What happened on January 23? There are more than 280 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 January 23
January 23 is the 23rd day of the year 2024. There are 343 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Tuesday. This day falls under the 4th week of the year 2024.
On this day in Stirling, New Jersey 07980 sunrise occured at 07:13 AM and sunset occured at 05:05 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Aquarius. The modern birthstone for this month is Garnet while the mystical birthstone is Emerald.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 18 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (February 10, 2024).
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 18 famous birthdays. There are fun facts about that day that you must know. (Sponsored link)
Historical Events For January 23
- 3102 BCEEpoch (origin) of the Kali Yuga.
- 393Roman Emperor Theodosius I proclaims his eight year old son Honorius co-emperor.
- 971In China, the war elephant corps of the Southern Han are soundly defeated at Shao by crossbow fire from Song Dynasty troops.
- 1368In a coronation ceremony, Zhu Yuanzhang ascends to the throne of China as the Hongwu Emperor, initiating Ming Dynasty rule over China that would last for three centuries.
- 1510Henry VIII of England, then 18 years old, appears incognito in the lists at Richmond, and is applauded for his jousting before he reveals his identity.
- 1533Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII of England, discovers herself pregnant.
- 1546Having published nothing for eleven years, François Rabelais publishes the Tiers Livre, his sequel to Gargantua and Pantagruel.
- 1556The deadliest earthquake in history, the Shaanxi earthquake, hits Shaanxi province, China. The death toll may have been as high as 830,000.
- 1570James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, regent for the infant King James VI of Scotland, is assassinated by firearm, the first recorded instance of such.
- 1571The Royal Exchange opens in London.
- 1579The Union of Utrecht forms a Protestant republic in the Netherlands.
- 1656Blaise Pascal publishes the first of his Lettres provinciales.
- 1719The Principality of Liechtenstein is created within the Holy Roman Empire.
- 1789Georgetown College, the first Catholic University in the United States, is founded in Georgetown, Maryland (now a part of Washington, D.C.)
- 1793Second Partition of Poland: Russia and Prussia partition Poland for the second time.
- 1849Elizabeth Blackwell is awarded her M.D. by the Geneva Medical College of Geneva, New York, becoming the United States’ first female doctor.
- 1855The first bridge over the Mississippi River opens in what is now Minneapolis, Minnesota, a crossing made today by the Father Louis Hennepin Bridge.
- 1870In Montana, U.S. cavalrymen kill 173 Native Americans, mostly women and children, in the Marias Massacre.
- 1879Anglo-Zulu War: the Battle of Rorke’s Drift ends.
- 1897Elva Zona Heaster is found dead in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. The resulting murder trial of her husband is perhaps the only case in United States history where the alleged testimony of a ghost helped secure a conviction.
- 1899Emilio Aguinaldo is sworn in as President of the First Philippine Republic.
- 1900The Battle of Spion Kop between the forces of the South African Republic and the Orange Free State and British forces during the Second Boer War resulted in a British defeat.
- 1904Ålesund Fire: the Norwegian coastal town Ålesund is devastated by fire, leaving 10,000 people homeless and one person dead. Kaiser Wilhelm II funds the rebuilding of the town in Jugendstil style.
- 1907Charles Curtis of Kansas becomes the first Native American U.S. Senator.
- 1912The International Opium Convention is signed at The Hague.
- 1920The Netherlands refuses to surrender ex-Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany to the Allies.
- 1937In Moscow, 17 leading Communists go on trial accused of participating in a plot led by Leon Trotsky to overthrow Joseph Stalin’s regime and assassinate its leaders.
- 1941Charles Lindbergh testifies before the U.S. Congress and recommends that the United States negotiate a neutrality pact with Adolf Hitler.
- 1942World War II: The Battle of Rabaul begins, the first fighting of the New Guinea campaign.
- 1943Duke Ellington plays at Carnegie Hall in New York City for the first time.
- 1943World War II: Australian and American forces finally defeat the Japanese army in Papua. This turning point in the Pacific War marks the beginning of the end of Japanese aggression.
- 1943World War II: The Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse on Guadalcanal during the Guadalcanal campaign ends.
