History of 23 October
1910 – Blanche S. Scott became the first woman to make a public solo airplane flight in the United States.
1915 – The first U.S. championship horseshoe tourney was held in Kellerton, IA.
1915 – Approximately 25,000 women demanded the right to vote with a march in New York City, NY.
1929 – In the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged starting the stock-market crash that began the Great Depression.
1930 – J.K. Scott won the first miniature golf tournament. The event was held in Chattanooga, TN.
1942 – During World War II, the British began a major offensive against Axis forces at El Alamein, Egypt.
1944 – During World War II, the Battle of Leyte Gulf began.
1946 – The United Nations General Assembly convened in New York for the first time.
1956 – Hungarian citizens began an uprising against Soviet occupation. On November 4, 1956, Soviet forces enter Hungary and eventually suppress the uprising.
1956 – NBC broadcasted the first videotape recording. The tape of Jonathan Winters was seen coast to coast in the U.S.
1958 – Russian poet and novelist Boris Pasternak was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. He was forced to refuse the honor due to a negative Soviet reaction. Pasternak won the award for writing “Dr. Zhivago”.
1962 – During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the U.S. naval “quarantine” of Cuba was approved by the Council of the Organization of American States (OAS).
1962 – The U.S. Navy reconnaissance squadron VFP-62 began overflights of Cuba under the code name “Blue Moon.”
1971 – The U.N. General Assembly voted to expel Taiwan and seat Communist China.
1973 – U.S. President Richard M. Nixon agreed to turn over the subpoenaed tapes concerning the Watergate affair.
1978 – China and Japan formally ended four decades of hostility when they exchanged treaty ratifications.
1980 – The resignation of Soviet Premier Alexei N. Kosygin was announced.
1984 – “NBC Nightly News” aired footage of the severe drought in Ethiopia.
1985 – U.S. President Reagan arrived in New York to address the U.N. General Assembly.
1989 – Hungary became an independent republic, after 33 years of Soviet rule.
1992 – Japanese Emperor Akihito became the first Japanese emperor to stand on Chinese soil.
1993 – Joe Carter (Toronto Blue Jays) became only the second player to end the World Series with a home run.
1995 – Russian President Boris Yeltsin and U.S. President Bill Clinton agree to a joint peacekeeping effort in the war-torn Bosnia.
1998 – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat reach a breakthrough in a land-for-peace West Bank accord.
1998 – Japan nationalized its first bank since World War II.
2000 – Universal Studios Consumer Products Group (USCPG) and Amblin Entertainment announced an unprecedented and exclusive three-year worldwide merchandising program with Toys “R” Us, Inc. The deal was for the rights to exclusive “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial” merchandise starting in fall 2001. The film was scheduled for re-release in the spring of 2002.
2001 – NASA’s Mars Odyssey spacecraft began orbiting Mars. In 2010, it became the longest-operating spacecraft ever sent to Mars.
2002 – Chechen terrorists seize the House of Culture theater in Moscow and take approximately 700 theater-goers hostages.
2004 – 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.
2007 – 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 the evacuation of the platform.
2011 – A powerful 7.2 magnitude earthquake strikes Van Province, Turkey, killing 582 people and injuring thousands.
2011 – The Libyan National Transition Council deems the Libyan Civil War over.
2012 – After 38 years, the world’s first Teletext service (BBC’s Ceefax) ceases broadcast due to Northern Ireland completing the digital switchover.
2015 – 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.
