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What happened in history on this day: August 23?
On August 23 in ...
- 1305 - William Wallace is killed in Scotland.
- 1553 - Death of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, England, beheaded for high treason.
- 1617 - First one-way streets established (London).
- 1689 - French cross the Rhine, destroying Baden Baden by fire.
- 1754 - Birth of Louis XVI Versailles, king of France (1774-92); guillotined.
- 1833 - Britain abolishes slavery in colonies; 700,000 slaves freed.
- 1866 - Treaty of Prague ends Austro-Prussian war. Prussia annexes the Electorate of Hesse-Cassel, Duchy of Nassau, and Landgraviate of Hesse-Homburg.
- 1869 - First train carload of freight (boots and shoes) arrives in San Francisco, from Boston.
- 1869 - Birth of James (Sunny Jim) Rolph; San Francisco mayor (1912-31), MUNI backer.
- 1872 - First Japanese commercial ship visits San Francisco, California, carrying tea.
- 1883 - Birth of Art Van Harvey in Chicago, Illinois, USA; radio actor (Vic - Vic and Sade).
- 1889 - First ship-to-shore wireless message is received in the U.S., at San Francisco.
- 1900 - Birth of Ernst Krenek in Vienna, Austria; composer (Johnny Spielt Auf).
- 1900 - National Negro Business League organizes (Boston).
- 1901 - Birth of John Sherman Cooper; American politician (Senator-Kentucky).
- 1903 - Birth of William Primrose in Glasgow, Scotland; violist (Method for Violin and Viola).
- 1904 - Automobile tire chain is patented.
- 1905 - Birth of Constant Lambert in London, England; composer (King Pest).
- 1908 - Birth of Arthur Adamov in Kislovodsk, Russia; dramatist (Paolo Paoli).
- 1911 - Birth of Birger Ruudin Norway; 90m ski jumper (Olympic-gold-1932, 1936).
- 1911 - Birth of Elizabeth Robinson; US 100m dash athlete (Olympic-gold-1928).
- 1912 - Birth of Gene Kelly in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; dancer/actor (An American in Paris, Going My Way).
- 1913 - Birth of Bob Crosby in Spokane, Washington, USA; brother of Bing Crosby, orchestra leader (Bob Crosby Show).
- 1914 - Japan declares war on Germany.
- 1917 - Race riot in Houston, Texas, USA; two blacks and 11 whites killed.
- 1919 - Gasoline Alley cartoon strip premieres in Chicago Tribune.
- 1921 - Emir Faisal, King of Syria, is proclaimed King of Iraq.
- 1923 - Birth of Wolfgang Sawallisch in Munich, Germany; conductor (Vienna Symphony 1960-70).
- 1924 - Mars makes closest approach to Earth since the 10th century.
- 1926 - Rodolpho Alfonzo Rafaello Pietro Filiberto Guglieimi Di Valentina D'Antonguolla (Rudolph Valentino), silent movie idol, dies in New York, USA at age 31.
- 1927 - Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti executed in Massachusetts, USA.
- 1930 - Birth of Michel Rocard Courbevoie in France; Prime Minister of France.
- 1930 - Birth of Vera Miles; actress (Psycho, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Twilight Zone).
- 1931 - Birth of Hamilton O. Smith; American microbiologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
- 1932 - Birth of Mark Russell in Buffalo, New York, USA; political satirist/pianist (Real People).
- 1933 - First televised boxing match, between Archie Sexton and Laurie Raiteri in London, England, broadcast by the BBC's experimental TV service.
- 1933 - Birth of Pete Wilson; American politician (Senator-Republican-California).
- 1934 - Birth of Barbara Eden in Tucson, Arizona, USA; actress (I Dream of Jeannie, Amazing Dobermans).
- 1934 - Birth of Christian "Sonny" Jurgensen; NFL quarterback (Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins).
- 1939 - In Moscow, Germany and the Soviet Union sign a Treaty of Non-Aggression. A secret protocol of the pact defines domains of influence, with the Soviet Union to gain eastern Poland, Finland, Latvia, Estonia, and the Romanian province of Bessarabia. Germany is to control western Poland and Lithuania.
