What happened on August 23? There are more than 292 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
Interesting Facts & Myths About August 23
August 23 is the 236th day of the year 2024. There are 130 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Friday. This day falls under the 34th week of the year 2024.
On this day in Greenville, South Carolina 29604 sunrise will occur at 06:55 AM and sunset will occur at 08:09 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Virgo. The modern birthstone for this month is Peridot while the mystical birthstone is Diamond.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 159 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).
Is your birthday coming up in two days? Are you not curious to find out who is sharing your special day? Discover all the April 3 famous birthdays. There are fun facts about that day that you must know. (Sponsored link)
Historical Events For August 23
- 79Mount Vesuvius begins stirring, on the feast day of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire.
- 406Radagaisus is executed after he is defeated by the Roman army under Stilicho.
- 1305Sir William Wallace is executed for High Treason at Smithfield in London.
- 1328Battle of Cassel: French troops stop an uprising of Flemish farmers.
- 1514Battle of Chaldiran ended with a decisive victory for the Sultan Selim I, Ottoman Empire, over the Shah Ismail I, Safavids founder.
- 1541French explorer Jacques Cartier lands near Quebec City in his third voyage to Canada.
- 1555Calvinists are granted rights in the Netherlands.
- 1572Mob violence against Huguenots in Paris – St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre.
- 1595Michael the Brave confronts the Ottoman army in the Battle of Calugareni.
- 1650Colonel George Monck of the English Army forms Monck’s Regiment of Foot, which will later become the Coldstream Guards.
- 1708Meidingnu Pamheiba is crowned King of Manipur.
- 1765Beginning of Burmese–Siamese War (1765–1767)
- 1775King George III declares that the American colonies exist in a state of open and avowed rebellion.
- 1784Western North Carolina (now eastern Tennessee) declares itself an independent state under the name of Franklin; it wasn’t accepted into the United States, and only lasted for four years.
- 1799Napoleon leaves Egypt for France en route to seize power.
- 1813At the Battle of Grossbeeren, the Prussians under Von Bülow repulse the French army.
- 1839The United Kingdom captures Hong Kong as a base as it prepares for war with Qing China. The ensuing 3-year conflict will later be known as the First Opium War.
- 1858The Round Oak rail accident occurs in Brierley Hill in the Black Country, England. It is 'Arguably the worst disaster ever to occur on British railways'.
- 1864The Union Navy captures Fort Morgan, Alabama, thus breaking Confederate dominance of all ports on the Gulf of Mexico.
- 1866Austro-Prussian War ends with the Treaty of Prague.
- 1873Albert Bridge in Chelsea, London opened.
- 1896Officially recognised date of the Cry of Pugad Lawin, the start of the Philippine Revolution is made in Pugad Lawin (Quezon City), in the province of Manila (actual date and location is disputed).
- 1904The automobile tire chain is patented.
- 1914World War I: Japan declares war on Germany and bombs Qingdao, China.
- 1914World War I: the Battle of Mons; the British Army begins withdrawal.
- 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 4 survive.
- 1923Capt. Lowell Smith and Lt. John P. Richter performed the first mid-air refueling on De Havilland DH-4B, setting an endurance flight record of 37 hours.
- 1927Sacco and Vanzetti are executed.
- 1929Hebron Massacre during the 1929 Palestine riots: Arab attack on the Jewish community in Hebron in the British Mandate of Palestine, continuing until the next day, resulted in the death of 65-68 Jews and the remaining Jews being forced to leave the city.
- 1938English cricketer Len Hutton sets a world record for the highest individual Test innings of 364, during a Test match against Australia.
- 1939World War II: Germany and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression treaty, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. In a secret addition to the pact, the Baltic states, Finland, Romania, and Poland are divided between the two nations.
- 1942World War II: Beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad.
- 1943World War II: Kharkov liberated as a result of the Battle of Kursk.
- 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: Marseille liberated.
- 1944World War II King Michael of Romania dismisses the pro-Nazi government of General Antonescu, who is arrested. Romania switches sides from the Axis to the Allies (see King Michael’s Coup)
- 1946Ordinance No. 46 of the British Military Government constitutes the German Land (state) of Schleswig-Holstein.
