December 23

Historic Events

2025

The crash of Harmony Jets Flight 185 killed all eight people on board, including the Libyan Army chief Mohammed al-Haddad in Ankara, Turkey. ›

2023

A series of massacres targeting Berom civilians unfold in the Plateau State in Nigeria, killing over 200 people and further injuring over 500. No group claims responsibility. ›

2015

A bomb explodes at Istanbul's Sabiha Gökçen Airport, killing one airport cleaner. The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks claim responsibility for the attack four days later. ›

2008

A coup d'état occurs in Guinea hours after the death of President Lansana Conté. ›

2007

An agreement is made for the Kingdom of Nepal to be abolished and the country to become a federal republic with the Prime Minister becoming head of state. ›

2005

An Antonov An-140, Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 217 from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Aktau, Kazakhstan, heading across the Caspian Sea, crashes, killing 23 people. ›

2003

An explosion at the PetroChina Chuandongbei natural gas field in Kai County, Chongqing, China, kills at least 234. ›

2002

A U.S. MQ-1 Predator is shot down by an Iraqi MiG-25 in the first combat engagement between a drone and conventional aircraft. ›

1990

History of Slovenia: In a referendum, 88.5% of Slovenia's overall electorate vote for independence from Yugoslavia. ›

1986

Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, lands at Edwards Air Force Base in California becoming the first aircraft to fly non-stop around the world without aerial or ground refueling. ›

1984

After experiencing an engine fire, Aeroflot Flight 3519 attempts to make an emergency landing at Krasnoyarsk International Airport but crashes, killing 110 of the 111 people on board. ›

1979

Soviet–Afghan War: Soviet Union forces occupy Kabul, the Afghan capital. ›

1978

Alitalia Flight 4128 crashes into the Tyrrhenian Sea while on approach to Falcone Borsellino Airport in Palermo, Italy, killing 108. ›

1972

The Immaculate Reception is caught by Franco Harris to win the Pittsburgh Steelers their first ever playoff victory, after defeating the Oakland Raiders. ›

1972

A 6.5 magnitude earthquake strikes the Nicaraguan capital of Managua killing more than 10,000. ›

1972

The 16 survivors of the Andes flight disaster are rescued after 73 days, surviving by cannibalism. ›

1970

The North Tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York, New York is topped out at 417 metres (1,368 ft), making it the tallest building in the world. ›

1970

The Democratic Republic of the Congo officially becomes a one-party state. ›

1968

The 82 sailors from the USS Pueblo are released after eleven months of internment in North Korea. ›

1960

Hilkka Saarinen née Pylkkänen is murdered in the so-called "oven homicide" case in Krootila, Kokemäki, Finland. ›

1955

The first film adaptation of Väinö Linna's novel The Unknown Soldier, directed by Edvin Laine, premieres. ›

1954

First successful kidney transplant is performed by J. Hartwell Harrison and Joseph Murray. ›

1950

Korean War: General Walton Walker dies in a jeep accident and is replaced by General Matthew Ridgway in the Eighth United States Army. ›

1948

Seven Japanese military and political leaders convicted of war crimes by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East are executed by Allied occupation authorities at Sugamo Prison in Tokyo, Japan. ›

1947

The transistor is first demonstrated at Bell Laboratories. ›

1941

World War II: After 15 days of fighting, the Imperial Japanese Army occupies Wake Island. ›

1936

Colombia becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty. ›

1936

Spanish Civil War: The Spanish Republic legalizes the Regional Defence Council of Aragon. ›

1919

Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 becomes law in the United Kingdom, allowing women to serve as lawyers, civil servants, and in other professions, as well as to serve on juries. ›

1916

World War I: Battle of Magdhaba: Allied forces defeat Turkish forces in the Sinai Peninsula. ›

1914

World War I: Australian and New Zealand troops arrive in Cairo, Egypt. ›

1914

World War I: During the Battle of Sarikamish, Ottoman forces mistook one another for Russian troops. The following friendly fire incident leaves 2,000 Ottomans dead and many more wounded. ›

1913

The Federal Reserve Act is signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson, creating the Federal Reserve System. ›

1905

The Tampere conference, where Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin meet for the first time, is held in Tampere, Finland. ›

1893

The opera Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck is first performed. ›

1876

First day of the Constantinople Conference which resulted in agreement for political reforms in the Balkans. ›

1823

The poem "Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas," also known as "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," is published anonymously in the Troy Sentinel. ›

1815

The novel Emma by Jane Austen is first published. ›

1793

The Battle of Savenay: A decisive defeat of the royalist counter-revolutionaries in War in the Vendée during the French Revolution. ›

1783

George Washington resigns as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army at the Maryland State House in Annapolis, Maryland. ›

1773

Moscow State Academy of Choreography is founded under the reign of Catherine II. It is the second ballet school in Russia after Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet. ›

1688

As part of the Glorious Revolution, King James II of England flees from England to Paris after being deposed in favor of his son-in-law and nephew, William of Orange and his daughter Mary. ›

1598

Arauco War: Governor of Chile Martín García Óñez de Loyola is killed in the Battle of Curalaba by Mapuches led by Pelantaru. ›

1299

The Ilkhanate ruler Ghazan defeats a Mamluk army that opposes his invasion into Syria in the Battle of Wadi al-Khaznadar near Homs. ›

962

The Sack of Aleppo as part of the Arab–Byzantine wars: Under the future Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, Byzantine troops storm the city of Aleppo. ›

583

Maya queen Yohl Ik'nal is crowned ruler of Palenque. ›

558

Chlothar I is crowned King of the Franks. ›

484

The Arian Vandal Kingdom ceases its persecution of Nicene Christianity. ›