# What happened on August 23 in history?

**Date:** August 23  
**Events recorded:** 67  
**Years spanned:** 79 – 2023  
**Full page:** https://thisday.info/events/august/23/

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## Featured Event

**2023** — A business jet carrying key leadership members of the Russian private military company Wagner Group crashes, killing all ten people on board.

[Read more on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagner_Group)

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## Events on this date

- **79** — Mount Vesuvius begins stirring, on the feast day of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AD_79))
- **476** — Odoacer, chieftain of the Germanic tribes (Herulic – Scirian foederati), is proclaimed rex Italiae ("King of Italy") by his troops. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odoacer))
- **1244** — Siege of Jerusalem: The city surrenders to the Khwarazmiyya, ending Christian control of the Jerusalem for the next 672 years. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Jerusalem_(1244)))
- **1268** — The Battle of Tagliacozzo: The army of Prince Conradin is nearly destroyed by Charles of Anjou, ending Hohenstaufen control over the Kingdom of Sicily and leaving the Angevins in control. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tagliacozzo))
- **1328** — Battle of Cassel: French troops stop an uprising of Flemish farmers. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cassel_(1328)))
- **1382** — The Golden Horde, led by Khan Tokhtamysh, begins the Siege of Moscow, which ends four days later with the storming of the city and the death of Muscovite Prince Ostei. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Horde))
- **1514** — The Battle of Chaldiran ends with a decisive victory for the Sultan Selim I, Ottoman Empire, over the Shah Ismail I, founder of the Safavid dynasty. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chaldiran))
- **1521** — Christian II of Denmark is deposed as king of Sweden and Gustav Vasa is elected regent. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_II_of_Denmark))
- **1541** — French explorer Jacques Cartier lands near Quebec City in his third voyage to Canada. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Cartier))
- **1572** — French Wars of Religion: Mob violence against thousands of Huguenots in Paris results in the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Wars_of_Religion))
- **1595** — Long Turkish War: Wallachian prince Michael the Brave confronts the Ottoman army in the Battle of Călugăreni and achieves a tactical victory. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Turkish_War))
- **1600** — Battle of Gifu Castle: The eastern forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu defeat the western Japanese clans loyal to Toyotomi Hideyori, leading to the destruction of Gifu Castle and serving as a prelude to the Battle of Sekigahara. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gifu_Castle))
- **1628** — George Villiers, the first Duke of Buckingham, is assassinated by John Felton. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Villiers%2C_1st_Duke_of_Buckingham))
- **1655** — Battle of Sobota: The Swedish Empire led by Charles X Gustav defeats the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Sobota))
- **1703** — Edirne event: Sultan Mustafa II of the Ottoman Empire is dethroned. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edirne_Incident))
- **1775** — American Revolutionary War: King George III delivers his Proclamation of Rebellion to the Court of St James's stating that the American colonies have proceeded to a state of open and avowed rebellion. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolutionary_War))
- **1782** — British forces under Edward Despard complete the reconquest of the Black River settlements on the Mosquito Coast from the Spanish. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Despard))
- **1784** — Western North Carolina (now eastern Tennessee) declares itself an independent state under the name of Franklin; it is not accepted into the United States, and only lasts for four years. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Carolina))
- **1799** — Napoleon Bonaparte leaves Egypt for France en route to seizing power. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon))
- **1813** — At the Battle of Großbeeren, the Prussians under Von Bülow repulse the French army. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gro%C3%9Fbeeren))
- **1831** — Nat Turner's rebellion of enslaved Virginians is suppressed. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_Turner's_Rebellion))
- **1839** — The United Kingdom captures Hong Kong as a base as it prepares for the First Opium War with Qing China. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Opium_War))
- **1864** — American Civil War: The Union Navy captures Fort Morgan, Alabama, thus breaking Confederate dominance of all ports on the Gulf of Mexico except Galveston, Texas. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War))
- **1866** — The Austro-Prussian War ends with the Treaty of Prague. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austro-Prussian_War))
- **1873** — The Albert Bridge in Chelsea, London opens. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Bridge%2C_London))
- **1898** — The Southern Cross Expedition, the first British venture of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, departs from London. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Cross_Expedition))
- **1904** — The automobile tire chain is patented. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_chains))
- **1914** — World War I: The British Expeditionary Force and the French Fifth Army begin their Great Retreat before the German Army. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I))
- **1914** — World War I: Japan declares war on Germany. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_during_World_War_I))
- **1921** — British airship R-38 experiences structural failure over Hull in England and crashes in the Humber Estuary; of her 49 British and American training crew, only four survive. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R38-class_airship))
- **1923** — Captain Lowell Smith and Lieutenant John P. Richter perform the first mid-air refueling on De Havilland DH-4B, setting an endurance flight record of 37 hours. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_(United_States_O-3)))
- **1927** — Italian anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti are executed after a lengthy, controversial trial. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacco_and_Vanzetti))
- **1929** — Hebron Massacre during the 1929 Palestine riots: Arab attacks on the Jewish community in Hebron in the British Mandate of Palestine occur, continuing until the next day, resulting in the death of 65–68 Jews and the remaining Jews being forced to leave the city. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1929_Hebron_massacre))
