23 August
August 23 is the 235th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (236th in leap years), with 130 days remaining.
Events
- 1328 - Flemish farmers
- 1566 - Calvinists are granted rights in the Netherlands
- 1614 - The University of Groningen is established
- 1617 - In London, the first one-way street is established
- 1784 - Eastern Tennessee declares itself an independent state under the name of Franklin; the step is rejected by Congress one year later
- 1798 - Napoleon leaves Egypt for France en route to seize power
- 1821 - Mexico gains its independence from Spain
- 1833 - Slavery abolished in the British colonies
- 1839 - The UK captures Hong Kong
- 1864 - The Union Navy captures Fort Morgan, Alabama, thus breaking Confederate dominance of all ports on the Gulf of Mexico
- 1866 - Austro-Prussian War ends with the Treaty of Prague
- 1889 - First wireless message from a ship to the shore received
- 1904 - The automobile tire chain is patented
- 1914 - Japan declares war on Germany and bombs Qingdao, China
- 1924 - The distance between Earth and Mars is the smallest since the 10th century
- 1927 - Italian anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti are executed
- 1939 - Germany and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression treaty, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. In a secret addition to the pact, Baltic states, Finland and Poland are divided between the two nations
- 1940 - The Germans start bombing London
- 1942 - Beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad
- 1943 - Kharkov liberated
- 1944 - Marseilles liberated
- 1944 - King Michael of Romania dismisses the pro-Nazi government of General Antonescu. Romania switches sides from the Axis to the Allies
- 1944 - United States Air Force B-24 Liberator bomber crashed into a school in Freckleton, England killing 61 people
- 1947 - The Maynard Midgets beat Lock Haven 16-7 to win the first-ever Little League World Series championship.
- 1948 - World Council of Churches is formed
- 1952 - The Arab League goes into effect
- 1958 - Chinese Civil War: The Second Taiwan Strait crisis begins with the People's Liberation Army's bombardment of Quemoy.
- 1960 - In Equatorial Guinea, the world's largest frog (3.3 kg) is caught
- 1962 - First live television connection between the United States and Europe, via the Telstar satellite
- 1966 - Lunar Orbiter 1 takes the first photograph of Earth from orbit around the Moon
- 1973 - The Intelsat communication satellite is launched
- 1975 - Successful Communist coup in Laos
- 1976 - A major earthquake in China kills thousands of people
- 1979 - Soviet dancer Alexander Godunov defects to the United States
- 1985 - Hans Tiedge, top counter-spy of West Germany, defects to East Germany
- 1987 - Heavy rains and floods in Bangladesh kill hundreds of victims
- 1989 - Singing Revolution: two million people from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania stood on the Vilnius-Tallinn road, holding hands (Baltic Way)
- 1990 - Saddam Hussein appears on Iraqi state television with a number of Western "guests" (actually hostages to try to prevent the Gulf War)
- 1990 - Armenia declares its independence from the Soviet Union
- 1990 - West Germany and East Germany announce that they will unite on October 3
- 2000 - A Gulf Air Airbus A320 crashes into the Persian Gulf near Manama, Bahrain killing 143
Births
- 1754 - King Louis XVI of France (d. 1792)
- 1769 - Georges Cuvier, biologist, statesman
- 1783 - William Tierney Clark, civil engineer (d. 1852)
- 1785 - Oliver Hazard Perry, US naval officer (Battle of Lake Erie)
- 1829 - Moritz Cantor, mathematician
- 1847 - Sarah Frances Whiting, physicist and astronomer (d. 1927)
- 1852 - Arnold Toynbee, economist, social reformer
- 1864 - Eleftherios Venizalos, prime minister of Greece (1910-1915, 1928-1932)
- 1869 - Edgar Lee Masters, author (d. 1950)
- 1875 - William Eccles, radio pioneer
- 1883 - US General Jonathan Wainwright, Medal of Honor recipient
- 1900 - Ernst Krenek, composer (d. 1991)
- 1901 - John Sherman Cooper, Senator from Kentucky (d. 1991)
- 1905 - Constant Lambert, composer (d. 1951)
- 1912 - Gene Kelly, dancer, actor (d. 1996)
- 1914 - Harold Truscott, composer (d. 1992)
- 1917 - Tex Williams, singer
- 1921 - Eadie Del Rubio (d. 1996), Elena Del Rubio (d. 2001), and Milly Del Rubio, the Del Rubio Triplets, singers, musicians, actresses
- 1922 - George Kell, Baseball Hall of Famer
- 1923 - Edgar F. Codd, founder of theory of relational databases
- 1924 - Ephraim Kishon, Israeli writer
- 1927 - Houari Boumendienne, president of Algeria (1965-1978)
- 1927 - Dick Bruna, illustrator
- 1929 - Vera Miles, actress
- 1929 - Peter Thompson, golfer
- 1930 - Michel Rocard, Prime Minister of France
- 1932 - Mark Russell, comedian, musician, political commentator
- 1933 - Pete Wilson, governor of California
- 1934 - Barbara Eden, actress
- 1934 - Sonny Jurgensen, professional football player
- 1936 - Henry Lee Lucas, serial killer(† 2001)
- 1943 - Nelson DeMille, novelist
- 1947 - Keith Moon, singer, drummer (The Who) (d. 1978)
- 1949 - Shelley Long, actress
- 1949 - Rick Springfield, singer, actor
- 1951 - Queen Noor of Jordan
- 1951 - Akhmad Kadyrov, President of Chechnya (d. 2004)
- 1952 - Vicky Leandros, singer
- 1970 - Jay Mohr, actor, comedian
- 1970 - River Phoenix, actor (d. 1993)
- 1972 - Dave Chappelle, actor, comedian
- 1975 - Eliza Carthy, singer, fiddle player
- 1978 - Kobe Bryant, NBA basketball player
- 1978 - Julian Casablancas, musician
- 1981 - Eric Radloff, singer, songwriter
- 1986 - Neil Cicierega, musician, inventor of Animutation
Deaths
- 93 - Gnaeus Julius Agricola, Roman governor of Britain
- 634 - Abu Bakr, Muslim Caliph
- 1806 - Charles Augustin de Coulomb, physicist
- 1813 - Alexander Wilson, ornithologist
- 1926 - Rudolph Valentino, actor
- 1927 - Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, anarchists
- 1937 - Albert Roussel, composer
- 1960 - Oscar Hammerstein II, lyricist
- 1962 - Walter Anderson, German folklorist
- 1962 - Hoot Gibson, actor
- 1965 - John Bata, shoe manufacturer
- 1966 - Francis X. Bushman, actor
- 1982 - Stanford Moore, biochemist
- 2001 - Peter Maas, novelist
Holidays and observances
August 22 - August 24 - July 23 - September 23 -- listing of all days
