History of 23 August
1902 – Fannie Merrit Farmer opened her cooking school, Miss Farmer’s School of Cookery, in Boston, MA.
1904 – Hard D. Weed patented the grip-tread tire chain for cars.
1914 – Tsingtao, China, was bombarded as Japan declared war on Germany in World War I.
1939 – Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression treaty.
1944 – During World War II, Romanian prime minister Ion Antonescu was dismissed. Soon after the country would abandon the Axis and join the Allies.
1944 – Marseilles was captured by Allied troops during World War II.
1947 – Margaret Truman, U.S. President Truman’s daughter, gave her first public performance as a singer. The event was at the Hollywood Bowl and had an audience of 15,000.
1952 – The security pact of the Arab League went into effect.
1959 – In the Peanuts comic strip, Sally debuted as an infant.
1962 – The first live TV program was relayed between the U.S. and Europe through the U.S. Telstar satellite.
1970 – U.S. swimmer Gary Hall broke three world records at the AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) outdoor swimming meet, held in Los Angeles, CA.
1979 – Soviet dancer Alexander Godunov defected while the Bolshoi Ballet was on tour in New York City.
1982 – The parliament of Lebanon elected Bashir Gemayel president. He was assassinated three weeks later.
1982 – Gaylord Perry (Seattle Mariners) was tossed out of a game for throwing an illegal spitball.
1983 – The U.S. announced that it was nearly ready for a test flight of an anti-satellite missile.
1984 – South Fork Ranch, the home of the fictitious Ewing clan of the CBS-TV show, “Dallas,” was sold. The ranch was to be transformed from a tourist site into a hotel.
1987 – Robert Jarvik and Marilyn Mach Vos Savant were married. The event was called the “Union of Great Minds” since Savant had an IQ of 228 and Jarvik was the inventor of the artificial heart.
1990 – President Saddam Hussein appeared on Iraqi state television with a group of Western detainees that he referred to as “guests.” He told the group that they were being held “to prevent the scourge of war.”
1993 – It was confirmed by Los Angeles police that Michael Jackson was the subject of a criminal investigation.
1996 – U.S. President Clinton imposed limits on peddling cigarettes to children.
1998 – Protestors in Sudan carried a sign that bore the resemblance of Monica Lewinsky and the words “No War for Monika.” The anti-U.S. demonstration was in Khartoum, Sudan.
1998 – Boris Yeltsin dismissed the Russian government again.
1999 – Rescuers in Turkey found a young boy that had been buried in rubble from an earthquake for about a week.
1999 – Robert Bogucki was rescued after getting lost in the Great Sandy Desert of Australia on July 11. During the 43 day ordeal, Bogucki lost 44 pounds.
2000 – Richard Hatch was revealed as the winning castaway on CBS’ “Survivor.” Hatch won $1,000,000 for his stay on the island of Pulau Tida in the South China Sea.
2006 – Natascha Kampusch, who had been abducted at the age of ten, escapes from her captor Wolfgang Priklopil, after eight years of captivity.
2007 – The skeletal remains of Russia’s last royal family members Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia, and his sister Grand Duchess Anastasia are discovered near Yekaterinburg, Russia.
2011 – A magnitude 5.8 (class: moderate) earthquake occurs in Virginia. Damage occurs to monuments and structures in Washington D.C. and the resulted damage is estimated at $200 million–$300 million USD.
2011 – Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is overthrown after the National Transitional Council forces take control of Bab al-Azizia compound during the Libyan Civil War.
2012 – A hot-air balloon crashes near the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana, killing six people and injuring 28 others.
2013 – A riot at the Palmasola prison complex in Santa Cruz, Bolivia kills 31 people.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Carlos Cuéllar, Spanish footballer
- 1981 – Stephan Loboué, Ivorian footballer
- 1982 – Natalie Coughlin, American swimmer
- 1982 – Scott Palguta, American soccer player
- 1982 – Cristian Tudor, Romanian footballer (d. 2012)
- 1983 – James Collins, Welsh footballer
- 1983 – Athena Farrokhzad, Iranian-Swedish poet, playwright, and critic
- 1983 – Sun Mingming, Chinese basketball player
- 1983 – Tony Moll, American football player
- 1983 – Fiona Onasanya, British Labour Party politician and criminal
- 1983 – Bruno Spengler, Canadian race car driver
- 1984 – Glen Johnson, English footballer
- 1984 – Eric Tai, New Zealand rugby player, and actor
- 1985 – Valeria Lukyanova, Moldovan-Ukrainian model and singer
- 1986 – Neil Cicierega, American comedian and musician
- 1986 – Brett Morris, Australian rugby league player
- 1986 – Josh Morris, Australian rugby league player
- 1988 – Olga Govortsova, a Belarusian tennis player
- 1988 – Carl Hagelin, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1988 – Jeremy Lin, American basketball player
- 1989 – Trixie Mattel, American drag queen, actor, and country singer
- 1989 – Heiko Schwarz, German footballer
- 1989 – Lianne La Havas, British singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist
- 1990 – Seth Curry, American basketball player
- 1993 – Ivan Lopez, Spanish professional footballer
- 1994 – August Ames, Canadian pornographic actress (d. 2017)
- 1997 – Lil Yachty, American rapper, and singer