March 23

March 23 in recent years
2025 (Sunday)
2024 (Saturday)
2023 (Thursday)
2022 (Wednesday)
2021 (Tuesday)
2020 (Monday)
2019 (Saturday)
2018 (Friday)
2017 (Thursday)
2016 (Wednesday)

March 23 is the 82nd day of the year (83rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 283 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

Up to 1900

752 – Stephen II becomes Pope.
1400 – The Tran Dynasty of Vietnam is deposed after 175 years in power, by Ho Quy Ly, a court official.
1568 – Peace of Longjumeau ends the Second War of Religion in France. Again Catherine of 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.
1821 – Greek War of Independence: Battle of Kalamata and fall of the city of Kalamata.
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.
1848 – Venice declares independence from Austria. This leads to the creation of the Republic of San Marco, under Prime Minister Daniele Manin, which lasts until August 23, 1849.
1857 – Elisha Otis's first elevator is installed at 488 Broadway, New York City.
1862 – American Civil War: First Battle of Kernstown – start of Stonewall Jackson's valley campaign.
1868 – The University of California is founded in Oakland, California when the Organic Act is signed into law.
1879 – War of the Pacific: The Battle of Topater, the first major battle of the war, is fought between Chile and the joint forces of Peru and Bolivia.
1888 – In England, the Football League first meets.
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.

1901 – 2000

1901 – President of the Philippines Emilio Aguinaldo is captured by US forces.
1903 – The Wright Brothers apply for a patent on their invention of one of the first successful airplanes after much hard work.
1905 – Eleftherios Venizelos calls for Crete's union with Greece.
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.
1918 – World War I: Third day of the German Spring Offensive – the 10th Battalion of the Royal West Kent Regiment is heavily defeated, with many being taken prisoner.
1919 – In Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini founds his Fascist political movement.
1931 – Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt are hanged 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.
1937 – Spanish Civil War: Republican forces have their last major victory of the war in the Battle of Guadalajara.
1939 – The Hungarian air force attacks the headquarters of the Slovakian air force in the city of Spisska Nova Ves, killing 13 people.
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.
1950 – World Meteorological Organization is founded.
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).
1972 – The United Tasmania Front is founded in Hobart, Tasmania, led by Richard Jones, as the world's first "Green Party".
1978 – The first UNIFIL troops arrived in Lebanon for peacekeeping mission along the Blue Line.
1982 – Guatemala's government, led by Fernando Romeo Lucas Garcia is overthrown in a military coup by right–wing General Efrain Rios Montt.
1983 – Strategic Defense Initiative: US 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.
1991 – The 11–year Sierra Leone Civil War begins.
1994 – At an election rally in Tijuana, Mexican presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio is assassinated by Mario Aburto Martinez.
1994 – Aeroflot Flight 593 crashes in Siberia, when the pilot's 15–year–old son accidentally disengages the autopilot, killing all 75 people on board.
1996 – Taiwan holds its first direct elections and chooses Lee Teng-hui as President.
1998 – James Cameron's movie Titanic wins several Academy Awards on one night, making it one of Hollywood's most successful movies ever.
1999 – Gunmen assassinate Paraguay's Vice President Luis María Argaña.

From 2001

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.
2003 – In Slovenia, referendums are held on memberships of the EU and NATO, with a majority in favor of both proposals.
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.
2013 – Pope Francis meets former Pope Benedict XVI at Castel Gandolfo, Italy, making it the first such meeting between a Pope and a former Pope.
2015 – A multi–vehicle pile–up, including a bus crash, kills 36 people in Harmey, 320 kilometers north of Lima.

