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This day in history

This day in history: 23 August

Events, births and deaths on this date, ordered by how many people look them up.

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Key facts

422 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 23 August.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
2023: A business jet carrying key leadership members of the Russian private military company Wagner Group crashes, killing all ten people on board.

Holidays and observances

Battle of Kursk Day (Russia)

Christian feast day: Ascelina

Christian feast day: Asterius, Claudius, and Neon

Christian feast day: August 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Christian feast day: Blessed Franciszek Dachtera

Christian feast day: Blessed Juan María de la Cruz

Christian feast day: Éogan of Ardstraw

Christian feast day: Lupus (Luppus) of Novae

Christian feast day: Philip Benitius

Christian feast day: Quiriacus and companions, of Ostia

Christian feast day: Rose of Lima

Christian feast day: Tydfil

Events

2023A business jet carrying key leadership members of the Russian private military company Wagner Group crashes, killing all ten people on board.

2023Chandrayaan-3 mission initiates first Moon landing in Indian history.

2013A riot at the Palmasola prison complex in Santa Cruz, Bolivia kills 31 people.

2012A hot-air balloon crashes near the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana, killing six people and injuring 28 others.

2011A magnitude 5.8 (class: moderate) earthquake occurs in Virginia. Damage occurs to monuments and structures in Washington, D.C. and the resulted damage is estimated at 200 million–300 million USD.

2011Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is overthrown after the National Transitional Council forces take control of Bab al-Azizia compound during the Libyan Civil War.

2010The Manila hostage crisis occurs near the Quirino Grandstand in Manila, Philippines, killing 9 people including the perpetrator while injuring 9 others.

2007The skeletal remains of Russia's last royal family members Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia, and his sister Grand Duchess Anastasia are discovered near Yekaterinburg, Russia.

2006Natascha Kampusch, who had been abducted at the age of ten, escapes from her captor Wolfgang Přiklopil, after eight years of captivity.

2000Gulf Air Flight 072 crashes into the Persian Gulf near Manama, Bahrain, killing 143.

1994Eugene Bullard, the only African American pilot in World War I, is posthumously commissioned as Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force.

1991The World Wide Web is opened to the public.

1990Armenia declares its independence from the Soviet Union.

1990Saddam Hussein appears on Iraqi state television with a number of Western "guests" (actually hostages) to try to prevent the Gulf War.

1990West and East Germany announce that they will reunite on October 3.

1989Singing Revolution: Two million people from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania stand on the Vilnius–Tallinn road, holding hands.

1985Hans Tiedge, top counter-spy of West Germany, defects to East Germany.

1975The Pontiac Silverdome opens in Pontiac, Michigan, 30 miles (48 km) northwest of Detroit, Michigan.

1975The start of the Wave Hill walk-off by Gurindji people in Australia, lasting eight years, a landmark event in the history of Indigenous land rights in Australia, commemorated in a 1991 Paul Kelly song and an annual celebration.

1973A bank robbery gone wrong in Stockholm, Sweden, turns into a hostage crisis; over the next five days the hostages begin to sympathise with their captors, leading to the term "Stockholm syndrome".

1970Organized by Mexican American labor union leader César Chávez, the Salad Bowl strike, the largest farm worker strike in U.S. history, begins.

1966Lunar Orbiter 1 takes the first photograph of Earth from orbit around the Moon.

1958Chinese Civil War: The Second Taiwan Strait Crisis begins with the People's Liberation Army's bombardment of Quemoy.

1954The Cruise of the Kings, a royal cruise organised by the Queen Consort of Greece, Frederica of Hanover, departs from Marseille, France.

1954The first flight of the Lockheed C-130 multi-role aircraft takes place.

1948The World Council of Churches is formed by 147 churches from 44 countries.

1946Ordinance No. 46 of the British Military Government constitutes the German Länder (states) of Hanover and Schleswig-Holstein.

1945World War II: Soviet–Japanese War: The USSR State Defense Committee issues Decree no. 9898cc "About Receiving, Accommodation, and Labor Utilization of the Japanese Army Prisoners of War".

1944Freckleton air disaster: A United States Army Air Forces B-24 Liberator bomber crashes into a school in Freckleton, England, killing 61 people.

1944World War II: King Michael of Romania dismisses the pro-Nazi government of Marshal Antonescu, who is later arrested. Romania switches sides from the Axis to the Allies.

1944World War II: Marseille is liberated by the Allied forces.

1943World War II: Kharkiv is liberated by the Soviet Red Army for the second time after the Battle of Kursk.

1942World War II: Beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad.

1939World War II: Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union sign the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. In a secret protocol to the pact, Poland, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Romania are divided into German and Soviet "spheres of influence".

1929Hebron Massacre during the 1929 Palestine riots: Arab attacks on the Jewish community in Hebron in the British Mandate of Palestine occur, continuing until the next day, resulting in the death of 65–68 Jews and the remaining Jews being forc

1927Italian anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti are executed after a lengthy, controversial trial.

