Who are famous people born on October 23?

Famous people born on October 23 include: Niccolò Pisilli, Jacob Bethell, Ningning.

What famous people died on October 23?

Notable historical figures who died on October 23 include: June Lockhart, Geoff Capes, Gary Indiana.

October 23 in History

Q: What happened on October 23 in history?

On October 23, 2017: War against the Islamic State: Philippine defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana declares the end of the Siege of Marawi.

2017 — War against the Islamic State: Philippine defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana declares the end of the Siege of Marawi

October 23 spans 63 recorded events across recorded history — from 4004 BC – 2022. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.

By thisDay.info Editorial Team · October 23 — Wikipedia

Historical Events 63 events 4004 BC – 2022

Did you know

In 2017, War against the Islamic State: Philippine defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana declares the end of the Siege of Marawi. This featured entry focuses on the immediate decision and its direct historical impact.

Did you know

Many states began to intervene against the Islamic State (IS), in both the Syrian civil war and the War in Iraq (2013–2017), in response to its rapid territorial gains from its 2014 invasion of Iraq, widely condemned executions, human rights abuses and the fear of further spillovers of the Syrian civil war. This helps explain why the event mattered beyond the initial announcement.

Did you know

In later years, there were also minor interventions by some states against IS-affiliated groups in Nigeria and Libya. This clarifies the institutional and public response around the event.

Did you know

All these efforts significantly degraded the Islamic State's capabilities by around 2019–2020. This shows how the event shaped policy and public communication in the same period.

Did you know

While moderate fighting continues in Syria, as of 2026, IS has been contained to a small area and force capability. This helps explain why the event mattered beyond the initial announcement.

James Ussher's purported creation date of the world according to the Bible.

17th-century Anglican Archbishop of Armagh

James Ussher was the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland between 1625 and 1656. He was a prolific Irish scholar and church leader, who today is most famous for his identification of the genuine letters of the church father, Ignatius of Antioch, and for his chronology that sought to establish the time and date of the creation as "the entrance of the night preceding the 23rd day of October ... the year before Christ 4004"; that is, around 6 pm on 22 October 4004 BC, per the proleptic Julian calendar.

-4004

Liberators' civil war: Mark Antony and Octavian decisively defeat an army under Brutus in the second part of the Battle of Philippi, with Brutus committing suicide and ending the civil war.

Roman civil war after Caesar's assassination (43–42 BC)

The Liberators' civil war was started by the Second Triumvirate to avenge Julius Caesar's assassination. The war was fought by the forces of Mark Antony and Octavian against the forces of Caesar's assassins, led by Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus, referred to as the Liberatores. The latter were defeated by the Triumvirs at the Battle of Philippi in October 42 BC, and committed suicide. Brutus committed suicide after the second part of the battle.

-42

Valentinian III is elevated as Roman emperor at the age of six.

Western Roman emperor from 425 to 455

Valentinian III was Roman emperor in the West from 425 to 455. Starting in childhood, his reign over the Roman Empire was one of the longest, but was dominated by civil wars among powerful generals and the barbarian invasions. He was the youngest sole emperor in the Western Roman Empire.

425

The Synodus Palmaris, called by Gothic king Theoderic, absolves Pope Symmachus of all charges, thus ending the schism of Antipope Laurentius.

Calendar year

Year 502 (DII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Avienus and Probus. The denomination 502 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

502

Spanish Reconquista: At the Battle of Sagrajas, the Almoravids defeat the Castilians, but are unable to take advantage of their victory.

Medieval Christian military campaigns

The Reconquista or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military campaigns by northern Iberian Christian polities against Muslim-ruled al-Andalus, which had previously been part of the Visigothic Kingdom before the Muslim Conquest of 711. The Reconquista concluded in 1492 with the capture of Granada by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, thereby ending the presence of any Muslim rule on the Iberian Peninsula.

1086

The Battle of Grathe Heath ends the Danish Civil War.

1157 final battle of the Danish Civil War

The Battle of Grathe Heath was fought in 1157 between the Danish armies of Valdemar I and his rival for the Danish throne, Sweyn III. Valdemar's forces won the battle, and Sweyn III was slain while attempting to flee.

1157

The first treaty forming the Auld Alliance between Scotland and France against England is signed in Paris.

1295–1560 Scottish-French alliance

The Auld Alliance was an alliance between the kingdoms of Scotland and France against England made in 1295. The Scots word auld, meaning old, has become a partly affectionate term for the long-lasting association between the two countries. The alliance was never formally revoked, although it is considered by some to have ended with the signing of the Treaty of Edinburgh in 1560.

1295

Scotland wins a decisive victory over England at the Battle of Sark, the last pitched battle to be fought between the two kingdoms during the Medieval period.

1448 battle of the Anglo-Scottish Wars

The Battle of Sark, or the Battle of Lochmaben Stone, was fought between Scotland and England on 23 October 1448 or 1449. It was a decisive Scottish victory, the first since the Battle of Otterburn in 1388, and the last pitched battle to be fought between the two kingdoms during the Medieval period.

1448

Irish Catholic gentry from Ulster attempt to seize control of Dublin Castle, the seat of English rule in Ireland, so as to force concessions.

