March 23 is the 82nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (83rd in Leap years). There are 283 days remaining.

Events

• 752 - Stephen II becomes Pope.
• 1568 - Peace of Longjumeau ends the Second War of Religion in France. Again Catherine de Medici and Charles IX of France make substantial concessions to the Huguenots.
• 1708 - James Francis Edward Stuart lands at the Firth of Forth.
• 1775 - American Revolutionary War: Patrick Henry delivers his famous speech - "give me liberty or give me death" in Williamsburg, Virginia.
• 1801 - Tsar Paul I of Russia is struck with a sword, then strangled, and finally trampled to death in his bedroom at St. Michael Palace.
• 1806 - After traveling through the Louisiana Purchase and reaching the Pacific Ocean, explorers Lewis and Clark and their "Corps of Discovery" begin their arduous journey home.
• 1839 - First recorded use of "OK" as an abbreviation for "oll korrect" in the Boston Morning Post.
• 1848 - John Wickliffe arrives at Port Chalmers carrying the first Scottish settlers for Dunedin, New Zealand. Otago province is founded.
• 1857 - Elisha Otis's first elevator is installed at 488 Broadway, New York City.
• 1868 - The University of California is founded in Oakland, California when the Organic Act is signed into law.
• 1889 - Land run: President Benjamin Harrison opens Oklahoma to white settlement starting on April 22.
• 1889 - Free Woolwich Ferry officially opened in east London.
• 1903 - The Wright Brothers apply for a patent on their invention of the first successful airplane after much hard work.
• 1909 - Theodore Roosevelt leaves New York for a post-presidency safari in Africa. The trip is sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society.
• 1919 - In Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini founds his Fascist political movement.
• 1931 - The Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt embrace gallows during the Indian struggle for independence. Their request to be shot by a firing squad is refused.
• 1933 - The Reichstag passes the Enabling Act, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany.
• 1935 - Signing of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Philippines
• 1940 - The famous Pakistan Resolution or Lahore Resolution (Qarardad-e-Pakistan or the then Qarardad-e-Lahore) is put forward at the Annual General Convention of the All India Muslim League.
• 1942 - World War II: In the Indian Ocean, Japanese forces capture the Anadaman Islands.
• 1956 - Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic in the world.
• 1963 - In London, United Kingdom, Grethe & Jørgen Ingmann win the eighth Eurovision Song Contest for Denmark singing "Dansevise" (Dancing tune).
• 1965 - NASA launches Gemini 3, the United States' first two-man space flight (crew: Gus Grissom and John Young).
• 1978 - The first UNIFIL troops arrived in Lebanon for peacekeeping mission along the Blue Line.
• 1983 - Strategic Defense Initiative: President Ronald Reagan makes his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles.
• 1989 - Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann announce cold fusion at the University of Utah.
• 1989 - A 1,000-foot diameter Near-Earth asteroid misses the Earth by 400,000 miles.
• 1994 - At an election rally in Tijuana, Mexican presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio is assassinated by Mario Aburto Martínez.
• 1996 - The Republic of China on Taiwan holds its first direct elections and chooses Lee Teng-hui as President
• 1999 - Gunmen assassinate Paraguay's Vice President Luis María Argaña.
• 2001 - The Russian Mir space station is disposed of, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji.
• 2001 - The World Wrestling Federation (WWF) (now World Wrestling Entertainment) purchases rival organization World Championship Wrestling (WCW) for an estimated $5 million.
• 2003 - Nasiriyah, Iraq, 18 U.S. Marines killed during the first major conflict of Operation Iraqi Freedom
• 2005 - The United States' 11th Circuit Court of Appeals' 2-1 decision refuses to order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube.

