November 23
Events
Up to 1900
800 - Charlemagne arrives at Rome to examine the alleged crimes of Pope Leo III.
1174 - Saladin enters Damascus.
1248 - Spanish Reconquista: Christian troops under Ferdinand III of Castile conquer Seville.
1510 - First campaign of the Ottoman Empire against the Kingdom of Imereti, present-day western Georgia.
1531 - The Second War of Kappel results in Switzerland's Protestant Alliance dissolving.
1644 - John Milton publishes Areopagitica, a pamphlet against censorship.
1791 - The Snares Islands to the south of New Zealand are discovered.
1810 - Sarah Booth has her first performance at the Royal Opera House.
1863 - American Civil War: Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant reinforce troops at Chattanooga, Tennessee and counter-attack Confederate troops.
1889 - The first jukebox goes into operation at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco, California.
1890 - King William III of the Netherlands dies. His death ends the shared monarchy between the Netherlands and Luxembourg. In the Netherlands, his daughter Wilhelmina becomes Queen, with Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont as regent. In Luxembourg, Grand Duke Adolphe becomes the next monarch.
1901 2000
1904 - The 1904 Olympics in St. Louis officially end.
1910 - Johan Alfred Ander becomes the last person to be executed in Sweden before the death penalty becomes illegal there.
1914 - The US Army retreats from Mexico.
1924 - Edwin Hubble's discovery of the Andromeda Galaxy is first published in a newspaper. Previously, the Milky Way was thought to be the only galaxy in existence.
1936 - Life magazine is re-published as a photograph magazine and becomes an immediate success.
1939 - World War II: German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau sink the British aid ship Rawalpindi to the southeast of Iceland, killing 265 people.
1940 - World War II: Romania officially joins the Axis Powers.
1942 - World War II: British steamer Tilawa is sunk in the Indian Ocean by Japanese U-boat I-29, killing 280 people.
1955 - The Cocos Islands are transferred from the control of the United Kingdom to Australia.
1959 - General Charles de Gaulle, President of France, declares in a speech in Strasbourg his vision for a "Europe, from the Atlantic to the Urals."
1961 - Sturt's Desert Pea, Swainsona formosa, becomes the floral emblem of South Australia.
1963 - The first episode of the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who, "An Unearthly Child", airs on the BBC.
1971 - The representatives of the People's Republic of China first attended the United Nations, including the United Nations Security Council, as China's representatives.
1974 - Sixty Ethiopian politicians, aristocrats, military officers and other persons are executed by the provisional military government.
1976 - Jacques Mayol is the first man to reach a depth of 100 meters undersea without breathing equipment.
1978 - A cyclone kills 1,000 people in Eastern Sri Lanka.
1980 - A series of earthquakes in southern Italy kills approximately 4,800 people.
1981 - Ronald Reagan signs the top secret National Security Decision Directive 17 (NSDD-17), giving the Central Intelligence Agency the authority to recruit and support Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
1985 - Gunmen hijack EgyptAir Flight 648 while it is travelling from Athens to Cairo. When the plane lands in Malta, it is stormed by Egyptian commandos, though 60 people die in the raid.
1990 - The first all-woman expedition to the South Pole (3 Americans, 1 Japanese and 12 Russians), sets off from Antarctica on the 1st leg of a 70-day, 1287-kilometre ski trek.
1996 - The Republic of Angola officially joins the World Trade Organization.
1996 - A plane crash in the Indian Ocean near the Comoros kills 125 people.
From 2001
2001 - The Convention on Cybercrime is signed in Budapest.
2003 - Eduard Shevardnadze resigns as President of Georgia.
2004 - Tbilisi's Holy Trinity Cathedral is consecrated.
2005 - Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is elected President of Liberia, becoming Africa's first female President.
2006 - A series of bombings in Sadr City, Iraq, kills at least 215 people.
2007 - MS Explorer, a cruise liner carrying 154 people, sinks in the Antarctic Ocean south of Argentina after hitting an iceberg near the South Shetland Islands.
2009 - The Maguindanao massacre occurs on the island of Mindanao, Philippines.
2010 - North Korea attacks Yeonpyeong Island, prompting a military response from neighbouring South Korea, in one of the fiercest exchanges since the Korean War.
2019 - People in the autonomous island region of Bougainville start voting on whether they want to be an independent country or whether they want to gain more autonomy as part of Papua New Guinea.