Ethnoreligious group native to Ireland

Irish Catholics are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland whose members are both Catholic and Irish. The diaspora and the descendants of Irish Catholics includes millions of Americans, Canadians and Australians. In countries like the United States, Canada and Australia, many Catholics descend from Irish immigrants/migrants who passed down their faith.

1641

The Battle of Edgehill is the first major battle of the English Civil War.

1642 battle of the First English Civil War

The Battle of Edgehill was a pitched battle of the First English Civil War. It was fought near Edge Hill and Kineton in southern Warwickshire on Sunday, 23 October 1642.

1642

The most intense tornado on record in English history, an F4 storm on the Fujita scale or T8 on the TORRO scale, strikes the county of Lincolnshire, with winds of more than 213 miles per hour (343 km/h).

Scale for rating tornado intensity

The Fujita scale, or Fujita–Pearson scale, is a retired scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation. The official Fujita scale category is determined by meteorologists and engineers after a ground or aerial damage survey, or both; and depending on the circumstances, ground-swirl patterns, weather radar data, witness testimonies, media reports and damage imagery, as well as photogrammetry or videogrammetry if motion picture recording is available. The Fujita scale, named for the meteorologist Ted Fujita, was replaced with the Enhanced Fujita scale (EF-Scale) in the United States in February 2007. In April 2013, Canada adopted the EF-Scale over the Fujita scale along with 31 "Specific Damage Indicators" used by Environment Canada (EC) in their ratings.

1666

The First Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain convenes.

Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain from 1707 to 1708

The first Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain was established in 1707 after the merger of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland. It was in fact the 4th and last session of the 2nd Parliament of Queen Anne suitably renamed: no fresh elections were held in England or in Wales, and the existing members of the House of Commons of England sat as members of the new House of Commons of Great Britain. In Scotland, prior to the union coming into effect, the Scottish Parliament appointed sixteen peers and 45 Members of Parliaments to join their English counterparts at Westminster.

1707

The forces of Ali Pasha of Janina defeat the French and capture the town of Preveza in the Battle of Nicopolis.

Albanian ruler (1740–1822)

Ali Pasha, commonly known as Ali Pasha of Yanina or Ali Pasha of Tepelena, was an Albanian ruler who served as pasha of the Pashalik of Yanina, a large part of western Rumelia. Under his rule, it acquired a high degree of autonomy and even managed to stay de facto independent. The capital of the Pashalik was Ioannina, which, along with Tepelena, was Ali's headquarters.

1798

General Claude François de Malet begins a conspiracy to overthrow Napoleon, claiming that the Emperor died in the Russian campaign.

French aristocrat and soldier

Claude François de Malet was born in Dole to an aristocratic family. He was executed by firing squad, six days after staging a failed republican coup d'état as Emperor Napoleon I returned from the disastrous Russian campaign in 1812.

1812

The first National Women's Rights Convention begins in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Annual conference of political activists in late 19th-century United States

The National Women's Rights Convention was an annual series of meetings that increased the visibility of the early women's rights movement in the United States. First held in 1850 in Worcester, Massachusetts, the National Women's Rights Convention combined both female and male leadership and attracted a wide base of support including temperance advocates and abolitionists. Speeches were given on the subjects of equal wages, expanded education and career opportunities, women's property rights, marriage reform, and temperance. Chief among the concerns discussed at the convention was the passage of laws that would give women the right to vote.

1850

Second Opium War: Dissatisfied with imperial commissioner Ye Mingchen's reparations for the alleged slighting of a British-owned vessel and at Consul Harry Parkes's urging, British Rear-Admiral Michael Seymour launches an assault on the Barrier Forts outside Canton in the first military engagement of the Second Opium War.

1856–1860 war between British–French forces and China

The Second Opium War, also known as the Second Anglo-Chinese War or Arrow War, was fought between the United Kingdom and France against the Qing dynasty of China between 1856 and 1860. It was the second major conflict in the Opium Wars, which were fought over the right to import opium to China, and resulted in a second defeat for the Qing and the forced legalisation of the opium trade. It caused many Chinese officials to believe that conflicts with the Western powers were no longer traditional wars, but part of a looming national crisis.

1856

American Civil War: The Battle of Westport is the last significant engagement west of the Mississippi River, ending in a Union victory.

1861–1865 conflict in the United States

The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union to preserve slavery in the United States, which they saw as threatened because of the election of Abraham Lincoln and the growing abolitionist movement in the North. The war ended with Union victory, the dissolution of the Confederacy and the abolition of slavery, freeing four million African Americans.

1864

Meiji Restoration: Having taken the shogunate's seat of power at Edo and declared it his new capital as Tokyo, Mutsuhito proclaims the start of the new Meiji era.

1868 return to imperial rule in Japan

The Meiji Restoration , referred to at the time as the Honorable Restoration , also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji and led to the westernisation of Japan. Although there were ruling emperors before the Meiji Restoration, the events restored practical power to, and consolidated the political system under, the Emperor of Japan. The Restoration led to enormous changes in Japan's political and social structure and spanned both the late Edo period and the beginning of the Meiji era, during which time Japan rapidly industrialised and adopted Western ideas, production methods and technology.

1868

Assommoir bombing: Anarchists such as Fanny Madignier commit the first deadly anarchist attack in France.

