What happened today in history
What happened on March 23
On March 23 history recorded 55 notable events. 160 people who left a mark were born on this day, and 113 died. Here is the full almanac.
- 55events
- 160births
- 113deaths
- 14observances
Highlights
Highlights
The Muslim army under Muhammad suffered a defeat against the Quraysh in the Battle of Uhud (depicted).
Muhammad was an Arab religious, military, and political leader, and the founder of Islam. According to Islam, he was the final prophet of God who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and o
After 175 years of rule, the Trần dynasty of Vietnam was deposed by Hồ Quý Ly, a court official.
The Trần dynasty was a Vietnamese dynasty that ruled Đại Việt from 1225 to 1400. The dynasty was founded when emperor Trần Thái Tông ascended to the throne after his uncle Trần Thủ Độ orchestrated the overthrow of the Lý dynasty. The Trần dynasty defeated thr
American Revolution: Patrick Henry made his "Give me liberty or give me death!" speech to the House of Burgesses of Virginia, urging military action against the British Empire.
The American Revolution (1765–1789) was a political movement in the Thirteen Colonies of Great Britain. It began as a rebellion and turned into a revolution eventually creating the sovereign United States, which was the outcome of the associated American Revol
March 23
On this day
VII century
- 625
625The Muslim army under Muhammad suffers a defeat against the Quraysh in the battle of Uhud.
XIV century
XVI century
XVIII century
XIX century
- 1801
1801Tsar Paul I of Russia is struck with a sword, then strangled, and finally trampled to death inside his bedroom at St. Michael's Castle. - 1806
1806After 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
1821Greek War of Independence: Battle and fall of city of Kalamata. - 1839
1839A massive earthquake destroys the former capital Inwa of the Konbaung dynasty, present-day Myanmar. - 1848
1848The ship John Wickliffe arrives at Port Chalmers carrying the first Scottish settlers for Dunedin, New Zealand. Otago province is founded. - 1857
1857Elisha Otis's first elevator is installed at 488 Broadway New York City. - 1862
1862American Civil War: The First Battle of Kernstown, Virginia, marks the start of Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign. Although a Confederate defeat, the engagement distracts Federal efforts to capture Richmond. - 1868
1868The University of California is founded in Oakland, California when the Organic Act is signed into law. - 1879
1879War of the Pacific: The Battle of Topáter, the first battle of the war, is fought between Chile and the joint forces of Bolivia and Peru. - 1885
1885Sino-French War: Chinese victory in the Battle of Phu Lam Tao near Hưng Hóa, northern Vietnam. - 1888
1888In England, The Football League, the world's oldest professional association football league, meets for the first time. - 1889
1889The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is established by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in Qadian, British India.
XX century
- 1901
1901Emilio Aguinaldo, only President of the First Philippine Republic, is captured at Palanan, Isabela by the forces of American General Frederick Funston. - 1905
1905Eleftherios Venizelos calls for Crete's union with Greece, and begins what is to be known as the Theriso revolt. - 1909
1909Theodore Roosevelt leaves New York for a post-presidency safari in Africa. The trip is sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society. - 1913
1913A tornado outbreak kills more than 240 people in the central United States, while an ongoing flood in the Ohio River watershed was killing 650 people. - 1918
1918First World War: On the third day of the German Spring Offensive, the 10th Battalion of the Royal West Kent Regiment is annihilated with many of the men becoming prisoners of war. - 1919
1919In Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini founds his Fascist political movement. - 1931
1931Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar are hanged for the killing of a deputy superintendent of police during the Indian independence movement. - 1933
1933The Reichstag passes the Enabling Act of 1933, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany. - 1935
1935Signing of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Philippines. - 1939
1939The Hungarian air force attacks the headquarters of the Slovak air force in Spišská Nová Ves, killing 13 people and beginning the Slovak–Hungarian War. - 1940
1940The Lahore Resolution (Qarardad-e-Pakistan or Qarardad-e-Lahore) is put forward at the Annual General Convention of the All-India Muslim League. - 1956
1956Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic in the world. This date is now celebrated as Republic Day in Pakistan. - 1965
1965NASA launches Gemini 3, the United States' first two-man space flight (crew: Gus Grissom and John Young). - 1977
1977The first of The Nixon Interviews (12 will be recorded over four weeks) is videotaped with British journalist David Frost interviewing former United States President Richard Nixon about the Watergate scandal and the Nixon tapes. - 1978
1978The first UNIFIL troops arrive in Lebanon for a peacekeeping mission along the Blue Line. - 1980
1980Archbishop Óscar Romero of El Salvador gives his famous speech appealing to men of the El Salvadoran armed forces to stop killing the Salvadorans. - 1982
1982Guatemala's government, headed by Fernando Romeo Lucas García, is overthrown in a military coup by right-wing General Efraín Ríos Montt. - 1983
1983Strategic Defense Initiative: President Ronald Reagan makes his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles. - 1988
1988Angolan and Cuban forces defeat South Africa in the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale. - 1991
1991The Revolutionary United Front, with support from the special forces of Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia, invades Sierra Leone in an attempt to overthrow Joseph Saidu Momoh, sparking the 11-year Sierra Leone Civil War. - 1994
1994At an election rally in Tijuana, Mexican presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio is assassinated by Mario Aburto Martínez. - 1994
1994A United States Air Force (USAF) F-16 aircraft collides with a USAF C-130 at Pope Air Force Base and then crashes, killing 24 United States Army soldiers on the ground alongside destroying a Starlifter by accident. This later became known as the Green Ramp disaster. - 1994
1994Aeroflot Flight 593 crashes into the Kuznetsk Alatau mountain, Kemerovo Oblast, Russia, killing 75. - 1996
1996Taiwan holds its first direct elections and chooses Lee Teng-hui as President. - 1999
1999Gunmen assassinate Paraguay's Vice President Luis María Argaña.
