Historical Events on March 23
- 1769: The Duke of Grafton, Augustus FitzRoy, divorces the Duchess of Grafton, Ann Liddel. This is done by an Act of Parliament.
- 1775: In a speech given to support Virginian troops who were joining the war, Patrick Henry proclaims: “Give me liberty, or give me death!”
- 1808: The brother of Napoleon, Joseph, ascends the Spanish throne.
- 1857: The first elevator by Elisha Graves Otis is installed in a building in New York City.
- 1862: Confederates are defeated at the First Battle of Kernstown, Virginia during the American Civil War.
- 1868: When the Organic Act is signed into law, the University of California is established.
- 1909: Former U.S President Theodore Roosevelt leaves for a safari in Africa. The trip is sponsored by the National Geographic Society, as well as the Smithsonian Institution.
- 1918: The 10 Battalion of the Royal West Kent Regiment is defeated during the German Spring Offensive. Many of the soldiers in this regiment will end up becoming POWs.
- 1919: A Fascist political movement is started in Milan, Italy by Benito Mussolini.
- 1956: Pakistan becomes an Islamic Republic.
- 1965: Gemini 3 is launched by NASA. It’s the first 2-man space flight and features astronauts John Young and Gus Grissom.
- 1994: 75 people are killed when Aeroflot Flight 593 crashes into the Kuznetsk Alatau mountain in Russia.
- 1996: Lee Teng hui is elected as President of Taiwan during direct elections.
- 2001: The Russian Space Station Mir enters Earth’s atmosphere, breaks ip and falls into the Pacific Ocean near Fiji.
Famous Birthdays on March 23
- French novelist and Nobel Prize laureate, Roger Martin du Gard is born in 1881.
- German chemist and Nobel Prize laureate, Hermann Staudinger is born in 1881.
- Swiss-Italian pharmacologist and Nobel Prize laureate, Daniel Bovet is born in 1907.
- American author Kim Stanley Robinson is born in 1952.
- American singer-songwriter Chaka Khan is born in 1953.
- American actress Amanda Plummer is born in 1957.