July 23

July 23 is the 204th day of the year (205th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 161 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 1632 – Three hundred colonists bound for New France depart from Dieppe, France.
• 1793 – Prussia re-conquers Mainz from France.
• 1829 – In the United States, William Austin Burt patents the typographer, a precursor to the typewriter.
• 1833 – Cornerstones are laid for the construction of the Kirtland Temple in Kirtland, Ohio.
• 1840 – The Province of Canada is created by the Act of Union.
• 1862 – American Civil War: Henry W. Halleck takes command of the Union Army.
• 1874 – Aires de Ornelas e Vasconcelos is appointed the Archbishop of the Portuguese colonial enclave of Goa.
• 1881 – The Federation Internationale de Gymnastique, the world's oldest international sport federation, is founded.
• 1881 – The Boundary treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina is signed in Buenos Aires.
• 1903 – The Ford Motor Company sells its first car.
• 1914 – Austria-Hungary issues an ultimatum to Serbia demanding Serbia to allow the Austrians to determine who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Serbia will reject those demands and Austria will declare war on July 28.
• 1926 – Fox Film buys the patents of the Movietone sound system for recording sound onto film.
• 1929 – The Fascist government in Italy bans the use of foreign words.
• 1936 – In Catalonia, Spain, the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia is founded through the merger of Socialist and Communist parties.
• 1940 – The United States' Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles issues a declaration on the U.S. non-recognition policy of the Soviet annexation and incorporation of three Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
• 1942 – The Holocaust: the Treblinka extermination camp is opened.
• 1942 – World War II: Operation Edelweiss begins.
• 1945 – The post-war legal processes against Philippe Pétain begin.
• 1952 – The European Coal and Steel community is established.
• 1952 – General Muhammad Naguib leads the Free Officers Movement (formed by Gamal Abdel Nasser, the real power behind the coup) in overthrowing King Farouk of Egypt.
• 1956 – The Loi Cadre is passed by the French Republic in order to order French overseas territory affairs.
• 1961 – The Sandinista National Liberation Front is founded in Nicaragua.
• 1962 – Telstar relays the first publicly transmitted, live trans-Atlantic television program, featuring Walter Cronkite.
• 1962 – The International Agreement on the Neutrality of Laos is signed.
• 1967 – 12th Street Riot: in Detroit, Michigan, one of the worst riots in United States history begins on 12th Street in the predominantly African American inner city. It will leave 43 killed, 342 injured and 1,400 buildings burned.
• 1968 – Glenville Shootout: in Cleveland, Ohio, a violent shootout between a Black Militant organization led by Ahmed Evans and the Cleveland Police Department occurs. During the shootout, a riot begins and lasts for five days.
• 1968 – The only successful hijacking of an El Al aircraft takes place when a Boeing 707 carrying 10 crew and 38 passengers is taken over by three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The aircraft was en route from Rome, Italy, to Lod, Israel.
• 1970 – Qaboos ibn Sa’id becomes Sultan of Oman after overthrowing his father, Sa’id ibn Taimur initiating massive reforms ;modernisation programs and end to a decade long civil war.
• 1972 – The United States launch Landsat 1, the first Earth-resources satellite.
• 1982 – The International Whaling Commission decides to end commercial whaling by 1985-86.
• 1983 – The Sri Lankan Civil War begins with the killing of 13 Sri Lanka Army soldiers by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Terrorist group. In the subsequent riots of Black July, about 1,000 Tamils are slaughtered, some 400,000 Tamils flee to neighbouring Tamil Nadu, India and many find refuge in Europe and Canada.
• 1983 – Gimli Glider: Air Canada Flight 143 runs out of fuel and makes a deadstick landing at Gimli, Manitoba.
• 1984 – Vanessa Williams becomes the first Miss America to resign when she surrenders her crown after nude photos of her appeared in Penthouse magazine.
• 1986 – In London, Prince Andrew, Duke of York marries Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey.
• 1988 – General Ne Win, effective ruler of Burma since 1962, resigns after pro-democracy protests.
• 1992 – A Vatican commission, led by Joseph Ratzinger, establishes that it is necessary to limit rights of homosexual people and non-married couples.
• 1992 – Abkhazia declares independence from Georgia.
• 1995 – Comet Hale-Bopp is discovered; it will become visible to the naked eye nearly a year later.
• 1997 – Digital Equipment Company files antitrust charges against chipmaker Intel.
• 1999 – Crown Prince Mohammed Ben Al-Hassan is crowned King Mohammed VI of Morocco on the death of his father.
