December 23

is the 357th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (358th in leap years). There are 8 days remaining.

Events

619 - Boniface V becomes Pope.
1493 - Georg Alt's German translation of Hartmann Schedel's Nuremberg Chronicle is published.
1783 - George Washington resigns as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army at the Maryland State House in Annapolis, Maryland.
1823 - The poem A Visit From St. Nicholas (AKA The Night Before Christmas) is published in the Sentinel.
1888 - Vincent Van Gogh cuts off the lower part of his left ear, takes it to a brothel, and gives it to a prostitute named Rachel.
1913 - The Federal Reserve Act is signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson, creating the Federal Reserve.
1916 - World War I: Battle of Magdhaba - Allied forces defeat Turkish forces in Egypt's Sinai peninsula.
1936 - Colombia becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
1947 - The transistor is first demonstrated at Bell Laboratories.
1954 - The first human kidney transplant is performed by Dr. Joseph E. Murray at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.
1970 - Topping-out of World Trade Center's North Tower in New York City.
1972 - The Nicaraguan capital of Managua is struck by a 6.5 magnitude earthquake, killing more than 10,000.
1972 - All 16 survivors of the October 13 crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 are rescued.
1979 - Soviet war in Afghanistan: Soviet forces occupy Kabul, the Afghan capital.
1982 - The Environmental Protection Agency announces it has identified dangerous levels of dioxin in the soil of Times Beach, Missouri.
1986 - Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, lands at Edwards Air Force Base in California and becomes the first aircraft to fly non-stop around the world.
1990 - History of Slovenia: 88% of Slovenia's population vote for independence from Yugoslavia in a referendum.
2004 - Macquarie Island in the Southern Ocean is hit by an 8.1 magnitude earthquake.
2005 - Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 217 from Baku, Azerbaijan to Aktau, Kazakhstan crashed shortly after takeoff killing 23 people.
2005 - Chad declares a state of war against Sudan following a December 18th attack on Adre, which left about 100 people dead.

Births

1503 - Nostradamus French physician and prophet (d. 1566)
1513 - Thomas Smith, English diplomat and scholar (d. 1577)
1537 - King John III of Sweden (d. 1592)
1582 - Severo Bonini, Italian composer (d. 1663)
1597 - Martin Opitz von Boberfeld, German poet (d. 1639)
1613 - Carl Gustaf Wrangel, Swedish soldier (d. 1676)
1621 - Edmund Berry Godfrey, English magistrate (d. 1678)
1621 - Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham, Lord Chancellor of England (d. 1682)
1689 - Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, French composer (d. 1755)
1732 - Richard Arkwright, English industrialist and inventor (d. 1792)
1743 - Ippolit Bogdanovich, Russian poet (d. 1803)
1750 - King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (d. 1827)
1777 - Tsar Alexander I of Russia (d. 1825)
1790 - Jean François Champollion, French Egyptologist (d. 1832)
1804 - Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, French literary critic (d. 1869)
1805 - Joseph Smith, Jr., American founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1844)
1819 - Jan Jakob Lodewijk ten Kate, Dutch poet and clergyman (d. 1889)
1822 - Wilhelm Bauer, German engineer (d. 1875)
1864 - Zorka of Montenegro, Princess of Serbia (d. 1890)
1867 - Madame C. J. Walker, American millionaire (d. 1919)
1878 - Stephen Timoshenko, Ukrainian-born mechanical engineer (d. 1972)
1885 - Pierre Brissaud, French artist (d. 1964)
1891 - Alexandr Rodchenko, Russian painter and photographer (d. 1956)
1907 - Avraham Stern, Polish-born Zionist leader (d. 1942)
1908 - Yousuf Karsh, Turkish-born photographer (d. 2002)
1911 - Niels Kaj Jerne, English-born immunologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1994)
1918 - Helmut Schmidt, Chancellor of Germany
1918 - José Greco, Italian-born flamenco dancer (d. 2001)
1922 - Micheline Ostermeyer, French athlete and musician
1923 - Günther Schifter, Austrian music journalist
1923 - Claudio Scimone, Italian conductor
1923 - James Stockdale, U.S. Navy admiral (d. 2005)
1926 - Robert Bly, American poet
1931 - Ronnie Schell, American actor
1933 - Akihito, Emperor of Japan
1935 - Paul Hornung, American football player
1936 - Frederic Forrest, American actor
1938 - Bob Kahn, American Internet pioneer
1940 - Jorma Kaukonen, American musician
1941 - Tim Hardin, American musician (d. 1980)
1943 - Mikhail Gromov, Russian-born mathematician
1943 - Harry Shearer, American actor
1943 - Silvia Sommerlath, Queen of Sweden
1944 - Wesley Clark, U.S. general and NATO Supreme Allied Commander
1946 - Susan Lucci, American actress
1948 - Jack Ham, American football player
1949 - Adrian Belew, American musician
1950 - Michael C. Burgess, American politician
1951 - Anthony Phillips, British guitarist (Genesis)
1952 - William Kristol, American political commentator
1955 - Bruce Hornsby, American singer, pianist (Bruce Hornsby & the Range)
1956 - Dave Murray, English guitarist (Iron Maiden)
1958 - Victoria Williams, American singer
1961 - Carol Smillie, British television personality
1963 - Jim Harbaugh, American football player
1964 - Eddie Vedder, American musician (Pearl Jam)
1968 - Carla Bruni, Italian-French model, songwriter and singer
1969 - Martha Byrne, American actress
1970 - Catriona LeMay Doan, Canadian speed skater
1971 - Corey Haim, Canadian actor
1971 - Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, British socialite
1974 - Agustín Delgado, Ecuadorian footballer
1975 - Sky Lopez, American actress
1977 - Alge Crumpler, American football player
1978 - Andra Davis, American football player
1978 - Esthero, Canadian musician and singer
1978 - Víctor Martínez, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player
1978 - Estella Warren, Canadian model and actress
1978 - Jodie Marsh, British adult model
1979 - Summer Altice, American model and actress
1981 - Beth, Spanish singer
1985 - Harry Judd, British drummer (McFly)