1882 anarchist attack in Lyon, France

The Assommoir bombing was a bomb attack carried out on 23 October 1882 around 2:00 A.M. by anarchist Fanny Madignier, a member of the Louise Michel-Marie Ferré group, and at least two accomplices against L'Assommoir, a restaurant associated with the Lyonnese bourgeoisie. This was the first deadly anarchist attack in French history, although the intent to kill is unclear.

1882

Alberto Santos-Dumont flies an airplane in the first heavier-than-air flight in Europe.

Brazilian aviation pioneer (1873–1932)

Alberto Santos-Dumont was a Brazilian aeronaut, sportsman, inventor, and one of the few people to have contributed significantly to the early development of both lighter-than-air and heavier-than-air aircraft. The heir of a wealthy family of coffee producers, he dedicated himself to aeronautical study and experimentation in Paris, where he spent most of his adult life. He designed, built, and flew the first powered airships and won the Deutsch prize in 1901, when he flew around the Eiffel Tower in his airship No. 6, becoming one of the most famous people in the world in the early 20th century.

1906

The Italo-Turkish War sees the first use of an airplane in combat when an Italian pilot makes a reconnaissance flight.

1911–1912 war in Libya and the Aegean Sea

The Italo-Turkish War, also known as the Turco-Italian War, was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911 to 18 October 1912. As a result of this conflict, Italy captured coastal areas of the Ottoman Tripolitania Vilayet, of which the main sub-provinces were Fezzan, Cyrenaica, and Tripoli itself. These territories became the colonies of Italian Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, which would later merge into Italian Libya.

1911

First Balkan War: The Battle of Kumanovo between the Serbian and Ottoman armies begins.

1912–1913 war between the Balkan League and the Ottoman Empire

The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League against the Ottoman Empire. The Balkan states' combined armies overcame the initially numerically inferior and strategically disadvantaged Ottoman armies, achieving rapid success.

1912

German October: Due to a miscommunication with the party leadership, a militant section of the Communist Party of Germany launches an insurrection in Hamburg.

Attempted communist revolution in Germany in October 1923

The German October was a plan of the Executive Committee of the Communist International (ECCI) to attempt a communist revolution in the Weimar Republic in October 1923, amidst acute political and economic crises in the country. The Communist Party of Germany (KPD), under the United Front strategy, was directed to enter into coalition governments with the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in the states of Thuringia and Saxony and utilize their resources to assist the revolution. Despite their efforts, the KPD and ECCI leadership found no support and the plan was called off on 21 October. However, local branches of the KPD in Hamburg and Bremen launched their own insurrections, which were suppressed by the local police.

1923

Second Zhili–Fengtian War: Warlord Feng Yuxiang, with the covert support of the Empire of Japan, stages a coup in Beijing against his erstwhile superiors in the Zhili clique, crippling their nearly victorious war effort against the Fengtian clique and forcing them to withdraw from northern China.

Conflict between Chinese warlords (1924)

The Second Zhili–Fengtian War of 1924 was a conflict between the Japanese-backed Fengtian clique based in Manchuria, and the more liberal Zhili clique controlling Beijing and backed by Anglo-American business interests. The war is considered the most significant in China's Warlord era, with the Beijing coup by Christian warlord Feng Yuxiang leading to the overall defeat of the Zhili clique. During the war the two cliques fought one large battle near Tianjin in October 1924, as well as a number of smaller skirmishes and sieges. Afterwards, both Feng and Zhang Zuolin, the latter being ruler of the Fengtian clique, appointed Duan Qirui as a figurehead prime minister. In south and central China, more liberal Chinese were dismayed by the Fengtian's advance and by the resulting power vacuum. A wave of protests followed. The war also distracted the northern warlords from the Soviet-backed Nationalists based in the southern province of Guangdong, allowing unhampered preparation for the Northern Expedition (1926–1928), which united China under the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek.

1924

The Imatra Cinema is destroyed in a fire in Tampere, Finland, during showing the 1924 film Wages of Virtue; 21 people die in the fire and almost 30 are injured.

Former cinema in Tampere, Finland; burned down in 1927

Imatra was a cinema in Tampere, Finland, located in Hämeenkatu 12.

1927

Adolf Hitler and Francisco Franco meet at Hendaye to discuss the possibility of Spain entering the Second World War.

Dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Germany during the Nazi era from 1933 until his suicide in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor of Germany in 1933 and then taking the title of Führer und Reichskanzler in 1934. Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 under his leadership marked the outbreak of the Second World War. Throughout the ensuing conflict, Hitler was closely involved in the direction of German military operations and was central to the perpetration of the genocide of about six million Jews in the Holocaust as well as the murders of millions of other victims.

1940

The Holocaust: Nazi Germany prohibits Jews from emigrating, including in its occupied territories.

Genocide of European Jews by Nazi Germany

The Holocaust, known in Hebrew as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered around six million Jews across German-occupied Europe, approximately two-thirds of Europe's Jewish population. The murders were committed primarily through mass shootings across Eastern Europe and poison gas chambers in extermination camps, chiefly Auschwitz-Birkenau, Treblinka, Belzec, Sobibor, Chełmno and Majdanek death camps in occupied Poland. Concurrent Nazi persecutions killed millions of other non-Jewish civilians and prisoners of war (POWs); the term Holocaust is sometimes used to include the murder and persecution of non-Jewish groups, such as the Romani and Soviet POWs.

