September 23 in History

Grito de Lares, also referred to as the Lares revolt, or the Lares revolution, was the first short revolt against Spanish rule in Puerto Rico, staged by the Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico on September 23, 1868. Three decades after its uprising in Lares, the committee carried out a second unsuccessful revolt in the neighboring southwestern municipality of Yauco, known as the Intentona de Yauco. The Grito de Lares flag is recognized as the first flag of Puerto Rico.

Cape Virgenes is the southeastern promontory of continental Argentina in South America. A little to the south-west, the southernmost point of land is Punta Dúngeness. Ferdinand Magellan reached it on 21 October 1520 during the Spanish expedition to East Asia and discovered a strait, now called the Strait of Magellan in his honor. As 21 October was the feast day of Saint Ursula and the Eleven Thousand Virgins, he named the cape in their honor.

The dissolution of the union between the kingdoms of Norway and Sweden under the House of Bernadotte, was set in motion by a resolution of the Storting on 7 June 1905. Following some months of tension and fear of an outbreak of war between the neighbouring kingdoms – and a Norwegian plebiscite held on 13 August which overwhelmingly backed dissolution – negotiations between the two governments led to Sweden's recognition of Norway as an independent constitutional monarchy on 26 October 1905. On that date, King Oscar II renounced his claim to the Norwegian throne, effectively dissolving the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, and this event was swiftly followed, on 18 November, by the accession to the Norwegian throne of Prince Carl of Denmark, taking the name of Haakon VII.

World War I, or the First World War, also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Central Powers. Major areas of conflict included Europe and the Middle East, as well as parts of Africa and the Asia-Pacific. The war saw important developments in weaponry including tanks, aircraft, artillery, machine guns, and chemical weapons. One of the deadliest conflicts in history, it resulted in an estimated 15 to 22 million military and civilian casualties and genocide. The movement of large numbers of people was a major factor in the deadly Spanish flu pandemic.

Saudi National Day is a public holiday in Saudi Arabia celebrated annually on 23 September to commemorate the proclamation that renamed the Kingdom of Nejd and Hejaz as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932 through a royal decree by King Abdulaziz ibn Saud. It was founded in 1965 by King Faisal bin Abdulaziz in order to replace the Royal Seating Day, but at the same time letting it retain its predecessor's year count of 1930 instead of 1932. It was made a public holiday by King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz in 2005 and is one of the three non-religious holidays observed in the country, other being the Saudi Founding Day and Saudi Flag Day.

The 1947 Dustabad earthquake, also known as the Charmeh earthquake, occurred in South Khorasan province of northeastern Iran on 23 September. The mainshock had a magnitude of Mw 6.9 and maximum Modified Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). It was accompanied by a Mw  6.1 aftershock on 26 September. These earthquakes killed an estimated 500 people.

George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of India from 1936 until the British Raj was dissolved in August 1947, and the first Head of the Commonwealth following the London Declaration of 1949.

Mississippi is a state in the Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the southwest, and Arkansas to the northwest. Mississippi's western boundary is largely defined by the Mississippi River, or its historical course. Mississippi is the 32nd largest by area and 35th-most populous of the 50 U.S. states and has the lowest per-capita income. Jackson is both the state's capital and largest city. Greater Jackson is the state's most populous metropolitan area, with a population of 591,978 in 2020. Other major cities include Gulfport, Southaven, Hattiesburg, Biloxi, Olive Branch, Tupelo, Meridian, and Greenville.

The Little Rock Nine were a group of nine African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. Their enrollment was followed by the Little Rock Crisis, in which the students were initially prevented from entering the racially segregated school by Orval Faubus, the Governor of Arkansas. They then attended after the intervention of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Flying Tiger Line Flight 923 was a chartered military transport flight that ditched in the North Atlantic Ocean on September 23, 1962. The Lockheed Constellation L-1049H was transporting 68 military personnel of the United States Army from McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey to Rhein-Main Air Base in West Germany. While flying over the North Atlantic on the Gander-Frankfurt leg, the number 3 engine fire warning sounded, and the engine was shut down. While trying to finish the engine shutdown checklist, the flight engineer accidentally turned off the oil flow to the number 1 engine, leaving the aircraft on only two engines. Approximately an hour later and after the L-1049H started to divert to Shannon, Ireland, the number 2 engine caught on fire and was forced to be at reduced thrust. The aircraft ditched in the North Atlantic Ocean, where 48 occupants survived for six hours on a life raft until the MS Celerina arrived at the scene.

The 1967 Coho Salmon Fishing Disaster refers to a squall over Lake Michigan, off the coast of Michigan in the United States, which occurred on September 23, 1967. Hundreds of small fishing boats were on the lake to take advantage of a coho salmon run. More than 150 boats capsized, seven people died, and 46 people were injured.

Gulf Air Flight 771 was an international scheduled passenger flight from Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, Pakistan, to Abu Dhabi International Airport, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. On 23 September 1983, while the Boeing 737-2P6 was on approach, a bomb, planted by the Iraqi-based Palestinian nationalist militant group, Abu Nidal Organization, exploded in the baggage compartment, resulting in a fire. The aircraft crashed in the desert near Jebel Ali between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. All 105 passengers and 7 crew members died. To date, it is the deadliest air disaster in the history of the United Arab Emirates, along with Sterling Airways Flight 296 which also killed 112 people in 1972.

Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country in the Caribbean on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica and south of The Bahamas. It occupies the western side of the island, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Haiti is the third largest country in the Caribbean by area, and with an estimated population of 11.4 million, it is the most populous Caribbean country. The capital and largest city is Port-au-Prince.

Teresa Wilson Bean Lewis was an American murderer who was the only woman on death row in Virginia prior to her execution. She was sentenced to death by lethal injection for the murders of her husband and stepson in October 2002. Lewis sought to profit from a $250,000 life insurance policy her stepson had taken out as a U.S. Army reservist in anticipation of his deployment to Iraq.

A grand jury is a jury empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a person to testify. A grand jury is separate from the courts, which do not preside over its functioning.

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.