Deaths

910 - Naum of Preslav, Bulgarian scholar
913 - Conrad of Franconia
1230 - Berengaria of Navarre, queen of Richard I of England
1556 - Nicholas Udall, English playwright (b. 1504)
1568 - Roger Ascham, tutor of Elizabeth I of England
1575 - Akiyama Nobutomo, Japanese warrior (b. 1531)
1588 - Henry I, Duke of Guise, French Catholic leader (b. 1550)
1631 - Michael Drayton, English poet (b. 1563)
1646 - François Maynard, French poet (b. 1582)
1652 - John Cotton, founder of Boston, Massachusetts (b. 1585)
1675 - Caesar, duc de Choiseul, French marshal and diplomat (b. 1602)
1722 - Pierre Varignon, French mathematician (b. 1654)
1771 - Marie-Marguerite d'Youville, Canadian saint (b. 1701)
1761 - Alestair Ruadh MacDonnell, Scottish Jacobite spy
1779 - Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol, British admiral and politician (b. 1724)
1789 - Charles-Michel de l'Épée, French philanthropist and developer of signed French (b. 1712)
1793 - Johann Adolph Hasse, German composer (b. 1699)
1795 - Henry Clinton, British general (b. 1730)
1805 - Pehr Osbeck, Swedish explorer and naturalist (b. 1723)
1834 - Thomas Malthus, English demographer and economist (b. 1766)
1846 - Jean Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent, French naturalist (b. 1780)
1872 - Theophile Gautier, French writer (b. 1811)
1912 - Otto Schoetensack, German anthropologist (b. 1850)
1939 - Anthony Fokker, Dutch aircraft manufacturer (b. 1890)
1948 - Hideki Tojo, Prime Minister of Japan (hanged) (b. 1884)
1948 - Akira Muto, Japanese army commander (hanged) (b. 1883)
1953 - Lavrenty Beria, Soviet Communist leader (b. 1899)
1970 - Charles Ruggles, American actor (b. 1886)
1973 - Charles Atlas, Italian-born bodybuilder (b. 1892)
1973 - Irna Phillips, American television writer, director, and producer (b. 1901)
1979 - Peggy Guggenheim, American art collector (b. 1898)
1982 - Jack Webb, American actor, producer, and director (b. 1920)
1983 - Colin Middleton, Northern Irish artist (b. 1910)
1992 - Vincent Fourcade, French American interior designer and socialite (b. 1934)
1992 - Eddie Hazel, American guitarist (Funkadelic) (b. 1950)
1994 - Sebastian Shaw, English actor (b. 1905)
2000 - Billy Barty, American actor (b. 1924)
2000 - Victor Borge, Danish-born comedian and pianist (b. 1909)
2004 - P. V. Narasimha Rao, ninth Prime Minister of India (b. 1921)
2005 - Norman D. Vaughan, polar explorer and dogsled driver (b. 1905)
2005 - Lajos Baróti, Hungarian footballer and coach (b. 1914)

Holidays and observances

Roman festivals - Larentalia, a festival in honor of Larenta
R.C. Saints - John Cantius ; Thorlac Thorhallsson, patron saint of Iceland
Japan - The Emperor's Birthday - Birthday of Akihito, the current Emperor of Japan
Ancient Latvia - Ziemassvetki held
Sweden - Birthday of Queen Silvia, an official flag day
Oaxaca - Night of the Radishes
Secular humanism (American) - HumanLight observed

Fictitious holidays

Festivus (from sitcom Seinfeld)

External links

December 22 - December 24 - November 23 - January 23 -- listing of all days

Gourt Home::Gourt :: December 23

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

Fictitious holidays

External links