1941

World War II: Allied forces commence the Second Battle of El Alamein, which proves to be the key turning point in the North African campaign.

1939–1945 global conflict

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides, including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.

1942

All 12 passengers and crewmen aboard American Airlines Flight 28 are killed when it collides with a U.S.

Army Air Force bomber near Palm Springs, California.

American Airlines Flight 28 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by a Douglas DC-3 that crashed on October 23, 1942, in Chino Canyon near Palm Springs, California, United States, after being struck by a United States Army Air Forces Lockheed B-34 Lexington bomber. The B-34 suffered only minor damage, and landed safely at the Army Airport of the Sixth Ferrying Command, Palm Springs.

1942

World War II: The Battle for Henderson Field begins on Guadalcanal.

Battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II (1942)

The Battle for Henderson Field, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal or Battle of Lunga Point by the Japanese, took place from 23 to 26 October 1942 on and around Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. The battle was a land, sea, and air battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II and was fought between the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy and Allied forces, mainly U.S. Marines and Army. The battle was the last of three major land offensives conducted by the Japanese during the Guadalcanal campaign.

1942

World War II: The Battle of Leyte Gulf begins.

Largest naval battle of World War II and history

The Battle of Leyte Gulf was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some criteria the largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved.

1944

Jackie Robinson of the Kansas City Monarchs signs a contract with the Brooklyn Dodger's minor league team, the Montreal Royals, breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier.

American baseball player (1919–1972)

Jack Roosevelt Robinson was an American professional baseball player who was the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the color line when he started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. The Dodgers signing Robinson heralded the end of racial segregation in professional baseball, which had relegated black players to the Negro leagues since the 1880s.

1945

Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm defeats former emperor Bảo Đại in a referendum and founds the Republic of Vietnam.

President of South Vietnam from 1955 to 1963

Ngô Đình Diệm was a South Vietnamese politician who was the final prime minister of the State of Vietnam (1954–1955) and later the first president of South Vietnam from 1955 until his capture and assassination during the CIA-backed 1963 coup d'état.

1955

The people of the Saar region vote in a referendum to unite with West Germany instead of France.

State in Germany

Saarland is a landlocked state of Germany in the southwest of the country. With an area of 2,570 km2 (990 sq mi) and a population of 1 million in 2024, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and the smallest in population apart from Bremen. Saarbrücken is the state capital and largest city; other cities include Neunkirchen and Saarlouis. Saarland is mainly surrounded by the department of Moselle in France to the west and south and the neighboring state of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany to the north and east; it also shares a small border, about 8 kilometres long, with the canton of Remich in Luxembourg to the northwest.

1955

Secret police shoot several anti-communist protesters, igniting the Hungarian Revolution.

Citizen rebellion in Hungary

The Hungarian Revolution of 1956, also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was an attempted countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the policies caused by the government's subordination to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The uprising lasted 15 days before being crushed by Soviet tanks and troops on 7 November 1956. Thousands were killed or wounded, and nearly a quarter of a million Hungarians fled the country.

1956

Canada's Springhill mining disaster kills seventy-five miners, while ninety-nine others are rescued.

Any of three mining disasters in Springhill, Nova Scotia, Canada (1891, 1956, 1958)

Springhill mining disaster may refer to any of three deadly Canadian mining disasters that occurred in 1891, 1956, and 1958 in different mines within the Springhill coalfield, near the town of Springhill in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia. In the 1891 accident, 125 died; in 1956, 39 were killed; and in 1958, 75 miners were killed.

1958

Belgian artist Peyo's comic characters, the Smurfs, make their debut in Spirou magazine.

Country in Northwestern Europe

Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the south, and the North Sea to the west. Belgium covers an area of 30,689 km2 (11,849 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11.8 million; its population density of 383/km2 (990/sq mi) ranks 22nd in the world and sixth in Europe. The capital and largest metropolitan region is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi, Liège, Bruges, Namur, and Leuven.

1958

Aeroflot Flight 200 crashes while attempting to land at Vnukovo International Airport, killing 28.

1959 aviation accident

On October 23, 1959, an Ilyushin Il-14 operating as Aeroflot Flight 200 crashed while attempting to land at Vnukovo Airport near Moscow, Moscow Oblast, Russian SFSR, USSR. After being delayed due to bad weather, the aircraft attempted to touch down around 22:00 but crashed approximately 1,400 meters short of the runway after striking trees. Bad weather and pilot error contributed to the crash.

1959

Vietnam War: The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), in conjunction with the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, launches an operation seeking to destroy Communist forces during the siege of Plei Me.

1955–1975 war in Southeast Asia

The Vietnam War was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam and their allies. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union and China, while South Vietnam was supported by the United States and other anti-communist nations. The conflict was the second of the Indochina wars and a proxy war of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and US. The Vietnam War was one of the postcolonial wars of national liberation, a theater in the Cold War, and a civil war, with civil warfare a defining feature from the outset. Direct US military involvement escalated from 1965 until US forces were withdrawn in 1973. The fighting spilled into the Laotian and Cambodian civil wars, which ended with all three countries becoming communist in 1975.

1965

Gary Gabelich sets a land speed record in a rocket-powered automobile called the Blue Flame, fueled with natural gas.