- 1943World War II: Troops of Montgomery’s 8th Army capture Tripoli in Libya from the German-Italian Panzer Army.
- 1945World War II: Karl Dönitz launches Operation Hannibal.
- 1950The Knesset passes a resolution that states Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.
- 1958Overthrow in Venezuela of Marcos Pérez Jiménez
- 1960The bathyscaphe USS Trieste breaks a depth record by descending to 10,911 m (35,798 feet) in the Pacific Ocean.
- 1961The Portuguese luxury cruise ship Santa Maria is hijacked by foes of the Estado Novo regime with the intention of waging war until dictator António de Oliveira Salazar was overthrown.
- 1963Guinea-Bissau War of Independence officially begins when PAIGC guerrilla fighters attacked the Portuguese army stationed in Tite.
- 1964The 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution, prohibiting the use of poll taxes in national elections, is ratified.
- 1967Diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Ivory Coast are established.
- 1968North Korea seizes the USS Pueblo, claiming the ship had violated their territorial waters while spying.
- 1973A volcanic eruption devastates Heimaey in the Vestmannaeyjar chain of islands off the south coast of Iceland.
- 1973President Richard Nixon announces that a peace accord has been reached in Vietnam.
- 1986The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts its first members: Little Richard, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley.
- 1997Antonis Daglis, a 23-year-old Greek truck driver is sentenced to thirteen consecutive life sentences, plus 25 years for the serial slayings of three women and the attempted murder of six others.
- 1997Madeleine Albright becomes the first woman to serve as United States Secretary of State.
- 2002“American Taliban” John Walker Lindh returns to the United States in FBI custody.
- 2002Reporter Daniel Pearl is kidnapped in Karachi, Pakistan and subsequently murdered .
- 2003Final communication between Earth and Pioneer 10.
- 2009Dendermonde nursery attack in Dendermonde, Belgium.
- 2012New Year’s Day in Chinese calendar. Start of the year of the Water Dragon in Chinese astrology.
Who Were Born On January 23?
- 1350Vincent Ferrer, Spanish missionary and saint (d. 1419)
- 1688Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden (d. 1741)
- 1719John Landen, English mathematician (d. 1790)
- 1737John Hancock, American patriot (d. 1793)
- 1745William Jessop, English canal engineer (d. 1814)
- 1783Stendhal, French writer (d. 1842)
- 1786Auguste de Montferrand, French architect (d. 1858)
- 1809Veer Surendra Sai, Indian Freedom Fighter (d. 1884)
- 1813Camilla Collett, Norwegian writer and feminist (d. 1895)
- 1828Saigō Takamori, Samurai, leader of Satsuma rebellion (d. 1877)
- 1832Édouard Manet, French artist (d. 1883)
- 1840Ernst Abbe, German physicist (d. 1905)
- 1855John Moses Browning, American inventor (d. 1926)
- 1857Andrija Mohorovičić, Croatian seismologist (d. 1936)
- 1862David Hilbert, German mathematician (d. 1943)
- 1872Joze Plečnik, Slovenian architect (d. 1957)
- 1872Paul Langevin, French physicist (d. 1946)
- 1876Otto Diels, German chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1954)
- 1881Luisa Casati, Artist’s patroness, muse and fashion icon (d. 1957)
- 1884George McManus American cartoonist (d. 1954)
- 1884Ralph DePalma, Italian-American race car driver (d. 1956)
- 1896Alf Hall, South African cricketer (d. 1964)
- 1896Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (d. 1985)
- 1897Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, Austrian architect (d. 2000)
