December 23
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December 23 is the 357th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (358th in leap years). There are 8 days remaining.
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Events
- 619 - Boniface V becomes Pope
- 1493 - The Latin edition of the Nuremberg Chronicle is published
- 1620 - Construction of Plymouth Colony begins
- 1783 - George Washington resigns as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army at Annapolis, Maryland.
- 1823 - A Visit From St. Nicholas, attributed to Clement Clarke Moore, is first published
- 1909 - Albert I of Belgium becomes King
- 1913 - The Federal Reserve Act becomes law
- 1916 - World War I: In the Battle of Magdhaba, Allied forces capture a Turkish garrison on the Sinai peninsula.
- 1936 - Colombia becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
- 1947 - The transistor is first demonstrated at Bell Laboratories
- 1954 - The first human organ transplant, of a kidney, was performed by Doctors Murray and Harrison at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston.
- 1964 - Beach Boys' bassist/keyboardist Brian Wilson suffers a nervous breakdown on a flight from Los Angeles to Houston. The episode will influence Wilson's decision to retire from touring with the Beach Boys in 1965.
- 1972 - The Nicaragua capital city, Managua was struck by a 6.5 magnitude earthquake.
- 1972 - Terry Bradshaw throws the Immaculate Reception pass "to" Franco Harris
- 1973 - A Sobelair Caravelle passenger jet crashes in Morocco, killing 106
- 1979 - Soviet invasion of Afghanistan: Soviet military units occupy Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan
- 1982 - The Environmental Protection Agency recommends the evacuation of Times Beach, Missouri due to dangerous levels of dioxin contamination
- 1986 - The Scaled Composites Voyager aircraft completes the first non-stop flight around the world without refueling.
- 1990 - Republic of Slovenia votes to secede from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
- 2012 - The Mayan calendar comes to an end (may also be December 21). This day was predicted by the Mayans to be when life on Earth is going to end.
Births
- 1537 - John III of Sweden, King of Sweden (d. 1592)
- 1582 - Severo Bonini, composer (d. 1663)
- 1597 - Martin Opitz von Boberfeld, German poet (d. 1639)
- 1613 - Carl Gustaf Wrangel, Swedish soldier
- 1732 - Richard Arkwright, industrialist, and inventor of the Water Frame (d. 1792)
- 1750 - King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony
- 1790 - Jean François Champollion, Egyptologist, deciphered the Rosetta Stone (d. 1832)
- 1804 - Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, French literary critic (d. 1869)
- 1805 - Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement (d. 1844)
- 1819 - Jan Jakob Lodewijk ten Kate, Dutch poet and clergyman (d. 1889)
- 1822 - Wilhelm Bauer, engineer (d. 1875)
- 1867 - Madame C. J. Walker, first African American millionaire.
- 1885 - Pierre Brissaud, French artist (d. 1964)
- 1891 - Alexandr Rodchenko, Russian painter/photographer (d. 1956)
- 1907 - Avraham Stern, Zionist group leader
- 1908 - Yousuf Karsh, portrait photographer
- 1918 - Helmut Schmidt, German Bundeskanzler 1974-1982
- 1918 - José Greco, dancer (d. 2001)
- 1922 - Calder Willingham, writer (d. 1995)
- 1922 - Micheline Ostermeyer, French athlete and musician
- 1923 - Claudio Scimone, Italian conductor
- 1923 - James Stockdale, United States Navy admiral
- 1923 - Günther Schifter, Austrian music journalist
- 1926 - Robert Bly, American poet
- 1933 - Akihito, Emperor of Japan
- 1935 - Paul Hornung, American football star
- 1936 - Frederic Forrest, American actor
- 1940 - Jorma Kaukonen, musician
- 1941 - Tim Hardin, musician
- 1943 - Mikhail Gromov, mathematician
- 1943 - Harry Shearer, actor, voice actor (This Is Spinal Tap, The Simpsons)
- 1943 - Silvia, Queen of Sweden
- 1944 - Wesley Clark, US General and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander
- 1947 - Susan Lucci, soap opera actress
- 1948 - Jack Ham, American football star
- 1950 - Michael C. Burgess, American politician
- 1952 - William Kristol, U.S. conservative commentator
- 1956 - Dave Murray, musician (Iron Maiden)
- 1958 - Victoria Williams, singer
- 1961 - Carol Smillie, British television personality
- 1963 - Jim Harbaugh, American football quarterback
- 1964 - Eddie Vedder, musician (Pearl Jam)
- 1969 - Martha Byrne, soap opera actress
- 1970 - Catriona LeMay Doan, Canadian speed skater
- 1971 - Corey Haim, actor
- 1971 - Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, British socialite
- 1977 - Alge Crumpler, American football player
- 1978 - Andra Davis, American football player
- 1978 - Víctor Martínez, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1978 - Estella Warren, actress
- 1978 - Esthero, Canadian musician/singer
- 1981 - Beth, Spanish singer
Deaths
- 910 - Naum of Preslav, Bulgarian scholar
- 913 - Conrad of Franconia (b. c. 890)
- 1568 - Roger Ascham, tutor of Elizabeth I (b. c.1515)
- 1588 - Henry I, Duke of Guise, leader of French Catholic faction (b. 1550)
- 1631 - Michael Drayton, English poet
- 1834 - Thomas Malthus, English demographer and economist (b. 1766)
- 1872 - Theophile Gautier, poet, novelist (b. 1811)
- 1912 - Otto Schoetensack, German anthropologist (b. 1850)
- 1939 - Anthony Fokker, aircraft manufacturer (b. 1890)
- 1948 - Hideki Tojo (Prime Minister of Japan), hanged for war crimes (b. 1884)
- 1953 - Lavrenty Beria, Soviet Communist leader (b. 1899)
- 1970 - Charles Ruggles, actor
- 1973 - Charles Atlas, bodybuilder
- 1973 - Irna Phillips, soap opera writer, director, producer
- 1979 - Peggy Guggenheim, art collector (b. 1898)
- 1982 - Jack Webb, actor, producer, director (b. 1920)
- 1992 - Eddie Hazel, guitarist, originally with Funkadelic (b. 1950)
- 1994 - Sebastian Shaw, actor (b. 1905)
- 2000 - Victor Borge, Danish/American humorist and pianist (b. 1909)
- 2000 - Billy Barty, actor
- 2004 - P. V. Narasimha Rao, ninth prime minister of India (b. 1921)
Holidays and observances
- Japan - The Emperor's Birthday - Birthday of Akihito, the current Emperor of Japan
- Sweden - Birthday of Queen Silvia, an official flag day
- Roman Empire - Larentalia, a festival in honor of Larenta
- Ancient Latvia - Ziemassvetki held
- Fans of Seinfeld - Festivus held
- Secular humanism (American) - HumanLight observed
External links
- BBC: On This Day (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/23)
- Today in History: December 23 (http://www.tnl.net/when/12/23)
December 22 - December 24 - November 23 - January 23 -- listing of all days
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