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

October 23 is the 296th day of the year (297th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 69 days remaining.

Events

• 4004 BC - On the preceding eve of this day (in the proleptic Julian calendar), the universe was created, according to the archbishop James Ussher in his Ussher-Lightfoot Calendar.
• 42 BC - Roman Republican civil wars: Second Battle of Philippi - Brutus's army is decisively defeated by Mark Antony and Octavian. He commits suicide.
• 425 - Valentinian III is elevated as Roman Emperor, at the age of 6.
• 502 - The Synodus Palmaris, called by Gothic king Theodoric the Great, discarges Pope Symmachus of all charges, thus ending the schism of Antipope Laurentius.
• 1086 - At the Battle of az-Zallaqah, the army of Yusuf ibn Tashfin defeats the forces of Castilian King Alfonso VI
• 1641 - Outbreak of the Irish Rebellion of 1641 - anniversary commemorated by Irish Protestants for over 200 years
• 1694 - American colonial forces, led by Sir William Phips, fail to seize Quebec.
• 1707 - The first Parliament of Great Britain meets.
• 1739 - War of Jenkins' Ear starts: British Prime Minister, Robert Walpole, reluctantly declares war on Spain.
• 1812 - Claude François de Malet, a French general, begins a conspiracy to overthrow Napoleon Bonaparte, claiming that the Emperor died in Russia and that he was now the commandant of Paris. De Malet was executed on October 29.
• 1813 - The Pacific Fur Company trading post in Astoria, Oregon is turned over to the rival British North West Company (the fur trade in the Pacific Northwest was dominated for the next three decades by the United Kingdom).
• 1855 - Kansas Free State forces set up a competing government under their Topeka, Kansas, constitution, which outlaws slavery in the United States territory.
• 1861 - President Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus in Washington, D.C., for all military-related cases.
• 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Westport - Union forces under General Samuel R. Curtis defeat Confederate troops led by General Stirling Price at Westport, near Kansas City.
• 1867 - 72 Senators were summoned by Royal Proclamation to serve as the first members of the Canadian Senate.
• 1906 - Alberto Santos-Dumont flies the 14-bis in the first officially-recognised heavier-than-air flight at Champs de Bagatelle, Paris, France.
• 1911 - First use of aircraft in war: an Italian pilot takes off from Libya to survey Turkish lines during the Turco-Italian War.
• 1915 - Woman's suffrage: In New York City, 25,000-33,000 women march up Fifth Avenue to demand the right to vote.
• 1929 - Great Depression: After a steady decline in stock market prices since a peak in September, the New York Stock Exchange begins to show signs of panic.
• 1929 - The first transcontinental air service begins from New York City to Los Angeles.
• 1930 - The first miniature golf tournament finished in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
• 1935 - Dutch Schultz, Abe Landau, Otto Berman, and Bernard "Lulu" Rosenkrantz are fatally shot in a bar in Newark, New Jersey in what will become known as The Chophouse Massacre.
• 1941 - World War II: Georgy Zhukov assumes command of Red Army efforts to stop the German advance into Russia.
• 1942 - World War II: Second Battle of El Alamein starts - At El Alamein in Egypt, British forces begin a major offensive against Axis forces.
• 1944 - World War II: Battle of Leyte Gulf begins - The largest naval battle in history begins in Leyte Gulf, the Red Army enters Hungary
• 1946 - The United Nations General Assembly convened in New York for the first time, at an auditorium in Flushing Meadow.
• 1956 - Thousands of Hungarians protest Soviet influence and occupation in their nation (Hungarian Revolution is put down on November 4).
• 1958 - Belgian cartoonist Peyo introduced a new set of comic strip characters The Smurfs.
• 1965 - Vietnam War: Operation Silver Bayonet - The U.S. 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in conjunction with South Vietnamese forces, launch a new operation, seeking to destroy North Vietnamese forces in Pleku Province in II Corps Tactical Zone (the Central Highlands).
• 1973 - Watergate Scandal: US President Richard M. Nixon agrees to turn over subpoenaed audio tapes of his Oval Office conversations about the scandal.
• 1973 - A U.N. sanctioned cease-fire officially ends the Yom Kippur War between Israel and Syria.
• 1983 - Lebanon Civil War: U.S. Marines barracks in Beirut hit by truck bomb, killing 241 U.S. servicemen. French barracks also hit the same morning, killing 58.
• 1987 - The U.S. Senate rejected the Supreme Court nomination of Robert H. Bork on a 58-42 vote.
• 1992 - Akihito becomes the first Emperor of Japan to stand on Chinese soil.
• 1993 - The Toronto Blue Jays win their second straight World Series.
• 1996 - The civil trial of former American football player O.J. Simpson opens in Santa Monica, California.
• 1998 - Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat reach a "land-for-peace" agreement.
• 1998 - Abortion in the United States: In Amherst, New York, abortion doctor Barnett Slepian is killed in his home by a sniper .
• 1998 - Swatch Internet Time introduced
• 1999 - Apple Computer's Mac OS 9 is released and sold
• 2001 - The Provisional Irish Republican Army of Northern Ireland commences disarmament after peace talks encouraged by American President Bill Clinton. iPod Released in USA
• 2002 - Moscow Theatre Siege begins: Chechen rebels seize the House of Culture theater in Moscow and take approximately 700 theatergoers hostage.
• 2003 - George W. Bush addresses a joint sitting of the houses of the Australian Parliament and is shouted down by Green Party senators Kerry Nettle and Bob Brown.
• 2004 - Brazil's "Operation Cajuana" launches its first rocket into space, the VSB-30, just 14 months after its space program was devastated by a deadly launch pad accident.
• 2004 - A powerful earthquake and its aftershocks hit Niigata prefecture, northern Japan, killing 35 people, injuring 2,200, and leaving 85,000 homeless or evacuated.