American motorsport driver and land speed record holder (1940–1984)

Gary Michael Gabelich was an American motorsport driver who set the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) Land Speed Record (LSR) on October 23, 1970, driving the rocket car Blue Flame at Bonneville Salt Flats near Wendover, Utah.

1970

Vietnam War: Operation Linebacker, a US bombing campaign against North Vietnam in response to its Easter Offensive, ends after five months.

Part of the Vietnam War (1972)

Operation Linebacker was the codename of a U.S. Seventh Air Force and U.S. Navy Task Force 77 air interdiction campaign conducted against North Vietnam from 9 May to 23 October 1972, during the Vietnam War.

1972

Aeroflot Flight 6515 crashes off Syvash, killing all 26 people aboard.

1978 aviation accident in the Soviet Union

Aeroflot Flight 6515 was an scheduled flight operated by an Aeroflot Antonov An-24 that crashed on October 23, 1978, in Sivash Bay due to engine failure caused by icing and pilot error, resulting in the deaths of all 26 people on board.

1978

A gunfight breaks out between police officers and members of a religious cult in Arizona.

The shootout leaves two cultists dead and dozens of cultists and police officers injured.

The Miracle Valley shootout was a confrontation between members of the Christ Miracle Healing Center and Church (CMHCC) and Cochise County law enforcement that occurred in Miracle Valley, Arizona, United States, on October 23, 1982. A variety of incidents with law enforcement in 1982 culminated when a large group of church members confronted local sheriff's deputies and state law enforcement officers attempting to serve bench warrants for the arrest of three members of the church. In the ensuing melee, two church members were killed and seven people were injured. One church member and one law enforcement officer died later, both deaths possibly due to injuries sustained that day.

1982

Lebanese Civil War: The U.S.

Marines Corps barracks in Beirut is hit by a truck bomb, killing 241 U.S. military personnel. A French Army barracks in Lebanon is also hit that same morning, killing 58 troops.

The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon.

1983

The Hungarian Republic officially replaces the communist Hungarian People's Republic.

1988–1989 transition to a multi-party system

Communist rule in the Hungarian People's Republic came to an end in 1989 by a peaceful transition from a one-party state to a multi-party and liberal-democratic system. After the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was suppressed by Soviet forces, Hungary remained a Marxist–Leninist state. As the Soviet Union weakened at the end of the 1980s, the Eastern Bloc disintegrated.

1989

Bankruptcy of Wärtsilä Marine, the biggest bankruptcy in the Nordic countries up until then.

Defunct Finnish shipbuilding company (1987-89)

Wärtsilä Marine was a Finnish shipbuilding company.

1989

An explosion at the Houston Chemical Complex in Pasadena, Texas, which registered a 3.5 on the Richter magnitude scale, kills 23 and injures 314.

1989 flammable gas explosion accident in Pasadena, Texas, US

On 23 October 1989 at approximately 1:05 PM Central Daylight Time, a series of explosions occurred at Phillips Petroleum Company's Houston Chemical Complex (HCC) in Pasadena, Texas, near the Houston Ship Channel. The initial blast registered 3.5 on the Richter scale, and the resulting fires took 10 hours to bring under control, as efforts to battle the fire were hindered because the blast damaged water pipes for the fire hydrants. The initial explosion was found to have resulted from a release of extremely flammable process gasses used to produce high-density polyethylene, a plastic used for various consumer food container products. The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined Phillips Petroleum Company $5,666,200 and fined Fish Engineering and Construction, Inc., the maintenance contractor, $729,600. The event killed 23 employees and injured 314.

1989

Signing of the Paris Peace Accords which ends the Cambodian–Vietnamese War.

Treaty between Cambodia and Vietnam

The Paris Peace Agreements, officially the Comprehensive Cambodian Peace Agreements, was signed on 23 October 1991 and marked the official end of the Cambodian–Vietnamese War and the Third Indochina War. The agreement led to the deployment of the first UN peacekeeping mission since the Cold War and the first occasion in which the United Nations took over as the government of a state. The agreement was signed by nineteen countries.

1991

The Troubles: A Provisional IRA bomb prematurely detonates in Belfast, killing the bomber and nine civilians.

1960s–1998 conflict in Northern Ireland

The Troubles were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed to have ended with the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Although the Troubles mostly took place in Northern Ireland, at times violence spilled over into parts of the Republic of Ireland, England, and mainland Europe.

1993

Yolanda Saldívar is found guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting death of popular Latin singer Selena.

American murderer (born 1960)

Yolanda Saldívar is an American former nurse who murdered singer Selena in Corpus Christi, Texas, on March 31, 1995. Saldívar had been the president of Selena's fan club and the manager of her boutiques, but she lost both positions a short time before the murder, when the singer's family discovered that she had been embezzling money from both organizations. In October 1995, Saldívar was found guilty of murder and sentenced to a prison term of 30 years to life. In 2025, she became eligible for parole. Saldívar's petition for parole was denied on March 27, 2025; the next parole review is set for March 2030.

1995

Israel and the Palestinian Authority sign the Wye River Memorandum.

