# What happened on March 23 in history?

**Date:** March 23  
**Events recorded:** 55  
**Years spanned:** 625 – 2026  
**Full page:** https://thisday.info/events/march/23/

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## Featured Event

**2026** — An Aerospace Force Lockheed C-130 crashes during take-off in Puerto Leguízamo, Columbia, killing 70 people.

[Read more on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Colombian_Air_Force_Lockheed_C-130_crash)

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## Events on this date

- **625** — The Muslim army under Muhammad suffers a defeat against the Quraysh in the battle of Uhud. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad))
- **1400** — The Trần dynasty of Vietnam is deposed, after one hundred and seventy-five years of rule, by Hồ Quý Ly, a court official. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tr%E1%BA%A7n_dynasty))
- **1540** — Waltham Abbey is surrendered to King Henry VIII of England, the last religious community to be closed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waltham_Abbey_Church))
- **1568** — The Peace of Longjumeau is signed, ending the second phase of the French Wars of Religion. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_of_Longjumeau))
- **1775** — American Revolutionary War: Patrick Henry delivers his speech – "Give me liberty or give me death!" – at St. John's Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolutionary_War))
- **1801** — Tsar Paul I of Russia is struck with a sword, then strangled, and finally trampled to death inside his bedroom at St. Michael's Castle. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar))
- **1806** — After traveling through the Louisiana Purchase and reaching the Pacific Ocean, explorers Lewis and Clark and their Corps of Discovery begin their arduous journey home. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Purchase))
- **1821** — Greek War of Independence: Battle and fall of city of Kalamata. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_War_of_Independence))
- **1839** — A massive earthquake destroys the former capital Inwa of the Konbaung dynasty, present-day Myanmar. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1839_Ava_earthquake))
- **1848** — The ship John Wickliffe arrives at Port Chalmers carrying the first Scottish settlers for Dunedin, New Zealand. Otago province is founded. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wickliffe_(ship)))
- **1857** — Elisha Otis's first elevator is installed at 488 Broadway New York City. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisha_Otis))
- **1862** — American Civil War: The First Battle of Kernstown, Virginia, marks the start of Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign. Although a Confederate defeat, the engagement distracts Federal efforts to capture Richmond. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War))
- **1868** — The University of California is founded in Oakland, California when the Organic Act is signed into law. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California))
- **1879** — War of the Pacific: The Battle of Topáter, the first battle of the war, is fought between Chile and the joint forces of Bolivia and Peru. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Pacific))
- **1885** — Sino-French War: Chinese victory in the Battle of Phu Lam Tao near Hưng Hóa, northern Vietnam. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-French_War))
- **1888** — In England, The Football League, the world's oldest professional association football league, meets for the first time. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Football_League))
- **1889** — The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is established by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in Qadian, British India. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmadiyya))
- **1901** — Emilio Aguinaldo, only President of the First Philippine Republic, is captured at Palanan, Isabela by the forces of American General Frederick Funston. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emilio_Aguinaldo))
- **1905** — Eleftherios Venizelos calls for Crete's union with Greece, and begins what is to be known as the Theriso revolt. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleftherios_Venizelos))
- **1909** — Theodore Roosevelt leaves New York for a post-presidency safari in Africa. The trip is sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt))
- **1913** — A tornado outbreak kills more than 240 people in the central United States, while an ongoing flood in the Ohio River watershed was killing 650 people. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1913_Easter_tornado_outbreak))
- **1918** — First World War: On the third day of the German Spring Offensive, the 10th Battalion of the Royal West Kent Regiment is annihilated with many of the men becoming prisoners of war. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I))
- **1919** — In Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini founds his Fascist political movement. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milan))
- **1931** — Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar are hanged for the killing of a deputy superintendent of police during the Indian independence movement. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagat_Singh))
- **1933** — The Reichstag passes the Enabling Act of 1933, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_(Weimar_Republic)))
- **1935** — Signing of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Philippines. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Philippines))
- **1939** — The Hungarian air force attacks the headquarters of the Slovak air force in Spišská Nová Ves, killing 13 people and beginning the Slovak–Hungarian War. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Hungary_(1920%E2%80%931946)))
- **1940** — The Lahore Resolution (Qarardad-e-Pakistan or Qarardad-e-Lahore) is put forward at the Annual General Convention of the All-India Muslim League. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lahore_Resolution))
- **1956** — Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic in the world. This date is now celebrated as Republic Day in Pakistan. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan))
- **1965** — NASA launches Gemini 3, the United States' first two-man space flight (crew: Gus Grissom and John Young). ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA))
- **1977** — The first of The Nixon Interviews (12 will be recorded over four weeks) is videotaped with British journalist David Frost interviewing former United States President Richard Nixon about the Watergate scandal and the Nixon tapes. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Frost's_interviews_with_Richard_Nixon))
- **1978** — The first UNIFIL troops arrive in Lebanon for a peacekeeping mission along the Blue Line. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Interim_Force_in_Lebanon))
- **1980** — Archbishop Óscar Romero of El Salvador gives his famous speech appealing to men of the El Salvadoran armed forces to stop killing the Salvadorans. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%93scar_Romero))
- **1982** — Guatemala's government, headed by Fernando Romeo Lucas García, is overthrown in a military coup by right-wing General Efraín Ríos Montt. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guatemala))
- **1983** — Strategic Defense Initiative: President Ronald Reagan makes his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Defense_Initiative))
- **1988** — Angolan and Cuban forces defeat South Africa in the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cuito_Cuanavale))
- **1991** — The Revolutionary United Front, with support from the special forces of Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia, invades Sierra Leone in an attempt to overthrow Joseph Saidu Momoh, sparking the 11-year Sierra Leone Civil War. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutionary_United_Front))
- **1994** — At an election rally in Tijuana, Mexican presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio is assassinated by Mario Aburto Martínez. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tijuana))
- **1994** — A United States Air Force (USAF) F-16 aircraft collides with a USAF C-130 at Pope Air Force Base and then crashes, killing 24 United States Army soldiers on the ground alongside destroying a Starlifter by accident. This later became known as the Green Ramp disaster. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Dynamics_F-16_Fighting_Falcon))
- **1994** — Aeroflot Flight 593 crashes into the Kuznetsk Alatau mountain, Kemerovo Oblast, Russia, killing 75. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroflot_Flight_593))
- **1996** — Taiwan holds its first direct elections and chooses Lee Teng-hui as President. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan))
- **1999** — Gunmen assassinate Paraguay's Vice President Luis María Argaña. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraguay))
- **2001** — The Russian Mir space station is disposed of, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mir))
- **2003** — Battle of Nasiriyah, first major conflict during the invasion of Iraq. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Nasiriyah))
- **2008** — Official opening of Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad, India. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajiv_Gandhi_International_Airport))
- **2009** — FedEx Express Flight 80: A McDonnell Douglas MD-11 flying from Guangzhou, China crashes at Tokyo's Narita International Airport, killing both the captain and the co-pilot. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FedEx_Express_Flight_80))
- **2010** — The Affordable Care Act becomes law in the United States. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affordable_Care_Act))
- **2014** — The World Health Organization (WHO) reports cases of Ebola in the forested rural region of southeastern Guinea, marking the beginning of the largest Ebola outbreak in history. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Health_Organization))
- **2018** — President of Peru Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigns from the presidency amid a mass corruption scandal before certain impeachment by the opposition-majority Congress of Peru. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Peru))
- **2019** — The Kazakh capital of Astana is renamed to Nur-Sultan. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazakhstan))
- **2019** — The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces capture the town of Baghuz in Eastern Syria, declaring military victory over the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant after four years of fighting, although the group maintains a scattered presence and sleeper cells across Syria and Iraq. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Baghuz_Fawqani))
- **2020** — Prime Minister Boris Johnson puts the United Kingdom into its first national lockdown in response to COVID-19. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_the_United_Kingdom))
- **2021** — A container ship runs aground and obstructs the Suez Canal for six days. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Suez_Canal_obstruction))
- **2025** — Israel Defense Forces kill 15 aid workers in the Rafah paramedic massacre. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Defense_Forces))
- **2026** — An Aerospace Force Lockheed C-130 crashes during take-off in Puerto Leguízamo, Columbia, killing 70 people. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Colombian_Air_Force_Lockheed_C-130_crash))