• 930 - Daigo, Emperor of Japan (b. 885)
• 1698 - Ange-Jacques Gabriel, French architect (d. 1782)
• 1705 - Maximilian Ulysses Reichsgraf von Browne, Austrian field marshal (d. 1757)
• 1715 - Tsar Peter II of Russia (d. 1730)
• 1762 - Samuel Morey, American inventor (d. 1843)
• 1766 - Emmanuel, marquis de Grouchy, French marshal (d. 1847)
• 1771 - Jean-Andoche Junot, French general (d. 1813)
• 1790 - Chauncey Allen Goodrich, American clergyman, educator and lexicographer (d. 1860)
• 1796 - Stefano Franscini, Swiss Federal Councilor (d. 1857)
• 1801 - Albert Lortzing, German composer (d. 1851)
• 1805 - John Bartlett, American lexicographer (d. 1905)
• 1813 - Ludwig Leichhardt, German explorer (d. 1848)
• 1817 - Pierre Athanase Larousse, French lexicographer and encyclopedist
• 1835 - Adlai E. Stevenson, Vice President of the United States
• 1844 - Sarah Bernhardt, French actress (d. 1923)
• 1844 - Robert Bridges, English poet (d. 1930)
• 1865 - Neltje Blanchan, U.S. nature writer (d. 1918)
• 1870 - Bishop Francis Kelley, the Second Bishop of Oklahoma(d. 1948)
• 1875 - Gilbert N. Lewis, American chemist
• 1892 - Gummo Marx, American actor and comedian (d. 1977)
• 1896 - André Lévêque, French engineer and scientist (d. 1930)
• 1904 - Harvey Penick, American golfer (d. 1995)
• 1905 - Felix Bloch, Swiss-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1983)
• 1906 - Gertrude Ederle, American swimmer (d. 2003)
• 1908 - Ilya Frank, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1990)
• 1909 - Zellig Harris, American linguist
• 1923 - Ned Rorem, American composer
• 1923 - Frank Sutton, American actor (d. 1974)
• 1925 - Johnny Carson, American television host (d. 2005)
• 1927 - Leszek Kołakowski, Polish philosopher
• 1931 - Jim Bunning, baseball player and U.S. Senator
• 1931 - Diana Dors, British actress
• 1935 - Chi Chi Rodriguez, Puerto Rican golfer
• 1936 - Philip Kaufman, American film director
• 1940 - Pelé, Brazilian footballer
• 1942 - Michael Crichton, American writer
• 1946 - Melquiades Martinez, U.S. Senator from Florida
• 1946 - Graca Machel, wife of Nelson Mandela and widow of Samora Machel
• 1948 - Hermann Hauser, Austrian-born technological entrepreneur
• 1949 - Nick Tosches, American writer
• 1954 - Ang Lee, Taiwanese-born director and producer
• 1956 - Dwight Yoakam, American singer, songwriter, and actor
• 1959 - Sam Raimi, American film director and producer
• 1959 - "Weird Al" Yankovic, American musical parodist
• 1962 - Doug Flutie, American football player
• 1964 - Robert Trujillo, American Bass Guitarist (Metallica)
• 1965 - Al Leiter, American baseball player
• 1974 - Sander Westerveld, Dutch soccer player
• 1975 - Keith Van Horn, American basketball player
• 1975 - Toomas Toimeta, Estonian singera and social pedagogue
• 1976 - Ryan R. Reynolds, Canadian actor
• 1978 - Steve Harmison, English cricketer
• 1979 - Simon Davies, Welsh footballer