Births

• 1699 - John Bartram, American botanist (d. 1777)
• 1749 - Pierre Simon de Laplace, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1827)
• 1754 - Baron Jurij Vega, Slovene mathematician, physicist and artillery officer (d. 1802)
• 1769 - William Smith, geologist/cartographer (d. 1839)
• 1823 - Schuyler Colfax, Vice President of the United States (d. 1885)
• 1834 - Julius Reubke, composer (d. 1858)
• 1878 - Franz Schreker, composer (d. 1934)
• 1882 - Emmy Noether, mathematician (d. 1935)
• 1887 - Juan Gris, painter and graphic artist (d. 1927)
• 1887 - Prince Felix Yussupov, assassin of Rasputin (d. 1967)
• 1889 - Yukichi Chuganji, oldest man alive on (d. 2003)
• 1900 - Erich Fromm, psychoanalyst (d. 1980)
• 1904 - Joan Crawford, American actress (d. 1977)
• 1905 - Lale Andersen, singer and cabaretist (d. 1972)
• 1907 - Daniel Bovet, French scientist Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• 1910 - Akira Kurosawa, Japanese film director (d. 1998)
• 1912 - Wernher von Braun, German-born physicist and engineer (d. 1977)
• 1915 - Vasily Zaitsev, World War II hero (d. 1991)
• 1922 - Marty Allen , American comedian
• 1924 - Bettie Nesmith Graham , inventor (d. 1980)
• 1929 - Sir Roger Bannister, runner
• 1931 - Viktor Korchnoi, Russian chess player
• 1934 - Mark Rydell , American film and television director
• 1937 - Craig Breedlove, former land speed record holder
• 1938 - Maynard Jackson, American politician (d. 2003)
• 1942 - Walter Rodney, historian and political figure (d. 1980)
• 1949 - Ric Ocasek, musician (The Cars)
• 1951 - Corinne Clery, French actress
• 1952 - Kim Stanley Robinson, science fiction author
• 1953 - Chaka Khan, singer
• 1953 - Bo Diaz, Venezuelan baseball player (d. 1990)
• 1953 - Eugene Izzi , American novelist (d. 1996)
• 1955 - Moses Malone, American basketball player
• 1956 - José Manuel Durão Barroso, Portuguese politician, president of the European Commission
• 1957 - Amanda Plummer, American actress
• 1964 - Hope Davis, American actress
• 1965 - Richard Grieco , actor, singer
• 1968 - Damon Albarn, musician (Blur)
• 1971 - Gail Porter, British television presenter
• 1972 - Judith Godrèche, actress/author
• 1973 - Jason Kidd, basketball player
• 1975 - Alydar, thoroughbred race horse (d. 1990)
• 1976 - Keri Russell, actress
• 1978 - Nicholle Tom, actress
• 1979 - Chad Dittman, President Intense Football League
• 1979 - Misty Hyman, American swimmer

Deaths

• 1548 - Itagaki Nobukata, a retainer of Takeda Shingen
• 1555 - Pope Julius III, (b. 1487)
• 1559 - Gelawdewos , Emperor of Ethiopia (killed in battle)
• 1801 - Tsar Paul of Russia, (b. 1754)
• 1842 - Stendhal, French writer, (b. 1783)
• 1931 - Bhagat Singh, Indian freedom fighter (b. 1907)
• 1931 - Batukeshwar Dutt , Indian freedom fighter
• 1960 - Franklin Pierce Adams, American newspaper columnist (b. 1881)
• 1964 - Peter Lorre, actor, (b. 1904)
• 1970 - Del Lord, pioneer Hollywood director, (b. 1894)
• 1972 - Cristóbal Balenciaga, Spanish fashion designer
• 1979 - Orlando Letelier, Chilean ambassador to the United States, (b. 1932)
• 1983 - Barney Clark , first artificial heart recipient
• 1993 - Hans Werner Richter , author (b. 1908)
• 1994 - Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mexican politician
• 1995 - Jerry Lester , American actor
• 2001 - Rowland Evans , American political columnist
• 2002 - Eileen Farrell, American opera soprano
• 2003 - Fritz Spiegl, journalist, (b. 1926)
• 2004 - Rupert Hamer, Australian politician (b. 1916)

Holidays and observances

• Roman Empire - The fifth and final day of Quinquatria, held in honor of Minerva.
• Roman Empire - Tubilustrium was held in honor of Mars
• Ancient Latvia - Lieldienas held in honor of Mara and other goddesses
• Pakistan - National Day (Republic Day)
• Otago, New Zealand - Anniversary Day

External links

• BBC: On This Day

March 22 - March 24 - February 23 - April 23 -- listing of all days