- 1948World Council of Churches is formed.
- 1954First flight of the C-130 Hercules transport aircraft.
- 1958Chinese Civil War: The Second Taiwan Strait crisis begins with the People’s Liberation Army’s bombardment of Quemoy.
- 1966Lunar Orbiter 1 takes the first photograph of Earth from orbit around the Moon.
- 1970Organized by Mexican American union leader César Chávez, the Salad Bowl strike, the largest farm worker strike in U.S. history, begins.
- 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”.
- 1977The Gossamer Condor wins the Kremer prize for human powered flight.
- 1982Bachir Gemayel is elected Lebanese President amidst the raging civil war.
- 1985Hans Tiedge, top counter-spy of West Germany, defects to East Germany.
- 19891,645 Australian domestic airline pilots resign after the airlines threaten to fire them and sue them over a dispute.
- 1989Singing Revolution: two million people from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania stand on the Vilnius-Tallinn road, holding hands (Baltic Way).
- 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 Germany and East Germany announce that they will unite on October 3.
- 1994Eugene Bullard, The only black pilot in World War I, is posthumously commissioned as Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force.
- 1996Osama bin Laden issues message entitled 'A declaration of war against the Americans occupying the land of the two holy places.'
- 2000Gulf Air Flight 072 crashes into the Persian Gulf near Manama, Bahrain, killing 143.
- 2006Natascha Kampusch, who had been abducted at the age of 10, managed to escape from her captor Wolfgang Priklopil, after 8 years of captivity.
- 2007The skeletal remains of Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia, and his sister Anastasia are found near Yekaterinburg, Russia.
- 2010Manila hostage crisis, in which 8 hostages were killed
- 2011A 5.8 earthquake occurred in Mineral, Virginia, the earthquake was felt as far north as Ontario and as far south as Atlanta, Georgia. Damaged occurred to monuments in Washington D.C. and the resulted damage was estimated at $100 Million.
- 2011Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi is overthrown after the National Transitional Council forces take control of Bab al-Azizia compound during the 2011 Libyan Civil War.
Who Were Born On August 23?
- 1486Sigismund von Herberstein, Austrian diplomat and historian (d. 1566)
- 1524François Hotman, French lawyer and writer (d. 1590)
- 1623Stanisław Lubieniecki, Polish Socinian theologist (d. 1675)
- 1724Abraham Yates, American Continental Congressman (d. 1796)
- 1741Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse, French explorer (d. 1788)
- 1754King Louis XVI of France (d. 1793)
- 1757Marie Magdalene Charlotte Ackermann, German actress (d. 1775)
- 1769Georges Cuvier, French biologist and statesman (d. 1832)
- 1783William Tierney Clark, English civil engineer (d. 1852)
- 1785Oliver Hazard Perry, American naval officer (d. 1819)
- 1805Anton von Schmerling, Austrian statesman (d. 1893)
- 1814James Roosevelt Bayley, American religious leader (d. 1877)
- 1829Moritz Cantor, German mathematician (d. 1920)
- 1836Marie Henriette of Austria, Queen of the Belgians (d. 1902)
- 1843William Southam, Canadian newspaper publisher (d. 1932)
- 1846Alexander Milne Calder, American sculptor (d. 1923)
- 1847Sarah Frances Whiting, American physicist and astronomer (d. 1927)
- 1849William Ernest Henley, British poet, critic, and editor (d. 1903)
- 1852Arnold Toynbee, English economist and social reformer (d. 1883)
- 1852Clímaco Calderón, President of Colombia. (d. 1913)
