March 23

## Events 
### Up to 1900 
* 752 &ndash; Stephen II becomes Pope.
* 1400 &ndash; The Tran Dynasty of Vietnam is deposed after 175 years in power, by Ho Quy Ly, a court official.
* 1568 &ndash; 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 &ndash; James Francis Edward Stuart lands at the Firth of Forth.
* 1775 &ndash; 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 &ndash; 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 &ndash; 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 &ndash; Greek War of Independence: Battle of Kalamata and fall of the city of Kalamata.
* 1839 &ndash; First recorded use of "OK" as an abbreviation for "oll korrect" in the *Boston Morning Post*.
* 1848 &ndash; The ship *John Wickliffe* arrives at Port Chalmers carrying the first Scottish settlers for Dunedin, New Zealand. Otago province is founded.
* 1848 &ndash; 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 &ndash; Elisha Otis's first elevator is installed at 488 Broadway, New York City.
* 1862 &ndash; American Civil War: First Battle of Kernstown – start of Stonewall Jackson's valley campaign.
* 1868 &ndash; The University of California is founded in Oakland, California when the Organic Act is signed into law.
* 1879 &ndash; 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 &ndash; In England, the Football League first meets.
* 1889 &ndash; Land run: President Benjamin Harrison opens Oklahoma to white settlement starting on April 22.
* 1889 &ndash; The free Woolwich Ferry officially opens in east London.

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
* 1901 &ndash; President of the Philippines Emilio Aguinaldo is captured by US forces.
* 1903 &ndash; The Wright Brothers apply for a patent on their invention of one of the first successful airplanes after much hard work.
* 1905 &ndash; Eleftherios Venizelos calls for Crete's union with Greece.
* 1909 &ndash; 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 &ndash; 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 &ndash; In Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini founds his Fascist political movement.
* 1931 &ndash; 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 &ndash; The *Reichstag* passes the Enabling Act, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany.
* 1935 &ndash; Signing of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.
* 1937 &ndash; Spanish Civil War: Republican forces have their last major victory of the war in the Battle of Guadalajara.
* 1939 &ndash; The Hungarian air force attacks the headquarters of the Slovakian air force in the city of Spisska Nova Ves, killing 13 people.
* 1940 &ndash; 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 &ndash; World War II: In the Indian Ocean, Japanese forces capture the Andaman Islands.
* 1950 &ndash; World Meteorological Organization is founded.
* 1956 &ndash; Pakistan becomes the first Islamic Republic in the world.
* 1962 &ndash; NS *Savannah*, the first nuclear-powered cargo–passenger ship, was launched as a showcase for Dwight D. Eisenhower's Atoms for Peace initiative.
* 1963 &ndash; In London, United Kingdom, Grethe & Jørgen Ingmann win the eighth Eurovision Song Contest for Denmark singing "Dansevise" (Dancing tune).
* 1965 &ndash; NASA launches Gemini 3, the United States' first two–man space flight (crew: Gus Grissom and John Young).
* 1972 &ndash; The United Tasmania Front is founded in Hobart, Tasmania, led by Richard Jones, as the world's first "Green Party".
* 1978 &ndash; The first UNIFIL troops arrived in Lebanon for peacekeeping mission along the Blue Line.
* 1982 &ndash; Guatemala's government, led by Fernando Romeo Lucas Garcia is overthrown in a military coup by right–wing General Efrain Rios Montt.
* 1983 &ndash; Strategic Defense Initiative: US President Ronald Reagan makes his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles.
* 1989 &ndash; Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann announce cold fusion at the University of Utah.
* 1989 &ndash; A 1,000–foot diameter Near-Earth asteroid misses the Earth by 400,000 miles.
* 1991 &ndash; The 11–year Sierra Leone Civil War begins.
* 1994 &ndash; At an election rally in Tijuana, Mexican presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio is assassinated by Mario Aburto Martinez.
* 1994 &ndash; 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 &ndash; Taiwan holds its first direct elections and chooses Lee Teng-hui as President.
* 1998 &ndash; James Cameron's movie *Titanic* wins several Academy Awards on one night, making it one of Hollywood's most successful movies ever.
* 1999 &ndash; Gunmen assassinate Paraguay's Vice President Luis María Argaña.