XXI century
- 2001
2001The Russian Mir space station is disposed of, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji. - 2003
2003Battle of Nasiriyah, first major conflict during the invasion of Iraq. - 2008
2008Official opening of Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad, India. - 2009
2009FedEx Express Flight 80: A McDonnell Douglas MD-11 flying from Guangzhou, China crashes at Tokyo's Narita International Airport, killing both the captain and the co-pilot. - 2010
2010The Affordable Care Act becomes law in the United States. - 2014
2014The World Health Organization (WHO) reports cases of Ebola in the forested rural region of southeastern Guinea, marking the beginning of the largest Ebola outbreak in history. - 2018
2018President of Peru Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigns from the presidency amid a mass corruption scandal before certain impeachment by the opposition-majority Congress of Peru. - 2019
2019The Kazakh capital of Astana is renamed to Nur-Sultan. - 2019
2019The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces capture the town of Baghuz in Eastern Syria, declaring military victory over the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant after four years of fighting, although the group maintains a scattered presence and sleeper cells across Syria and Iraq. - 2020
2020Prime Minister Boris Johnson puts the United Kingdom into its first national lockdown in response to COVID-19. - 2021
2021A container ship runs aground and obstructs the Suez Canal for six days. - 2025
2025Israel Defense Forces kill 15 aid workers in the Rafah paramedic massacre. - 2026
2026An Aerospace Force Lockheed C-130 crashes during take-off in Puerto Leguízamo, Colombia, killing 69 people.
Best known
Born on March 23
Best known
Died on March 23
50s
Sixth decade of the first century AD
Emperor Zhenzong
Emperor of Song China from 997 to 1022
Odo I of Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy
Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster
English soldier and diplomat (c. 1310–1361)
Peter of Castile
King of Castile and León (1350–1366, 1367–1369)
Yolande, Duchess of Lorraine
Duchess of Lorraine in 1473
Holidays and observances
- Christian feast day: Gregory the Illuminator (Episcopal Church)
- Christian feast day: Gwinear
- Christian feast day: Joseph Oriol
- Christian feast day: Ottone Frangipane
- Christian feast day: Rafqa Pietra Choboq Ar-Rayès (Maronite Church)
- Christian feast day: Turibius of Mogrovejo
- Christian feast day: Victorian, Frumentius and Companions
- Christian feast day: March 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Day of Hungarian-Polish Friendship (Hungary and Poland)
- Day of the Sea (Bolivia)
- Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Day (Azerbaijan)
- Pakistan Day (Pakistan)
- Promised Messiah Day (Ahmadiyya)
- World Meteorological Day
Frequently asked questions
What happened on March 23?
55 documented historical events happened on March 23, from antiquity to the present day. The best known is this: The Muslim army under Muhammad suffered a defeat against the Quraysh in the Battle of Uhud (depicted). On the same day, in another year: After 175 years of rule, the Trần dynasty of Vietnam was deposed by Hồ Quý Ly, a court official. On Almanaccolo every event is listed in chronological order, grouped by century, and links to the Wikipedia article it comes from, so you can always read further or check the source. Alongside the events you find who was born and who died on this date, and which observances are celebrated around the world.
Who was born on March 23?
160 people with a Wikipedia article were born on March 23, including Mark Rydell, Yevgeny Grishin (speed skater), Viktor Korchnoi. The list spans every era and every field — art, science, politics, sport, entertainment — ordered by year of birth, from the earliest to the most recent. The six featured people are those most has been written about: the ordering uses the length of their Wikipedia article as an indicator of prominence. For each one you find their occupation, year of birth and a link to the full biography.
Who died on March 23?
113 people with a Wikipedia article died on March 23, including 50s, Emperor Zhenzong, Odo I of Burgundy. The list is in chronological order by year of death and spans all of documented history, from antiquity to the present day. For each person you find their occupation, the year and a link to the Wikipedia biography, where the full story and its sources can be read.
What is celebrated on March 23?
14 observances are celebrated on March 23 around the world: Christian feast day: Gregory the Illuminator (Episcopal Church), Christian feast day: Gwinear, Christian feast day: Joseph Oriol, Christian feast day: Ottone Frangipane, Christian feast day: Rafqa Pietra Choboq Ar-Rayès (Maronite Church), Christian feast day: Turibius of Mogrovejo. The list gathers national holidays, international days and religious or civil observances falling on this date in different countries, as recorded on Wikipedia. Some are fixed and recur on the same day every year; others depend on the local calendar. Each links to the article explaining its origin and meaning.
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Source: Wikipedia · Calendar