September 23Birthdays & History

On this day: September 23 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 38Drusilla, Caligula's sister who died in June, with whom the emperor is said to have an incestuous relationship, is deified.Europe
2. 1122Pope Callixtus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V agree to the Concordat of Worms to put an end to the Investiture Controversy.Europe
3. 1338The Battle of Arnemuiden, in which a French force defeats the English, is the first naval battle of the Hundred Years' War and the first European naval battle in which gunpowder artillery is used.Europe
4. 1409The Battle of Kherlen is the second significant victory over Ming dynasty China by the Mongols since 1368.Asia
5. 1459The Battle of Blore Heath, the first major battle of the English Wars of the Roses, is won by the Yorkists.Europe
6. 1561King Philip II of Spain issues cedula, ordering a halt to colonizing efforts in Florida.EuropeNorth America
7. 1642First English Civil War: The Battle of Powick Bridge, the first engagement between the primary field armies of the Royalists and the Parliamentarians, ends in a Royalist victory.Europe
8. 1723The treaty of Saint Petersburg is signed, in which Imperial Russia gains Derbent, Baku, and the coastal areas in between as well as the provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran, and Astrabad from Safavid Persia while the Shah receives Russian soldiers for domestic peacekeeping.EuropeMiddle East
9. 1779American Revolutionary War: John Paul Jones, naval commander of the United States, on board the USS Bonhomme Richard, wins the Battle of Flamborough Head.North America
10. 1803Second Anglo-Maratha War: The Battle of Assaye is fought between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India.EuropeAsia
11. 1821Tripolitsa, Greece, is captured by Greek rebels during the Greek War of Independence.Europe
12. 1846Astronomers Urbain Le Verrier, John Couch Adams and Johann Gottfried Galle collaborate on the discovery of Neptune.Europe
13. 1868The Grito de Lares occurs in Puerto Rico against Spanish rule.Latin AmericaEurope
14. 1879The Macedo-Romanian Cultural Society is founded.Europe
15. 1884On the night of 23–24 September, the steamship Arctique runs aground near Cape Virgenes leading to the discovery of nearby placer gold, beginning the Tierra del Fuego gold rush.Latin America
16. 1885Ethiopian forces under Ras Alula defeat Mahdist Sudanese forces in the battle of Kufit.Africa
17. 1899Philippine-American War: the American Asiatic Squadron destroys a Filipino battery at the Battle of Olongapo.AsiaNorth America
18. 1905Norway and Sweden sign the Karlstad Treaty, peacefully dissolving the Union between the two countries.Europe
19. 1913The United Mine Workers of America launch a strike which eventually escalated into the Colorado Coalfield War.North America
20. 1918World War I: British forces capture Haifa, Acre, and Es Salt from the Ottoman Empire.EuropeMiddle East
21. 1920The Louisiana hurricane dissipates over Kansas after forcing around 4,500 people to evacuate and causing $1.45 million in damages.North America
22. 1932Saudi National Day: Crown Prince (later king) Faisal of Saudi Arabia, on behalf of Ibn Saud, proclaims the unification of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the current iteration of the Third Saudi State.Middle East
23. 1942World War II: The Matanikau action on Guadalcanal begins: U.S. Marines attack Japanese units along the Matanikau River.OceaniaNorth AmericaAsia
24. 1947A magnitude 6.9 earthquake strikes South Khorasan in Iran, killing over 500 people.Middle East
25. 1950Korean War: The Battle of Hill 282 is the first US friendly-fire incident on British military personnel since World War II.AsiaNorth AmericaEurope
26. 1951George VI, king of the United Kingdom, has his left lung removed in an operation after a malignant tumour was found.Europe
27. 1952After being accused of financial improprieties, Senator Richard Nixon delivers his "Checkers speech" nationwide on television and radio, defending his actions and successfully salvaging his nomination as the Republican candidate for Vice President.North America
28. 1955An all-white jury in Mississippi finds Roy Bryant and J. W. Milam not guilty in the torture-murder of 14-year-old African American boy Emmett Till.North AmericaAfrica
29. 1956A tropical storm originating in the eastern Pacific Ocean passes into the Gulf of Mexico and is upgraded and named Hurricane Flossy just hours before striking the Gulf Coast and causing 15 deaths and an estimated US$24.8 million in damages.Latin AmericaNorth America
30. 1957Little Rock schools integration crisis: President Dwight D. Eisenhower sends the 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock, Arkansas, and federalizes the Arkansas National Guard, ordering both to support the integration of Little Rock Central High School.North America
31. 1961U.S. President John F. Kennedy nominates African American civil rights lawyer Thurgood Marshall to the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, although pro-segregation Southern senators manage to delay his confirmation until September 11, 1962.North AmericaAfrica
32. 1962Flying Tiger Line Flight 923, a Lockheed L-1049H Super Constellation registered as N6923C, ditches into the Atlantic Ocean killing 28 out the 76 occupants onboard. The remaining 48 were rescued six hours later.North America
33. 1964Typhoon Wilda, one of the strongest typhoons to ever strike Japan, makes landfall, causing at least 30 fatalities and sinking at least 64 ships.Asia
34. 1967Seven people die, 46 people are injured, and more than 150 boats capsize when a squall hits Lake Michigan during Michigan's first coho salmon sport fishing season.North America
35. 1973Argentine general election: Juan Perón returns to power in Argentina.Latin America
36. 1983Gulf Air Flight 771 is destroyed by a bomb, killing all 112 people on board.Middle East
37. 1999Qantas Flight 1 overruns a runway in Bangkok during a storm, causing minor injuries to some passengers.Asia
38. 2004Over 3,000 people die in Haiti after Hurricane Jeanne produces massive flooding and mudslides.Latin America
39. 2008Matti Saari kills ten people at a school in Finland before committing suicide.Europe
40. 2010Teresa Lewis becomes the first woman to be executed by the U.S. state of Virginia since 1912, and the first woman in the state to be executed by lethal injection.North America
41. 2013Twenty-five people are killed after Typhoon Usagi passes Hong Kong and China.Asia
42. 2019Twenty people die on the first of two days of rioting in Papua and West Papua over an alleged racist incident.Asia
43. 2020A grand jury in Kentucky declines to indict three police officers for the shooting death of Breonna Taylor in a drug raid gone wrong, leading to nationwide protests in the U.S.North America
44. 2022Voting begins in the five-day sham annexation referendums in Russian-occupied Ukraine, leading to Russian annexation of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.Europe
45. 2024Israel launches airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, killing more than 490 people.Middle East

Source: Wikipedia "September 23" / CC BY-SA 4.0