Births

Up to 1900

1429 – Margaret of Anjou, Queen Consort of England (d. 1482)
1501 – Pietro Andrea Mattioli, Italian physician and botanist (d. 1577)
1599 – Thomas Selle, German composer (d. 1663)
1638 – Frederik Ruysch, Dutch physician and anatomist (d. 1731)
1643 – Mary of Jesus de Leon y Delgado, Spanish saint (d. 1731)
1645 – William Kidd, Scottish sailor (d. 1701)
1723 – Agha Mohammad Khan Ghajar, King of Persia (d. 1771)
1732 – Marie Adelaide of France (d. 1800)
1749 – Pierre-Simon Laplace, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1827)
1754 – Jurij Vega, Slovenian mathematician, physicist and artillery officer (d. 1802)
1769 – William Smith, English geologist (d. 1839)
1795 – Bernt Michael Holmboe, Norwegian mathematician (d. 1850)
1799 – Joshua Baker, Governor of Louisiana (d. 1885)
1814 – Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda, Cuban writer, poet and activist (d. 1873)
1823 – Schuyler Colfax, 17th Vice President of the United States (d. 1885)
1826 – Ludwig Minkus, Austrian ballet composer, violin virtuoso and teacher (d. 1917)
1829 – N. R. Pogson, English astronomer and mathematician (d. 1891)
1831 – Eduard Schlagintweit, German writer (d. 1866)
1854 – Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner, British politician (d. 1925)
1858 – Ludwig Quidde, German pacifist, Nobel Peace Prize winner (d. 1941)
1862 – Nathaniel Reed, American outlaw–turned–evangelist (d. 1950)
1869 – Calouste Gulbenkian, Armenian businessman and philanthropist (d. 1955)
1871 – Heinrich Schroth, German actor (d. 1945)
1872 – Michael Joseph Savage, 23rd Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1940)
1876 – Ziya Gökalp, Turkish sociologist, poet and activist (d. 1924)
1876 – Thakin Kodaw Hmaing, Burmese poet, writer and politician (d. 1964)
1880 – Heikki Ritavuori, Finnish politician (d. 1922)
1881 – Roger Martin du Gard, French writer (d. 1958)
1881 – Hermann Staudinger, German chemist (d. 1965)
1881 – Lacey Hearn, American athlete and sprinter (d. 1969)
1882 – Emmy Noether, German mathematician (d. 1935)
1887 – Juan Gris, Spanish Cubist painter (d. 1927)
1887 – Felix Yusupov, Russian, assassin of Grigori Rasputin (d. 1967)
1893 – G. D. Naidu, Indian inventor and engineer (d. 1974)
1895 – Encarnacion Alzona, Filipino historian and educator (d. 2001)
1895 – Dane Rudhyar, French–American astrologer, writer and composer (d. 1985)
1899 – Dora Gerson, German actress and singer (d. 1943)
1900 – Erich Fromm, German–born psychoanalyst (d. 1980)

1901 – 1950

1904 – German Busch, President of Bolivia (d. 1939)
1905 – Lale Andersen, German singer and actress (d. 1972)
1905 – Joan Crawford, American actress (d. 1977)
1906 – José Della Torre, Argentine footballer (d. 1979)
1907 – Daniel Bovet, Swiss scientist (d. 1992)
1910 – Akira Kurosawa, Japanese movie director (d. 1998)
1912 – Wernher von Braun, German physicist and engineer (d. 1977)
1915 – Vasily Zaytsev, Soviet World War II figure (d. 1991)
1915 – Thomas Pashby, Canadian advocate for safety in ice hockey (d. 2005)
1918 – Stanley Armour Dunham, Barack Obama's grandfather (d. 1992)
1918 – Emile Derlin Zinsou, former President of Benin
1920 – Tetsuharu Kawakami, Japanese baseball player and coach
1921 – Donald Campbell, British car and motorboat racer (d. 1967)
1922 – Marty Allen, American comedian and actor
1922 – Ugo Tognazzi, Italian actor, director and screenwriter (d. 1990)
1923 – Martha Wright, American actress (d. 2016)
1924 – Bette Nesmith Graham, American inventor (d. 1980)
1925 – David Watkin, British cinematographer (d. 2008)
1929 – Roger Bannister, British runner
1931 – Yevgeny Grishin, Russian speed skater (d. 2005)
1931 – Viktor Korchnoi, Russian chess player
1931 – Yevdokiya Mekshilo, Russian skier (d. 2013)
1932 – Louisiana Red, American blues musician (d. 2012)
1934 – Ludvig Faddeev, Russian mathematician and physicist
1934 – Mark Rydell, American director
1935 – Barry Cryer, British writer and comedian
1937 – Ibrahim Abouleish, Egyptian chemist and businessman
1937 – Craig Breedlove, American land speed record holder
1937 – Tony Burton, American actor (d. 2016)
1937 – Robert Gallo, American virologist
1938 – Dave Pike, American jazz musician
1940 – Ama Ata Aidoo, Ghanaian writer, playwright and academic
1942 – Michael Haneke, Austrian movie maker and writer
1942 – Walter Rodney, Guyanese historian and politician
1944 – Tony McPhee, British singer and guitarist
1944 – Michael Nyman, British composer
1945 – Franco Battiato, Italian singer, songwriter and movie maker
1945 – David Grisman, American bluegrass musician
1945 – Erik De Vlaeminck, Belgian cyclist (d. 2015)
1950 – Valgerdur Sverrisdottir, Icelandic politician
1950 – Mike Easley, American politician, former Governor of North Carolina
1950 – Corinne Cléry, French actress