- 1940 - Birth of Richard Sanders in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA; actor (Les - WKRP, Spencer, Berrengers).
- 1940 - Birth of Tony Bill in San Diego, California, USA; actor (Sam - "What Really Happened to the Class of '65").
- 1942 - Birth of Nancy Richey Gunther in San Antonio, Texas, USA; tennis player (US Doubles 1965, 1966).
- 1942 - Birth of Patricia McBride; ballerina (New York City Ballet Company).
- 1943 - Birth of Bobby Diamond in Los Angeles, California, USA; actor (Duncan Gillis - Dobie Gillis).
- 1943 - Soviet forces recapture Kharkov, ending the Battle of Kursk.
- 1944 - Birth of Antonia Novello; US Surgeon General.
- 1944 - Romania is liberated; King Michael unconditionally surrenders to the Allies. Political coup deposes Marshal Ion Antinescu.
- 1946 - Birth of Keith Moon in Wembley, London; drummer (The Who - "My Generation").
- 1947 - Birth of Rex Allen Junior in Chicago, Illinois, USA; country singer (Nashville on the Road).
- 1948 - Birth of Ron Blomberg; New York Yankees; first designated hitter.
- 1948 - World Council of Churches formed by 147 churches from 44 countries.
- 1949 - Birth of Rick Springfield in Australia; actor (General Hospital), singer ("Jessie's Girl").
- 1949 - Birth of Shelley Long in Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA; actress (Diane - Cheers, The Money Pit, Frasier).
- 1949 - Birth of Woody Paul; country fiddler-singer (Riders in the Sky).
- 1950 - Federal Republic of Germany and Japan re-admitted to International Amateur Athletic Federation.
- 1951 - Birth of Mark Hudson in Portland, Oregon, USA; comedian/actor/music producer (Bonkers, Hudson Brothers Show, Sara).
- 1951 - Birth of Queen Noor of Jordan.
- 1953 - Birth of Bobby Gubby; rocker (Bucks Fizz - "My Camera Never Lies").
- 1953 - Phil Grate sets record for throwing a baseball (443 feet, 3.5 inches).
- 1958 - Marie Ashton completes playing piano a female record 133 hours.
- 1960 - Death of Oscar Hammerstein II at age 65 of cancer; lyricist/songwriter (with Richard Rodgers, Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, Flower Drum Song, The Sound of Music).
- 1960 - World's largest frog (3.3kg) caught in Equatorial Guinea.
- 1961 - Birth of Dean DeLeo; guitarist (Army of Anyone, Stone Temple Pilots).
- 1961 - US lunar probe Ranger 1 reaches 190 km from Earth, falls back.
- 1962 - The first live TV program is relayed between the U.S. and Europe through the U.S. Telstar satellite.
- 1964 - Saint Louis Cardinals are 11 games back in National League, and go on to win the World Series.
- 1966 - Lunar Orbiter 1 takes first photograph of Earth from Moon.
- 1967 - Birth of Nancy Jane Cox in Campbellsville, Kentucky, USA; Miss Kentucky-America-1991.
- 1968 - Ringo Starr temporarily quits The Beatles over a disagreement.
- 1968 - New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers play 3-3 tie in 19 innings due to 1 AM curfew.
- 1969 - Audrey McElmory (US) wins World Cycling Championships, Brno, Czechoslovakia (first American to win cycling race title since 1912).
- 1970 - Birth of River Phoenix in Madras, Oregon, USA; actor (Little Nikta, Stand By Me).
- 1970 - Birth of Jay Mohr; actor (Gary Unmarried, Ghost Whisperer, Last Comic Standing).
- 1972 - Republican convention (Miami Beach, Florida) re-nominates Vice President Spiro Agnew but not unanimous - one vote given to NBC newsman David Brinkley.
- 1973 - Intelsat communications satellite launched.
- 1975 - Hank Patterson, actor (Fred Ziffel - Green Acres), dies at age 87.
- 1977 - First man-powered flight of a mile (Bryan Allen in Gossamer Condor).
- 1978 - Birth of Julian Casablancas; singer (The Strokes).
- 1979 - Bolshoi Ballet dancer Alexander Godunov defects in New York City.
