Today in History
October 23
| 4004 BC | According to 17th century divine James Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh, and Dr. John Lightfoot of Cambridge, the world was created on this day, a Sunday, at 9 a.m. | |
| 1641 | Rebellion in Ireland. Catholics, under Phelim O’Neil, rise against the Protestants and massacred men, women and children to the number of 40,000 (some say 100,000). | |
| 1694 | American colonial forces led by Sir William Phips, fail in their attempt to seize Quebec. | |
| 1707 | The first Parliament of Great Britain meets. | |
| 1783 | Virginia emancipates slaves who fought for independence during the Revolutionary War. | |
| 1861 | President Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus in Washington, D.C. for all military-related cases. | |
| 1918 | President Wilson feels satisfied that the Germans are accepting his armistice terms and agrees to transmit their request for an armistice to the Allies. The Germans have agreed to suspend submarine warfare, cease inhumane practices such as the use of poison gas, and withdraw troops back into Germany. | |
| 1929 | The first transcontinental air service begins from New York to Los Angeles. | |
| 1942 | The Western Task Force, destined for North Africa, departs from Hampton Roads, Virginia. | |
| 1952 | The Nobel Prize for Medicine is awarded to Ukranian-born microbiologist Selmart A. Waksman for his discovery of an effective treatment of tuberculosis. | |
| 1954 | In Paris, an agreement is signed providing for West German sovereignty and permitting West Germany to rearm and enter NATO and the Western European Union. | |
| 1973 | A U.N. sanctioned cease-fire officially ends the Yom Kippur war between Israel and Syria. | |
| 1983 | A truck filled with explosives, driven by a Moslem terrorist, crashes into the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. The bomb kills 237 Marines and injures 80. Almost simultaneously, a similar incident occurs at French military headquarters, where 58 die and 15 are injured. | |
| 1989 | The Hungarian Republic replaces the communist Hungarian People’s Republic. | |
| 1998 | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat reach a "land for peace" agreement. | |
| 2002 | Chechen terrorists take 700 theater-goers hostage at the House of Culture theater in Moscow. | |
| 2004 | An earthquake in Japan kills 35, injures 2,200, and leaves 85,000 homeless or displaced. | |
| 2011 | Libiyan National Transition Council declares the Libyan civil war is over. | |
| 2012 | The world’s oldest teletext service, BBC’s Ceefax, ceases operation. | |
| Born on October 23 | ||
| 1750 | Nicolas Appert, the inventor of canning. | |
| 1805 | John Bartlett, lexicographer best known for Bartlett’s Quotations. | |
| 1844 | Sarah Bernhardt, French actress. | |
| 1869 | John Heisman, American college football coach for whom the Heisman Trophy is named. | |
| 1925 | Johnny Carson, American television personality who hosted the Tonight Show. | |
| 1940 | Pele, legendary Brazilian soccer player who scored 1,281 goals in 22 years | |
| 1942 | Michael Crichton, writer (Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain). | |
| 1951 | Fatmir Sejdiu, first President of the Republic of Kosovo (2006– ). | |
| 1953 | Altug Taner Akcam, Turkish historian and sociologist; among the first Turkish historians to discuss the Armenian genocide; sued Turkish government before European Court of Human Rights for denying his rights, under a law that punishes incidents of insulting "Turkishness." | |
| 1954 | Ang Lee, Taiwanese-born American film director; won Academy Award for Best Director in 2005 (Brokeback Mountain) and 2012 (Life of Pi). | |
| 1959 | Alfred "Weird Al" Yankovic, singer, songwriter, satirist; known for his humorous rewrites of popular songs and parodies of pop culture. | |
| 1962 | Doug Flutie, collegiate and pro football quarterback; won Heisman Trophy and Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award (1984). | |
| 1991 | Princess Mako of Akishino, first-born granddaughter of Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko. | |
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