December 23
is the 357th day of the year in the
Gregorian Calendar (358th in
leap years). There are 8 days remaining. It is the last day of the Autumn season in the
Northern Hemisphere, in the
Southern Hemisphere, the last day of the spring season.
*
619 -
Boniface V becomes
Pope.
*
1493 - Georg Alt's German translation of
Hartmann Schedel's
Nuremberg Chronicle is published.
*
1783 -
George Washington resigns as
commander-in-chief of the
Continental Army at the
Maryland State House in
Annapolis, Maryland.
*
1823 - The poem
A Visit From St. Nicholas (AKA
The Night Before Christmas) is published in the
Sentinel.
*
1888 -
Vincent Van Gogh cuts off the lower part of his left ear, takes it to a brothel, and gives it to a prostitute named Rachel.
*
1913 - The
Federal Reserve Act is signed into law by President
Woodrow Wilson, creating the
Federal Reserve.
*
1916 -
World War I:
Battle of Magdhaba -
Allied forces defeat
Turkish forces in
Egypt's
Sinai peninsula.
*
1936 -
Colombia becomes a signatory to the
Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
*
1947 - The
transistor is first demonstrated at
Bell Laboratories.
*
1954 - The first human
kidney transplant is performed by Dr.
Joseph E. Murray at
Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in
Boston, Massachusetts.
*
1970 - The North Tower of the
World Trade Center is topped out at 1,368 feet, making it the tallest building in the world.
*
1972 - The
Nicaraguan capital of
Managua is struck by a 6.5 magnitude
earthquake, killing more than 10,000.
*
1972 - All 16 survivors of the October 13 crash of
Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 are rescued.
*
1979 -
Soviet war in Afghanistan:
Soviet forces occupy
Kabul, the Afghan capital.
*
1982 - The
Environmental Protection Agency announces it has identified dangerous levels of
dioxin in the soil of
Times Beach, Missouri.
*
1986 -
Voyager, piloted by
Dick Rutan and
Jeana Yeager, lands at
Edwards Air Force Base in
California and becomes the first aircraft to fly non-stop around the world.
*
1990 -
History of Slovenia: 88% of
Slovenia's population vote for independence from
Yugoslavia in a referendum.
*
2004 -
Macquarie Island in the
Southern Ocean is hit by an 8.1 magnitude
earthquake.
*
2005 -
Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 217 from
Baku, Azerbaijan to
Aktau, Kazakhstan crashed shortly after takeoff killing 23 people.
* 2005 -
Chad declares a
state of war against
Sudan following a December 18th attack on
Adre, which left about 100 people dead.
*
1503 -
Nostradamus French physician and prophet (d.
1566)
*
1513 -
Thomas Smith, English diplomat and scholar (d.
1577)
*
1537 - King
John III of Sweden (d.
1592)
*
1582 -
Severo Bonini, Italian composer (d.
1663)
*
1597 -
Martin Opitz von Boberfeld, German poet (d.
1639)
*
1613 -
Carl Gustaf Wrangel, Swedish soldier (d.
1676)
*
1621 -
Edmund Berry Godfrey, English magistrate (d.
1678)
*
1621 -
Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham,
Lord Chancellor of England (d.
1682)
*
1689 -
Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, French composer (d.
1755)
*
1732 -
Richard Arkwright, English industrialist and inventor (d.
1792)
*
1743 -
Ippolit Bogdanovich, Russian poet (d.
1803)
*
1750 - King
Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (d.
1827)
*
1777 - Tsar
Alexander I of Russia (d.
1825)
*
1790 -
Jean François Champollion, French Egyptologist (d.
1832)
*
1804 -
Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, French literary critic (d.
1869)
*
1805 -
Joseph Smith, Jr., American founder of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d.
1844)
*
1819 -
Jan Jakob Lodewijk ten Kate, Dutch poet and clergyman (d.