Births
Up to 1900
912 - Otto I, Duke of the Saxons, King of the Germans and Holy Roman Emperor (d. 973)
1221 - King Alfonso X of Castile (d. 1284)
1553 - Prospero Alpini, Italian botanist and physician (d. 1617)
1616 - John Wallis, English mathematician (d. 1703)
1709 - Julien Offray de La Mettrie, French physician and philosopher (d. 1751)
1715 - Pierre Charles Le Monnier, French astronomer (d. 1799)
1749 - Edward Rutledge, American politician (d. 1800)
1754 - Abraham Baldwin, American politician (d. 1807)
1781 - Theodor Valentin Volkmar, German politician, 1st Mayor of Marburg (d. 1847)
1785 - Jan Roothaan, Dutch priest (d. 1853)
1804 - Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United States (d. 1869)
1815 - William Dennison, Jr., 24th Governor of Ohio (d. 1882)
1820 - Isaac Todhunter, English mathematician and author (d. 1884)
1837 - Johannes Diderik van der Waals, Dutch physicist (d. 1923)
1838 - Stephanos Skouloudis, 97th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1928)
1851 - Jonas Basanavicius, Lithuanian physician, scientist and political activist (d. 1927)
1855 - John I. Cox, 33rd Governor of Tennessee (d. 1946)
1859 - Billy the Kid, American outlaw (d. 1881)
1860 - Hjalmar Branting, Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 1925)
1861 - Konstantin Korovin, Russian painter (d. 1939)
1865 - George P. McClellan, Jr., Mayor of New York City (d. 1940)
1869 - Valdemar Poulsen, Danish engineer (d. 1942)
1871 - William Watt, 24th Premier of Australia (d. 1946)
1875 - Anatoly Lunacharsky, Russian politician (d. 1933)
1876 - Manuel de Falla, Spanish composer (d. 1946)
1882 - John Rabe, German businessman and humanitarian (d. 1950)
1883 - Jose Clemente Orozco, Mexican painter (d. 1949)
1886 - Eduards Smilgis, Latvian actor and theatre director (d. 1966)
1886 - Lloyd C. Stark, Governor of Missouri (d. 1972)
1887 - Hobart Henley, American actor and director (d. 1964)
1887 - Boris Karloff, British actor (d. 1969)
1887 - Henry Moseley, British physicist (d. 1915)
1888 - Harpo Marx, American actor, comedian and mime (d. 1964)
1888 - George F. Shafer, Governor of South Dakota (d. 1948)
1890 - El Lissitzky, Russian artist and architect (d. 1941)
1892 - Erte, French artist (d. 1990)
1896 - Sandy Archibald, Scottish footballer (d. 1946)
1896 - Tsunenohana Kan'ichi, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1960)
1896 - Klement Gottwald, Czechoslovakian Communist leader (d. 1953)
1897 - Nirad C. Chaudhuri, Indian writer (d. 1999)
1899 - Manuel dos Reis Machado, Brazilian martial artist (d. 1974)
1901 1950
1902 - Victor Jory, Canadian-American actor (d. 1982)
1906 - Betti Alver, Estonian poet (d. 1989)
1907 - Run Run Shaw, Hong Kong businessman and philanthropist (d. 2014)
1914 - Richard Percival Lister, English author, poet and artist (d. 2014)
1914 - Emmett Ashford, American baseball umpire (d. 1980)
1916 - Michael Gough, British actor (d. 2011)
1919 - P. F. Strawson, British philosopher (d. 2006)
1921 - Fred Buscaglione, Italian singer and actor (d. 1960)
1922 - Vo Van Kiet, Vietnamese politician (d. 2008)
1922 - Joan Fuster, Spanish writer (d. 1992)
1922 - Manuel Fraga Iribarne, President of Spanish Galicia (d. 2012)
1923 - Daniel Brewster, American politician (d. 2007)
1925 - Jose Napoleon Duarte, President of El Salvador (d. 1990)
1926 - Sathya Sai Baba, Indian religious and spiritual leader (d. 2011)
1927 - Angelo Sodano, Italian cardinal
1930 - Herberto Helder, Portuguese poet (d. 2015)
1930 - Geeta Dutt, Indian singer (d. 1972)
1931 - Tosiwo Nakayama, Micronesian politician, 1st President of the Federated States of Micronesia (d. 2007)
1932 - Renato Martino, Italian cardinal
1933 - Krzysztof Penderecki, Polish composer
1934 - Lew Hoad, Australian tennis player (d. 1994)
1935 - Vladislav Volkov, Soviet cosmonaut (d. 1971)
1935 - Volodymyr Sabodan, Ukrainian religious leader (d. 2014)
1935 - Jeremy Stone, American scientist and arms control activist (d. 2017)
