Did you know
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was born on October 29, 1938, in Monrovia, Liberia.
November 23 in History
2005 — Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is elected president of Liberia and becomes the first woman to lead an African country
November 23 spans 50 recorded events across recorded history, from 534 BC to 2019. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Historical Events
50 events
534 BC – 2019
Today in history
More major events on November 23
The featured story and these ranked highlights form a quick summary. Every recorded event remains available in the chronology below.
- 1944 World War II: The Lotta Svärd Movement is disbanded under the terms of the armistice treaty in Finland after the Continuation War. Source
- 1934 An Anglo-Ethiopian boundary commission in the Ogaden discovers an Italian garrison at Walwal, well within Ethiopian territory. This leads to the Abyssinia Crisis. Source
- 1924 Edwin Hubble's discovery, that the Andromeda "nebula" is actually another island galaxy far outside our own Milky Way, is first published in The New York Times. Source
Did you know
She graduated from the College of West Africa in Monrovia and later attended Harvard University.
Did you know
Sirleaf served as Minister of Finance from 1972 to 1973 under President William Tolbert.
Did you know
She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for her non-violent struggle for the safety of women.
Did you know
Sirleaf was succeeded by George Weah as President of Liberia on January 22, 2018.
-534
Thespis of Icaria becomes the first recorded actor to portray a character on stage.
6th-century BCE Greek actor
1248
Conquest of Seville by Christian troops under King Ferdinand III of Castile.
1248 battle of the Spanish Reconquista
1499
Seven days after being convicted of treason, Perkin Warbeck, a pretender to the throne of England, is hanged for attempting to escape from the Tower of London; his supporter John Atwater is executed with him.
15th-century pretender to the English throne
1644
John Milton publishes Areopagitica, a pamphlet decrying censorship.
English poet and civil servant (1608–1674)
1733
The start of the 1733 slave insurrection on St.
John in what was then the Danish West Indies.
1808
French and Poles defeat the Spanish at Battle of Tudela.
1808 battle of the Peninsular War
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.
1867
The Manchester Martyrs are hanged in Manchester, England, for killing a police officer while freeing two Irish Republican Brotherhood members from custody.
Three Irish nationalists hanged in 1867
1876
Corrupt Tammany Hall leader William Magear Tweed (better known as Boss Tweed) is delivered to authorities in New York City after being captured in Spain.
New York Democratic political organization
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 succeed him.
King of the Netherlands from 1849 to 1890
1910
Johan Alfred Ander becomes the last person to be executed in Sweden.
Swedish murderer and the last person to be executed in the country
1914
Mexican Revolution: The last of U.S.
forces withdraw from Veracruz, occupied seven months earlier in response to the Tampico Affair.
1921
Warren G.
Harding, 29th President of the United States, signs the Willis–Campbell Act into law, prohibiting doctors from prescribing beer or liquor for medicinal purposes.
1923
Thousands of Irish Republicans end the 1923 Irish hunger strikes, five die from starvation.
Political movement seeking independence in Ireland
1924
Edwin Hubble's discovery, that the Andromeda "nebula" is actually another island galaxy far outside our own Milky Way, is first published in The New York Times.
American astronomer (1889–1953)
1934
An Anglo-Ethiopian boundary commission in the Ogaden discovers an Italian garrison at Walwal, well within Ethiopian territory.
This leads to the Abyssinia Crisis.
1939
World War II: HMS Rawalpindi is sunk by the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau.
Global conflict (1939–1945)
1940
World War II: Romania becomes a signatory of the Tripartite Pact, officially joining the Axis powers.
Kingdom in Europe between 1881 and 1947
1943
World War II: The Deutsche Opernhaus on Bismarckstraße in the Berlin neighborhood of Charlottenburg is destroyed.
It will eventually be rebuilt in 1961 and be called the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
1943
World War II: Tarawa and Makin atolls fall to American forces.
Atoll and capital of Kiribati
1944
World War II: The Lotta Svärd Movement is disbanded under the terms of the armistice treaty in Finland after the Continuation War.