- 1897Sir William Samuel Stephenson, Canadian soldier, W.W.II codename, Intrepid. Inspiration for James Bond. (d. 1989)
- 1897Subhas Chandra Bose, Indian independence fighter (d. 1945)
- 1898Freda Utley, British scholar and author (d. 1978)
- 1898Randolph Scott, American actor (d. 1987)
- 1898Sergei Eisenstein, Russian film director (d. 1948)
- 1899Glen Kidston, British aviator and racing driver (d. 1931)
- 1900William Ifor Jones, Welsh conductor and organist (d. 1988)
- 1903Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, Colombian politician (d. 1948)
- 1907Dan Duryea, American actor (d. 1968)
- 1907Hideki Yukawa, Japanese physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1981)
- 1910Django Reinhardt, Belgian guitarist (d. 1953)
- 1912Boris Pokrovsky, Russian operatic stage director (d. 2009)
- 1913Jean-Michel Atlan, French painter (d. 1960)
- 1913Wally Parks, American racing executive, founder of the NHRA (d. 2007)
- 1915Arthur Lewis, British economist, Nobel laureate (d. 1991)
- 1915Potter Stewart, American Supreme Court Justice (d. 1985)
- 1916Airey Neave, British Major, politician and indictment server at the Nuremberg Trials (d. 1979)
- 1916David Douglas Duncan, American photo-journalist
- 1918Gertrude B. Elion, American scientist, Nobel laureate (d. 1999)
- 1919Bob Paisley, English football player and manager. (d. 1996)
- 1919Ernie Kovacs, American comedian (d. 1962)
- 1919Frances Bay, Canadian actress (d. 2011)
- 1919Hans Hass, Austrian zoologist and underwater scientist
- 1920Walter Frederick Morrison, American inventor (d. 2010)
- 1923Cot Deal, American baseball player and coach
- 1923Walter M. Miller, Jr., American writer (d. 1996)
- 1924Bal Thackeray, founder and president of Indian political party Shiv Sena
- 1924Frank Lautenberg, American politician
- 1927Jack Quinlan, Chicago Cubs Broadcaster (d. 1965)
- 1927Lars-Eric Lindblad, Swedish-American entrepreneur and explorer (d. 1994)
- 1928Chico Carrasquel, Venezuelan baseball player (d. 2005)
- 1928Jeanne Moreau, French actress
- 1929John Charles Polanyi, Canadian chemist, Nobel laureate
- 1929Myron Cope, American sports announcer
- 1929Patriarch Filaret (Mykhailo Denysenko) of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Kiev Patriarch
- 1930Derek Walcott, West Indian writer, Nobel laureate
- 1930Teresa Żylis-Gara, Polish singer
- 1933Chita Rivera, Puerto Rican actress and dancer
- 1934Pierre Bourgault, Quebec politician and essayist (d. 2003)
- 1935Bob Moses, American civil rights activist
- 1936Jerry Kramer, American football player
- 1938Georg Baselitz, German painter and sculptor
- 1938Shohei Baba, Japanese professional wrestler (d. 1999)
- 1939Arlene Golonka, American actress
- 1939Sonny Chiba, Japanese actor and martial artist
- 1940Joe Dowell, American singer
- 1940Johnny Russell, American country singer and songwriter (d. 2001)
- 1942Razzak, Bangladeshi actor and director
- 1943Gary Burton, American jazz vibraphonist
- 1943Gil Gerard, American actor
- 1944Rutger Hauer, Dutch actor
- 1945Mike Harris, Canadian politician, Premier of Ontario
- 1946Arnoldo Alemán, ex-president of Nicaragua
- 1946Don Whittington, American businessman, car & airplane racer and convicted felon
- 1947Megawati Sukarnoputri, 5th President of Indonesia
- 1947Thomas R. Carper, American politician, senior senator of Delaware
- 1948Anita Pointer, American singer (Pointer Sisters)
- 1950Danny Federici, American musician (Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band) (d. 2008)