1938 - Patrick Kelly, former Roman Catholic Archbishop of Liverpool
1939 - Betty Everett, American singer and pianist (d. 2001)
1940 - Luis Tiant, Cuban baseballer
1941 - Franco Nero, Italian actor
1943 - Andrew Goodman, American civil rights activist (d. 1964)
1943 - David Nolan, American activist (d. 2010)
1943 - Gunther Beckstein, German politician, former Prime Minister of Bavaria
1943 - Sue Nicholls, English actress
1944 - Peter Lindbergh, German-French photographer and director (d. 2019)
1944 - Joe Eszterhas, Hungarian-American writer
1944 - James Toback, American screenwriter and movie director
1945 - Assi Dayan, Israeli actor, director and screenwriter (d. 2014)
1945 - Jim Doyle, American politician, former Governor of Wisconsin
1945 - Dennis Nilsen, Scottish serial killer (d. 2018)
1946 - Bobby Rush, American politician
1947 - Jean-Pierre Foucault, French television host
1948 - Reiner Calmund, German football official
1949 - Sandra Stevens, British singer
1950 - Chuck Schumer, American lawyer and politician
1951 1975
1953 - Francis Cabrel, French singer-songwriter and guitarist
1953 - Johan de Meij, Dutch trombonist, conductor and composer
1954 - Bruce Hornsby, American singer, songwriter and pianist
1954 - Ross Brawn, British Formula 1 team principal
1955 - Ludovico Einaudi, Italian composer and pianist
1955 - Mary Landrieu, American politician
1956 - Shane Gould, Australian swimmer
1957 - William Kaelin Jr., American physician and Nobel laureate
1959 - Dominique Dunne, American actress (d. 1982)
1962 - Nicolas Maduro, President of Venezuela
1963 - Andreas Schmidt, German actor (d. 2017)
1964 - Frank Rutherford, Bahamian triple jumper
1965 - Sergio Vazquez, Argentine footballer
1966 - Vincent Cassel, French actor
1966 - Kevin Gallacher, Scottish footballer
1966 - Russell Watson, English tenor
1968 - Robert Denmark, English athlete
1968 - Kirsty Young, Scottish television presenter
1968 - Hamid Hassani, Iranian linguist and lexicographer
1970 - Karsten Muller, German chess player and writer
1970 - Zoe Ball, English television presenter
1971 - Khalid Al-Muwallid, Saudi Arabian footballer
1971 - Chris Hardwick, American comedian, actor and TV host
1971 - Sajid Khan, Indian movie actor and director
1972 - Alf-Inge Haaland, Norwegian footballer
1974 - Saku Koivu, Finnish ice hockey player
From 1976
1978 - Tommy Marth, American musician (d. 2012)
1979 - Nihat Kahveci, Turkish footballer
1979 - Kelly Brook, British actress and model
1979 - Ivica Kostelic, Croatian skier
1980 - Paulie Malignaggi, American boxer
1982 - Asafa Powell, Jamaican runner
1983 - Nasser Al-Shamrani, Saudi Arabian footballer
1984 - Lucas Grabeel, American actor, singer and songwriter
1984 - Amruta Khanvilkar, Indian actress
1985 - Victor Ahn, South Korean speed skater
1985 - Scott Brash, Scottish equestrian show-jumper
1987 - Kasia Struss, Polish model
1987 - Snooki, Chilean-born American reality television personality and author
1990 - Alena Leonova, Russian figure skater
1990 - Eddie Kim, South Korean singer-songwriter and guitarist
1992 - Miley Cyrus, American actress and singer (Hannah Montana)
1992 - Go Eun-bi, South Korean singer (d. 2014)
1996 - James Maddison, English footballer
1996 - Anna Yanovskaya, Russian ice dancer
1998 - Bradley Steven Perry, American actor
Deaths
Up to 1900
947 - Berthold, Duke of Bavaria (b. 900)
955 - Edred, King of England (b. c. 923)
1407 - Louis I, Duke of Orleans (b. 1372)
1457 - King Ladislaus Posthumus of Bohemia and Hungary (b. 1440)
1499 - Perkin Warbeck, English pretender, executed
1503 - Margaret of York (b. 1446)
1572 - Bronzino, Italian painter and poet (b. 1503)
1585 - Thomas Tallis, English composer (b. 1505)
1616 - Richard Hakluyt, English priest and author (b. 1552)
1814 - Elbridge Gerry, Vice President of the United States (b. 1744)
1826 - Johann Elert Bode, German astronomer (b. 1747)
1833 - Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, French general and politician (b. 1762)
