer (d. 1848)
1815 - Joao Mauricio Wanderley, Brazilian magistrate and politician (d. 1889)
1817 - Pierre Athanase Larousse, French lexicographer (d. 1875)
1831 - Basil Lanneau Gilders Lane, American classical scholar (d. 1924)
1835 - Adlai E. Stevenson, Vice President of the United States (d. 1914)
1844 - Robert Bridges, English poet (d. 1930)
1857 - Juan Luna, Filipino painter (d. 1899)
1868 - Alfred Mond, 1st Baron Melchett, British industrialist, financier and politician (d. 1930)
1869 - John Heisman, American football player and coach (d. 1936)
1871 - Gjergj Fishta, Albanian poet (d. 1940)
1873 - William D. Coolidge, American physicist and inventor (d. 1975)
1875 - Gilbert N. Lewis, American chemist (d. 1946)
1876 - Franz Schlegelberger, German politician (d. 1970)
1880 - Una O'Connor, Irish actress (d. 1959)
1885 - Lawren Harris, Canadian painter (d. 1970)
1893 - Gummo Marx, American actor (d. 1977)
1894 - Rube Bressler, American baseball player (d. 1966)
1896 - Roman Jakobson, Russian-born linguist (d. 1982)
1896 - Lilyan Tashman, American actress (b. 1934)
1901 1950
1905 - Felix Bloch, Swiss physicist (d. 1983)
1905 - Gertrude Ederle, American swimmer (d. 2003)
1905 - Yen Chia-han, President of the Republic of China (d. 1993)
1908 - Ilya Frank, Russian physicist (d. 1990)
1910 - Richard Mortensen, Danish painter (d. 1993)
1910 - Hayden Rorke, American actor (d. 1987)
1911 - Jack Keller, American hurdler (d. 1978)
1918 - James Daly, American actor (d. 1978)
1919 - Manolis Andronikos, Greek archaeologist (d. 1992)
1920 - Lygia Clark, Brazilian artist (d. 1988)
1920 - Bob Montana, American cartoonist (d. 1975)
1922 - Jean Barker, Baroness Trumpington, English politician (d. 2018)
1922 - Coleen Gray, American actress (d. 2015)
1923 - Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Vice President of India (d. 2010)
1925 - Manos Hadjidakis, Greek composer (d. 1994)
1925 - Johnny Carson, American television host (d. 2005)
1927 - Barron Hilton, American businessman (d. 2019)
1927 - Leszek Kolakowski, Polish philosopher (d. 2009)
1927 - Dezso Gyarmati, Hungarian water polo player (d. 2013)
1928 - Zhu Rongji, Chinese politician
1929 - Shamsur Rahman, Bangladeshi poet, columnist and journalist (d. 2006)
1931 - Diana Dors, British actress (d. 1984)
1931 - Jim Bunning, American baseball player and politician
1936 - Philip Kaufman, American director
1938 - H. John Heinz III, American politician (d. 1991)
1940 - Pele, Brazilian footballer
1940 - Jane Holzer, American model, actress, producer and art collector
1941 - Lawrence Foster, American conductor
1941 - Igor Smirnov, Moldovan politician
1942 - Bernd Erdmann, German footballer
1942 - Michael Crichton, American writer (d. 2008)
1942 - Anita Roddick, British businesswoman (d. 2007)
1945 - Maggi Hambling, British painter and sculptor
1945 - Kim Larsen, Danish musician and singer (d. 2018)
1945 - Michel Vautrot, French football referee
1947 - Kazimierz Deyna, Polish footballer (d. 1989)
1947 - Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, leader of Hamas (d. 2004)
1948 - Gerry Robinson, Irish businessman and television presenter
1949 - Michael Burston (Wurzel), British musician (Motorhead) (d. 2011)
1951 1975
1951 - Charly Garcia, Argentine singer
1951 - Fatmir Sejdiu, former President of Kosovo
1951 - Angel de Andres Lopez, Spanish actor (d. 2016)
1952 - Ken Tipton, American entrepreneur, actor, director, writer and producer
