March 23

March 23 is the

Events

• 1400 – The Tran Dynasty of Vietnam is deposed after 175 years of rule by Ho Quy Ly, a court official.
• 1708 – James Francis Edward Stuart lands at the Firth of Forth.
• 1775 – American Revolutionary War: Patrick Henry delivers his speech – "Give me Liberty, or give me Death!" – at St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia.
• 1801 – Tsar Paul I of Russia is struck with a sword, then strangled, and finally trampled to death in his bedroom at St. Michael's Castle.
• 1806 – After 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 – Greek War of Independence: Battle and fall of city of Kalamata.
• 1848 – The ship John Wickliffe arrives at Port Chalmers carrying the first Scottish settlers for Dunedin, New Zealand. Otago province is founded.
• 1857 – Elisha Otis's first elevator is installed at 488 Broadway New York City.
• 1862 – The First Battle of Kernstown, Virginia, marks the start of Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign. Though a Confederate defeat, the engagement distracts Federal efforts to capture Richmond.
• 1868 – The University of California is founded in Oakland, California when the Organic Act is signed into law.
• 1879 – War of the Pacific is fought between Chile and the joint forces of Bolivia and Peru. Chile takes over Arica and Tarapacá, leaving Bolivia as a landlocked country.
• 1889 – The free Woolwich Ferry officially opens in east London.
• 1889 – The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is established by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in Qadian India.
• 1896 – The Raines Law is passed by the New York State Legislature, restricting Sunday sale of alcohol to hotels.
• 1903 – The Wright Brothers apply for a patent on their invention of one of the first successful airplanes.
• 1908 – American diplomat Durham Stevens is attacked by Korean assassins Jeon Myeong-un and Jang In-hwan, leading to his death in a hospital two days later.
• 1909 – Theodore Roosevelt leaves New York for a post-presidency safari in Africa. The trip is sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society.
• 1919 – In Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini founds his Fascist political movement.
• 1931 – Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar are hanged during the Indian struggle for independence. Their request to be executed by firing squad is refused. The day is now remembered in India as Shahidi divas or Martyr's day.
• 1933 – The Reichstag passes the Enabling act of 1933, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany.
• 1935 – Signing of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.
• 1939 – The Hungarian air force attacks the headquarters of Slovak air force in the city of Spišská Nová Ves, kills 13 people and began the Slovak–Hungarian War.
• 1940 – The Lahore Resolution (Qarardad-e-Pakistan or the then Qarardad-e-Lahore) is put forward at the Annual General Convention of the All India Muslim League.
• 1942 – World War II: In the Indian Ocean, Japanese forces capture the Andaman Islands.
• 1956 – Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic in the world. (Republic Day in Pakistan)
• 1962 – NS Savannah, the first nuclear-powered cargo-passenger ship, is launched as a showcase for Dwight D. Eisenhower's Atoms for Peace initiative.
• 1965 – NASA launches Gemini 3, the United States' first two-man space flight (crew: Gus Grissom and John Young).
• 1978 – The first UNIFIL troops arrived in Lebanon for peacekeeping mission along the Blue Line.
• 1980 – Archbishop Óscar Romero of El Salvador gives his famous speech appealing to men of the El Salvadoran armed forces to stop killing the Salvadorans.
• 1982 – Guatemala's government, headed by Fernando Romeo Lucas García is overthrown in a military coup by right-wing General Efraín Ríos Montt.
• 1983 – Strategic Defense Initiative: President Ronald Reagan makes his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles.
• 1989 – Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann announce cold fusion at the University of Utah.
• 1991 – The 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 a gruesome 11-year Sierra Leone Civil War.
• 1994 – At an election rally in Tijuana, Mexican presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio is assassinated by Mario Aburto Martínez.
• 1994 – Aeroflot Flight 593 crashes in Siberia when the pilot's fifteen-year old son accidentally disengages the autopilot, killing all 75 people on board.
• 1994 – A 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. This later became known as the Green Ramp disaster.
• 1996 – Taiwan holds its first direct elections and chooses Lee Teng-hui as President.
• 1999 – Gunmen assassinate Paraguay's Vice President Luis María Argaña.
• 2001 – The Russian Mir space station is disposed of, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji.
• 2003 – In Nasiriyah, Iraq, 11 soldiers of the 507th Maintenance Company as well as 18 U.S. Marines are killed during the first major conflict of Operation Iraqi Freedom. 654 Iraqi combatants are also killed.
• 2004 – Andhra Pradesh Federation of Trade Unions holds its first conference in Hyderabad, India.
• 2005 – The United States 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, refuses to order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube.
• 2005 – A major explosion at the Texas City Refinery kills 15 workers.
• 2007 – In Melbourne, Australia, a fire in the Burnley Tunnel kills three.
• 2007 – The Iranian Navy seizes Royal Navy personnel in the waters between Iran and Iraq.