- 1979 - United Nations' Vienna (Austria) office opens.
- 1979 - Birth of Ritchie Neville, English singer (5ive).
- 1980 - In the Kashmir - India border region, a magnitude 5.2 earthquake occurs.
- 1982 - Death of Stanford Moore, American biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1913).
- 1985 - Paul Hornung awarded US$1,160,000 by a Louisville court against NCAA who barred him as a college football analyst for betting on games.
- 1985 - Said Aouita of Morroco sets the 1.5k record (3:29.46) in Berlin, Germany.
- 1985 - In Southern Xinjiang, China, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake occurs. At least 71 people killed, 162 injured, about 15,000 homeless and about 85 percent of the buildings destroyed in the Wuqia-Shufu area.
- 1989 - Los Angeles Dodgers beat Montreal Expos, 1-0, in 22 innings.
- 1989 - Yusef Hawkins is shot in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, New York, sparking racial tensions between African Americans and Italian Americans.
- 1989 - Two million indigenous people of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, then still occupied by the Soviet Union, join hands to demand freedom and independence, forming an uninterrupted 600 km human chain called the Baltic Way.
- 1989 - Hungary removes border restrictions with Austria.
- 1989 - All of Australia's 1,645 domestic airline pilots resign over an airline's move to sack and sue them over a dispute.
- 1990 - German Democratic Republic and Federal Republic of Germany announce they will unite on October 3.
- 1990 - Death of David Rose at age 80; composer/orchestra leader, musical director for Red Skelton on radio and TV for 24 years.
- 1991 - Belarus declares independence.
- 1993 - Duran Duran gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
- 1995 - Quote by comedian Jay Leno about computers, at a rehersal for the Windows 95 launch: "I came illiterate, now I'm leaving virtually retarded.".
- 1995 - Death of Alfred Eisenstaedt in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts (born in Dirschau, Germany); photojournalist, covered the rise of the Nazi party in pictures, in career with Life he was credited with 2,500 picture stories and 90 cover photos.
- 1996 - Osama bin Laden allegedly writes "The Declaration of Jihad on the Americans Occupying the Country of the Two Sacred Places," his first open call for war.
- 1997 - Death of John Kendrew, British molecular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (born 1917).
- 1999 - Death of Martha Rountree at age 87; journalist/producer (Meet the Press on radio and TV).
- 2000 - Richard Hatch wins $1 million in season finale of US reality TV show Survivor.
- 2005 - Israel's unilateral disengagement from 25 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and West Bank ends.
- 2005 - Death of Brock Peters AKA George Fisher at age 78 of pancreatic cancer; actor/singer (To Kill a Mockingbird, Joseph Sisko - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine).
- 2006 - In Austria, Natascha Kampusch manages to escape after being kidnapped eight years ago by Wolfgang Priklopil who locked her up in his cellar. Priklopil commits suicide by throwing himself in front of a train.
- 2006 - Death of Maynard Ferguson at age 78 of liver and kidney failure; jazz trumpeter/bandleader ("Gonna Fly Now").
- 2008 - Death of Ian Hibell, British long-distance cyclist, at age 74, of dehydration in a desert.
- 2008 - Death of Yuri Ivanovich Nosenko, Soviet KGB defector, at age 80 in the USA.
- 2008 - Death of Thomas Huckle Weller, American virologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1915).
- 2009 - Eric Bruntlett of the Philadelphia Phillies completes only the second ever game-ending unassisted triple play in Major League Baseball, giving his team a 9-7 victory over the New York Mets.
- 2009 - In Valencia, Spain, round 11 of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship is won by Rubens Barrichello.
- 2010 - Danish tennis player Caroline Wozniacki defeats Russia's Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-2 at the WTA tour Rogers Cup in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, earning US$350,000 for the victory.
- 2012 - Death of James Corkery; former Mint Master of the Royal Canadian Mint (1982-87).
- 2018 - Ecuador withdraws from ALBA.
- 2020 - Bayern Munich wins the 2019-20 UEFA Champions League by beating Paris Saint-Germain in the final 1-0.
- 2023 - Death of Yevgeny Prigozhin at age 62 in a plane crash; Russian founder of the Wagner mercenary group.
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