- 1854Moritz Moszkowski, Polish/German composer (d. 1925)
- 1864Eleftherios Venizelos, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1936)
- 1868Edgar Lee Masters, American author (d. 1950)
- 1875Eugene Lanceray, Russian artist (d. 1946)
- 1875William Eccles, English radio pioneer (d. 1966)
- 1877István Medgyaszay, Hungarian architect and writer (d. 1959)
- 1880Alexander Grin, Russian writer (d. 1932)
- 1883Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright IV, American general (d. 1953)
- 1884Ogden L. Mills, American Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1937)
- 1884Will Cuppy, American humorist (d. 1949)
- 1900Ernst Krenek, Austrian-born composer (d. 1991)
- 1900Louise Nevelson, American sculptor (d. 1988)
- 1900Malvina Reynolds, American folk singer/songwriter (d. 1978)
- 1901Guy Bush, Major League Baseball pitcher (d. 1985)
- 1901John Sherman Cooper, American politician (d. 1991)
- 1903William Primrose, Scottish violist (d. 1982)
- 1905Constant Lambert, British composer (d. 1951)
- 1908Hannah Frank, Scottish artist (d. 2008)
- 1909Syd Buller, English cricketer (d. 1970)
- 1910Giuseppe Meazza, Italian footballer (d. 1979)
- 1910Lonny Frey, American baseball player (d. 2009)
- 1911Birger Ruud, Norwegian ski-jumper (d. 1998)
- 1912Gene Kelly, American dancer and actor (d. 1996)
- 1917Tex Williams, American singer (d. 1985)
- 1919Vladimir Rokhlin, Soviet mathematician (d. 1984)
- 1921Kenneth Arrow, American economist, Bank of Sweden Prize winner
- 1921Sam Cook, England cricketer (d. 1996)
- 1922George Kell, American baseball player (d. 2009)
- 1922Jean Darling, American child actress
- 1922Nazik Al-Malaika, Iraqi poet (d. 2007)
- 1922Pierre Gauvreau, French Canadian painter, television writer and producer
- 1923Edgar F. Codd, English computer scientist (d. 2003)
- 1924Ephraim Kishon, Israeli writer (d. 2005)
- 1924Robert Solow, American economist, Nobel laureate
- 1925Robert Mulligan, American film director (d. 2008)
- 1926Clifford Geertz, American anthropologist, (d. 2006)
- 1926Gyula Hernádi, Hungarian writer and screenwriter (d. 2005)
- 1927Dick Bruna, Dutch illustrator
- 1927Martial Solal, French jazz pianist and composer
- 1928Marian Seldes, American actress
- 1929Vera Miles, American actress
- 1929Zoltán Czibor, Hungarian footballer (d. 1997)
- 1930Michel Rocard, French politician
- 1931Hamilton O. Smith, American microbiologist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- 1932Houari Boumediène, President of Algeria (d. 1978)
- 1932Mark Russell, American comedian and political commentator
- 1933Pete Wilson, American politician
- 1933Robert Curl, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1934Barbara Eden, American actress and singer
- 1934Sonny Jurgensen, American football player
- 1936Henry Lee Lucas, American serial killer (d. 2001)
- 1942Letta Mbulu, Southafrican singer.
- 1943Nelson DeMille, American novelist
- 1944Antonia Novello, former United States Surgeon General
- 1945Rayfield Wright, American football player
- 1946Keith Moon, English musician (The Who) (d. 1978)
- 1947David Robb, British actor
- 1947Willy Russell, British playwright
- 1948Andrei Pleşu, Romanian writer, essayist
- 1948Daniel Ruettiger, American motivational speaker
- 1949Geoff Capes, English strongman
- 1949Rick Springfield, Australian singer and actor
- 1949Shelley Long, American actress
- 1951Akhmad Kadyrov, President of Chechnya (d. 2004)
- 1951Allan Bristow, American basketball head coach
- 1951Jimi Jamison, American singer (Survivor)
- 1951Queen Noor of Jordan
- 1952Georgios Paraschos, Greek footballer
- 1952Vicky Leandros, Greek singer and politician
- 1953Bobby G, British singer (Bucks Fizz)