Births

• 1429 – Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry VI of England (d. 1482)
• 1638 – Frederik Ruysch, Dutch physician and anatomist (d. 1731)
• 1645 – William Kidd, Scottish sailor (d. 1701)
• 1699 – John Bartram, American botanist (d. 1777)
• 1723 – Agha Mohammad Khan Ghajar, King of Iran (d. 1771)
• 1732 – Marie Adélaïde of France, daughter of Louis XV (d. 1800)
• 1754 – Baron Jurij Vega, Slovenian mathematician, physicist, and artillery officer (d. 1802)
• 1769 – William Smith, English geologist and cartographer (d. 1839)
• 1769 – Augustin Daniel Belliard, French general (d. 1832)
• 1823 – Schuyler Colfax, American politician, 17th Vice President of the United States (d. 1885)
• 1826 – Léon Minkus, German/Czech composer and violinist (d. 1917)
• 1831 – Eduard Schlagintweit, German writer (d. 1866)
• 1834 – Julius Reubke, German composer (d. 1858)
• 1858 – Ludwig Quidde, German pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1941)
• 1862 – Nathaniel Reed, American outlaw turned evangelist (d. 1950)
• 1868 – Dietrich Eckart, early supporter of Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party and member of Thule Society (d. 1923)
• 1869 – Calouste Gulbenkian, Armenian businessman and philanthropist (d. 1955)
• 1874 – J. C. Leyendecker, German American Illustrator (d. 1951)
• 1878 – Franz Schreker, Austrian composer (d. 1934)
• 1880 – Heikki Ritavuori, Finnish politician (d. 1922)
• 1881 – Roger Martin du Gard, French writer, Nobel laureate (d. 1958)
• 1881 – Hermann Staudinger, German chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1965)
• 1882 – Emmy Noether, German mathematician (d. 1935)
• 1887 – Juan Gris, Spanish artist (d. 1927)
• 1887 – Josef Čapek, Czech writer (d. 1945)
• 1887 – Prince Felix Yussupov, Russian assassin of Rasputin (d. 1967)
• 1893 – Cedric Gibbons, American art director (d. 1960)
• 1893 – G. D. Naidu (Gopalaswamy Doraiswamy Naidu), Indian Inventor & Engineer (Edison of India) (d. 1974)
• 1895 – Encarnacion Alzona, Filipino historian (d. 2001)
• 1899 – Dora Gerson, German actress and singer (d. 1943)
• 1900 – Erich Fromm, German-born psychoanalyst (d. 1980)
• 1904 – H. Beam Piper, American science fiction author (d. 1964)
• 1905 – Lale Andersen, German singer and cabaretist (d. 1972)
• 1905 – Joan Crawford, American actress (d. 1977)
• 1907 – Daniel Bovet, Swiss-born scientist, Nobel laureate (d. 1992)
• 1910 – Akira Kurosawa, Japanese film director (d. 1998)
• 1912 – Wernher von Braun, German-born physicist and engineer (d. 1977)
• 1914 – Milbourne Christopher, American illusionist (d. 1984)
• 1915 – Vasily Zaitsev, Soviet World War II figure (d. 1991)
• 1919 – Carl Graffunder, architect
• 1920 – Neal Smith, former United States Congressman
• 1920 – Tetsuharu Kawakami, Japanese baseball player and coach
• 1921 – Donald Campbell, British car and motorboat racer (d. 1967)
• 1922 – Marty Allen, American comedian and actor
• 1922 – Ugo Tognazzi, Italian actor, director and screenwriter (d. 1990)
• 1924 – Bette Nesmith Graham, American inventor (d. 1980)
• 1925 – David Watkin, English cinematographer (d. 2008)
• 1929 – Sir Roger Bannister, English runner
• 1931 – Yevgenij Grishin, Russian speed skater (d. 2005)
• 1931 – Viktor Korchnoi, Russian chess player
• 1932 – Don Marshall, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1933 – Philip Zimbardo, American psychologist
• 1934 – Ludvig Faddeev, Russian mathematician
• 1934 – Fernand Gignac, Canadian singer and actor (d. 2006)
• 1934 – Mark Rydell, American film and television director
• 1937 – Craig Breedlove, American land speed record holder
• 1937 – Robert Gallo, American physician
• 1938 – Dave Pike, American jazz musician
• 1939 – Pepe Lienhard, Swiss band leader and entertainer
• 1941 – Jim Trelease, American educator and children's literature author
• 1942 – Walter Rodney, Guyanese historian and political figure (d. 1980)
• 1943 – Lee May, American baseball player
• 1943 – Nils-Aslak Valkeapää, Finnish writer (d. 2001)
• 1944 – Michael Nyman, British minimalist composer
• 1944 – Tony McPhee, English singer and guitarist (The Groundhogs)