### From 2001 
* 2001 &ndash; The Russian *Mir* space station is disposed of, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji.
* 2001 &ndash; The *World Wrestling Federation (WWF)* (now World Wrestling Entertainment) purchases rival organization World Championship Wrestling (WCW) for an estimated $5 million.
* 2003 &ndash; In Nasiriyah, Iraq, 18 U.S. Marines are killed during the first major conflict of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
* 2003 &ndash; In Slovenia, referendums are held on memberships of the EU and NATO, with a majority in favor of both proposals.
* 2004 &ndash; Andhra Pradesh Federation of Trade Unions holds its first conference in Hyderabad, India.
* 2005 &ndash; 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 &ndash; 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 &ndash; A multi–vehicle pile–up, including a bus crash, kills 36 people in Harmey, 320 kilometers north of Lima.

## Births 
### Up to 1900 
* 1429 &ndash; Margaret of Anjou, Queen Consort of England (d. 1482)
* 1501 &ndash; Pietro Andrea Mattioli, Italian physician and botanist (d. 1577)
* 1599 &ndash; Thomas Selle, German composer (d. 1663)
* 1638 &ndash; Frederik Ruysch, Dutch physician and anatomist (d. 1731)
* 1643 &ndash; Mary of Jesus de Leon y Delgado, Spanish saint (d. 1731)
* 1645 &ndash; William Kidd, Scottish sailor (d. 1701)
* 1723 &ndash; Agha Mohammad Khan Ghajar, King of Persia (d. 1771)
* 1732 &ndash; Marie Adelaide of France (d. 1800)
* 1749 &ndash; Pierre-Simon Laplace, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1827)
* 1754 &ndash; Jurij Vega, Slovenian mathematician, physicist and artillery officer (d. 1802)
* 1769 &ndash; William Smith, English geologist (d. 1839)
* 1795 &ndash; Bernt Michael Holmboe, Norwegian mathematician (d. 1850)
* 1799 &ndash; Joshua Baker, Governor of Louisiana (d. 1885)
* 1814 &ndash; Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda, Cuban writer, poet and activist (d. 1873)
* 1823 &ndash; Schuyler Colfax, 17th Vice President of the United States (d. 1885)
* 1826 &ndash; Ludwig Minkus, Austrian ballet composer, violin virtuoso and teacher (d. 1917)
* 1829 &ndash; N. R. Pogson, English astronomer and mathematician (d. 1891)
* 1831 &ndash; Eduard Schlagintweit, German writer (d. 1866)
* 1854 &ndash; Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner, British politician (d. 1925)
* 1858 &ndash; Ludwig Quidde, German pacifist, Nobel Peace Prize winner (d. 1941)
* 1862 &ndash; Nathaniel Reed, American outlaw–turned–evangelist (d. 1950)
* 1869 &ndash; Calouste Gulbenkian, Armenian businessman and philanthropist (d. 1955)
* 1871 &ndash; Heinrich Schroth, German actor (d. 1945)
* 1872 &ndash; Michael Joseph Savage, 23rd Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1940)
* 1876 &ndash; Ziya Gökalp, Turkish sociologist, poet and activist (d. 1924)
* 1876 &ndash; Thakin Kodaw Hmaing, Burmese poet, writer and politician (d. 1964)
* 1880 &ndash; Heikki Ritavuori, Finnish politician (d. 1922)
* 1881 &ndash; Roger Martin du Gard, French writer (d. 1958)
* 1881 &ndash; Hermann Staudinger, German chemist (d. 1965)
* 1881 &ndash; Lacey Hearn, American athlete and sprinter (d. 1969)
* 1882 &ndash; Emmy Noether, German mathematician (d. 1935)
* 1887 &ndash; Juan Gris, Spanish Cubist painter (d. 1927)
* 1887 &ndash; Felix Yusupov, Russian, assassin of Grigori Rasputin (d. 1967)
* 1893 &ndash; G. D. Naidu, Indian inventor and engineer (d. 1974)
* 1895 &ndash; Encarnacion Alzona, Filipino historian and educator (d. 2001)
* 1895 &ndash; Dane Rudhyar, French–American astrologer, writer and composer (d. 1985)
* 1899 &ndash; Dora Gerson, German actress and singer (d. 1943)
* 1900 &ndash; Erich Fromm, German–born psychoanalyst (d. 1980)

