November 23

Events

• 1499 - Pretender to the throne Perkin Warbeck is hanged for reportedly attempting to escape from the Tower of London. In 1497 he invaded England claiming to be the lost son of King Edward IV of England.
• 1644 - Areopagitica by John Milton is published.
• 1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Chattanooga begins - Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant reinforce troops at Chattanooga, Tennessee and counter-attack Confederate troops.
• 1869 - In Dumbarton, Scotland the clipper ship Cutty Sark is launched (it was one of the last clipper ships to be built, and the only one surviving to the present day).
• 1876 - Corrupt Tammany Hall leader William Marcy Tweed (better known as Boss Tweed) is delivered to authorities in New York City after being captured in Spain.
• 1890 - King William III of the Netherlands dies without a male heir and a special law is passed to allow his daughter Princess Wilhelmina to become Queen.
• 1903 - Colorado Governor James Peabody sends the state militia into the town of Cripple Creek to break up a miners' strike.
• 1936 - The first edition of Life is published.
• 1955 - The Cocos Islands are transferred from United Kingdom to Australian control.
• 1958 - Have Gun, Will Travel debuts on radio.
• 1963 - The first episode of the sci-fi tv series Doctor Who debuts on the BBC
• 1971 - The People's Republic of China is given the Republic of China's seat on the United Nations Security Council (see China and the United Nations)
• 1979 - In Dublin, Ireland, Irish Republican Army member Thomas McMahon is sentenced to life in prison for the assassination of Lord Mountbatten
• 1980 - A series of earthquakes in southern Italy kills approximately 4,800 people
• 1981 - Iran-Contra scandal: Ronald Reagan signs the top secret National Security Decision Directive 17 (NSDD-17), giving the Central Intelligence Agency the authority to recruit and support Contra rebels in Nicaragua
• 1985 - Gunmen hijack Egypt Air Flight 648 while en route from Athens to Cairo (when the plane lands in Malta, Egyptian commandos stormed the hijacked jetliner but 60 people die in the raid)
• 1996 - An Ethiopian Boeing 767 is hijacked, then crashes after running out of fuel into the Indian Ocean off the coast of Comoros killing 127
• 2003 - Beleaguered Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze resigns following weeks of mass protests over flawed elections

Births

• 912 - Otto I the Great, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 973)
• 1760 - Francois Noel Babeuf, French revolutionary (d. 1797)
• 1804 - Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United States (d. 1869)
• 1819 - Benjamin Mayberry Prentiss, Union General (d. 1901)
• 1859 - Billy the Kid, bandit (d. 1881)
• 1860 - Hjalmar Branting, Swedish statesman, winner of Nobel Peace Prize in 1921 (d. 1925)
• 1869 - Valdemar Poulsen, Danish engineer (d. 1942)
• 1876 - Manuel de Falla, composer (d. 1946)
• 1887 - Boris Karloff, actor (d. 1969)
• 1888 - Harpo Marx, comedian (d. 1964)
• 1892 - Erté, artist (d. 1990)
• 1901 - Marieluise Fleisser, author (d. 1974)
• 1902 - Victor Jory, actor (d. 1982)
• 1920 - Paul Celan, poet (d. 1970)
• 1924 - Colin Macmillan Turnbull, Scottish-born anthropologist
• 1925 - José Napoleón Duarte, President of El Salvador (d. 1990)
• 1928 - Pierre Etaix, actor, film director and writer
• 1929 - Günter Gaus, publicist and politician
• 1931 - Dervla Murphy, traveller, author
• 1933 - Krzysztof Penderecki, composer
• 1934 - Robert Towne, writer, director, producer, actor
• 1935 - Vladislav Volkov, cosmonaut
• 1938 - Herbert Achternbusch, author and film director
• 1941 - Franco Nero, actor
• 1944 - Joe Eszterhas, producer, writer
• 1944 - James Toback, writer, director
• 1945 - Steve Landesberg, American actor
• 1954 - Bruce Hornsby, musician
• 1955 - Steven Brust, fantasy author
• 1959 - Maxwell Caulfield, actor

Deaths

• 1499 - Perkin Warbeck, pretender to the throne of England
• 1503 - Margaret of Burgundy, wife of Charles the Bold
• 1814 - Elbridge Gerry, Vice President of the United States of America
• 1890 - King William III of the Netherlands
• 1955 - Shemp Howard, actor, comedian (The Three Stooges)
• 1965 - Queen Elizabeth of Belgium
• 1973 - Sessue Hayakawa, actor
• 1974 - Cornelius Ryan, author
• 1979 - Merle Oberon, actress
• 1990 - Roald Dahl, author
• 1991 - Klaus Kinski, actor
• 1992 - Roy Acuff, country music performer
• 1995 - Louis Malle, director
• 1995 - Junior Walker, musician

Holidays and observances

• Bahá'í Faith - Feast of Qawl (Speech) - First day of the 14th month of the Bahá'í Calendar

See also

November 22 - November 24 - October 23 - December 23 -- listing of all days

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Referenced By