• 1945 – Franco Battiato, Italian singer, songwriter and filmmaker
• 1945 – David Grisman, American bluegrass musician
• 1948 – David Olney, American musician
• 1949 – Ric Ocasek, American musician (The Cars)
• 1949 – Roland Lee, American artist
• 1950 – Anthony De Longis, American actor
• 1950 – Corinne Clery, French actress
• 1951 – Ron Jaworski, American football player and analyst
• 1952 – Kim Stanley Robinson, American author
• 1953 – Bo Diaz, Venezuelan baseball player (d. 1990)
• 1953 – Chaka Khan, American singer
• 1953 – Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Indian entrepreneur
• 1954 – Geno Auriemma, American basketball coach
• 1954 – Kenneth Cole, American fashion designer
• 1955 – Moses Malone, American basketball player
• 1955 – Petrea Burchard, American actress
• 1956 – José Manuel Barroso, Portuguese politician
• 1957 – Teresa Ganzel, American actress
• 1957 – Amanda Plummer, American actress
• 1957 – Robbie James, Welsh footballer (d. 1998)
• 1957 – Lucio Gutierrez, Ecuadorian politician
• 1958 – Etienne De Wilde, Belgian cyclist
• 1958 – El Duce, American singer and drummer (The Mentors) (d. 1997)
• 1958 – Michael Sorich, American voice actor, writer and director
• 1959 – Catherine Keener, American actress
• 1959 – Epic Soundtracks, English musician (Swell Maps, Crime and the City Solution, These Immortal Souls) (d. 1997)
• 1959 – Philippe Volter, Belgian actor (d. 2005)
• 1960 – Nicol Stephen, Deputy First Minister of Scotland
• 1961 – Helmi Johannes, Indonesian television newscaster
• 1961 – Steve Holmes, Romanian-German porn actor
• 1962 – Steve Redgrave, British rower
• 1963 – Míchel (José Miguel González Martín), Spanish footballer
• 1964 – Hope Davis, American actress
• 1964 – John Pinette, American comedian
• 1965 – Sarah Buxton, American actress
• 1965 – Richard Grieco, American actor and singer
• 1965 – Marti Pellow, Scottish singer
• 1965 – Gary Whitehead, American poet
• 1967 – David Ford, Canadian kayaker
• 1968 – Damon Albarn, English musician (Blur, Gorillaz and The Good, the Bad & the Queen)
• 1968 – Mitch Cullin, American novelist
• 1968 – Fernando Hierro, Spanish footballer
• 1968 – Michael Atherton, English cricketer
• 1971 – Yasmeen Ghauri, Canadian supermodel
• 1971 – Karen McDougal, American model
• 1971 – Gail Porter, British television presenter
• 1971 – Alexander Selivanov, Russian ice hockey player
• 1971 – Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Japanese professional wrestler
• 1972 – Joe Calzaghe, Welsh boxer
• 1972 – Judith Godrèche, French actress and author
• 1973 – Jerzy Dudek, Polish footballer
• 1973 – Wim Eyckmans, Belgian racing driver
• 1973 – Jason Kidd, American basketball player
• 1975 – Alydar, American racehorse (d. 1990)
• 1976 – Jayson Blair, American journalist and author
• 1976 – Dougie Lampkin, English motorcycle trials rider
• 1976 – Michelle Monaghan, American actress
• 1976 – Jeremy Newberry, American football player
• 1976 – Joel Peralta, Dominican baseball player
• 1976 – Keri Russell, American actress
• 1976 – Ricardo Zonta, Brazilian race car driver
• 1977 – Miklos Perlus, Canadian voice actor
• 1978 – Perez Hilton, American blogger and television persona
• 1978 – Walter Samuel, Argentine footballer
• 1978 – Nicholle Tom, American actress
• 1979 – Mark Buehrle, American baseball player
• 1979 – Natalia Hadjiloizou, Cypriot swimmer
• 1979 – Misty Hyman, American swimmer
• 1979 – Donncha O'Callaghan, Irish rugby player
• 1980 – Russell Howard, British comedian
• 1980 – Itay Tiran, Israeli actor
• 1981 – Luciana Carro, Canadian actress
• 1981 – Erin Crocker, American race car driver
• 1981 – Tony Peña, Jr., Dominican baseball player
• 1982 – José Raúl Contreras, Chilean footballer
• 1982 – Andrea Musacco, Italian footballer
• 1983 – Jerome Thomas, English footballer
• 1985 – Maurice Jones-Drew, American football player
• 1986 – Andrea Dovizioso, Italian motorcycle racer
• 1986 – Steven Strait, American actor
• 1990 – Princess Eugenie of York
• 1990 – Jaime Alguersuari, Spanish racing driver
• 1995 – Jan Lisiecki, Canadian pianist
• 1997 – Aidan Davis, English dancer