### 1901 &ndash; 1950 
* 1904 &ndash; German Busch, President of Bolivia (d. 1939)
* 1905 &ndash; Lale Andersen, German singer and actress (d. 1972)
* 1905 &ndash; Joan Crawford, American actress (d. 1977)
* 1906 &ndash; José Della Torre, Argentine footballer (d. 1979)
* 1907 &ndash; Daniel Bovet, Swiss scientist (d. 1992)
* 1910 &ndash; Akira Kurosawa, Japanese movie director (d. 1998)
* 1912 &ndash; Wernher von Braun, German physicist and engineer (d. 1977)
* 1915 &ndash; Vasily Zaytsev, Soviet World War II figure (d. 1991)
* 1915 &ndash; Thomas Pashby, Canadian advocate for safety in ice hockey (d. 2005)
* 1918 &ndash; Stanley Armour Dunham, Barack Obama's grandfather (d. 1992)
* 1918 &ndash; Emile Derlin Zinsou, former President of Benin
* 1920 &ndash; Tetsuharu Kawakami, Japanese baseball player and coach
* 1921 &ndash; Donald Campbell, British car and motorboat racer (d. 1967)
* 1922 &ndash; Marty Allen, American comedian and actor
* 1922 &ndash; Ugo Tognazzi, Italian actor, director and screenwriter (d. 1990)
* 1923 &ndash; Martha Wright, American actress (d. 2016)
* 1924 &ndash; Bette Nesmith Graham, American inventor (d. 1980)
* 1925 &ndash; David Watkin, British cinematographer (d. 2008)
* 1929 &ndash; Roger Bannister, British runner
* 1931 &ndash; Yevgeny Grishin, Russian speed skater (d. 2005)
* 1931 &ndash; Viktor Korchnoi, Russian chess player
* 1931 &ndash; Yevdokiya Mekshilo, Russian skier (d. 2013)
* 1932 &ndash; Louisiana Red, American blues  musician (d. 2012)
* 1934 &ndash; Ludvig Faddeev, Russian mathematician and physicist
* 1934 &ndash; Mark Rydell, American director
* 1935 &ndash; Barry Cryer, British writer and comedian
* 1937 &ndash; Ibrahim Abouleish, Egyptian chemist and businessman
* 1937 &ndash; Craig Breedlove, American land speed record holder
* 1937 &ndash; Tony Burton, American actor (d. 2016)
* 1937 &ndash; Robert Gallo, American virologist
* 1938 &ndash; Dave Pike, American jazz musician
* 1940 &ndash; Ama Ata Aidoo, Ghanaian writer, playwright and academic
* 1942 &ndash; Michael Haneke, Austrian movie maker and writer
* 1942 &ndash; Walter Rodney, Guyanese historian and politician
* 1944 &ndash; Tony McPhee, British singer and guitarist
* 1944 &ndash; Michael Nyman, British composer
* 1945 &ndash; Franco Battiato, Italian singer, songwriter and movie maker
* 1945 &ndash; David Grisman, American bluegrass musician
* 1945 &ndash; Erik De Vlaeminck, Belgian cyclist (d. 2015)
* 1950 &ndash; Valgerdur Sverrisdottir, Icelandic politician
* 1950 &ndash; Mike Easley, American politician, former Governor of North Carolina
* 1950 &ndash; Corinne Cléry, French actress

### 1951 &ndash; 1975 
* 1952 &ndash; Francesco Clemente, Italian artist
* 1952 &ndash; Pola Kinski, German actress
* 1952 &ndash; Kim Stanley Robinson, American writer
* 1952 &ndash; Rex Tillerson, 69th United States Secretary of State and former Chief Executive of ExxonMobil
* 1953 &ndash; Chaka Khan, American singer
* 1955 &ndash; Moses Malone, American basketball player (d. 2015)
* 1956 &ndash; José Manuel Barroso, Portuguese politician, former President of the European Commission
* 1956 &ndash; Andrew Mitchell, British politician
* 1957 &ndash; Lucio Gutiérrez, former President of Ecuador
* 1957 &ndash; Amanda Plummer, American actress
* 1958 &ndash; Bengt-Ake Gustafsson, Swedish ice hockey player and coach
* 1958 &ndash; Serena Grandi, Italian actress
* 1958 &ndash; Eldon Hoke, American singer and drummer (d. 1997)
* 1960 &ndash; Nicol Stephen, Scottish politician
* 1961 &ndash; Colin Pitchfork, English murderer
* 1962 &ndash; Bassel al-Assad, Syrian engineer, colonel and politician (d. 1994)
* 1962 &ndash; Steve Redgrave, English rower, five–time Olympic champion
* 1963 &ndash; Michel, Spanish footballer
* 1964 &ndash; Hope Davis, American actress
* 1964 &ndash; John Pinette, American comedian and actor (d. 2014)
* 1965 &ndash; Jonathan Dow, British actor
* 1965 &ndash; Marti Pellow, Scottish singer
* 1965 &ndash; Richard Grieco, American actor
* 1965 &ndash; Steve Turner, American rock musician
* 1966 &ndash; Alfred Nijhuis, Dutch footballer
* 1968 &ndash; Damon Albarn, British singer (Blur)
* 1968 &ndash; Fernando Hierro, Spanish footballer
* 1968 &ndash; Mike Atherton, English cricketer
* 1970 &ndash; Melissa Errico, American actress and singer
* 1970 &ndash; Gianni Infantino, 9th President of FIFA
* 1971 &ndash; Gail Porter, Scottish television presenter
* 1971 &ndash; Alexander Selivanov, Russian ice hockey player
* 1971 &ndash; Karen McDougal, American model and actress
* 1972 &ndash; Joe Calzaghe, Welsh boxer
* 1972 &ndash; Jonas Bjorkman, Swedish tennis player
* 1973 &ndash; Jerzy Dudek, Polish footballer
* 1973 &ndash; Jason Kidd, American basketball player