Country in West Asia

Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. It is bordered by Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan to the east, and Egypt to the southwest. Israel's western coast lies on the Mediterranean Sea, its southern tip reaches the Red Sea, and to the east is Earth's lowest point near the Dead Sea. Jerusalem is the government seat and proclaimed capital, while Tel Aviv is Israel's largest urban area and economic centre.

1998

Apple Computer releases the iPod.

American multinational technology company

Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley, and known for consumer electronics, software and online services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Computer Company by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne, the company was incorporated by Jobs and Wozniak as Apple Computer, Inc. the following year. Its current name was adopted in 2007 as the company expanded its focus from computers to consumer electronics. Apple is one of the Big Tech companies.

2001

Second Chechen War: Chechen separatist terrorists seize the House of Culture theater in Moscow and take approximately 700 theater-goers hostage.

1999–2009 conflict in Chechnya and the North Caucasus

The Second Chechen War took place in Chechnya and the border regions of the North Caucasus between the Russian Federation and the breakaway Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, from August 1999 to April 2009.

2002

A powerful earthquake and its aftershocks hit Niigata Prefecture in northern Japan, killing 35 people, injuring 2,200, and leaving 85,000 homeless or evacuated.

Earthquake in Japan

The Chūetsu earthquake occurred in Niigata Prefecture, Japan, at 17:56:00 JST on 23 October 2004. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) officially named it the "Heisei 16 Niigata Prefecture Chūetsu Earthquake" . The reverse-faulting shock achieved a maximum JMA seismic intensity of Shindo 7 and Modified Mercalli intensity of XI–XII (Extreme). It caused widespread destruction and casualties in Niigata Prefecture, while also causing damage and injuries in Fukushima, Gunma, Saitama and Nagano Prefectures.

2004

A storm causes the Mexican Kab 101 oil platform to collide with a wellhead, leading to the death and drowning of 22 people during rescue operations after evacuation of the platform.

Oil platform off the coast of Tabasco, Mexico

Kab 101 is a Sea Pony-type minimum-facilities light-production oil platform operated by Mexican state-owned oil company PEMEX, and installed about 26 kilometres (16 mi) off the coast of Tabasco, near the port of Dos Bocas, in 1994. The platform was designed by British engineering firm SLP Engineering Limited. The platform also produces the wells Kab 103 and Kab 121. This platform was the site of the accident which eventually led to the death of 22 workers. Pemex would contract two independent studies and one by itself and in an exercise of transparency, posted the reports on its website. On October 31, 2008, PEMEX released the result of the independent studies of the accident.

2007

Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-120, with Pamela Melroy becoming the second female space shuttle commander.

Space Shuttle orbiter (1984–2011)

Space Shuttle Discovery is a retired American Space Shuttle orbiter. The spaceplane was one of the orbiters from NASA's Space Shuttle program and the third of five fully operational orbiters to be built. Its first mission, STS-41-D, flew from August 30 to September 5, 1984. Over 27 years of service it launched and landed 39 times, aggregating more spaceflights than any other spacecraft as of December 2024. The Space Shuttle launch vehicle had three main components: the Space Shuttle orbiter, a single-use central fuel tank, and two reusable solid rocket boosters. Nearly 25,000 heat-resistant tiles cover the orbiter to protect it from high temperatures on re-entry.

2007

A powerful 7.2 magnitude earthquake strikes Van Province, Turkey, killing 582 people and injuring thousands.

2011 earthquakes in eastern Turkey

The 2011 Van earthquakes occurred in eastern Turkey near the city of Van. The first earthquake happened on 23 October at 13:41 local time. The shock had a Mww magnitude of 7.1 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). It occurred at a shallow depth, causing heavy shaking across much of eastern Turkey and lighter tremors across neighboring parts of the South Caucasus and Levant. According to Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency on 30 October, the earthquake killed 604 and injured 4,152. At least 11,232 buildings sustained damage in the region, 6,017 of which were found to be uninhabitable. The uninhabitable homes left as much as 8,321 households with an average household population of around 7.6 homeless in the province; this could mean that at least around 60,000 people were left homeless. The other 5,215 have been damaged but are habitable. A separate earthquake within the same earthquake system happened on 9 November at 21:23 local time. 38 people were killed and 260 people were injured in the 9 November earthquake.

2011

The Libyan National Transitional Council deems the Libyan Civil War over.

2011–2012 de facto government of Libya

The National Transitional Council (NTC) was a transitional government established in the 2011 Libyan civil war. After rebel forces overthrew the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya of Muammar Gaddafi in August 2011, the NTC governed Libya for a further ten months after the end of the war, holding elections to a General National Congress on 7 July 2012, and handing power to the newly elected assembly on 8 August.

2011

The lowest sea-level pressure in the Western Hemisphere, and the highest reliably-measured non-tornadic sustained winds, are recorded in Hurricane Patricia, which strikes Mexico hours later, killing at least 13 and causing over $280 million in damages.

Static pressure exerted by the weight of the Earth's atmosphere

Atmospheric pressure, also known as air pressure or barometric pressure, is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere is a unit of pressure defined as 101.325 kPa (1,013.25 hPa), which is equivalent to 1,013.25 millibars, 760 torr, about 29.9212 inHg, or about 14.696 psi. The atm unit is roughly equivalent to the mean sea-level atmospheric pressure on Earth; that is, the Earth's atmospheric pressure at sea level is approximately one atm.