- **1939** — World War II: Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union sign the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. In a secret protocol to the pact, Poland, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Romania are divided into German and Soviet "spheres of influence". ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II))
- **1942** — World War II: Beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stalingrad))
- **1943** — World War II: Kharkiv is liberated by the Soviet Red Army for the second time after the Battle of Kursk. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kharkiv))
- **1944** — World War II: Marseille is liberated by the Allied forces. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marseille))
- **1944** — World War II: King Michael of Romania dismisses the pro-Nazi government of Marshal Antonescu, who is later arrested. Romania switches sides from the Axis to the Allies. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_I_of_Romania))
- **1944** — Freckleton air disaster: A United States Army Air Forces B-24 Liberator bomber crashes into a school in Freckleton, England, killing 61 people. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freckleton_Air_Disaster))
- **1945** — World War II: Soviet–Japanese War: The USSR State Defense Committee issues Decree no. 9898cc "About Receiving, Accommodation, and Labor Utilization of the Japanese Army Prisoners of War". ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet%E2%80%93Japanese_War))
- **1946** — Ordinance No. 46 of the British Military Government constitutes the German Länder (states) of Hanover and Schleswig-Holstein. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordinance_No._46))
- **1948** — The World Council of Churches is formed by 147 churches from 44 countries. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Council_of_Churches))
- **1954** — The first flight of the Lockheed C-130 multi-role aircraft takes place. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_C-130_Hercules))
- **1954** — The Cruise of the Kings, a royal cruise organised by the Queen Consort of Greece, Frederica of Hanover, departs from Marseille, France. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruise_of_the_Kings))
- **1958** — Chinese Civil War: The Second Taiwan Strait Crisis begins with the People's Liberation Army's bombardment of Quemoy. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Civil_War))
- **1966** — Lunar Orbiter 1 takes the first photograph of Earth from orbit around the Moon. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Orbiter_1))
- **1970** — Organized by Mexican American labor union leader César Chávez, the Salad Bowl strike, the largest farm worker strike in U.S. history, begins. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Americans))
- **1973** — A bank robbery gone wrong in Stockholm, Sweden, turns into a hostage crisis; over the next five days the hostages begin to sympathise with their captors, leading to the term "Stockholm syndrome". ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norrmalmstorg_robbery))
- **1975** — The start of the Wave Hill walk-off by Gurindji people in Australia, lasting eight years, a landmark event in the history of Indigenous land rights in Australia, commemorated in a 1991 Paul Kelly song and an annual celebration. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_Hill_walk-off))
- **1975** — The Pontiac Silverdome opens in Pontiac, Michigan, 30 miles (48 km) northwest of Detroit, Michigan ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiac_Silverdome))
- **1985** — Hans Tiedge, top counter-spy of West Germany, defects to East Germany. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Tiedge))
- **1989** — Singing Revolution: Two million people from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania stand on the Vilnius–Tallinn road, holding hands. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singing_Revolution))
- **1990** — Saddam Hussein appears on Iraqi state television with a number of Western "guests" (actually hostages) to try to prevent the Gulf War. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saddam_Hussein))
- **1990** — Armenia declares its independence from the Soviet Union. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenia))
- **1990** — West and East Germany announce that they will reunite on October 3. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_reunification))
- **1991** — The World Wide Web is opened to the public. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wide_Web))
- **1994** — Eugene Bullard, the only African American pilot in World War I, is posthumously commissioned as Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Bullard))
- **2000** — Gulf Air Flight 072 crashes into the Persian Gulf near Manama, Bahrain, killing 143. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_Air_Flight_072))
- **2006** — Natascha Kampusch, who had been abducted at the age of ten, escapes from her captor Wolfgang Přiklopil, after eight years of captivity. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natascha_Kampusch))
- **2007** — The skeletal remains of Russia's last royal family members Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia, and his sister Grand Duchess Anastasia are discovered near Yekaterinburg, Russia. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexei_Nikolaevich%2C_Tsarevich_of_Russia))
- **2010** — The Manila hostage crisis occurred near the Quirino Grandstand in Manila, Philippines killing 9 people including the perpetrator while injuring 9 others. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manila_hostage_crisis))
- **2011** — A magnitude 5.8 (class: moderate) earthquake occurs in Virginia. Damage occurs to monuments and structures in Washington, D.C. and the resulted damage is estimated at 200 million–300 million USD. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Virginia_earthquake))
- **2011** — Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is overthrown after the National Transitional Council forces take control of Bab al-Azizia compound during the Libyan Civil War. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muammar_Gaddafi))
- **2012** — A hot-air balloon crashes near the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana, killing six people and injuring 28 others. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Ljubljana_Marshes_hot_air_balloon_crash))
- **2013** — A riot at the Palmasola prison complex in Santa Cruz, Bolivia kills 31 people. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Palmasola_prison_riot))
- **2023** — Chandrayaan-3 mission initiated first Moon landing in Indian history. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandrayaan-3))
- **2023** — A business jet carrying key leadership members of the Russian private military company Wagner Group crashes, killing all ten people on board. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagner_Group))