### From 1976 
* 1976 &ndash; Chris Hoy, Scottish cyclist, six–time Olympic champion
* 1976 &ndash; Michelle Monaghan, American actress
* 1976 &ndash; Keri Russell, American actress
* 1978 &ndash; Walter Samuel, Argentine footballer
* 1978 &ndash; Perez Hilton, American blogger
* 1978 &ndash; Nicholle Tom, American actress
* 1980 &ndash; Russell Howard, English comedian
* 1980 &ndash; Ryan Day, Welsh snooker player
* 1981 &ndash; Shelley Rudman, English skeleton bobsledder
* 1982 &ndash; José Raul Contreras, Chilean footballer
* 1983 &ndash; Mo Farah, British track–and–field athlete, four–time Olympic gold medallist
* 1983 &ndash; Sascha Riether, German footballer
* 1983 &ndash; Jerome Thomas, English footballer
* 1983 &ndash; Hakan Balta, Turkish footballer
* 1986 &ndash; Andrea Dovizioso, Italian motorcycle racer
* 1985 &ndash; Stevie McCrorie, Scottish singer
* 1987 &ndash; Kangna Ranaut, Indian actress
* 1988 &ndash; Jason Kenny, English cyclist, Olympic champion
* 1989 &ndash; Mai Nishida, Japanese model, entertainer and actress
* 1990 &ndash; Princess Eugenie of York, member of the British royal family
* 1991 &ndash; Gregg Wylde, Scottish footballer
* 1992 &ndash; Kyrie Irving, Australian–American basketball player
* 1992 &ndash; Vanessa Morgan, Canadian actress and singer
* 1994 &ndash; Nick Powell, English footballer

## Deaths 
### Up to 1900 
* 851 &ndash; Zhou Chi, Chinese historian and politician (b. 713)
* 1103 &ndash; Eudes I, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1058)
* 1361 &ndash; Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster (b. 1310)
* 1369 &ndash; King Peter of Castile (b. 1334)
* 1555 &ndash; Pope Julius III (b. 1489)
* 1559 &ndash; Emperor Gelawdewos of Ethiopia
* 1606 &ndash; Justus Lipsius, Flemish humanist (b. 1547)
* 1675 &ndash; Antoni van Goordt, Dutch composer and organist (b. 1619)
* 1680 &ndash; Nicolas Fouquet, French statesman (b. 1615)
* 1742 &ndash; Jean-Baptiste Dubos, French writer (b. 1670)
* 1748 &ndash; Johann Gottfried Walther, German music theorist, organist and composer (b. 1684)
* 1783 &ndash; Charles Carroll of Carrollton, American lawyer and politician (b. 1723)
* 1801 &ndash; Tsar Paul I of Russia (b. 1754)
* 1819 &ndash; August von Kotzebue, German dramatist and writer (b. 1761)
* 1842 &ndash; Stendhal, French writer (b. 1783)
* 1881 &ndash; Nikolai Rubinstein, Russian composer (b. 1835)