2015

Second Libyan Civil War: The Second Libyan Civil War comes to an end as all parties to the 5+5 Joint Libyan Military Commission agree to a ceasefire.

Multilateral civil war in North Africa

The Libyan civil war (2014–2020), also known as the Second Libyan Civil War, was a multilateral civil war which was fought in Libya among a number of armed groups, but mainly the House of Representatives (HoR) and the Government of National Accord (GNA), for six years from 2014 to 2020.

2020

Xi Jinping is elected as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party by the Central Committee, beginning a third term of the paramount leader of China.

Leader of China since 2012

Xi Jinping is a Chinese politician who is the paramount leader of China. He has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Party Central Military Commission (CMC) since 2012, the president of China and chairman of the State Central Military Commission since 2013.

2022

Myanmar Air Force airstrikes a concert in Hpakant Township, Kachin state killing at least 80 people, including senior Kachin Independence Organisation officials, in the Hpakant massacre.

Aerial branch of Myanmar's armed forces

The Myanmar Air Force is the aerial branch of the Tatmadaw, the armed forces of Myanmar. The primary mission of the Myanmar Air Force (MAF) since its inception has been to provide air bases force protection, anti-aircraft warfare, close air support (CAS), logistical, and transport to the Myanmar Army in counterinsurgency operations. It is mainly used in internal conflicts in Myanmar, and, on a smaller scale, in relief missions, especially after the deadly Cyclone Nargis of May 2008.

2022

Born on October 23

20 people 1989 – 2004

Niccolò Pisilli

Italian footballer

Niccolò Pisilli is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club Roma and the Italy national team.

2004

Jacob Bethell

English Cricket Legend

Jacob Graham Bethell is an English cricketer who plays for the England cricket team. He made his international debut in September 2024 against Australia at the Rose Bowl, Southampton and became England's youngest ever…

2003

Ningning

Chinese singer

Ning Yizhuo, known professionally as Ningning (Korean: 닝닝), is a Chinese singer based in South Korea. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Aespa.

2002

Yui Kobayashi

Japanese idol

Yui Kobayashi , also known as Yousti, is a Japanese singer and model. She is a former member of the idol group Sakurazaka46. She is represented by Sony Music Records and is an exclusive model with a fashion magazine…

1999

Amandla Stenberg

American actress

Amandla Stenberg is an American actress and musician. She began her career as a child actor and received recognition for playing Rue in the action film The Hunger Games (2012). As she grew older, she appeared in the…

1998

Jordan Goodwin

American basketball player

Jordan Goodwin is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Saint Louis Billikens.

1998

Nick Bosa

American football player

Nicholas John Bosa is an American professional football defensive end for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes and was selected second…

1997

Élie Okobo

French basketball player

Élie-Franck Okobo is a French professional basketball player for AS Monaco of the French LNB Pro A and the EuroLeague. A 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) tall combo guard, the Bordeaux native began his club career at age 16. Okobo…

1997

Jaydn Su'A

New Zealand rugby league player

Jaydn Su'A is a Samoa international rugby league footballer who plays as a second-row forward for the St George Illawarra Dragons in the National Rugby League (NRL).

1997

Minnie

Thai singer

Nicha Yontararak, known professionally as Minnie, is a Thai singer and actress based in South Korea. She is a member of South Korean girl group I-dle, which debuted as (G)I-dle on May 2, 2018, under Cube Entertainment.…

1997

Ireland Baldwin

American model

Ireland Eliesse Baldwin, also known as Ireland Basinger Baldwin, is an American fashion model and actress. Baldwin started modeling and acting in 2013 and appeared in the film Grudge Match and in editorials for…

1995

Margaret Qualley

American actress

Sarah Margaret Qualley is an American actress. A daughter of actress Andie MacDowell, she trained as a ballet dancer in her youth. She made her acting debut in the 2013 drama film Palo Alto and gained recognition for…

1994

Josh Ruffels

English footballer

Joshua Andrew Bernard Ruffels is an English professional footballer who plays as a left-back for EFL League Two club Shrewsbury Town.

1993

Álvaro Morata

Spanish footballer

Álvaro Borja Morata Martín is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Como, on loan from AC Milan. He also captains the Spain national team.

1992

Emil Forsberg

Swedish footballer

Emil Peter Forsberg is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or left winger for Major League Soccer club New York Red Bulls and the Sweden national team. He previously played for GIF…

1991

Princess Mako of Akishino

member of the Japanese Imperial Family

Mako Komuro , formerly Princess Mako of Akishino , is a Japanese art historian and a former member of the Japanese imperial family. She is the eldest child of Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko, niece of…

1991

Jorge Taufua

Australian rugby league player

Jorge Taufua is a professional rugby league footballer who last played as a winger for Bradford Bulls in the Championship. He has played for both Tonga and Samoa at international level. He is currently playing rugby…

1991

Viktor Agardius

Swedish footballer

Viktor Agardius is a Swedish footballer who plays as a left-back or centre-back´for Kristianstad FC.

1989

Alain Baroja

Venezuelan footballer

Alain Baroja Méndez is a Venezuelan professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Always Ready and the Venezuela national team.