1951 – 1975

1952 – Francesco Clemente, Italian artist
1952 – Pola Kinski, German actress
1952 – Kim Stanley Robinson, American writer
1952 – Rex Tillerson, 69th United States Secretary of State and former Chief Executive of ExxonMobil
1953 – Chaka Khan, American singer
1955 – Moses Malone, American basketball player (d. 2015)
1956 – José Manuel Barroso, Portuguese politician, former President of the European Commission
1956 – Andrew Mitchell, British politician
1957 – Lucio Gutiérrez, former President of Ecuador
1957 – Amanda Plummer, American actress
1958 – Bengt-Ake Gustafsson, Swedish ice hockey player and coach
1958 – Serena Grandi, Italian actress
1958 – Eldon Hoke, American singer and drummer (d. 1997)
1960 – Nicol Stephen, Scottish politician
1961 – Colin Pitchfork, English murderer
1962 – Bassel al-Assad, Syrian engineer, colonel and politician (d. 1994)
1962 – Steve Redgrave, English rower, five–time Olympic champion
1963 – Michel, Spanish footballer
1964 – Hope Davis, American actress
1964 – John Pinette, American comedian and actor (d. 2014)
1965 – Jonathan Dow, British actor
1965 – Marti Pellow, Scottish singer
1965 – Richard Grieco, American actor
1965 – Steve Turner, American rock musician
1966 – Alfred Nijhuis, Dutch footballer
1968 – Damon Albarn, British singer (Blur)
1968 – Fernando Hierro, Spanish footballer
1968 – Mike Atherton, English cricketer
1970 – Melissa Errico, American actress and singer
1970 – Gianni Infantino, 9th President of FIFA
1971 – Gail Porter, Scottish television presenter
1971 – Alexander Selivanov, Russian ice hockey player
1971 – Karen McDougal, American model and actress
1972 – Joe Calzaghe, Welsh boxer
1972 – Jonas Bjorkman, Swedish tennis player
1973 – Jerzy Dudek, Polish footballer
1973 – Jason Kidd, American basketball player

From 1976

1976 – Chris Hoy, Scottish cyclist, six–time Olympic champion
1976 – Michelle Monaghan, American actress
1976 – Keri Russell, American actress
1978 – Walter Samuel, Argentine footballer
1978 – Perez Hilton, American blogger
1978 – Nicholle Tom, American actress
1980 – Russell Howard, English comedian
1980 – Ryan Day, Welsh snooker player
1981 – Shelley Rudman, English skeleton bobsledder
1982 – José Raul Contreras, Chilean footballer
1983 – Mo Farah, British track–and–field athlete, four–time Olympic gold medallist
1983 – Sascha Riether, German footballer
1983 – Jerome Thomas, English footballer
1983 – Hakan Balta, Turkish footballer
1986 – Andrea Dovizioso, Italian motorcycle racer
1985 – Stevie McCrorie, Scottish singer
1987 – Kangna Ranaut, Indian actress
1988 – Jason Kenny, English cyclist, Olympic champion
1989 – Mai Nishida, Japanese model, entertainer and actress
1990 – Princess Eugenie of York, member of the British royal family
1991 – Gregg Wylde, Scottish footballer
1992 – Kyrie Irving, Australian–American basketball player
1992 – Vanessa Morgan, Canadian actress and singer
1994 – Nick Powell, English footballer

Deaths

Up to 1900

851 – Zhou Chi, Chinese historian and politician (b. 713)
1103 – Eudes I, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1058)
1361 – Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster (b. 1310)
1369 – King Peter of Castile (b. 1334)
1555 – Pope Julius III (b. 1489)
1559 – Emperor Gelawdewos of Ethiopia
1606 – Justus Lipsius, Flemish humanist (b. 1547)
1675 – Antoni van Goordt, Dutch composer and organist (b. 1619)
1680 – Nicolas Fouquet, French statesman (b. 1615)
1742 – Jean-Baptiste Dubos, French writer (b. 1670)
1748 – Johann Gottfried Walther, German music theorist, organist and composer (b. 1684)
1783 – Charles Carroll of Carrollton, American lawyer and politician (b. 1723)
1801 – Tsar Paul I of Russia (b. 1754)
1819 – August von Kotzebue, German dramatist and writer (b. 1761)
1842 – Stendhal, French writer (b. 1783)
1881 – Nikolai Rubinstein, Russian composer (b. 1835)