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## Notable births on March 23

- **2001** — **Anna Hall** — American world champion heptathlete ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Hall_(heptathlete)))
- **1997** — **Ben Manenti** — Australian cricketer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Manenti))
- **1996** — **Alexander Albon** — Thai-British race car driver ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Albon))
- **1996** — **Joel Kiviranta** — Finnish ice hockey player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Kiviranta))
- **1995** — **Kevin Kauber** — Estonian footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Kauber))
- **1995** — **Jan Lisiecki** — Canadian pianist ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Lisiecki))
- **1995** — **Victoria Pedretti** — American actress ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Pedretti))
- **1995** — **Ozan Tufan** — Turkish footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozan_Tufan))
- **1994** — **Nick Powell** — English footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Powell))
- **1994** — **Oskar Sundqvist** — Swedish ice hockey player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oskar_Sundqvist))

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## Notable deaths on March 23

- **2026** — **Valerie Perrine** — American actress (born 1943) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerie_Perrine))
- **2026** — **Chip Taylor** — American singer and songwriter (born 1940) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chip_Taylor))
- **2025** — **Mia Love** — American politician (born 1975) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mia_Love))
- **2022** — **Madeleine Albright** — Czechoslovak-American diplomat, 64th United States Secretary of State (born 1937) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeleine_Albright))
- **2021** — **George Segal** — American actor (born 1934) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Segal))
- **2021** — **Julie Pomagalski** — French snowboarder (born 1980) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Pomagalski))
- **2017** — **Miroslava Breach** — Mexican investigative journalist (born 1962) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miroslava_Breach))
- **2016** — **Joe Garagiola** — American baseball player and sportscaster (born 1926) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Garagiola))
- **2016** — **Ken Howard** — American actor (born 1944) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Howard))
- **2015** — **Gian Vittorio Baldi** — Italian director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1930) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gian_Vittorio_Baldi))

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## About this page

This is a machine-readable Markdown summary of [thisday.info/events/march/23/](https://thisday.info/events/march/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.