• 1999 – ANA Flight 61 is hijacked in Tokyo, Japan.
• 2005 – Three bombs explode in the Naama Bay area of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, killing 88 people.

Births

• 645 – Yazid I, the second Umayyad Caliph (d. 683)
• 1301 – Otto, Duke of Austria (d. 1339)
• 1339 – King Louis I of Naples (d. 1384)
• 1503 – Anne of Bohemia and Hungary, Queen consort of the Romans, wife of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1547)
• 1649 – Pope Clement XI (d. 1721)
• 1705 – Francis Blomefield, English topographer (d. 1752)
• 1775 – Etienne-Louis Malus, French physicist and mathematician (d. 1812)
• 1777 – Philipp Otto Runge, German painter (d. 1810)
• 1796 – Franz Berwald, Swedish composer (d. 1868)
• 1823 – Alexandre-Antonin Taché, Canadian Catholic priest and archbishop (d. 1894)
• 1838 – Edouard Judas Colonne, French violinist (d. 1910)
• 1851 – Charles Bannerman, Australian cricketer (d. 1930)
• 1856 – Lokmanya Tilak, Indian freedom fighter (d. 1920)
• 1864 – Apolinario Mabini, Filipino political theoretician and Prime Minister (d. 1903)
• 1865 – Max Heindel, Danish Christian occultist, astrologer, and mystic (d. 1919)
• 1884 – Emil Jannings, Swiss actor (d. 1950)
• 1885 – Georges V. Matchabelli, Georgian-born American perfumer (Prince Matchabelli Perfume Company) (d. 1935)
• 1886 – Salvador de Madariaga, Spanish League of Nations official (d. 1978)
• 1886 – Walter H. Schottky, German physicist (d. 1976)
• 1888 – Raymond Chandler, American novelist (d. 1959)
• 1892 – Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia (d. 1975)
• 1894 – Arthur Treacher, English character actor (d. 1975)
• 1895 – Aileen Pringle, American actress (d. 1989)
• 1898 – Jacob Marschak, American economist (d. 1977)
• 1898 – Red Dutton, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1987)
• 1899 – Gustav Heinemann, 3rd President of the Federal Republic of Germany (d. 1976)
• 1900 – John Babcock, Last surviving Canadian veteran of World War I (d. 2010)
• 1901 – Hank Worden, American actor and rodeo cowboy (d. 1992)
• 1905 – Leopold Engleitner, Austrian Holocaust survivor and lecturer
• 1906 – Vladimir Prelog, Croatian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
• 1906 – Chandrasekhar Azad, Indian revolutionary (d. 1931)
• 1909 – John W. Finn, American WWII hero (d. 2010)
• 1912 – Michael Wilding, English actor (d. 1979)
• 1912 – M. H. Abrams, American literary critic and writer
• 1913 – Michael Foot, English politician (d. 2010)
• 1914 – Virgil Finlay, American horror illustrator (d. 1971)
• 1918 – Bueno de Mesquita, Dutch comedian and actor (d. 2005)
• 1918 – Pee Wee Reese, American baseball player (d. 1999)
• 1920 – Amalia Rodrigues, Portuguese fado singer (d. 1999)
• 1921 – Calvert DeForest, American actor (d. 2007)
• 1923 – Luis Aloma, Cuban baseball player (d. 1997)
• 1923 – Cyril M. Kornbluth, American writer (d. 1958)
• 1923 – Amalia Mendoza, Mexican singer (d. 2001)
• 1924 – Gavin Lambert, British-born American screenwriter (d. 2005)
• 1927 – Gérard Brach, French film director and screenwriter (d. 2006)
• 1928 – Hubert Selby Jr., American author (d. 2004)
• 1931 – Te Atairangikaahu, New Zealand Māori Queen (d. 2006)
• 1931 – Guy Fournier, French Canadian author and screenwriter
• 1931 – Claude Fournier, French Canadian film director and screenwriter
• 1933 – Bert Convy, American game show host and performer (d. 1991)
• 1933 – Raimund Abraham, Austrian architect (d. 2010)
• 1933 – Benedict Groeschel, American Roman Catholic priest
• 1935 – Jim Hall, American race car driver and constructor (Chaparral Cars)
• 1935 – Hein Heinsen, Danish sculptor
• 1936 – Don Drysdale, American baseball player (d. 1993)
• 1936 – Anthony Kennedy, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
• 1937 – Dave Webster, American football player
• 1938 – Juliet Anderson, American pornographic actress (d. 2010)
• 1938 – Ronny Cox, American actor
• 1938 – Götz George, German actor
