August 23

August 23 is the 235th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (236th in leap years), with 130 days remaining.

Events

• 1305 – William Wallace was executed.
• 1328 – Battle of Kassel: French troops stop an uprising of 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
• 1651 – Charles II of England enters Battle of Worcester and starts a battle.
• 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 in Boston, Massachusetts.
• 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 stand 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.
• 1992 – Hurricane Andrew hits South Florida.
• 2000 – A Gulf Air Airbus A320 crashes into the Persian Gulf near Manama, Bahrain killing 143
• 2000  – Nicaragua becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.

Births

• 686 – Charles Martel, victorious general in the Battle of Tours, grandfather of Charlemagne (d. 741)
• 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)
• 1849 – William Ernest Henley, British poet, critic and editor (d. 1903)
• 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
• 1884 – Will Cuppy, humorist (d. 1949)
• 1900 – Ernst Krenek, composer (d. 1991)
• 1901 – John Sherman Cooper, Senator from Kentucky (d. 1991)
• 1903 – William Primrose, Scottish violist (d. 1982)
• 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, Eurovision Song Contest winner
• 1963 – Kenny Wallace, NASCAR race car driver
• 1966 – Rik Smits, professional basketball player
• 1970 – Jay Mohr, actor, comedian
• 1970  – River Phoenix, actor (d. 1993)
• 1972 – Dave Chappelle, actor, comedian
• 1974 – Ray Park, British actor
• 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 (b. 40)
• 634 – Abu Bakr, Muslim Caliph
• 1305 – William Wallace, Scottish patriot
• 1723 – Increase Mather, New England Puritan minister (b. 1639)
• 1618 – Gerbrand Adriaensz Bredero, Dutch poet and playwright (b. 1585)
• 1806 – Charles Augustin de Coulomb, French physicist (b. 1736)
• 1813 – Alexander Wilson, ornithologist (b. 1766)
• 1926 – Rudolph Valentino, Italian actor (b. 1895)
• 1927 – Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, anarchists (executed)
• 1937 – Albert Roussel, French composer (b. 1869)
• 1960 – Oscar Hammerstein II, American lyricist (b. 1895)
• 1962 – Walter Anderson, German folklorist (b. 1885)
• 1962 – Hoot Gibson, American actor (b. 1892)
• 1965 – John Bata, shoe manufacturer
• 1966 – Francis X. Bushman, American actor (b. 1883)
• 1982 – Stanford Moore, American biochemist (b. 1913)
• 2001 – Peter Maas, novelist
• 2002 – Hoyt Wilhelm, Baseball Hall of Fame member
• 2003 – Imperio Argentina, Spanish singer and actress
• 2003 – Bobby Bonds, Major League baseball player
• 2003 – Jack Dyer, Australian rules football legend
• 2003 – John Geoghan, defrocked pedophile priest

Holidays and observances

• Romania: Liberation Day (1944)
• Swaziland: Umhlanga Day
• Roman Empire: Vulcanalia
• Astrology: First day of sun sign Virgo

External links

• BBC: On This Day

August 22 – August 24 – July 23 – September 23 — listing of all days