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## Notable births on August 23

- **2000** — **Boryana Kaleyn** — Bulgarian rhythmic gymnast and Olympic silver medalist ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boryana_Kaleyn))
- **1998** — **P. J. Washington** — American basketball player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._J._Washington))
- **1997** — **Lil Yachty** — American rapper and singer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lil_Yachty))
- **1996** — **Alejo Igoa** — Argentine YouTuber ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alejo_Igoa))
- **1995** — **Gabriela Lee** — Romanian tennis player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriela_Lee))
- **1995** — **Cameron Norrie** — British tennis player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cameron_Norrie))
- **1994** — **August Ames** — Canadian pornographic actress (died 2017) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Ames))
- **1994** — **Jusuf Nurkić** — Bosnian basketball player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jusuf_Nurki%C4%87))
- **1993** — **Taylor Decker** — American football player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_Decker))
- **1993** — **Tyler Glasnow** — American baseball player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyler_Glasnow))

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## Notable deaths on August 23

- **2023** — **Dmitry Utkin** — Russian army officer, founder of Wagner Group (born 1970) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitry_Utkin))
- **2023** — **Yevgeny Prigozhin** — Russian businessman, chief of Wagner Group (born 1961) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yevgeny_Prigozhin))
- **2023** — **Terry Funk** — American professional wrestler (born 1944) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Funk))
- **2021** — **Elizabeth Blackadder** — Scottish painter and printmaker (born 1931) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Blackadder))
- **2015** — **Augusta Chiwy** — Congolese-Belgian nurse (born 1921) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusta_Chiwy))
- **2015** — **Guy Ligier** — French rugby player and race car driver (born 1930) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Ligier))
- **2015** — **Enrique Reneau** — Honduran footballer (born 1971) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrique_Reneau))
- **2015** — **Paul Royle** — Australian lieutenant and pilot (born 1914) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Royle))
- **2014** — **Albert Ebossé Bodjongo** — Cameroonian footballer (born 1989) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Eboss%C3%A9_Bodjongo))
- **2014** — **Annefleur Kalvenhaar** — Dutch cyclist (born 1994) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annefleur_Kalvenhaar))

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## About this page

This is a machine-readable Markdown summary of [thisday.info/events/august/23/](https://thisday.info/events/august/23/).  
Historical data is sourced from [Wikipedia/Wikimedia](https://www.wikipedia.org) under [CC BY-SA](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).  
Editorial framing and site content © thisday.info.