November 23
November 23 is the 327th day of the year (328th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 38 days remaining.
Events
- 1499 - Pretender to the throne Perkin Warbeck is hanged for reportedly attempting to escape from the Tower of London. In 1497 he invaded England claiming to be the lost son of King Edward IV of England.
- 1644 - Areopagitica by John Milton is published.
- 1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Chattanooga begins - Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant reinforce troops at Chattanooga, Tennessee and counter-attack Confederate troops.
- 1869 - In Dumbarton, Scotland the clipper ship Cutty Sark is launched (it was one of the last clipper ships to be built, and the only one surviving to the present day).
- 1876 - Corrupt Tammany Hall leader William Marcy Tweed (better known as Boss Tweed) is delivered to authorities in New York City after being captured in Spain.
- 1890 - King William III of the Netherlands dies without a male heir and a special law is passed to allow his daughter Princess Wilhelmina to become Queen.
- 1903 - Colorado Governor James Peabody sends the state militia into the town of Cripple Creek to break up a miners' strike.
- 1936 - The first edition of Life is published.
- 1955 - The Cocos Islands are transferred from United Kingdom to Australian control.
- 1958 - Have Gun, Will Travel debuts on radio.
- 1960 - The long-running serial, Ma Perkins, airs its last episode on CBS radio.
- 1963 - The first episode of the sci-fi tv series Doctor Who debuts on the BBC
- 1971 - The People's Republic of China is given the Republic of China's seat on the United Nations Security Council (see China and the United Nations)
- 1979 - In Dublin, Ireland, Irish Republican Army member Thomas McMahon is sentenced to life in prison for the assassination of Lord Mountbatten
- 1980 - A series of earthquakes in southern Italy kills approximately 4,800 people
- 1981 - Iran-Contra scandal: 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 en route from Athens to Cairo (when the plane lands in Malta, Egyptian commandos stormed the hijacked jetliner but 60 people die in the raid)
- 1996 - An Ethiopian Boeing 767 is hijacked, then crashes after running out of fuel into the Indian Ocean off the coast of Comoros killing 127
- 2003 - Beleaguered Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze resigns following weeks of mass protests over flawed elections
- 2003 - Berkeley Breathed begins comic strip Opus
Births
- 912 - Otto I the Great, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 973)
- 1749 - Edward Rutledge, U.S. statesman (d. 1800)
- 1760 - Francois Noel Babeuf, French revolutionary (d. 1797)
- 1804 - Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United States (d. 1869)
- 1819 - Benjamin Mayberry Prentiss, Union General (d. 1901)
- 1820 - Isaac Todhunter, English mathematician (d. 1884)
- 1859 - Billy the Kid, bandit (d. 1881)
- 1860 - Hjalmar Branting, Swedish statesman, winner of Nobel Peace Prize in 1921 (d. 1925)
- 1869 - Valdemar Poulsen, Danish engineer (d. 1942)
- 1876 - Manuel de Falla, composer (d. 1946)
- 1887 - Boris Karloff, actor (d. 1969)
- 1888 - Harpo Marx, comedian (d. 1964)
- 1892 - Erté, artist (d. 1990)
- 1901 - Marieluise Fleisser, author (d. 1974)
- 1902 - Victor Jory, actor (d. 1982)
- 1909 - Nigel Tranter, Scottish historian, writer (d. 2000)
- 1920 - Paul Celan, poet (d. 1970)
- 1924 - Colin Macmillan Turnbull, Scottish-born anthropologist
- 1925 - José Napoleón Duarte, President of El Salvador (d. 1990)
- 1928 - Pierre Etaix, actor, film director and writer
- 1929 - Günter Gaus, publicist and politician
- 1931 - Dervla Murphy, traveller, author
- 1933 - Krzysztof Penderecki, composer
- 1934 - Robert Towne, writer, director, producer, actor
- 1935 - Vladislav Volkov, cosmonaut
- 1938 - Herbert Achternbusch, author and film director
- 1941 - Franco Nero, actor
- 1944 - Joe Eszterhas, producer, writer
- 1944 - James Toback, writer, director
- 1945 - Steve Landesberg, American actor
- 1954 - Bruce Hornsby, musician
- 1955 - Steven Brust, fantasy author
- 1956 - Steve Harvey, actor, comedian
- 1959 - Maxwell Caulfield, actor
- 1970 - Zoë Ball. tv/radio presenter
- 1976 - Carmel Said aka Id-DruGo. Maltese personality known as the most ABZ person in Malta
Deaths
- 1499 - Perkin Warbeck, pretender to the throne of England
- 1503 - Margaret of Burgundy, wife of Charles the Bold
- 1682 - Claude Lorrain, French landscape painter
- 1807 - Jean-François Rewbell, French politician (b. 1747)
- 1814 - Elbridge Gerry, Vice President of the United States of America
- 1890 - King William III of the Netherlands
- 1902 - Walter Reed, bacteriologist
- 1955 - Shemp Howard, actor, comedian (The Three Stooges)
- 1965 - Queen Elizabeth of Belgium
- 1966 - Sean O'Kelly, President of Ireland 1945-59
- 1973 - Sessue Hayakawa, actor
- 1974 - Cornelius Ryan, author
- 1979 - Merle Oberon, actress
- 1990 - Roald Dahl, author
- 1991 - Klaus Kinski, actor
- 1992 - Roy Acuff, country music performer
- 1995 - Louis Malle, director
- 1995 - Junior Walker, musician
Holidays and observances
- Bahá'í Faith - Feast of Qawl (Speech) - First day of the 14th month of the Bahá'í Calendar
November 22 - November 24 - October 23 - December 23 -- listing of all days