1954 - Ang Lee, Taiwanese movie director
1954 - Uli Stein, German footballer
1956 - Dianne Reeves, American jazz singer
1956 - Dwight Yoakam, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and actor
1957 - Martin Luther King III, American activist
1957 - Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda
1959 - Sam Raimi, American movie director
1959 - "Weird Al" Yankovic, American musical parodist
1960 - Randy Pausch, American computer scientist and writer (d. 2008)
1961 - Andoni Zubizarreta, Spanish footballer
1962 - Stefano Colantuono, Italian footballer and coach
1963 - Rashidi Yekini, Nigerian footballer (d. 2012)
1964 - Robert Trujillo, American musician (Metallica)
1967 - Omar Linares, Cuban baseball player
1968 - Maria Darling, English voice actress
1969 - Trudi Canavan, Australian writer
1969 - Dolly Buster, Czech-German pornographic actress
1970 - Matthew Barzun, American diplomat
1971 - Bohuslav Sobotka, Czech politician, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
1973 - Christian Dailly, Scottish footballer
1975 - Yoon Sun-ha, South Korean actress and singer
From 1976
1976 - Cat Deeley, British television personality
1976 - Ryan Reynolds, Canadian actor
1978 - Jimmy Bullard, English footballer
1978 - Archie Thompson, Australian footballer
1978 - Steve Harmison, English cricketer
1978 - John Lackey, American baseball player
1979 - Simon Davies, Welsh footballer
1984 - Izabel Goulart, Brazilian model
1984 - Meghan McCain, American columnist and author
1985 - Masiela Lusha, Albanian-born American writer and actress
1985 - Lachlan Gillespie, Australian musician (The Wiggles)
1985 - Mohammed Abdellaoue, Norwegian footballer
1986 - Briana Evigan, American actress
1986 - Jessica Stroup, American actress
1986 - Emilia Clarke, English actress
1987 - Faye Hamlin, Swedish singer
1988 - Jordan Crawford, American basketball player
1989 - Andriy Yarmolenko, Ukrainian footballer
1990 - Paradise Oskar, Finnish singer
1991 - Princess Mako of Akishino of Japan
1992 - Alvaro Morata, Spanish footballer
1993 - Taylor Spreitler, American actress
1994 - Georgia Toffolo, English television personality
1997 - Daphne Blunt, American actress and singer
1998 - Amandla Stenberg, American actress
Deaths
Up to 1900
42 BC - Marcus Junius Brutus (suicide) (b. 85 BC)
877 - Ignatius, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople (b. 797)
891 - Yazaman al-Khadim, Arab military leader
930 - Emperor Daigo of Japan (b. 885)
1157 - Sweyn III of Denmark (b. 1120)
1456 - Giovanni da Capistrano, Italian saint (b. 1381)
1581 - Michael Neander, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1529)
1616 - Leonhard Hutter, German theologian (b. 1563)
1774 - Michel Benoist, French Jesuit missionary and scientist (b. 1715)
1869 - Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1799)
1872 - Theophile Gautier, French writer (b. 1811)
1885 - Charles S. West, Texan jurist and politician (b. 1829)
1893 - Alexander Battenberg, Prince of Bulgaria (b. 1857)
1896 - Columbus Delano, American politician (b. 1809)
1901 2000
1910 - Chulalongkorn (Rama V), King of Siam (now Thailand) (b. 1853)
1915 - W. G. Grace, English cricketer (b. 1848)
1921 - John Boyd Dunlop, Scottish inventor (b. 1840)
1930 - Vicente Casanova y Marzol, Archbishop of Granada (b. 1854)
1938 - Jean-Guy Gautier, French rugby player (b. 1875)
1939 - Zane Grey, American writer (b. 1872)
1940 - George R. Cortelyou, American politician (b. 1862)
