March 23

Historic Events

2026

An Aerospace Force Lockheed C-130 crashes during take-off in Puerto Leguízamo, Colombia, killing 69 people. ›

2025

Israel Defense Forces kill 15 aid workers in the Rafah paramedic massacre. ›

2021

A container ship runs aground and obstructs the Suez Canal for six days. ›

2020

Prime Minister Boris Johnson puts the United Kingdom into its first national lockdown in response to COVID-19. ›

2019

The Kazakh capital of Astana is renamed to Nur-Sultan. ›

2019

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces capture the town of Baghuz in Eastern Syria, declaring military victory over the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant after four years of fighting, although the group maintains a scattered presence and sleeper cells across Syria and Iraq. ›

2018

President of Peru Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigns from the presidency amid a mass corruption scandal before certain impeachment by the opposition-majority Congress of Peru. ›

2014

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports cases of Ebola in the forested rural region of southeastern Guinea, marking the beginning of the largest Ebola outbreak in history. ›

2010

The Affordable Care Act becomes law in the United States. ›

2009

FedEx Express Flight 80: A McDonnell Douglas MD-11 flying from Guangzhou, China crashes at Tokyo's Narita International Airport, killing both the captain and the co-pilot. ›

2008

Official opening of Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad, India. ›

2003

Battle of Nasiriyah, first major conflict during the invasion of Iraq. ›

2001

The Russian Mir space station is disposed of, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji. ›

1999

Gunmen assassinate Paraguay's Vice President Luis María Argaña. ›

1996

Taiwan holds its first direct elections and chooses Lee Teng-hui as President. ›

1994

At an election rally in Tijuana, Mexican presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio is assassinated by Mario Aburto Martínez. ›

1994

A United States Air Force (USAF) F-16 aircraft collides with a USAF C-130 at Pope Air Force Base and then crashes, killing 24 United States Army soldiers on the ground alongside destroying a Starlifter by accident. This later became known as the Green Ramp disaster. ›

1994

Aeroflot Flight 593 crashes into the Kuznetsk Alatau mountain, Kemerovo Oblast, Russia, killing 75. ›

1991

The Revolutionary United Front, with support from the special forces of Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia, invades Sierra Leone in an attempt to overthrow Joseph Saidu Momoh, sparking the 11-year Sierra Leone Civil War. ›

1988

Angolan and Cuban forces defeat South Africa in the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale. ›

1983

Strategic Defense Initiative: President Ronald Reagan makes his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles. ›

1982

Guatemala's government, headed by Fernando Romeo Lucas García, is overthrown in a military coup by right-wing General Efraín Ríos Montt. ›

1980

Archbishop Óscar Romero of El Salvador gives his famous speech appealing to men of the El Salvadoran armed forces to stop killing the Salvadorans. ›

1978

The first UNIFIL troops arrive in Lebanon for a peacekeeping mission along the Blue Line. ›

1977

The first of The Nixon Interviews (12 will be recorded over four weeks) is videotaped with British journalist David Frost interviewing former United States President Richard Nixon about the Watergate scandal and the Nixon tapes. ›

1965

NASA launches Gemini 3, the United States' first two-man space flight (crew: Gus Grissom and John Young). ›

1956

Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic in the world. This date is now celebrated as Republic Day in Pakistan. ›

1940

The Lahore Resolution (Qarardad-e-Pakistan or Qarardad-e-Lahore) is put forward at the Annual General Convention of the All-India Muslim League. ›

1939

The Hungarian air force attacks the headquarters of the Slovak air force in Spišská Nová Ves, killing 13 people and beginning the Slovak–Hungarian War. ›

1935

Signing of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Philippines. ›

1933

The Reichstag passes the Enabling Act of 1933, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany. ›

1931

Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar are hanged for the killing of a deputy superintendent of police during the Indian independence movement. ›

1919

In Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini founds his Fascist political movement. ›

1918

First World War: On the third day of the German Spring Offensive, the 10th Battalion of the Royal West Kent Regiment is annihilated with many of the men becoming prisoners of war. ›

1913

A tornado outbreak kills more than 240 people in the central United States, while an ongoing flood in the Ohio River watershed was killing 650 people. ›

1909

Theodore Roosevelt leaves New York for a post-presidency safari in Africa. The trip is sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society. ›

1905

Eleftherios Venizelos calls for Crete's union with Greece, and begins what is to be known as the Theriso revolt. ›

1901

Emilio Aguinaldo, only President of the First Philippine Republic, is captured at Palanan, Isabela by the forces of American General Frederick Funston. ›

1889

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is established by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in Qadian, British India. ›

1888

In England, The Football League, the world's oldest professional association football league, meets for the first time. ›

1885

Sino-French War: Chinese victory in the Battle of Phu Lam Tao near Hưng Hóa, northern Vietnam. ›

1879

War of the Pacific: The Battle of Topáter, the first battle of the war, is fought between Chile and the joint forces of Bolivia and Peru. ›

1868

The University of California is founded in Oakland, California when the Organic Act is signed into law. ›

1857

Elisha Otis's first elevator is installed at 488 Broadway New York City. ›

1848

The ship John Wickliffe arrives at Port Chalmers carrying the first Scottish settlers for Dunedin, New Zealand. Otago province is founded. ›

1839

A massive earthquake destroys the former capital Inwa of the Konbaung dynasty, present-day Myanmar. ›

1821

Greek War of Independence: Battle and fall of city of Kalamata. ›

1806

After traveling through the Louisiana Purchase and reaching the Pacific Ocean, explorers Lewis and Clark and their Corps of Discovery begin their arduous journey home. ›

1801

Tsar Paul I of Russia is struck with a sword, then strangled, and finally trampled to death inside his bedroom at St. Michael's Castle. ›

1775

American Revolutionary War: Patrick Henry delivers his speech – "Give me liberty or give me death!" – at St. John's Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia. ›

1568

The Peace of Longjumeau is signed, ending the second phase of the French Wars of Religion. ›

1540

Waltham Abbey in England is surrendered to King Henry VIII, the last religious community to be closed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. ›

1400

The Trần dynasty of Vietnam is deposed, after one hundred and seventy-five years of rule, by Hồ Quý Ly, a court official. ›

625

The Muslim army under Muhammad suffers a defeat against the Quraysh in the battle of Uhud. ›