- 1953Ernst Savkovic, German footballer
- 1954Charles Busch, American director, writer, actor and drag queen
- 1956Andreas Floer, German mathematician (d. 1991)
- 1956Hans-Jürgen Salewski, German footballer
- 1956Skipp Sudduth, American actor
- 1956Valgerd Svarstad Haugland, Norwegian politician
- 1957Tasos Mitropoulos, Greek footballer and politician
- 1958Julio Franco, Dominican baseball player
- 1959George Kalovelonis, Greek tennis player
- 1960Chris Potter, Canadian actor
- 1960Gary Hoey, American Guitarist
- 1960Rodney Alan Greenblat, American graphic artist
- 1961Dean DeLeo, American musician (Stone Temple Pilots)
- 1961Gary Mabbutt, English footballer
- 1962Martin Cauchon, Canadian politician
- 1962Shaun Ryder, English musician
- 1963Hans-Henning Fastrich, German field hockey player
- 1963Kenny Wallace, American race car driver
- 1963Park Chan-wook, Korean director and screenwriter
- 1963Richard Illingworth, England cricketer
- 1964Johan Bruyneel, Belgian cyclist
- 1964Kong Hee, Singaporean pastor
- 1964Wendy Pepper, American designer
- 1964Yoshikazu Taru, Japanese professional wrestler
- 1965Roger Avary, Canadian screenwriter, director, and producer
- 1966Rik Smits, Dutch-American basketball player
- 1967Richard Petrie, New Zealand cricketer
- 1968Chris DiMarco, American golfer
- 1968Laura Claycomb, American operatic soprano
- 1969Geneviève Brouillette, Canadian television and film actress
- 1969Jeremy Schaap, American sportswriter
- 1969Keith Tyson, English artist
- 1970Brad Mehldau, American pianist
- 1970Jay Mohr, American actor and comedian
- 1970Krishnakumar Kunnath, Indian singer
- 1970Lawrence Frank, American basketball coach
- 1970River Phoenix, American actor (d. 1993)
- 1971BoneCrusher, American rapper
- 1971Demetrio Albertini, Italian footballer
- 1972Mark Butcher, England cricketer
- 1972Martin Grainger, English footballer
- 1972Raul Casanova, Puerto Rican baseball player
- 1973Casey Blake, American baseball player
- 1973Kerry Walmsley, New Zealand cricketer
- 1973Malaika Arora Khan, Indian actress and model
- 1974Benjamin Limo, Kenyan runner
- 1974Christian Beranek, American graphic novelist and actor
- 1974Mark Bellhorn, American baseball player
- 1974Ray Park, Scottish actor
- 1974Shifty Shellshock, American musician (Crazy Town)
- 1975Eliza Carthy, English singer and fiddler
- 1975Sean Marks, New Zealander-born basketball player
- 1976Pat Garrity, American basketball player
- 1976Scott Caan, American actor
- 1977Douglas Sequeira, Costa Rican footballer
- 1978Julian Casablancas, American singer (The Strokes)
- 1978Kobe Bryant, American basketball player
- 1979Edgar Sosa, Mexican boxer
- 1979Jessica Bibby, Australian basketball player
- 1979Ritchie Neville, British musician
- 1980Denny Bautista, Dominican baseball player
- 1980Diamondog, Angolan rapper
- 1980Rex Grossman, American football player
- 1981Carlos Cuéllar, Spanish footballer
- 1981Carmen Luvana, American pornographic actress
- 1981Ozzy Lusth, American “Survivor” contestant
- 1981Stephan Loboué, Ivorian footballer
- 1982Natalie Coughlin, American swimmer
- 1982Scott Palguta, American soccer player
- 1982Trevor Wright, American actor
- 1982YTCracker, American musician and computer hacker
- 1983Sun Ming Ming, Chinese basketball player
- 1983Tony Moll, American football player
- 1984Glen Johnson, English footballer
- 1986Neil Cicierega, American cartoonist and musician
- 1987Danny Page, Australian basketball coach
- 1987Nikki Gil, Filipina actress and host
- 1988Jeremy Lin, American basketball player
- 1989Heiko Schwarz, German footballer
- 2001Zaijian Jaranilla, Filipino actor
Who Died On August 23?
