August 23rd is the 235th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (236th in leap years), with 130 days remaining.
Events:
- 1328?: Battle of Kassel: French troops stop an uprising of Flemish farmers.
- 1566: Calvinists are granted rights in the Netherlands.
- 1614: The University of Groningen is established.
- 1617: In London the first one-way street is established.
- 1784: Eastern Tennessee declares itself an independent state under the name of Franklin; the step is rejected by Congress one year later.
- 1821: Mexico gains its independence from Spain.
- 1833: Slavery abolished in the British colonies.
- 1839: The UK captures Hong Kong.
- 1864: The Union Navy captures Fort Morgan, Alabama, thus breaking Confederate dominance of all ports on the [Gulf of Mexico]?.
- 1889: First wireless message from a ship to the shore received.
- 1904: The [automobile tire chain]? is patented.
- 1914: Japan declares war on Germany and bombs Tsingtao?, China.
- 1924: The distance between Earth and Mars is the smallest since the 10th century.
- 1939: Germany and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression treaty, the Molotov-Ribbentrop-pact?. In a secret addition to the pact, Poland is divided between the two nations.
- 1940: The Germans start bombing London.
- 1942: Beginning of the battle of Stalingrad: Germans bomb Stalingrad, 40,000 civilians die.
- 1943: Kharkov? liberated.
- 1944: Marseilles liberated.
- 1944: The Romanian pro-Nazi government is dismissed. Romania switches sides from the Axis to the Allies.
- 1948: [World Council of Churches]? is formed.
- 1952: The [Arab League]? goes into effect.
- 1960: In Equatorial Guinea, the world's largest frog? (3.3 kg) is caught.
- 1962: First live television connection between the United States and Europe, via the Telstar satellite.
- 1966: [Lunar Orbiter 1]? takes the first photograph of Earth from the Moon.
- 1973: The Intelsat? communication satellite is launched.
- 1975: Succesfull Communist coup in Laos.
- 1976: A heavy earthquake in China kills thousands of people.
- 1979: Soviet dancer [Alexander Godunov]? defects to the United States.
- 1985: [Hans Tiedge]?, top counter-spy of West Germany, defects to East Germany.
- 1987: Heavy rains and floods in Bangladesh make hundreds of victims.
- 1990: [Saddam Hussein]? appears on Iraqi state television with a number of Western "guests" (actually hostages to try to stop the Gulf War from starting).
- 1990: Armenia declares its independence from the Soviet Union.
- 1990: It is announced that West Germany and East Germany will unite on 3 October.
Births:
- 1754: [Louis XVI]?, last king of France (1774-1793)
- 1769: [Georges Cuvier]?, biologist
- 1785: [Oliver Hazard Perry]?, US naval officer ([Battle of Lake Erie]?)
- 1829: [Moritz Cantor]?, mathematician
- 1864: [Eleftherios Venizalos]?, prime minister of Greece (1910-1915, 1928-1932)
- 1912: Gene Kelly, dancer/actor
- 1917: [Tex Williams]?, singer
- 1922: [George Kell]?, baseball player
- 1927: [Dick Bruna]?, illustrator
- 1927: [Houari Boumendienne]?, president of Algeria (1965-1978)
- 1929: [Peter Thompson]?, golfer
- 1933: [Pete Wilson]?, governor of California
- 1947: Keith Moon, singer/drummer ([The Who]?)
- 1949: [Rick Springfield]?, singer/actor
- 1951: [Queen Noor]? of Jordan
- 1970: [River Phoenix]?, actor
Deaths:
- 1806: [Charles Augustin de Coulumb]?, physicist, age 70
- 1926: [Rudolph Valentino]?, actor, age 31
- 1965: [John Bata]?, shoe manufacturer, age 67
- 1977: [Sebastian Cabot]?, actor, age 59
- 1982: [Stanford Moore]?, biochemist
Holidays and observances:
August 22 -
August 24 -
July 23 -
September 23 - more
historical anniversaries
See Also: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
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