- 1950John Greaves, English musician (Henry Cow, National Health)
- 1950Richard Dean Anderson, American actor
- 1951Chesley Sullenberger, Captain of US Airways Flight 1549, a flight that successfully ditched into the Hudson River
- 1952Omar Henry, South African cricketer
- 1953Alister E. McGrath, British theologian and scientist
- 1953Antonio Villaraigosa, Hispanic-American 52nd Mayor of Los Angeles
- 1953John Luther Adams, American composer
- 1953Robin Zander, American singer (Cheap Trick)
- 1954Edward Ka-Spel, English musician (Legendary Pink Dots)
- 1954Franco De Vita, Venezuelan singer and songwriter
- 1957Lou Schuler, American fitness journalist
- 1957Princess Caroline of Monaco
- 1959Clive Bull, English radio talk show host
- 1960Jean-François Sauvé, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1960Patrick de Gayardon, French skydiver and skysurfing pioneer (d. 1998)
- 1961Mas Selamat bin Kastari, Singapore’s most-wanted terror fugitive
- 1962Elvira Lindo, Spanish writer and journalist
- 1962Vasia Panayopoulou, Greek actress
- 1963Gail O'Grady, American actress
- 1964Bharrat Jagdeo, President of Guyana
- 1964Mario Roberge, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1964Mariska Hargitay, American actress
- 1965Louie Clemente, American drummer (Testament)
- 1966Haywoode Workman, American basketball player
- 1967Naim Süleymanoğlu, Bulgaria-born Turkish weightlifter
- 1968Petr Korda, Czech tennis player
- 1969Andrei Kanchelskis, Ukrainian-Russian footballer
- 1969Ariadna Gil, Spanish actress
- 1969Brendan Shanahan, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1970Brendan O'Connor, Irish journalist, satirist
- 1970Spyridon Vasdekis, Greek long jumper
- 1970Tracey Cherelle Jones, American actress
- 1971Adam Parore, New Zealand wicketkeeper (cricket)
- 1971Kevin Mawae, American football player
- 1971Marc Nelson, American R&B singer and lyricist
- 1971Scott Gibbs, Welsh rugby player
- 1972Ewen Bremner, Scottish actor
- 1972Lisa Snowdon, British model and TV presenter
- 1972Marcel Wouda, Dutch swimmer
- 1973Lanei Chapman, American actress
- 1973Tomas Holmström, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1974Joel Bouchard, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1974Rebekah Elmaloglou, Australian actress
- 1974Richard T. Slone, British artist
- 1974Sampsa Astala, Finnish musician (Lordi)
- 1974Tiffani Thiessen, American actress
- 1974Yosvani Pérez, Cuban baseball player
- 1975Phil Dawson, American football player
- 1975Tito Ortiz, American UFC fighter
- 1976Angelica Lee, Taiwanese actress and singer
- 1976Brandon Duckworth, American baseball player
- 1976Nigel McGuinness, English professional wrestler
- 1976Tony Lucca, actor, singer and musician
- 1977Kamal Heer, Punjabi singer and musician
- 1979Dawn Porter, British television presnter
- 1979Juan Rincón, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1979Larry Hughes, American basketball player
- 1981Julia Jones, Native American actress
- 1981Rob Friend, Canadian footballer
- 1982Patrick Levis, American actor
- 1982Wily Mo Peña, Dominican baseball player
- 1984Arjen Robben, Dutch footballer
- 1985Dong Fangzhuo, Chinese footballer
- 1985Doutzen Kroes, Dutch supermodel
- 1986Anne Foy, British children’s television presenter
- 1986Benjamin Griesert, German footballer
- 1986José Enrique Sánchez, Spanish footballer
- 1986Steven Taylor, English footballer
- 1987Felicia Brandström, Swedish singer
- 1988Alan Power, Irish footballer
- 1989April Pearson, British actress
- 1990Martyn Waghorn, English footballer
Who Died On January 23?