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
* 1923 &ndash; Hovhannes Tumanyan Armenian poet and writer (b. 1869)
* 1927 &ndash; Paul César Helleu, French painter (b. 1859)
* 1931 &ndash; Bhagat Singh, Indian freedom writer (b. 1907)
* 1931 &ndash; Rajguru, Indian freedom fighter (b. 1908)
* 1931 &ndash; Sukhdev, Indian freedom fighter (b. 1907)
* 1935 &ndash; Florence Moore, American actress (b. 1886)
* 1938 &ndash; Thomas Walter Scott, Premier of Saskatchewan (b. 1867)
* 1945 &ndash; Tadamichi Kuribayashi, Japanese commander (b. 1891)
* 1947 &ndash; Archduchess Luise of Austria, Princess of Tuscany (b. 1870)
* 1948 &ndash; Nikolai Berdyaev, Russian philosopher (b. 1874)
* 1953 &ndash; Raoul Dufy, French painter (b. 1877)
* 1955 &ndash; Artur da Silva Bernardes, President of Brazil (b. 1875)
* 1960 &ndash; Raoul Paoli, French athlete, boxer and rower (b. 1887)
* 1964 &ndash; Peter Lorre, Hungarian–born actor (b. 1904)
* 1965 &ndash; Mae Murray, American actress, dancer, producer and screenwriter (b. 1885)
* 1971 &ndash; Simon Vestdijk, Dutch writer (b. 1898)
* 1972 &ndash; Cristobal Balenciaga, Spanish fashion designer (b. 1895)
* 1978 &ndash; Haim Ernst Wertheimer, Israeli biochemist (b. 1893)
* 1979 &ndash; Ted Anderson, English footballer (b. 1911)
* 1981 &ndash; Beatrice Tinsley, New Zealand astronomer (b. 1941)
* 1985 &ndash; Richard Beeching, British physicist and engineer (b. 1913)
* 1985 &ndash; Zoot Sims, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1925)
* 1990 &ndash; John Dexter, English stage and movie director (b. 1925)
* 1992 &ndash; Friedrich Hayek, Austrian economist (b. 1899)
* 1994 &ndash; Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mexican politician (b. 1950)
* 1994 &ndash; Giulietta Masina, Italian actress (b. 1921)
* 1994 &ndash; Donald Swann, British composer, musician and entertainer (b. 1923)

### From 2001 
* 2002 &ndash; Ben Hollioake, English cricketer (b. 1977)
* 2003 &ndash; Fritz Spiegl, Austrian–born journalist (b. 1926)
* 2004 &ndash; Rupert Hamer, Australian politician, 39th Premier of Victoria (b. 1916)
* 2006 &ndash; Cindy Walker, American singer, songwriter and dancer (b. 1918)
* 2008 &ndash; Rafael Azcona, Spanish screenwriter (b. 1926)
* 2009 &ndash; Ghukas Chubaryan, Armenian sculptor (b. 1923)
* 2011 &ndash; Elizabeth Taylor, British–American actress (b. 1932)
* 2012 &ndash; Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, former President of Somalia (b. 1934)
* 2012 &ndash; Chico Anysio, Brazilian actor, writer, comedian and composer (b. 1931)
* 2013 &ndash; Boris Berezovsky, Russian businessman and oligarch (b. 1946)
* 2013 &ndash; Joe Weider, American bodybuilder (b. 1920)
* 2013 &ndash; Virgil Trucks, American baseball player (b. 1917)
* 2014 &ndash; Adolfo Suarez, former Prime Minister of Spain (b. 1932)
* 2014 &ndash; Dave Brockie, Canadian–American musician (b. 1963)
* 2014 &ndash; Peter Oakley, British internet vlogger (b. 1927)
* 2014 &ndash; Jürg Neuenschwander, Swiss organist and composer (b. 1947)
* 2014 &ndash; David Henshaw, New Zealand cartoonist (b. 1939) 
* 2015 &ndash; Lee Kuan Yew, first Prime Minister of Singapore (b. 1923)
* 2015 &ndash; Lil' Chris, English singer and television personality (b. 1990)
* 2015 &ndash; Herberto Hélder, Portuguese poet and writer (b. 1930)
* 2015 &ndash; Bobby Lowther, American basketball player (b. 1923)
* 2016 &ndash; Ken Howard, American actor (b. 1944)
* 2016 &ndash; Joe Garagiola, Sr., American baseball player (b. 1926)
* 2016 &ndash; Jimmy Riley, Jamaican reggae musician (b. 1954)
* 2017 &ndash; Lola Albright, American actress (b. 1924)
* 2017 &ndash; Ashokamitran, Indian writer (b. 1931)
* 2017 &ndash; Meir Einstein, Israeli sports broadcaster (b. 1951)
* 2017 &ndash; William H. Keeler, American cardinal (b. 1931)
* 2017 &ndash; Cino Tortorella, Italian television presenter and comedian (b. 1927)
* 2017 &ndash; Denis Voronenkov, Russian politician (b. 1971)
* 2025 &ndash; Mia Love, American politician (b. 1975)

## 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.