- 93Gnaeus Julius Agricola, Roman Governor of Britain (b. 40)
- 406Radagaisus, Gothic king
- 634Abu Bakr, Arabian caliph (b. 578)
- 1106Magnus, Duke of Saxony (b. 1045)
- 1176Emperor Rokujō of Japan (b. 1164)
- 1305William Wallace, Scottish patriot (b. 1272)
- 1387King Olav IV of Norway (b. 1370)
- 1507Jean Molinet, French writer (b. 1435)
- 1519Philibert Berthelier, Swiss patriot (b. 1465)
- 1540Guillaume Budé, French scholar (b. 1467)
- 1591Luis Ponce de León, Spanish poet and mystic (b. 1527)
- 1618Gerbrand Adriaensz Bredero, Dutch writer (b. 1585)
- 1628George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, English statesman (b. 1592)
- 1652John Byron, 1st Baron Byron, English royalist politician (b. 1600)
- 1706Colonel Edward Nott, Esq., British Crown Governor of Virginia (b. 1654)
- 1723Increase Mather, New England Puritan minister (b. 1639)
- 1806Charles Augustin de Coulomb, French physicist (b. 1736)
- 1813Alexander Wilson, Scottish-born ornithologist (b. 1766)
- 1819Oliver Hazard Perry, American naval officer (b. 1785)
- 1831Ferenc Kazinczy, Hungarian author (b. 1759)
- 1838Ferenc Kölcsey, Hungarian poet and politician (b. 1790)
- 1853Alexander Calder, first mayor of Beaumont, Texas (b. 1806)
- 1858Antal Reguly, Hungarian linguist and ethnographer (b. 1819)
- 1867Auguste-Marseille Barthélemy, French poet (b. 1796)
- 1892Deodoro da Fonseca, 1st President of Brazil (b. 1827)
- 1924Heinrich Berté, Austrian operetta composer (b. 1856)
- 1926Rudolph Valentino, Italian actor (b. 1895)
- 1927Bartolomeo Vanzetti, Italian anarchist (b. 1888)
- 1927Nicola Sacco, Italian anarchist (b. 1891)
- 1937Albert Roussel, French composer (b. 1869)
- 1955Reginald Tate, British actor (b. 1896)
- 1960Oscar Hammerstein II, American lyricist (b. 1895)
- 1962Hoot Gibson, American actor (b. 1892)
- 1962Walter Anderson, German folklorist (b. 1885)
- 1963Glen Gray, American jazz musician and leader of the Casa Loma Orchestra (b. 1900)
- 1966Francis X. Bushman, American actor (b. 1883)
- 1967Georges Berger, Belgian racing driver (b. 1918)
- 1971The original Shamu, SeaWorld orca
- 1974Roberto Assagioli, Italian psychiatrist (b. 1888)
- 1977Naum Gabo, Russian artist (b. 1890)
- 1982Stanford Moore, American biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1913)
- 1987Didier Pironi, French racing car driver (b. 1952)
- 1989Mohammed Abed Elhai, Sudanese writer and academic (b. 1944)
- 1989R. D. Laing, Scottish psychiatrist (b. 1927)
- 1990David Rose, American composer and orchestra leader (b. 1910)
- 1994Zoltán Fábri, Hungarian film director and screenwriter (b. 1917)
- 1995Dwayne Goettel, Canadian musician (Skinny Puppy)(b. 1964)
- 1996Margaret Tucker Indigenous Australian activist and autobiographer (b. 1904)
- 1997John Kendrew, British molecular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (b. 1917)
- 1999James White, Northern Irish writer (b. 1928)
- 1999Norman Wexler, American screenwriter (b. 1926)
- 2000John Anthony Kaiser, Roman Catholic priest (b. 1932)
- 2001Kathleen Freeman, American actress (b. 1919)
- 2001Peter Maas, American novelist (b. 1929)
- 2002Hoyt Wilhelm, American baseball player (b. 1922)
- 2003Bobby Bonds, American baseball player and manager (b. 1946)
- 2003Jack Dyer, Australian rules footballer (b. 1913)
- 2003John Geoghan, American Catholic priest (b. 1935)
- 2005Brock Peters, American actor (b. 1927)
- 2005Ninjalicious, Canadian author and urban explorer (b. 1973)
- 2006Maynard Ferguson, Canadian jazz trumpeter and bandleader (b. 1928)
- 2007Robert Symonds, American actor (b. 1926)
- 2008John Russell, British-born American art critic and author (b. 1919)
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