Historical Events on November 23

  • 1910: The last person to ever be executed in Sweden – Johan Alfred Ander – is put to death on this day.
  • 1914: During the Mexican Revolution, the last of United States’ forces withdraw from Veracruz.
  • 1936: Life Magazine is envisioned as a photographic magazine. It becomes an almost instant success.
  • 1939: The German battleships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst attack and sink the British merchant cruise the HMS Rawalpindi.
  • 1940: Romania officially joins the Axis Powers during World War II.
  • 1943: After heavy initial resistance from Japanese forces, American troops eventually seize the Tarawa and Makin atolls.
  • 1946: Thousands of people in Hai Phong, Vietname are killed when the French navy bombards the city.
  • 1963: The first broadcast of Doctor Who is run on this day. Doctor Who will eventually become the longest running science fiction drama in the history of the world.
  • 1978: In eastern Sri Lanka, a cyclone kills over a thousand people.
  • 1980: Approximately four thousand people are killed and eight thousand people are wounded when a 6.9 Mw earthquake hits southern Italy.
  • 1992: The first smartphone is debuted at COMDEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on this day. It’s called the IBM Simon.
  • 1993: For her sculpture “House”, sculptor Rachel Whiteread wins both the Turner Prize for the best British modern artist, as well as the K Foundation Art Award for the worst artist of the year.

Famous Birthdays on November 23

  • American general, lawyer and 14th President of the United States, Franklin Pierce is born in 1804.
  • English mathematician and author Isaac Todhunter is born in 1820.
  • Dutch physicist and Nobel Prize laureate, Johannes Diderik van der Waals is born in 1837.
  • American actor Harpo Marx is born in 1888.
  • German chess player Karsten Müller is born in 1970.
  • American actress and comedian Lisa Arch is born in 1971.
  • Finnish hockey player Saku Koivu is born in 1974.
  • American singer-songwriter Alison Mosshart is born in 1978.
  • English model and actress Kelly Brook is born in 1979.