1923Captain Lowell Smith and Lieutenant John P. Richter perform the first mid-air refueling on De Havilland DH-4B, setting an endurance flight record of 37 hours.

1921British airship R-38 experiences structural failure over Hull in England and crashes in the Humber Estuary; of her 49 British and American training crew, only four survive.

1914World War I: Japan declares war on Germany.

1914World War I: The British Expeditionary Force and the French Fifth Army begin their Great Retreat before the German Army.

Born on this day

2000Boryana Kaleyn, Bulgarian rhythmic gymnast and Olympic silver medalist

1999Saya Sakakibara, Australian cyclist

1998P. J. Washington, American basketball player

1997Lil Yachty, American rapper and singer

1996Alejo Igoa, Argentine YouTuber

1995Cameron Norrie, British tennis player

1995Gabriela Lee, Romanian tennis player

1994August Ames, Canadian pornographic actress (died 2017)

1994Jusuf Nurkić, Bosnian basketball player

1993Iván López, Spanish professional footballer

1993Taylor Decker, American football player

1993Tyler Glasnow, American baseball player

1992Nicola Docherty, Scottish footballer

1992Will Toledo, American singer-songwriter

1990Mike Yastrzemski, American baseball player

1990Seth Curry, American basketball player

1989Heiko Schwarz, German footballer

1989Lianne La Havas, British singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist

1989TeddyLoid, Japanese musician

1989Trixie Mattel, American drag queen, actor, and country singer

1988Carl Hagelin, Swedish ice hockey player

1988Jeremy Lin, American basketball player

1988Kim Matula, American actress

1988Miles Mikolas, American baseball player

1988Olga Govortsova, Belarusian tennis player

1987Darren Collison, American basketball player

1986Ayron Jones, American musician

1986Brett Morris, Australian rugby league player

1986Josh Morris, Australian rugby league player

1986Neil Cicierega, American comedian and musician

1986Sky Blu, American rapper and DJ

1985Valeria Lukyanova, Moldovan-Ukrainian model and singer

1984Eric Tai, New Zealand rugby player and actor

1984Glen Johnson, English footballer

1983Athena Farrokhzad, Iranian-Swedish poet, playwright, and critic

1983Bruno Spengler, Canadian race car driver

1983Fiona Onasanya, British politician and criminal

1983James Collins, Welsh footballer

1983Sun Mingming, Chinese basketball player

1983Tony Moll, American football player

Died on this day

2023Dmitry Utkin, Russian army officer, founder of Wagner Group (born 1970)

2023Terry Funk, American professional wrestler (born 1944)

2023Yevgeny Prigozhin, Russian businessman, chief of Wagner Group (born 1961)

2021Elizabeth Blackadder, Scottish painter and printmaker (born 1931)

2015Augusta Chiwy, Congolese-Belgian nurse (born 1921)

2015Enrique Reneau, Honduran footballer (born 1971)

2015Guy Ligier, French rugby player and race car driver (born 1930)

2015Paul Royle, Australian lieutenant and pilot (born 1914)

2014Albert Ebossé Bodjongo, Cameroonian footballer (born 1989)

2014Annefleur Kalvenhaar, Dutch cyclist (born 1994)

2014Birgitta Stenberg, Swedish author and illustrator (born 1932)

2014Jaume Vallcorba Plana, Spanish philologist and publisher (born 1949)

2013Charles Lisanby, American production designer and set director (born 1924)

2013Konstanty Miodowicz, Polish ethnographer and politician (born 1951)

2013Richard J. Corman, American businessman, founded the R.J. Corman Railroad Group (born 1955)

2013Tatyana Zaslavskaya, Russian sociologist and economist (born 1927)

2013Vesna Rožič, Slovenian chess player (born 1987)

2013William Glasser, American psychiatrist and author (born 1925)

2012Jerry Nelson, American puppeteer and voice actor (born 1934)

2012Josepha Sherman, American anthologist and author (born 1946)

2008John Russell, English-American author and critic (born 1919)

2006Maynard Ferguson, Canadian trumpet player and bandleader (born 1928)

2005Brock Peters, American actor (born 1927)

2003Bobby Bonds, American baseball player and manager (born 1946)

2003Jack Dyer, Australian footballer and coach (born 1913)

2003Jan Sedivka, Czech-Australian violinist and educator (born 1917)

2003Michael Kijana Wamalwa, Kenyan lawyer and politician, 8th Vice President of Kenya (born 1944)

2002Hoyt Wilhelm, American baseball player and coach (born 1922)

2001Kathleen Freeman, American actress (born 1919)

2001Peter Maas, American journalist and author (born 1929)

Quote of the day

“It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.”

Seneca

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From Wikipedia’s on-this-day pages for this language, updated once a day and ordered by how often each article is read.

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