March 23

March 23 is the 82nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (83rd in Leap years). There are 283 days remaining.

Events

• 752 – Stephen II becomes Pope.
• 1568 – Peace of Longjumeau ends the Second War of Religion in France. Again Catherine de Medici and Charles IX of France make substantial concessions to the Huguenots.
• 1708 – James Francis Edward Stuart lands at the Firth of Forth.
• 1775 – American Revolutionary War: Patrick Henry delivers his famous 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 Palace.
• 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.
• 1839 – First recorded use of "OK" as an abbreviation for "oll korrect" in the Boston Morning Post.
• 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.
• 1868 – The University of California is founded in Oakland, California when the Organic Act is signed into law.
• 1889 – Land run: President Benjamin Harrison opens Oklahoma to white settlement starting on April 22.
• 1889 – The free Woolwich Ferry officially opens in east London.
• 1903 – The Wright Brothers apply for a patent on their invention of the first successful airplane after much hard work.
• 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 and Batukeshwar Dutt embrace the gallows during the Indian struggle for independence. Their request to be shot by a firing squad is refused.
• 1933 – The Reichstag passes the Enabling Act, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany.
• 1935 – Signing of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Philippines
• 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 Anadaman Islands.
• 1956 – Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic in the world.
• 1963 – In London, United Kingdom, Grethe & Jørgen Ingmann win the eighth Eurovision Song Contest for Denmark singing "Dansevise" (Dancing tune).
• 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.
• 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.
• 1989 – A 1,000-foot diameter Near-Earth asteroid misses the Earth by 400,000 miles.
• 1994 – At an election rally in Tijuana, Mexican presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio is assassinated by Mario Aburto Martínez.
• 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.
• 2001 – The World Wrestling Federation (WWF) (now World Wrestling Entertainment) purchases rival organization World Championship Wrestling (WCW) for an estimated $5 million.
• 2003 – In Nasiriyah, Iraq, 18 U.S. Marines are killed during the first major conflict of Operation Iraqi Freedom
• 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.

Births

• 1699 – John Bartram, American botanist (d. 1777)
• 1749 – Pierre Simon de Laplace, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1827)
• 1754 – Baron Jurij Vega, Slovene mathematician, physicist and artillery officer (d. 1802)
• 1769 – William Smith, geologist/cartographer (d. 1839)
• 1823 – Schuyler Colfax, Vice President of the United States (d. 1885)
• 1834 – Julius Reubke, composer (d. 1858)
• 1878 – Franz Schreker, composer (d. 1934)
• 1882 – Emmy Noether, mathematician (d. 1935)
• 1887 – Juan Gris, painter and graphic artist (d. 1927)
• 1887  – Prince Felix Yussupov, assassin of Rasputin (d. 1967)
• 1889 – Yukichi Chuganji, oldest man alive on (d. 2003)
• 1900 – Erich Fromm, psychoanalyst (d. 1980)
• 1904 – Joan Crawford, American actress (d. 1977)
• 1905 – Lale Andersen, singer and cabaretist (d. 1972)
• 1907 – Daniel Bovet, French scientist Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• 1910 – Akira Kurosawa, Japanese film director (d. 1998)
• 1912 – Wernher von Braun, German-born physicist and engineer (d. 1977)
• 1915 – Vasily Zaitsev, World War II hero (d. 1991)
• 1922 – Marty Allen, American comedian
• 1924 – Bettie Nesmith Graham, inventor (d. 1980)
• 1929 – Sir Roger Bannister, runner
• 1931 – Viktor Korchnoi, Russian chess player
• 1934 – Mark Rydell, American film and television director
• 1937 – Craig Breedlove, former land speed record holder
• 1938 – Maynard Jackson, American politician (d. 2003)
• 1942 – Walter Rodney, historian and political figure (d. 1980)
• 1949 – Ric Ocasek, musician (The Cars)
• 1951 – Corinne Clery, French actress
• 1952 – Kim Stanley Robinson, science fiction author
• 1953 – Chaka Khan, singer
• 1953 – Bo Diaz, Venezuelan baseball player (d. 1990)
• 1953 – Eugene Izzi, American novelist (d. 1996)
• 1955 – Moses Malone, American basketball player
• 1956 – José Manuel Durão Barroso, Portuguese politician, president of the European Commission
• 1957 – Amanda Plummer, American actress
• 1964 – Hope Davis, American actress
• 1965 – Richard Grieco, actor, singer
• 1968 – Damon Albarn, musician (Blur)
• 1971 – Gail Porter, British television presenter
• 1972 – Judith Godrèche, actress/author
• 1973 – Jason Kidd, basketball player
• 1975 – Alydar, thoroughbred race horse (d. 1990)
• 1976 – Keri Russell, actress
• 1978 – Nicholle Tom, actress
• 1979 – Chad Dittman, President Intense Football League
• 1979  – Misty Hyman, American swimmer

Deaths

• 1369 – King Peter I of Castile (b. 1334)
• 1548 – Itagaki Nobukata, retainer of Takeda Shingen
• 1555 – Pope Julius III, (b. 1487)
• 1559 – Gelawdewos, Emperor of Ethiopia (killed in battle)
• 1801 – Tsar Paul of Russia, (b. 1754)
• 1842 – Stendhal, French writer, (b. 1783)
• 1931 – Bhagat Singh, Indian freedom fighter (b. 1907)
• 1931 – Batukeshwar Dutt, Indian freedom fighter
• 1960 – Franklin Pierce Adams, American newspaper columnist (b. 1881)
• 1964 – Peter Lorre, actor, (b. 1904)
• 1970 – Del Lord, pioneer Hollywood director, (b. 1894)
• 1972 – Cristóbal Balenciaga, Spanish fashion designer
• 1979 – Orlando Letelier, Chilean ambassador to the United States, (b. 1932)
• 1983 – Barney Clark, first artificial heart recipient
• 1993 – Hans Werner Richter, author (b. 1908)
• 1994 – Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mexican politician
• 1995 – Jerry Lester, American actor
• 2001 – Rowland Evans, American political columnist
• 2002 – Eileen Farrell, American opera soprano
• 2003 – Fritz Spiegl, journalist, (b. 1926)
• 2004 – Rupert Hamer, Australian politician (b. 1916)

Holidays and observances

• Roman Empire – The fifth and final day of Quinquatria, held in honor of Minerva.
• Roman Empire – Tubilustrium was held in honor of Mars
• Ancient Latvia – Lieldienas held in honor of Mara and other goddesses
• Pakistan – National Day (Republic Day)
• Otago, New Zealand – Anniversary Day

External links

• BBC: On This Day

March 22 – March 24 – February 23 – April 23 — listing of all days