June 23

Historic Events

2018

Twelve boys and an assistant coach from a soccer team in Thailand are trapped in a flooding cave, leading to an 18-day rescue operation. ›

2017

A series of terrorist attacks take place in Pakistan, resulting in 96 deaths and wounding 200 others. ›

2016

Brexit: The United Kingdom votes in a referendum to leave the European Union, by 52% to 48%. ›

2014

The last of Syria's declared chemical weapons are shipped out for destruction. ›

2013

Nik Wallenda becomes the first man to successfully walk across the Grand Canyon on a tight rope. ›

2013

Militants storm a high-altitude mountaineering base camp near Nanga Parbat in Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan, killing ten climbers and a local guide. ›

2012

Ashton Eaton breaks the decathlon world record at the United States Olympic Trials. ›

2005

American social news and discussion site Reddit is founded in Medford, Massachusetts by Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian. ›

2001

The 8.4 Mw southern Peru earthquake shakes coastal Peru with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). A destructive tsunami followed, leaving at least 74 people dead, and 2,687 injured. ›

1994

NASA's Space Station Processing Facility, a new state-of-the-art manufacturing building for the International Space Station, officially opens at Kennedy Space Center. ›

1991

Sonic the Hedgehog is released in North America on the Sega Genesis platform, beginning the popular video game franchise. ›

1985

A terrorist bomb explodes at Narita International Airport near Tokyo, killing two and injuring four. An hour later, the same group detonates a second bomb aboard Air India Flight 182, bringing the Boeing 747 down off the coast of Ireland killing all 329 aboard. ›

1973

A fire at a house in Hull, England, which kills a six-year-old boy is passed off as an accident; it later emerges as the first of 26 deaths by fire caused over the next seven years by serial arsonist Peter Dinsdale. ›

1972

Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard M. Nixon and White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman are taped talking about illegally using the Central Intelligence Agency to obstruct the Federal Bureau of Investigation's investigation into the Watergate break-ins. ›

1972

Title IX of the United States Civil Rights Act of 1964 is amended to prohibit sexual discrimination to any educational program receiving federal funds. ›

1969

Warren E. Burger is sworn in as Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court by retiring Chief Justice Earl Warren. ›

1969

IBM announces that effective January 1970 it will price its software and services separately from hardware thus creating the modern software industry. ›

1968

Seventy-four people were killed and 150 others injured in a stampede at a football match between Boca Juniors and Club Atlético River Plate in Buenos Aires, Argentina. ›

1967

Cold War: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson meets with Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin in Glassboro, New Jersey for the three-day Glassboro Summit Conference. ›

1961

The Antarctic Treaty System, which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and limits military activity on the continent, its islands and ice shelves, comes into force. ›

1960

The United States Food and Drug Administration declares Enovid to be the first officially approved combined oral contraceptive pill in the world. ›

1959

Convicted Manhattan Project spy Klaus Fuchs is released after only nine years in prison and allowed to emigrate to Dresden, East Germany where he resumes a scientific career. ›

1956

The French National Assembly takes the first step in creating the French Community by passing the Loi Cadre, transferring a number of powers from Paris to elected territorial governments in French West Africa. ›

1951

The ocean liner SS United States is christened and launched. ›

1947

The United States Senate follows the United States House of Representatives in overriding U.S. President Harry S. Truman's veto of the Taft–Hartley Act. ›

1946

The 1946 Vancouver Island earthquake strikes Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. ›

1944

An F4 tornado tears through the Appalachian Mountains, killing over 100 people in West Virginia, particularly in the town of Shinnston. ›

1942

World War II: Germany's latest fighter aircraft, a Focke-Wulf Fw 190, is captured intact when it mistakenly lands at RAF Pembrey in Wales. ›

1941

The Lithuanian Activist Front declares independence from the Soviet Union and forms the Provisional Government of Lithuania; it lasts only briefly as the Nazis will occupy Lithuania a few weeks later. ›

1940

Henry Larsen begins the first successful west-to-east navigation of Northwest Passage from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. ›

1938

The Civil Aeronautics Act is signed into law, forming the Civil Aeronautics Authority in the United States. ›

1931

Wiley Post and Harold Gatty take off from Roosevelt Field, Long Island in an attempt to circumnavigate the world in a single-engine plane. ›

1926

The College Board administers the first SAT exam. ›

1925

Shameen Incident: British Army and French Army soldiers stationed in the concession of Shameen open fire on Chinese protesters, resulting in at least 52 deaths. ›

1919

Estonian War of Independence: The decisive defeat of the Baltische Landeswehr in the Battle of Cēsis; this date is celebrated as Victory Day in Estonia. ›

1914

Mexican Revolution: Pancho Villa takes Zacatecas from Victoriano Huerta. ›

1913

Second Balkan War: The Greeks defeat the Bulgarians in the Battle of Doiran. ›

1908

The Persian Cossack Brigade bombards the building of the National Consultative Assembly of Iran (Majles), killing hundreds of civilians. ›

1894

The International Olympic Committee is founded at the Sorbonne in Paris, at the initiative of Baron Pierre de Coubertin. ›

1887

The Rocky Mountains Park Act becomes law in Canada, creating the nation's first national park, Banff National Park. ›

1868

Christopher Latham Sholes receives a patent for an invention he called the "Type-Writer". ›

1865

American Civil War: At Fort Towson in the Oklahoma Territory, Confederate Brigadier General Stand Watie surrenders the last significant Confederate army. ›

1860

The United States Congress establishes the Government Printing Office. ›

1812

War of 1812: Great Britain revokes the restrictions on American commerce, thus eliminating one of the chief reasons for going to war. ›

1810

John Jacob Astor forms the Pacific Fur Company. ›

1794

Empress Catherine II of Russia grants Jews permission to settle in Kyiv. ›

1780

American Revolution: Battle of Springfield fought in and around Springfield, New Jersey (including Short Hills, formerly of Springfield, now of Millburn Township). ›

1760

Seven Years' War: Battle of Landeshut: Austria defeats Prussia. ›

1758

Seven Years' War: Battle of Krefeld: British, Hanoverian, and Prussian forces defeat French troops at Krefeld in Germany. ›

1757

Battle of Plassey: Three thousand British troops under Robert Clive defeat a 50,000-strong Indian army under Siraj ud-Daulah at Plassey. ›

1713

The French residents of Acadia are given one year to declare allegiance to Britain or leave Nova Scotia, Canada. ›

1683

William Penn signs a friendship treaty with Lenape Indians in Pennsylvania. ›

1594

The Action of Faial, Azores. The Portuguese carrack Cinco Chagas, loaded with slaves and treasure, is attacked and sunk by English ships with only 13 survivors out of over 700 on board. ›

1565

Dragut, commander of the Ottoman navy, dies during the Great Siege of Malta. ›

1532

Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France sign the "Treaty of Closer Amity With France" (also known as the Pommeraye treaty), pledging mutual aid against Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. ›

1314

First War of Scottish Independence: The Battle of Bannockburn (south of Stirling) begins. ›

1305

A peace treaty between the Flemish and the French is signed at Athis-sur-Orge. ›

1287

The Aragonese fleet under Roger of Lauria defeats a Angevin fleet in the Battle of the Counts close to Naples. ›

1280

The Spanish Reconquista: In the Battle of Moclín the Emirate of Granada ambush a superior pursuing force, killing most of them in a military disaster for the Kingdom of Castile. ›

1266

War of Saint Sabas: In the Battle of Trapani, the Venetians defeat a larger Genoese fleet, capturing all its ships. ›

229

Sun Quan proclaims himself emperor of Eastern Wu. ›