March 23: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

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.
• 1857 - Death of Emile L'Angelier in Glasgow, Scotland -- possibly by the hand of Madeleine Smith.
• 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 one of the first successful airplanes 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 Andaman Islands.
• 1956 - Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic in the world.
• 1962 - NS Savannah, the first nuclear-powered cargo-passenger ship, was launched as a showcase for Dwight D. Eisenhower's Atoms for Peace initiative.
• 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
• 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.

• 1429 - Margaret of Anjou, queen of Henry VI of England (d. 1482)
• 1638 - Frederik Ruysch, Dutch physician and anatomist (d. 1731)
• 1699 - John Bartram, American botanist (d. 1777)
• 1723 - Agha Mohammad Khan Ghajar, King of Iran (d. 1771)
• 1749 - Pierre Simon de Laplace, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1827)
• 1754 - Baron Jurij Vega, Slovenian mathematician, physicist, and artillery officer (d. 1802)
• 1769 - William Smith, English geologist and cartographer (d. 1839)
• 1823 - Schuyler Colfax, Vice President of the United States (d. 1885)
• 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)
• 1878 - Franz Schreker, Austrian composer (d. 1934)
• 1881 - Roger Martin du Gard, French writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
• 1881 - Hermann Staudinger, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1965)
• 1882 - Emmy Noether, German mathematician (d. 1935)
• 1887 - Juan Gris, Spanish artist (d. 1927)
• 1887 - Prince Felix Yussupov, Russian assassin of Rasputin (d. 1967)
• 1899 - Dora Gerson, German actress and singer (d. 1943)
• 1900 - Erich Fromm, German-born psychoanalyst (d. 1980)
• 1905 - Lale Andersen, German singer and cabaretist (d. 1972)
• 1905 - Joan Crawford, American actress (d. 1977)
• 1907 - Daniel Bovet, Swiss-born scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1992)
• 1910 - Akira Kurosawa, Japanese film director (d. 1998)
• 1912 - Betty Astell, British actress (d. 2005)
• 1912 - Wernher von Braun, German-born physicist and engineer (d. 1977)
• 1915 - Vasily Zaitsev, Russian World War II hero (d. 1991)
• 1925 - David Watkin, British cinematographer
• 1929 - Sir Roger Bannister, British runner
• 1931 - Viktor Korchnoi, Russian chess player
• 1931 - Yevgenij Grishin, Russian speed skater (d. 2005)
• 1934 - Mark Rydell, American film and television director
• 1937 - Craig Breedlove, American land speed record holder
• 1938 - Maynard Jackson, American politician (d. 2003)
• 1942 - Walter Rodney, Guyanese historian and political figure (d. 1980)
• 1948 - David Olney, American musician
• 1949 - Ric Ocasek, American musician (The Cars)
• 1950 - Anthony De Longis, American actor
• 1951 - Corinne Clery, French actress
• 1951 - Ron Jaworski, NFL Quarterback, ESPN Analyst
• 1952 - Kim Stanley Robinson, American author
• 1953 - Bo Diaz, Venezuelan baseball player (d. 1990)
• 1953 - Chaka Khan, American singer
• 1955 - Moses Malone, American basketball player
• 1956 - José Manuel Durão Barroso, Portuguese politician, president of the European Commission
• 1956 - Thomas Wassberg, Swedish cross-country skier
• 1957 - Amanda Plummer, American actress
• 1960 - Nicol Stephen, Deputy First Minister of Scotland
• 1961 - Helmi Johannes, Indonesian television newscaster
• 1964 - Hope Davis, American actress
• 1965 - Richard Grieco, American actor and singer
• 1968 - Damon Albarn, English musician (Blur and Gorillaz)
• 1971 - Gail Porter, British television presenter
• 1971 - Karen McDougal, American model
• 1972 - Judith Godrèche, French actress and author
• 1973 - Jerzy Dudek, Polish footballer
• 1973 - Jason Kidd, American basketball player
• 1975 - Alydar, American racehorse (d. 1990)
• 1976 - Keri Russell, American actress
• 1978 - Nicholle Tom, American actress
• 1978 - Walter Samuel, Argentine football player
• 1979 - Mark Buehrle, baseball player
• 1979 - Chad Dittman, American president of the Indoor Football League
• 1979 - Misty Hyman, American swimmer
• 1983 - Jerome Thomas, English footballer

• 1103 - Eudes I, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1058)
• 1369 - King Peter I of Castile (b. 1334)
• 1548 - Itagaki Nobukata, retainer of Takeda Shingen
• 1555 - Pope Julius III, (b. 1487)
• 1559 - Emperor Gelawdewos of Ethiopia (killed in battle) (b. 1522)
• 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)
• 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)
• 1927 - Paul César Helleu, French artist (b. 1859)
• 1931 - Bhagat Singh, Indian freedom fighter (b. 1907)
• 1955 - Artur da Silva Bernardes, President of Brazil (b. 1875)
• 1960 - Franklin Pierce Adams, American newspaper columnist (b. 1881)
• 1964 - Peter Lorre, Hungarian-born actor (b. 1904)
• 1965 - Mae Murray, American actress (b. 1889)
• 1970 - Del Lord, Canadian director (b. 1894)
• 1972 - Cristóbal Balenciaga, Spanish fashion designer (b. 1895)
• 1979 - Orlando Letelier, Chilean ambassador to the United States (b. 1932)
• 1992 - Friedrich Hayek, Austrian economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
• 1994 - Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mexican politician (b. 1950)
• 2002 - Eileen Farrell, American soprano (b. 1920)
  • Ben Hollioake, English cricketer (b. 1977)
• 2003 - Fritz Spiegl, Austrian-born journalist (b. 1926)
• 2004 - Rupert Hamer, Australian politician (b. 1916)

• 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

March 22 - March 24 - February 23 - April 23 -- listing of all days