23 October
October 23 is the 296th day of the year (297th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 69 days remaining.
Events
- 4004 BC - Universe created, according to James Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh (a Sunday, at 9am, though the time zone is unknown).
- 42 BC - Roman Republican civil wars: Second Battle of Philippi - Brutus's army is decisively defeated by Mark Antony and Octavian. He commits suicide.
- 425 - Valentinian III elevated as Roman Emperor.
- 1739 - War of Jenkins' Ear starts: British Prime Minister, Robert Walpole, reluctantly declares war on Spain.
- 1812 - Claude François de Malet, a French general, begins a conspiracy to overthrow Napoleon Bonaparte, claiming that the Emperor died in Russia and that he was now the commandant of Paris. De Malet was executed on October 29.
- 1813 - The Pacific Fur Company trading post in Astoria, Oregon is turned over to the rival British North West Company (the fur trade in the Pacific Northwest was dominated for the next three decades by the United Kingdom).
- 1855 - Kansas Free State forces set up a competing government under their Topeka, Kansas constitution, which outlaws slavery in the United States territory.
- 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Westport - Union forces under General Samuel R. Curtis defeat Confederate troops led by General Stirling Price at Westport, near Kansas City.
- 1911 - First use of aircraft in war: an Italian pilot takes off from Libya to survey Turkish lines during the Turco-Italian War.
- 1915 - Woman's suffrage: In New York City, 25,000-33,000 women march up Fifth Avenue to demand the right to vote.
- 1929 - Great Depression: After a steady decline in stock market prices since a peak in September, the New York Stock Exchange begins to show signs of panic.
- 1941 - World War II: Georgy Zhukov assumes command of Red Army efforts to stop the German advance into Russia.
- 1942 - World War II: Second Battle of El Alamein starts - At El Alamein in Egypt, British forces begin a major offensive against Axis forces.
- 1944 - World War II: Battle of Leyte Gulf begins - The largest naval battle in history begins in Leyte Gulf, the Red Army enters Hungary
- 1956 - Thousands of Hungarians protest Soviet influence and occupation in their nation (Hungarian Revolution is put down on November 4).
- 1965 - Vietnam War: Operation Silver Bayonet - The 1st United States Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in conjunction with South Vietnamese forces, launch a new operation, seeking to destroy North Vietnamese forces in Pleku Province in II Corps Tactical Zone (the Central Highlands)
- 1973 - Watergate Scandal: US President Richard M. Nixon agrees to turn over subpoenaed audio tapes of his Oval Office conversations about the scandal.
- 1983 - Lebanon Civil War: U.S. Marines barracks in Beirut hit by truck bomb, killing 241. French barracks also hit the same morning, killing 58.
- 1992 - Akihito becomes the first Emperor of Japan to stand on Chinese soil.
- 1996 - The civil trial of former American football player O.J. Simpson opens in Santa Monica, California.
- 1998 - Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat reach a "land-for-peace" agreement.
- 1998 - Abortion in the United States: In Amherst, New York, abortion doctor Barnett Slepian is killed by a sniper in his home.
- 2001 - The Provisional Irish Republican Army of Northern Ireland commences disarmament after peace talks encouraged by American President Bill Clinton.
- 2002 - Moscow Theatre Siege begins: Chechen rebels seize the House of Culture theater in Moscow and take approximately 700 theatergoers hostage.
- 2003 - George W. Bush addresses a joint sitting of the houses of the Australian Parliament and is shouted down by Green Party senators Kerry Nettle and Bob Brown.
Births
- 1762 - Samuel Morey, inventor (d. 1843)
- 1796 - Stefano Franscini, member of the Swiss Federal Council (d. 1857)
- 1817 - Pierre Athanase Larousse, lexicographer and encyclopedist
- 1835 - Adlai E. Stevenson, Vice President of the United States
- 1875 - Gilbert N. Lewis, American chemist
- 1892 - Gummo Marx, actor, comedian, Marx Brothers (d. 1977)
- 1905 - Felix Bloch, Swiss physicist
- 1906 - Gertrude Ederle, first woman to swim the English Channel
- 1909 - Zellig Harris, American linguist
- 1923 - Frank Sutton, actor (Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.) (d. 1974)
- 1925 - Johnny Carson, American television host
- 1931 - Jim Bunning, American baseball pitcher and senator
- 1935 - Chi Chi Rodriguez, golf champion
- 1940 - Pelé, Brazilian football player
- 1942 - Michael Crichton, writer
- 1954 - Ang Lee, director, producer
- 1956 - Dwight Yoakam, country music performer
- 1959 - Weird Al Yankovic, American musical parodist
- 1959 - Sam Raimi, director, producer
- 1962 - Doug Flutie, Canadian football and American football quarterback.
- 1975 - Keith Van Horn, American basketball player.
Deaths
- 42 BC - Marcus Junius Brutus, suicide
- 1910 - Chulalongkorn (Rama V), king of Thailand
- 1939 - Zane Grey, author
- 1950 - Al Jolson, singer, actor
- 1975 - Charles Brokaw, journalist
- 1983 - Jessica Savitch, journalist
- 1990 - Louis Althusser, French Marxist philosopher
- 1998 - Dr. Barnett Slepian, physician
- 2001 - Ronald William Kirby, British commercial artist
- 2003 - Soong May-ling, widow of Chiang Kai-shek
Holidays
October 22 - October 24 - November 23 - September 23 -- listing of all days