- 1002Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 980)
- 1199Yaqub, Almohad Caliph (b. 1160)
- 1548Bernardo Pisano, Italian composer (b. 1490)
- 1549Johannes Honter, Transylvanian Saxon humanist and theologian (b. 1498)
- 1567Jiajing, Emperor of China (b. 1507)
- 1570James Stewart, Earl of Moray, regent of Scotland (assassinated)
- 1622William Baffin, English explorer
- 1744Giambattista Vico, Italian philosopher and historian (b. 1668)
- 1785Matthew Stewart, Scottish mathematician (b. 1717)
- 1789Frances Brooke, English writer (b. 1724)
- 1789John Cleland, English novelist (b. 1709)
- 1800Edward Rutledge, American statesman (b. 1749)
- 1803Arthur Guinness, Irish brewer (b. 1725)
- 1805Claude Chappe, French telecommunications pioneer (b. 1763)
- 1806William Pitt the Younger, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1759)
- 1810Johann Wilhelm Ritter, German chemist and physicist (b. 1776)
- 1812Robert Craufurd, British general (b. 1764)
- 1820Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (b. 1767)
- 1833Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, British admiral (b. 1757)
- 1837John Field, Irish composer (b. 1782)
- 1866Thomas Love Peacock, English satirist (b. 1785)
- 1875Charles Kingsley English writer (b. 1819)
- 1883Gustave Doré, French artist, engraver, and illustrator (b. 1832)
- 1893Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (b. 1825)
- 1921Mykola Leontovych, Ukrainian composer (b. 1877)
- 1922Arthur Nikisch, Hungarian conductor (b. 1855)
- 1923Max Nordau, Austrian author, philosopher, and Zionist leader (b. 1849)
- 1931Anna Pavlova, Russian ballerina (b. 1881)
- 1937Orso Mario Corbino, Italian physicist (b. 1876)
- 1939Matthias Sindelar, Austrian footballer (b. 1903)
- 1943Alexander Woollcott, American actor, author, and bon vivant (b. 1887)
- 1944Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter (b. 1863)
- 1944Viktor Gusev, Russian poet (b. 1909)
- 1956Alexander Korda, Hungarian/British film director (b. 1893)
- 1957Willie Edwards, Murder victim/killed by KKK members (b. 1932)
- 1958Nikolaos Georgantas, Greek discus thrower (b. 1880)
- 1963Józef Gosławski, Polish sculptor and medallic artist (b. 1908)
- 1971Fritz Feigl, Austria-born chemist (b. 1871)
- 1973Alexander Onassis, Greek heir of the Onassis family (b. 1948)
- 1973Kid Ory, American jazz trombonist (b. 1886)
- 1976Paul Dupuis, French Canadian film and television actor (b. 1913)
- 1976Paul Robeson, American actor, singer, and social activist (b. 1898)
- 1977Toots Shor, New York restaurateur (b. 1903)
- 1978Jack Oakie, American actor (b. 1903)
- 1978Terry Kath, American musician (Chicago) (b. 1946)
- 1978Vic Ames, American singer (Ames Brothers) (b. 1925)
- 1981Samuel Barber, American composer (b. 1910)
- 1983Fred Bakewell, English cricketer (b. 1908)
- 1984Mu'in Bseiso, Palestinian poet (b. 1926)
- 1986Joseph Beuys, German artist (b. 1921)
- 1988Charles Glen King, American biochemist (b. 1896)
- 1989Salvador Dalí, Catalan artist (b. 1904)
- 1990Allen Collins, American guitarist (Lynyrd Skynyrd) (b. 1952)
- 1991Northrop Frye, Canadian writer and critic (b. 1912)
- 1992Freddie Bartholomew, Irish actor (b. 1924)
- 1993Thomas A. Dorsey, American singer (b. 1899)
- 1994Brian Redhead, English journalist and broadcaster (b. 1929)
- 1994Nikolai Ogarkov, Soviet field marshal (b. 1917)
- 1997Richard Berry, American composer and musician (b. 1935)
- 1999Jay Pritzker, American businessman (b. 1922)
- 1999Joe D'Amato, Italian director (b. 1936)
- 1999Prince Lincoln Thompson, Jamaican musician (b. 1949)
- 2002Paul Aars, American racecar driver (b. 1934)
- 2002Pierre Bourdieu, French sociologist (b. 1930)
- 2002Robert Nozick, American philosopher (b. 1938)
- 2003Nell Carter, American singer and actress (b. 1948)
- 2004Bob Keeshan, American actor (b. 1927)
- 2004Helmut Newton, German-born photographer (b. 1920)
- 2005Johnny Carson, American television host (b. 1925)
- 2005Morys George Lyndhurst Bruce, 4th Baron Aberdare, British politician (b. 1921)
- 2006Chris McKinstry, Canadian scientist (b. 1967)
- 2007E. Howard Hunt, American Watergate figure (b. 1918)
- 2007Ryszard Kapuściński, Polish journalist and writer (b. 1932)
- 2007Syed Hussein Alatas, Malaysian Politician (b. 1928)
- 2009Robert W. Scott, American politician, governor of North Carolina (b. 1929)
- 2011Jack LaLanne, American fitness and nutritional expert (b. 1914)
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