1989

Zach Brown

American football player

Zachary Vinzale Brown is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the North Carolina Tar Heels and was selected by the…

1989

See all birthdays on October 23

Died on October 23

20 people 2014 – 2025

June Lockhart

American actress (b. 1925)

June Kathleen Lockhart was an American actress, beginning a film career in the 1930s and 1940s in films such as A Christmas Carol and Meet Me in St. Louis. She appeared primarily in 1950s and 1960s television and with…

2025

Geoff Capes

British shot putter and strongman (born 1949)

Geoffrey Lewis Humberg Capes JP was a British shot putter, strongman, and Highland Games competitor.

2024

Gary Indiana

American writer, playwright and poet (born 1950)

Gary Hoisington, known as Gary Indiana, was an American writer, actor, artist, and cultural critic. He served as the art critic for the Village Voice weekly newspaper from 1985 to 1988. Indiana is best known for his…

2024

Jack Jones

American singer and actor (born 1938)

John Allan Jones was an American singer and actor. He was primarily a straight-pop singer whose forays into jazz were mostly of the big-band/swing music variety. He won two Grammy Awards and received five additional…

2024

Aira Samulin

Finnish entrepreneur and dance teacher (born 1927)

Aira Laila Suvio-Samulin was a Finnish dance teacher and businesswoman.

2023

Bishan Singh Bedi

Indian cricketer (born 1946)

Bishan Singh Bedi was an Indian cricketer who was primarily a slow left-arm orthodox bowler. He played Test cricket for India from 1966 to 1979 and formed part of the famous Indian spin quartet. He played a total of 67…

2023

Adriano Moreira

Portuguese politician, Minister of the Overseas Provinces, President of the CDS – People's Party (born 1922)

Adriano José Alves Moreira, ComC GCC GOIH GCSE was a Portuguese lawyer, professor and a leading political figure in Portugal throughout the second half of the 20th century.

2022

Jerry Jeff Walker

American singer-songwriter (born 1942)

Jerry Jeff Walker was an American country and folk singer-songwriter. He was a leading figure in the progressive country and outlaw country music movement. He is best known for writing the 1968 song "Mr. Bojangles".

2020

Todd Reid

Australian tennis player (born 1984)

Todd Reid was an Australian professional tennis player. He excelled as a junior and peaked in the Men's Tour in September 2004, reaching a career-high singles ranking of world No. 105.

2018

Walter Lassally

German cinematographer (born 1926)

Walter Lassally was a German-born British cinematographer. He won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography in 1965 for the film Zorba the Greek.

2017

Jack Chick

American cartoonist and publisher (born 1924)

Jack Thomas Chick was an American cartoonist and publisher, best known for his fundamentalist Baptist "Chick tracts". He expressed his perspective on a variety of issues through sequential-art morality plays.

2016

Wim van der Voort

Dutch speed skater (born 1923)

Willem "Wim" van der Voort was a Dutch speed skater. At the 1952 Olympics in Oslo Van der Voort was the silver medalist in the men's 1500 meters, finishing 0.2 seconds behind Hjalmar Andersen of Norway. He received a…

2016

Pete Burns

English singer-songwriter (born 1959)

Peter Jozzeppi Burns was an English singer, songwriter and television personality.

2016

Leon Bibb

American-Canadian singer (born 1922)

Leon Bibb was an American-Canadian folk singer and actor. His a cappella vocals blend his classical, spiritual and blues influences. He is the father of the New York-based acoustic blues singer/songwriter Eric Bibb, and…

2015

Roger De Clerck

Belgian businessman (born 1924)

Roger De Clerck was a Belgian entrepreneur and CEO of the Beaulieu textile group. An international business man, his family was ranked 15th place in a list of "richest Belgians". During his lifetime he was controversial…

2015

Jim Roberts

Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (born 1940)

James Wilfred Roberts, known as Jim Roberts or Jimmy Roberts, was a Canadian ice hockey defenceman and forward.

2015

Fred Sands

American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded the Museum of Contemporary Art (born 1938)

Fred Charles Sands was an American business executive and real estate investor. He served as the Chairman of Vintage Capital Group.

2015

Ghulam Azam

Bangladeshi politician (born 1922)

Ghulam Azam was a Bangladeshi writer and politician who headed the far-right Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami (BJI).

2014

John Bramlett

American football player (born 1941)

John "Bull" Bramlett was an American professional football linebacker who played from 1965 to 1971 on four teams, the Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins, and Boston Patriots in the American Football League (AFL) and the…

2014

Bernard Mayes

English-American journalist and academic (born 1929)

Anthony Bernard Duncan Mayes was a British broadcaster, university dean and author. In the United States, he founded KQED-FM, was Executive Vice President of KQED TV, then co-founded and became first working chairman of…

2014

See all deaths on October 23

What happened on October 23 in history?

On October 23, one notable event in history was 2017: War against the Islamic State: Philippine defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana declares the end of the Siege of Marawi..

This date currently highlights 63 recorded events on thisDay.info, spanning 4004 BC – 2022.

DateOctober 23

Featured year2017

LocationLorenzana declares the end of the Siege of Marawi

Events listed63

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October 23 in History

2017 — War against the Islamic State: Philippine defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana declares the end of the Siege of Marawi

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October 23 in History

2017 — War against the Islamic State: Philippine defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana declares the end of the Siege of Marawi

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Died on October 23

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