• 42 BC - Marcus Junius Brutus, Roman senator (b. 85 BC)
• 1456 - Giovanni da Capistrano, Italian saint (b. 1386)
• 1550 - Tiedemann Giese, Polish Catholic bishop (b. 1480)
• 1581 - Michael Neander, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1529)
• 1616 - Leonhard Hutter, German theologian (b. 1563)
• 1688 - Charles du Fresne, sieur du Cange, French philologist (b. 1610)
• 1730 - Anne Oldfield, English actress (b. 1683)
• 1764 - Emmanuel-Auguste de Cahideuc, Comte Dubois de la Motte, French naval officer (b. 1683)
• 1774 - Michel Benoist, French Jesuit missionary and scientist (b. 1715)
• 1872 - Théophile Gautier, French writer (b. 1811)
• 1910 - Chulalongkorn, King of Thailand (b. 1853)
• 1915 - W. G. Grace, English cricketer (b. 1848)
• 1921 - John Boyd Dunlop, Scottish inventor (b. 1840)
• 1939 - Zane Grey, American author (b. 1872)
• 1944 - Charles Glover Barkla, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1877)
• 1950 - Al Jolson, American singer and actor (b. 1886)
• 1978 - Maybelle Carter, American guitarist and musical innovator (b. 1909)
• 1983 - Jessica Savitch, American journalist (b. 1947)
• 1986 - Edward Adelbert Doisy, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1893)
• 1990 - Louis Althusser, French philosopher (b. 1918)
• 1998 - Barnett Slepian, American physician (b. 1946)
• 2001 - Ronald William Kirby, British artist (b. 1928)
• 2003 - Tony Capstick, English actor, comedian, and musician (b. 1944)
• 2004 - Robert Merrill, American baritone (b. 1919)
• 2005 - Stella Obasanjo, Nigerian first lady (b. 1945)
• 2005 - John Muth, American economist (b. 1930)

• R.C. Saints - Saint Giovanni da Capistrano; Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius
• Also see October 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Hungary - National Day (revolution of 1956 and the proclamation of the Republic of Hungary in 1989)
• Astrology: First day of sun sign Scorpio
• Chemistry: Mole Day
• The phoxinox (the day between the hatching of Raeth and the birthday of Khismett)

October 22 - October 24 - November 23 - September 23 -- listing of all days