1901 – 2000

1923 – Hovhannes Tumanyan Armenian poet and writer (b. 1869)
1927 – Paul César Helleu, French painter (b. 1859)
1931 – Bhagat Singh, Indian freedom writer (b. 1907)
1931 – Rajguru, Indian freedom fighter (b. 1908)
1931 – Sukhdev, Indian freedom fighter (b. 1907)
1935 – Florence Moore, American actress (b. 1886)
1938 – Thomas Walter Scott, Premier of Saskatchewan (b. 1867)
1945 – Tadamichi Kuribayashi, Japanese commander (b. 1891)
1947 – Archduchess Luise of Austria, Princess of Tuscany (b. 1870)
1948 – Nikolai Berdyaev, Russian philosopher (b. 1874)
1953 – Raoul Dufy, French painter (b. 1877)
1955 – Artur da Silva Bernardes, President of Brazil (b. 1875)
1960 – Raoul Paoli, French athlete, boxer and rower (b. 1887)
1964 – Peter Lorre, Hungarian–born actor (b. 1904)
1965 – Mae Murray, American actress, dancer, producer and screenwriter (b. 1885)
1971 – Simon Vestdijk, Dutch writer (b. 1898)
1972 – Cristobal Balenciaga, Spanish fashion designer (b. 1895)
1978 – Haim Ernst Wertheimer, Israeli biochemist (b. 1893)
1979 – Ted Anderson, English footballer (b. 1911)
1981 – Beatrice Tinsley, New Zealand astronomer (b. 1941)
1985 – Richard Beeching, British physicist and engineer (b. 1913)
1985 – Zoot Sims, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1925)
1990 – John Dexter, English stage and movie director (b. 1925)
1992 – Friedrich Hayek, Austrian economist (b. 1899)
1994 – Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mexican politician (b. 1950)
1994 – Giulietta Masina, Italian actress (b. 1921)
1994 – Donald Swann, British composer, musician and entertainer (b. 1923)

From 2001

2002 – Ben Hollioake, English cricketer (b. 1977)
2003 – Fritz Spiegl, Austrian–born journalist (b. 1926)
2004 – Rupert Hamer, Australian politician, 39th Premier of Victoria (b. 1916)
2006 – Cindy Walker, American singer, songwriter and dancer (b. 1918)
2008 – Rafael Azcona, Spanish screenwriter (b. 1926)
2009 – Ghukas Chubaryan, Armenian sculptor (b. 1923)
2011 – Elizabeth Taylor, British–American actress (b. 1932)
2012 – Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, former President of Somalia (b. 1934)
2012 – Chico Anysio, Brazilian actor, writer, comedian and composer (b. 1931)
2013 – Boris Berezovsky, Russian businessman and oligarch (b. 1946)
2013 – Joe Weider, American bodybuilder (b. 1920)
2013 – Virgil Trucks, American baseball player (b. 1917)
2014 – Adolfo Suarez, former Prime Minister of Spain (b. 1932)
2014 – Dave Brockie, Canadian–American musician (b. 1963)
2014 – Peter Oakley, British internet vlogger (b. 1927)
2014 – Jürg Neuenschwander, Swiss organist and composer (b. 1947)
2014 – David Henshaw, New Zealand cartoonist (b. 1939)
2015 – Lee Kuan Yew, first Prime Minister of Singapore (b. 1923)
2015 – Lil' Chris, English singer and television personality (b. 1990)
2015 – Herberto Hélder, Portuguese poet and writer (b. 1930)
2015 – Bobby Lowther, American basketball player (b. 1923)
2016 – Ken Howard, American actor (b. 1944)
2016 – Joe Garagiola, Sr., American baseball player (b. 1926)
2016 – Jimmy Riley, Jamaican reggae musician (b. 1954)
2017 – Lola Albright, American actress (b. 1924)
2017 – Ashokamitran, Indian writer (b. 1931)
2017 – Meir Einstein, Israeli sports broadcaster (b. 1951)
2017 – William H. Keeler, American cardinal (b. 1931)
2017 – Cino Tortorella, Italian television presenter and comedian (b. 1927)
2017 – Denis Voronenkov, Russian politician (b. 1971)
2025 – Mia Love, American politician (b. 1975)

Observances

Republic Day/Pakistan Day (Pakistan)
Polish–Hungarian friendship day
Day of the Sea (Bolivia)
World Meteorological Day
Family Day (South Africa)
Western Christianity – Earliest possible date for Easter Monday (April 26 is the latest)
Western Christianity – Second–earliest possible date for Easter, last occurred on this date in 2008, next in 2160.