1889)
*
1822 -
Wilhelm Bauer, German engineer (d.
1875)
*
1864 -
Zorka of Montenegro, Princess of Serbia (d.
1890)
*
1867 -
Madame C. J. Walker, American millionaire (d.
1919)
*
1878 -
Stephen Timoshenko, Ukrainian-born mechanical engineer (d.
1972)
*
1885 -
Pierre Brissaud, French artist (d.
1964)
*
1891 -
Alexandr Rodchenko, Russian painter and photographer (d.
1956)
*
1907 -
Avraham Stern, Polish-born Zionist leader (d.
1942)
*
1908 -
Yousuf Karsh, Turkish-born photographer (d.
2002)
*
1911 -
Niels Kaj Jerne, English-born immunologist, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d.
1994)
*
1918 -
Helmut Schmidt,
Chancellor of Germany*
1918 -
José Greco, Italian-born flamenco dancer (d.
2001)
*
1922 -
Micheline Ostermeyer, French athlete and musician
*
1923 -
Günther Schifter, Austrian music journalist
* 1923 -
Claudio Scimone, Italian conductor
* 1923 -
James Stockdale, U.S. Navy admiral (d.
2005)
*
1926 -
Robert Bly, American poet
*
1931 -
Ronnie Schell, American actor
*
1933 -
Akihito,
Emperor of Japan*
1935 -
Paul Hornung, American football player
*
1936 -
Frederic Forrest, American actor
*
1938 -
Bob Kahn, American Internet pioneer
*
1940 -
Jorma Kaukonen, American musician
*
1941 -
Tim Hardin, American musician (d.
1980)
*
1943 -
Mikhail Gromov, Russian-born mathematician
* 1943 -
Harry Shearer, American actor
* 1943 -
Silvia Sommerlath, Queen of Sweden
* 1943 -
Ron Allen, Baseball player
*
1944 -
Wesley Clark, U.S. general and NATO Supreme Allied Commander
*
1946 -
Susan Lucci, American actress
*
1948 -
Jack Ham, American football player
*
1949 -
Adrian Belew, American musician
*
1950 -
Michael C. Burgess, American politician
*
1951 -
Anthony Phillips, British guitarist (
Genesis)
*
1952 -
William Kristol, American political commentator
*
1955 -
Bruce Hornsby, American singer, pianist (
Bruce Hornsby & the Range)
*
1956 -
Dave Murray, English guitarist (
Iron Maiden)
*
1958 -
Victoria Williams, American singer
*
1961 -
Carol Smillie, British television personality
*
1963 -
Jim Harbaugh, American football player
*
1964 -
Eddie Vedder, American musician (
Pearl Jam)
*
1968 -
Carla Bruni, Italian-French model, songwriter and singer
*
1969 -
Martha Byrne, American actress
*
1970 -
Catriona LeMay Doan, Canadian speed skater
*
1970 -
Raymont Harris, American football player
*
1971 -
Corey Haim, Canadian actor
* 1971 -
Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, British socialite
*
1974 -
Agustín Delgado, Ecuadorian footballer
*
1975 -
Sky Lopez, American actress
*
1976 -
Jamie Noble, American professional wrestler
*
1977 -
Alge Crumpler, American football player
*
1978 -
Andra Davis, American football player
* 1978 -
Esthero, Canadian musician and singer
* 1978 -
Víctor Martínez, Venezuelan
Major League Baseball player
* 1978 -
Estella Warren, Canadian model and actress
* 1978 -
Jodie Marsh, British adult model
*
1979 -
Summer Altice, American model and actress
*
1981 -
Beth, Spanish singer
*
1985 -
Harry Judd, British drummer (
McFly)
*
910 -
Naum of Preslav, Bulgarian scholar
*
913 -
Conrad of Franconia*
1230 -
Berengaria of Navarre, queen of
Richard I of England*
1556 -
Nicholas Udall, English playwright (b.