Finnish auxiliary paramilitary organisation for women (1918–1940s)
1946
French naval bombardment of Hai Phong, Vietnam, kills thousands of civilians.
Municipality in Vietnam
1955
The Cocos Islands are transferred from the control of the United Kingdom to that of Australia.
External territory of Australia
1959
French President Charles de Gaulle declares in a speech in Strasbourg his vision for "Europe, from the Atlantic to the Urals".
Head of state
1963
The first episode of Doctor Who ("An Unearthly Child") is broadcast by the BBC, which is now the world's longest running science fiction drama.
British science fiction TV series (1963–2025)
1971
Representatives of the People's Republic of China attend the United Nations, including the United Nations Security Council, for the first time.
1972
The Soviet Union makes its final attempt at launching the N1 rocket.
Soviet super heavy-lift launch vehicle (1965–1972)
1974
Sixty Ethiopian politicians, aristocrats, military officers, and other persons are executed by the provisional military government.
1974 execution in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
1976
Jacques Mayol is the first man to reach a depth of 100 m (330 ft) undersea without breathing equipment.
French free diver (1927–2001)
1978
Cyclone kills about 1,000 people in eastern Sri Lanka.
Strongest tropical cyclone to strike Sri Lanka
1978
The Geneva Frequency Plan of 1975 goes into effect, realigning many of Europe's longwave and mediumwave broadcasting frequencies.
International agreement about radio broadcast frequencies
1980
The 6.9 Mw Irpinia earthquake shakes southern Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), killing 2,483–4,900, and injuring 7,700–8,934.
1980 earthquake in southern Italy
1981
Iran–Contra affair: 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.
1985–1987 political scandal in the U.S.
1985
Gunmen hijack EgyptAir Flight 648 en route from Athens to Cairo.
When the plane lands in Malta, Egyptian commandos storm the aircraft, but 60 people die in the raid.
1991
Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury announces in a statement that he is HIV-positive.
He dies the following day.
1992
The first smartphone, the IBM Simon, is introduced at COMDEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Smartphone model
1996
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 is hijacked, then crashes into the Indian Ocean off the coast of Comoros after running out of fuel, killing 125.
1996 aircraft hijacking and crash in the Comoros
2001
The Budapest Convention on Cybercrime is signed in Budapest, Hungary.
2001 international treaty on cybercrime
2002
Space Shuttle Endeavour launches on STS-113 to the International Space Station carrying the Expedition 6 crew and the P1 truss.
Space Shuttle orbiter (1992–2011)
2003
Rose Revolution: Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze resigns following weeks of mass protests over flawed elections.
2003 popular uprising in Georgia
2004
The Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi, the largest religious building in Georgia, is consecrated.
Orthodox Christian cathedral in Tbilisi, Georgia
2006
A series of bombings kills at least 215 people and injures 257 others in Sadr City, making it the second deadliest sectarian attack since the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003.
Series of car bombs and mortar attacks in Iraq
2007
MS Explorer, a cruise liner carrying 154 people, sinks in the Antarctic Ocean south of Argentina after hitting an iceberg near the South Shetland Islands.
There are no fatalities.
2009
The Maguindanao massacre occurs in Ampatuan, Philippines; 58 opponents of Andal Ampatuan Jr.
are kidnapped and killed.
2010
Bombardment of Yeonpyeong: North Korean artillery attack kills two civilians and two marines on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea.
North–South Korea artillery engagement
2011
Arab Spring: After 11 months of protests in Yemen, Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh signs a deal to transfer power to the vice president, in exchange for legal immunity.
2010s protests and revolutions in the Arab world
2015
Blue Origin's New Shepard space vehicle became the first rocket to successfully fly to space and then return to Earth for a controlled, vertical landing.
American aerospace company
2018
Founders of Italian fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana issue an apology following a series of offensive advertisements on social media promoting a fashion show in Shanghai, China, which was canceled.
Italian fashion house
2019
The last Sumatran rhinoceros in Malaysia, Imam, dies, making the species officially extinct in the country.
Endangered species of Asian rhinoceros