History of 23 May
1900 – Civil War hero Sgt. William H. Carney became the first African American to receive the Medal of Honor, 37 years after the Battle of Fort Wagner.
1901 – American forces captured Filipino rebel leader Emilio Aguinaldo.
1908 – Part of the Great White Fleet arrived in Puget Sound, WA.
1915 – During World War I, Italy joined the Allies as they declared war on Austria-Hungary.
1922 – The play “Abie’s Irish Rose” opened in New York City.
1922 – “Daylight Saving Time” was debated in the first debate ever to be heard on the radio in Washington, DC.
1926 – The French captured the Moroccan Rif capital.
1934 – In Bienville Parish, LA, Bonnie Parker, and Clyde Barrow were ambushed and killed by Texas Rangers. The bank robbers were riding in a stolen Ford Deluxe.
1937 – Industrialist John D. Rockefeller died.
1938 – “LIFE” magazine’s cover pictured Errol Flynn as a glamour boy.
1945 – In Luneburg Germany, Heinrich Himmler, the head of the Nazi Gestapo, committed suicide while imprisoned by the Allied forces.
1949 – The Republic of West Germany was established.
1960 – Israel announced the capture of Nazi Adolf Eichmann in Argentina.
1962 – The National Basketball Association (NBA) agreed to transfer the Philadelphia Warriors to San Francisco, CA. The team became the San Francisco Warriors (and later the Golden State Warriors).
1962 – Joe Pepitone of the New York Yankees set a major league baseball record by hitting two home runs in one inning.
1981 – In Barcelona, Spain, gunmen seized control of the Central Bank and took 200 hostages.
1985 – Thomas Patrick Cavanagh was sentenced to life in prison for trying to sell Stealth bomber secrets to the Soviet Union.
1992 – In Lisbon, Portugal, the U.S., and four former Soviet republics signed an agreement to implement the START missile reduction treaty that had been agreed to by the Soviet Union before it was dissolved.
1994 – “Pulp Fiction” won the “Golden Palm” for best film at the 47th Cannes Film Festival.
1995 – The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was demolished.
1998 – British Protestants and Irish Catholics of Northern Ireland approved a peace accord.
1999 – In Kansas City, MO, Owen Hart (Blue Blazer) died when he fell 90 feet while being lowered into a WWF wrestling ring. He was 33 years old.
1999 – Gerry Bloch, at age 81, became the oldest climber to scale El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. He broke his own record that he set in 1986 when he was 68 years old.
2013 – Google acquired Makani Power for use for its Project Wing.
2016 – U.S. President Obama announced that the United States would end its ban of lethal military equipment sales to Vietnam. The restrictions had been in place since the end of the Vietnam War.
2017 – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao, following the Maute’s attack in Marawi.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1983 – Silvio Proto, Belgian-Italian footballer
- 1984 – Hugo Almeida, Portuguese footballer
- 1985 – Sebastián Fernández, Uruguayan footballer
- 1985 – Teymuraz Gabashvili, a Russian tennis player
- 1985 – Wim Stroetinga, Dutch cyclist
- 1985 – Ross Wallace, Scottish footballer
- 1986 – Ryan Coogler, American film director and screenwriter
- 1986 – Alexei Sitnikov, Russian-Azerbaijani figure skater
- 1986 – Alice Tait, Australian swimmer
- 1986 – Ruben Zadkovich, Australian footballer
- 1987 – Gracie Otto, Australian actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1987 – Bray Wyatt, American wrestler
- 1988 – Rosanna Crawford, Canadian biathlete
- 1988 – Angelo Ogbonna, Italian footballer
- 1988 – Morgan Pressel, American golfer
- 1989 – Ezequiel Schelotto, Italian footballer
- 1990 – Dan Evans, a British tennis player
- 1990 – Kristina Kucova, a Slovakian tennis player
- 1990 – Oliver Venno, Estonian volleyball player
- 1991 – Aaron Donald, American football player
- 1991 – Lena Meyer-Landrut, German singer-songwriter
- 1991 – César Pinares, Chilean footballer
- 1996 – Katharina Althaus, German ski jumper
- 1996 – Emmanuel Boateng, Ghanaian footballer
- 1996 – Razvan Marin, Romanian footballer
- 1997 – Pedro Chirivella, Spanish footballer
- 1997 – Coy Craft, American footballer
- 1997 – Joe Gomez, English footballer
- 1997 – Gustaf Nilsson, Swedish footballer
- 1997 – Sam Timmins, New Zealand basketball player
- 1998 – Sérgio Sette Câmara, Brazilian race car driver
- 1998 – Ross Cunningham, Scottish footballer
- 1998 – Salwa Eid Naser, Bahraini track and field sprinter
- 1998 – Luca De La Torre, American footballer
- 2000 – Felipe Drugovich, Brazilian race car driver