Deaths

• 1103 – Eudes I, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1058)
• 1361 – Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster (b. c. 1310)
• 1369 – King Pedro of Castile (b. 1334)
• 1548 – Itagaki Nobukata, retainer of Takeda Shingen (b. 1489)
• 1555 – Pope Julius III (b. 1487)
• 1559 – Emperor Gelawdewos of Ethiopia (killed in battle)
• 1596 – Henry Unton, English diplomat
• 1606 – Justus Lipsius, Flemish humanist (b. 1547)
• 1618 – James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Abercorn, Scottish politician
• 1653 – Johan van Galen, Dutch naval officer (b. 1604)
• 1675 – Anthoni van Noordt, Dutch composer and organist (b. 1619)
• 1680 – Nicolas Fouquet, French statesman (b. 1615)
• 1742 – Jean-Baptiste Dubos, French writer (b. 1670)
• 1747 – Claude Alexandre de Bonneval, French soldier (b. 1675)
• 1748 – Johann Gottfried Walther, German music theorist, organist, and composer (b. 1684)
• 1754 – Johann Jakob Wettstein, Swiss theologian (b. 1693)
• 1783 – Charles Caroll, American lawyer and delegate to the Continental Congress (b. 1723)
• 1801 – Tsar Paul of Russia (b. 1754)
• 1842 – Stendhal, French writer (b. 1783)
• 1914 – Rafqa Pietra Choboq Ar-Rayès (Saint Rebecca) Lebanese saint (b. 1832)
• 1927 – Paul César Helleu, French artist (b. 1859)
• 1931 – Bhagat Singh (b. 1907), Rajguru (b. 1908), Sukhdev (b. 1907) Indian freedom fighters
• 1935 – Florence Moore, American actress (b. 1886)
• 1945 – Tadamichi Kuribayashi, Commander of the Japanese garrison during Battle of Iwo Jima (b. 1891)
• 1947 – Archduchess Luise of Austria, Princess of Tuscany (b. 1870)
• 1955 – Artur da Silva Bernardes, President of Brazil (b. 1875)
• 1960 – Franklin Pierce Adams, American newspaper columnist (b. 1881)
• 1960 – Said Nursî, Islamic thinker from Turkey (b. 1878)
• 1964 – Peter Lorre, Hungarian-born actor (b. 1904)
• 1965 – Mae Murray, American actress (b. 1889)
• 1968 – Edwin O'Connor, American novelist and Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner (b. 1918)
• 1970 – Del Lord, Canadian director (b. 1894)
• 1972 – Cristóbal Balenciaga, Spanish fashion designer (b. 1895)
• 1978 – Haim Ernst Wertheimer, Israeli biochemist, recipient of the Israel Prize (b. 1893)
• 1979 – Ted Anderson, English footballer (b. 1911)
• 1980 – Arthur Melvin Okun, American economist (b. 1928)
• 1982 – Barney Clark, first artificial heart recipient (b. 1921)
• 1985 – Richard Beeching, chairman of British Railways (b. 1913)
• 1985 – Peter Charanis, Greek-American scholar and professor (b. 1908)
• 1985 – Ben Hardwick, Britain's youngest liver transplant patient (b. 1982)
• 1990 – John Dexter, English stage and film director (b. 1925)
• 1991 – Parkash Singh, Indian soldier, recipient of the Victoria Cross (b. 1913)
• 1992 – Friedrich Hayek, Austrian economist, Nobel laureate (b. 1899)
• 1994 – Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mexican politician (b. 1950)
• 1994 – Giulietta Masina, Italian actress (b. 1921)
• 1994 – Donald Swann, British composer, musician and entertainer (b. 1923)
• 1995 – Alan Barton, English musician (Black Lace, Smokie) (b. 1953)
• 1995 – Davie Cooper, Scottish footballer (b. 1956)
• 1998 – Gerald Stano, American serial killer (b. 1951)
• 1999 – Luis María Argaña, Paraguayan politician (b. 1932)
• 2001 – Rowland Evans, American journalist (b. 1921)
• 2002 – Eileen Farrell, American soprano (b. 1920)
• 2002 – Ben Hollioake, English cricketer (b. 1977)
• 2003 – Fritz Spiegl, Austrian-born journalist (b. 1926)
• 2004 – Rupert Hamer, Australian politician (b. 1916)
• 2006 – David B. Bleak, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1932)
• 2006 – Desmond Doss, American soldier and first conscientious objector Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1919)
• 2006 – Cindy Walker, American singer, songwriter and dancer (b. 1918)
• 2007 – Paul J. Cohen, American mathematician, Fields Medal winner (b. 1934)
• 2007 – Eric Medlen, American NHRA drag racer (b. 1973)
• 2009 – Raúl Macías, Mexican boxer (b. 1934)