• 1938 – Charles Harrelson, American convicted murderer; father of Woody Harrelson (d. 2007)
• 1938 – Bert Newton, Australian actor and television show host
• 1940 – Don Imus, American talk radio host
• 1941 – Richie Evans, American NASCAR driver (d. 1985)
• 1942 – Myra Hindley, English murderer (d. 2002)
• 1942 – Sallyanne Atkinson, Australian politician
• 1943 – Randall Forsberg, American nuclear freeze advocate (d. 2007)
• 1943 – Tony Joe White, American singer and songwriter
• 1947 – Gardner Dozois, American science fiction writer and editor
• 1947 – David Essex, English singer
• 1947 – Torsten Palm, Swedish racing driver
• 1948 – John Cushnahan, Northern Irish politician
• 1948 – John Hall, American politician and songwriter
• 1949 – Clive Rice, South African cricketer
• 1950 – Alex Kozinski, Romanian-born American judge
• 1950 – Blair Thornton, Canadian guitarist (Bachman-Turner Overdrive)
• 1950 – Alan Turner, Australian cricketer
• 1951 – Edie McClurg, American actress
• 1951 – Michael McConnohie, American voice actor
• 1952 – Bill Nyrop, American ice hockey player (d. 1995)
• 1952 – Paul Hibbert, Australian cricketer
• 1953 – Graham Gooch, English cricketer
• 1953 – Bob Hilton, American game show host and announcer
• 1957 – Theo van Gogh, Dutch film director (d. 2004)
• 1957 – Nick Galis, Greek basketball player
• 1959 – Nancy Savoca, American filmmaker
• 1960 – Al Perez, American professional wrestler
• 1961 – Martin Gore, English guitarist, keyboardist, bassist and songwriter (Depeche Mode)
• 1961 – Woody Harrelson, American actor
• 1961 – André Ducharme, Québécois humorist (Rock et Belles Oreilles) and comedian
• 1961 – Michael Durant, American helicopter pilot
• 1962 – Eriq La Salle, American actor
• 1964 – Ed Forchion, American marijuana activist
• 1965 – Rob Dickinson, English guitarist, singer and songwriter (Catherine Wheel)
• 1965 – Slash, English-born American guitarist (Guns N' Roses)
• 1966 – Samantha Beckinsale, English actress
• 1967 – Titiyo, Swedish singer
• 1967 – Philip Seymour Hoffman, American actor
• 1968 – Elden Campbell, American basketball player
• 1968 – Nick Menza, Germany-born American drummer (Megadeth)
• 1968 – Gary Payton, American basketball player
• 1968 – Stephanie Seymour, American supermodel
• 1970 – Charisma Carpenter, American actress
• 1970 – Thea Dorn, German writer
• 1971 – Dalvin DeGrate, American singer
• 1971 – Alison Krauss, American singer and fiddler
• 1971 – Chris Michalek, American jazz harmonica player
• 1971 – Christopher Lee, Singaporean actor and model
• 1971 – Joel Stein, American journalist
• 1972 – Marlon Wayans, American actor
• 1972 – Floyd Reifer, West Indian cricketer
• 1973 – Nomar Garciaparra, American baseball player
• 1973 – Francis Healy, English-born Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (Travis)
• 1973 – Monica Lewinsky, American White House intern
• 1973 – Himesh Reshammiya, Indian Bollywood composer, singer and actor
• 1973 – Andrea Scanavacca, Italian rugby player
• 1974 – Terry Glenn, American football player
• 1974 – Maurice Greene, American sprinter
• 1974 – Stephanie March, American actress
• 1974 – Sonny Siaki, Samoan professional wrestler
• 1974 – Rik Verbrugghe, Belgian cyclist
• 1974 – Kathryn Hahn, American actress
• 1975 – Seong Hyeon-ah, South Korean actress
• 1975 – Surya Sivakumar, Indian Tamil actor
• 1976 – Judit Polgár, Hungarian chess player
• 1976 – Jonathan Gallant, Canadian bassist (Billy Talent)
• 1977 – Neicer Reasco, Ecuadorian footballer
• 1977 – Scott Clemmensen, American ice hockey player
• 1978 – Stuart Elliott, Northern Irish footballer
• 1978 – Stefanie Sun, Singaporean singer
• 1979 – Perro Aguayo, Jr., Mexican professional wrestler
• 1979 – Richard Sims, Zimbabwean cricketer
• 1979 – Ricardo Sperafico, Brazilian racing driver
• 1980 – Michelle Williams, American singer (Destiny's Child)
• 1981 – Steve Jocz, Canadian drummer (Sum 41)
• 1981 – Jarkko Nieminen, Finnish tennis player