1864 - Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve, German-born Russian astronomer (b. 1793)
1866 - Cave Johnson, American politician (b. 1793)
1890 - King William III of the Netherlands (b. 1817)
1901 2000
1902 - Walter Reed, American bacteriologist (b. 1851)
1910 - Hawley Harvey Crippen, American physician and murderer (b. 1862)
1923 - Urmuz, Romanian judge and author (b. 1883)
1934 - Giovanni Brunero, Italian cyclist (b. 1895)
1937 - Jagdish Chandra Bose, Indian physicist (b. 1858)
1941 - Horace F. Graham, American politician, Governor of Vermont (b. 1862)
1965 - Elisabeth of Bavaria, Queen of Belgium (b. 1876)
1966 - Sean T O Ceallaigh, 2nd President of Ireland (b. 1882)
1970 - Yusof bin Ishak, Singaporean politician (b. 1910)
1972 - Marie Wilson, American actress (b. 1916)
1973 - Sessue Hayakawa, Japanese actor, director and producer (b. 1889)
1974 - Massacre of Sixty in Ethiopia:
Abiye Abebe, Ethiopian general and politician (b. 1918)
Aman Andom, President of Ethiopia (b. 1924)
Aklilu Habte-Wold, Prime Minister of Ethiopia (b. 1912)
Asrate Medhin-Kassa, Ethiopian commander (b. 1922)
Endelkachew Makonnen, Prime Minister of Ethiopia (b. 1927)
1976 - Andre Malraux, French theorist and author (b. 1901)
1979 - Merle Oberon, British actress (b. 1911)
1983 - Tom Evans, English guitarist and songwriter (b. 1947)
1990 - Roald Dahl, Welsh writer (b. 1916)
1991 - Klaus Kinski, German actor (b. 1926)
1992 - Roy Acuff, American country musician (b. 1903)
1992 - Jean-Francois Thiriart, Belgian politician (b. 1922)
1995 - Louis Malle, French director (b. 1932)
1995 - Junior Walker, American singer and saxophonist (b. 1931)
From 2001
2001 - Gerhard Stoltenberg, German politician (b. 1928)
2001 - Mary Whitehouse, British campaigner (b. 1910)
2002 - Roberto Matta, Chilean painter (b. 1911)
2005 - Constance Cummings, American-English actress (b. 1910)
2006 - Alexander Litvinenko, Russian spy (b. 1962)
2006 - Philippe Noiret, French actor (b. 1930)
2006 - Anita O'Day, American singer (b. 1919)
2006 - Willie Pep, American boxer (b. 1922)
2010 - Ingrid Pitt, British actress (b. 1937)
2011 - Montserrat Figueras, Spanish operatic soprano (b. 1942)
2012 - Larry Hagman, American actor (b. 1931)
2013 - Jay Leggett, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter (b. 1963)
2014 - Marion Barry, American politician, Mayor of Washington, DC (b. 1936)
2014 - Dorothy Cheney, American tennis player (b. 1916)
2014 - Pat Quinn, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1943)
2015 - Yoram Tsafrir, Israeli archaeologist (b. 1938)
2015 - Manmeet Bhullar, Canadian politician (b. 1980)
2015 - Douglass North, American economist (b. 1920)
2015 - Dan Fante, American author and playwright (b. 1944)
2016 - Ralph Branca, American baseball player (b. 1926)
2016 - Abdul-Karim Mousavi Ardebili, Iranian cleric and jurist (b. 1926)
2016 - Rita Barbera, Spanish politician, former Mayor of Valencia (b. 1948)
2016 - Andrew Sachs, German-born English actor (b. 1930)
2017 - Stela Popescu, Romanian actress (b. 1935)
2018 - Kevin Austin, English-Trinidadian footballer (b. 1973)
2018 - Betty Bumpers, former First Lady of Arkansas (b. 1925)
2018 - Menahem Degani, Israeli basketball player (b. 1927)
2018 - Mick McGeough, Canadian ice hockey referee (b. 1956)
2018 - Bob McNair, American businessman (b. 1937)
2018 - Nicolas Roeg, English film director (b. 1928)
2018 - George Ty, Filipino banker (b. 1932)
2018 - Gerard Unger, Dutch graphic and type designer (b. 1942)
2019 - Asuncion Balaguer, Spanish actress (b. 1925)
2019 - Francesc Gambus, Spanish politician (b. 1974)
2019 - Barbara Hillary, American adventurer (b. 1931)
2019 - Catherine Small Long, American politician (b. 1924)
Holidays and observances
Baha'i Faith - Feast of Qawl (Speech) - First day of the 14th month of the Baha'i calendar
Georgia - St George's Day
Japan - Kinro kansha no hi (Labour Thanksgiving Day)
Slovenia - Rudolf Maister Day
Days of the year