1504)
*
1568 -
Roger Ascham, tutor of
Elizabeth I of England
*
1575 -
Akiyama Nobutomo, Japanese warrior (b.
1531)
*
1588 -
Henry I, Duke of Guise, French Catholic leader (b.
1550)
*
1631 -
Michael Drayton, English poet (b.
1563)
*
1646 -
François Maynard, French poet (b.
1582)
*
1652 -
John Cotton, founder of Boston, Massachusetts (b.
1585)
*
1675 -
Caesar, duc de Choiseul, French marshal and diplomat (b.
1602)
*
1722 -
Pierre Varignon, French mathematician (b.
1654)
*
1771 -
Marie-Marguerite d'Youville, Canadian saint (b.
1701)
*
1761 -
Alestair Ruadh MacDonnell, Scottish Jacobite spy
*
1779 -
Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol, British admiral and politician (b.
1724)
*
1789 -
Charles-Michel de l'Épée, French philanthropist and developer of signed French (b.
1712)
*
1793 -
Johann Adolph Hasse, German composer (b.
1699)
*
1795 -
Henry Clinton, British general (b.
1730)
*
1805 -
Pehr Osbeck, Swedish explorer and naturalist (b.
1723)
*
1834 -
Thomas Malthus, English demographer and economist (b.
1766)
*
1846 -
Jean Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent, French naturalist (b.
1780)
*
1872 -
Theophile Gautier, French writer (b.
1811)
*
1902 -
Frederick Temple,
Archbishop of Canterbury (b.
1821)
*
1912 -
Otto Schoetensack, German anthropologist (b.
1850)
*
1939 -
Anthony Fokker, Dutch aircraft manufacturer (b.
1890)
*
1948 -
Hideki Tojo,
Prime Minister of Japan (hanged) (b.
1884)
*1948 -
Akira Muto, Japanese army commander (hanged) (b.
1883)
*
1953 -
Lavrenty Beria, Soviet Communist leader (b.
1899)
*
1954 -
René Iché, French sculptor (b.
1897)
*
1970 -
Charles Ruggles, American actor (b.
1886)
*
1973 -
Charles Atlas, Italian-born bodybuilder (b.
1892)
*1973 -
Irna Phillips, American television writer, director, and producer (b.
1901)
*
1979 -
Peggy Guggenheim, American art collector (b.
1898)
*
1982 -
Jack Webb, American actor, producer, and director (b.
1920)
*
1983 -
Colin Middleton, Northern Irish artist (b.
1910)
*
1992 -
Vincent Fourcade, French American interior designer and socialite (b.
1934)
* 1992 -
Eddie Hazel, American guitarist (
Funkadelic) (b.
1950)
*
1994 -
Sebastian Shaw, English actor (b.
1905)
*
2000 -
Billy Barty, American actor (b.
1924)
* 2000 -
Victor Borge, Danish-born comedian and pianist (b.
1909)
*
2004 -
P. V. Narasimha Rao, ninth
Prime Minister of India (b.
1921)
*
2005 -
Norman D. Vaughan, polar explorer and dogsled driver (b.
1905)
* 2005 -
Lajos Baróti, Hungarian footballer and coach (b.
1914)
*
Roman festivals -
Larentalia, a festival in honor of
Larenta*
R.C. Saints -
John Cantius ;
Thorlac Thorhallsson, patron saint of Iceland
*
Japan -
The Emperor's Birthday - Birthday of
Akihito, the current
Emperor of Japan*Ancient
Latvia -
Ziemassvetki held
*
Sweden - Birthday of Queen
Silvia, an
official flag day*
Oaxaca -
Night of the Radishes*
Secular humanism (American) -
HumanLight observed
Fictitious holidays
*
Festivus (from sitcom
Seinfeld)
*
BBC: On This Day*
Today in History: December 23December 22 -
December 24 -
November 23 -
January 23 --
listing of all days