2019 – 33 Chinese nationals and 6 Vietnamese nationals are found dead in a refrigerated lorry in Grays, England.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1983 – Jessica Savitch, American journalist (b. 1947)
- 1984 – Oskar Werner, Austrian-German actor (b. 1922)
- 1986 – Edward Adelbert Doisy, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1893)
- 1988 – Asashio Tarō III, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 46th Yokozuna (b. 1929)
- 1989 – Armida, Mexican-American actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1911)
- 1990 – Thomas Williams, American author and academic (b. 1926)
- 1994 – Robert Lansing, American actor (b. 1928)
- 1996 – Bob Grim, American baseball player (b. 1930)
- 1997 – Bert Haanstra, Dutch director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1916)
- 1998 – Barnett Slepian, American physician (b. 1946)
- 1999 – Eric Reece, Australian politician, 32nd Premier of Tasmania (b. 1909)
- 2000 – Yokozuna, American wrestler (b. 1966)
- 2001 – Josh Kirby, English illustrator (b. 1928)
- 2001 – Daniel Wildenstein, French art dealer, and historian (b. 1917)
- 2002 – Adolph Green, American playwright, and songwriter (b. 1915)
- 2003 – Tony Capstick, English actor and singer (b. 1944)
- 2003 – Soong Mei-ling, Chinese wife of Chiang Kai-shek, 2nd First Lady of the Republic of China (b. 1898)
- 2004 – Robert Merrill, American actor and singer (b. 1919)
- 2004 – Bill Nicholson, English footballer, coach, and manager (b. 1919)
- 2005 – William Hootkins, American actor (b. 1948)
- 2005 – John Muth, American economist and academic (b. 1930)
- 2005 – Stella Obasanjo, Nigerian wife of Olusegun Obasanjo, 10th First Lady of Nigeria (b. 1945)
- 2006 – Lebo Mathosa, South African singer (Boom Shaka) (b. 1977)
- 2007 – John Ilhan, Turkish-Australian businessman, founded Crazy John’s (b. 1965)
- 2007 – Lim Goh Tong, Malaysian-Chinese businessman (b. 1918)
- 2008 – Kevin Finnegan, English boxer (b. 1948)
- 2009 – Lou Jacobi, Canadian-American actor (b. 1913)
- 2010 – Fran Crippen, American swimmer (b. 1984)
- 2010 – Stanley Tanger, American businessman, and philanthropist, founded the Tanger Factory Outlet Centers (b. 1923)
- 2011 – Herbert A. Hauptman, American chemist, and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
- 2011 – Marco Simoncelli, Italian motorcycle racer (b. 1987)
- 2012 – William Joel Blass, American lawyer and politician (b. 1917)
- 2012 – Wilhelm Brasse, a Polish photographer (b. 1917)
- 2012 – Roland de la Pope, French soldier, and pilot (b. 1920)
- 2012 – Sunil Gangopadhyay, Indian author, and poet (b. 1934)
- 2012 – Michael Marra, Scottish singer-songwriter (b. 1952)
- 2013 – Wes Bialosuknia, American basketball player (b. 1945)
- 2013 – Anthony Caro, English sculptor and academic (b. 1924)
- 2013 – Niall Donohue, Irish hurler (b. 1990)
- 2013 – Gympie Mayo, English guitarist and songwriter (Dr. Feelgood and The Yardbirds) (b. 1951)
- 2013 – Bill Mazer, Ukrainian-American journalist, and sportscaster (b. 1920)
- 2014 – Ghulam Azam, Bangladeshi politician (b. 1922)
- 2014 – John Bramlett, American football player (b. 1941)
- 2014 – Bernard Mayes, English-American journalist and academic (b. 1929)
- 2014 – Joan Quigley, American astrologer and author (b. 1927)
- 2014 – Tullio Regge, Italian physicist and academic (b. 1931)
- 2014 – Alvin Stardust, English singer, and actor (b. 1942)
- 2015 – Leon Bibb, American-Canadian singer (b. 1922)
- 2015 – Roger De Clerck, Belgian businessman (b. 1924)
- 2015 – Jim Roberts, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (b. 1940)
- 2015 – Fred Sands, American businessman, and philanthropist, co-founded the Museum of Contemporary Art (b. 1938)
- 2016 – Jack Chick, American cartoonist, and publisher (b. 1924)
- 2016 – Wim van der Voort, Dutch speed skater (b. 1923)
- 2016 – Pete Burns, English singer-songwriter (b. 1959)
- 2017 – Walter Lassally, German cinematographer (b. 1926)
- 2018 – Todd Reid, Australian tennis player (b. 1984)