1944 - Charles Glover Barkla, English physicist (b. 1877)
1944 - Hana Brady, Czech Holocaust victim (b. 1931)
1948 - Carl Edward Bailey, Governor of Arkansas (b. 1894)
1950 - Al Jolson, American singer and actor (b. 1886)
1957 - Christian Dior, French fashion designer (b. 1905)
1959 - Gerda Lundequist, Swedish actress (b. 1871)
1979 - Antonio Caggiano, Argentine cardinal (b. 1889)
1983 - Jessica Savitch, journalist (b. 1947)
1984 - Oskar Werner, Austrian actor (b. 1922)
1986 - Edward Adelbert Doisy, American biochemist, won the 1843 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1893)
1988 - Asashio Taro III, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1929)
1989 - Armida, Mexican-American actress, singer and dancer (b. 1911)
1990 - Louis Althusser, French Marxist philosopher (b. 1918)
1994 - Robert Lansing, American actor (b. 1928)
1997 - Bert Haanstra, Dutch director, producer and screenwriter (b. 1916)
2000 - Rodney Adnoa'i, Samoan-American professional wrestler (b. 1966)
From 2001
2003 - Tony Capstick, British actor, comedian, musician and broadcaster (b. 1944)
2003 - Soong May-ling, widow of Chiang Kai-shek (b. 1898)
2004 - George Silk, New Zealand-American photographer (b. 1916)
2005 - John Muth, American economist (b. 1930)
2009 - Lou Jacobi, Canadian actor (b. 1913)
2010 - David Thompson, Prime Minister of Barbados (b. 1961)
2011 - Nusrat Bhutto, former First Lady of Pakistan (b. 1929)
2011 - Marco Simoncelli, Italian motorcycle racer (b. 1987)
2011 - Herbert A. Hauptman, American mathematician and Nobel Prize-winning chemist (b. 1917)
2011 - John McCarthy, American computer scientist (b. 1927)
2011 - Bronislovas Lubys, former Prime Minister of Lithuania (b. 1938)
2012 - Sunil Gangopadhyay, Indian novelist and poet (b. 1934)
2012 - Wilhelm Brasse, Polish photographer (b. 1917)
2013 - Bill Mazer, American TV and radio presenter (b. 1920)
2013 - Anthony Caro, British sculptor (b. 1924)
2014 - Alvin Stardust, British singer (b. 1942)
2014 - Ghulam Azam, Bangladeshi politician (b. 1922)
2014 - John Bramlett, American football player (b. 1941)
2014 - Bernard Mayes, British author and broadcaster (b. 1929)
2014 - Andre Piters, Belgian footballer (b. 1931)
2014 - Tullio Regge, Italian physicist (b. 1931)
2015 - Krunoslav Hulak, Croatian chess player (b. 1951)
2015 - Leon Bibb, American folk singer (b. 1922)
2015 - Paride Tumburus, Italian footballer (b. 1939)
2015 - Jimmy Roberts, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1946)
2016 - Jimmy Perry, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1923)
2016 - Pete Burns, English singer-songwriter (b. 1959)
2016 - Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, former Emir of Qatar (b. 1932)
2017 - Walter Lassally, German-born British-Greek cinematographer (b. 1926)
2017 - Paul J. Weitz, American pilot and astronaut (b. 1932)
2018 - Skip Campbell, American politician (b. 1948)
2018 - James Karen, American actor (b. 1923)
2018 - Alojz Rebula, Italian-Slovenian writer, playwright and essayist (b. 1924)
2018 - Laurens van Ravens, Belgian football referee (b. 1922)
2019 - Santos Julia, Spanish historian and sociologist (b. 1940)
2019 - James W. Montgomery, American Episcopalian prelate (b. 1921)
2019 - Alfred Znamierowski, Polish vexillologist (b. 1940)
Observances
Mole Day (Chemists)
Chulalongkorn Day (Thailand)
National Day of Hungary
Day of the Macedonian Revolutionary Struggle
Days of the year