• 1982 – Paul Wesley, American actor
• 1982 – Gerald Wallace, American basketball player
• 1982 – Zanjoe Marudo, Filipino actor
• 1983 – Andrew Eiden, American actor
• 1983 – Bec Hewitt, Australian actress
• 1983 – Aaron Peirsol, American swimmer
• 1983 – David Strettle, English rugby player
• 1984 – Brandon Roy, American professional basketball player
• 1984 – Matthew Murphy, English singer, guitarist and keyboardist (The Wombats)
• 1985 – Ólafur Hannesson, Icelandic television personality
• 1985 – Luis Ángel Landín, Mexican footballer
• 1985 – Matthew Colin Bailey, American designer
• 1986 – Ayaka Komatsu, Japanese model and actress
• 1986 – Nelson Philippe, French racing driver
• 1986 – Reece Ritchie, English actor
• 1989 – Daniel Radcliffe, English actor
• 1992 – Amanda Wilson, English singer
• 1996 – Rachel G. Fox, American actress

Deaths

• 1227 – Qiu Chuji, Chinese founder of the Dragon Gate Taoism (b. 1148)
• 1373 – Bridget of Sweden, Swedish mystic and saint, founder of the Bridgettine Order (b. 1303)
• 1403 – Thomas Percy, 1st Earl of Worcester, English rebel (executed) (b. 1343)
• 1531 – Louis de Brézé, seigneur d'Anet, French nobleman, Marshal of Normandy and husband of Diane de Poitiers (birth year unknown)
• 1536 – Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset, bastard son of King Henry VIII of England (b. 1519)
• 1562 – Gotz von Berlichingen, German Imperial Knight and mercenary (b. 1480)
• 1584 – John Day, English printer (b. 1522)
• 1692 – Gilles Ménage, French scholar (b. 1613)
• 1727 – Simon Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. c. 1661)
• 1757 – Domenico Scarlatti, Italian composer (b. 1685)
• 1764 – Gilbert Tennent, Irish-born American religious leader (b. 1703)
• 1773 – George Edwards, English naturalist (b. 1693)
• 1781 – John Joachim Zubly, Swiss-born American Continental Congressman (b. 1724)
• 1793 – Roger Sherman, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1721)
• 1833 – Anselmo de la Cruz, Chilean political figure (b. 1777)
• 1853 – Andries Pretorius, South African Boer leader (b. 1798)
• 1875 – Isaac Singer, American inventor and entrepreneur (b. 1811)
• 1878 – Carl Freiherr von Rokitansky, Bohemian physician (b. 1804)
• 1885 – Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of the United States (b. 1822)
• 1916 – Sir William Ramsay, Scottish chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)
• 1920 – Conrad Kohrs, German-born American rancher (b. 1835)
• 1923 – Pancho Villa, Mexican revolutionary (b. 1878)
• 1924 – Frank Frost Abbott, American classical scholar (b. 1850)
• 1930 – Glenn Curtiss, American aviation pioneer (b. 1878)
• 1932 – Tenby Davies, Welsh half-mile world champion runner (b. 1884)
• 1941 – George Lyman Kittredge, American English literature scholar and Harvard University professor (b. 1860)
• 1942 – Adam Czerniakow, Polish engineer (suicide) (b. 1880)
• 1942 – Andy Ducat, English cricketer and footballer (b. 1886)
• 1948 – D. W. Griffith, American film director (b. 1875)
• 1951 – Henri Philippe Pétain, French leader of Vichy France (b. 1856)
• 1951 – Robert J. Flaherty, American filmmaker (b. 1884)
• 1955 – Cordell Hull, 47th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1871)
• 1966 – Montgomery Clift, American actor (b. 1920)
• 1968 – Henry Hallett Dale, English pharmacologist, Nobel laureate (b. 1875)
• 1971 – Van Heflin, American actor (b. 1910)
• 1973 – Eddie Rickenbacker, American fighter ace in World War I and founder of Rickenbacker Motors (b. 1890)
• 1979 – Joseph Kessel, French journalist and novelist (b. 1898)
• 1980 – Mollie Steimer, Russian-born American anarchist agitator and political prisoner (b. 1897)
• 1980 – Sarto Fournier, Canadian politician, Mayor of Montreal (b. 1908)
• 1980 – Keith Godchaux, American pianist (Grateful Dead) (b. 1948)
• 1982 – Giorgos Gavriilidis, Greek actor (b. 1906)
• 1982 – Vic Morrow, American actor (b. 1929)
• 1983 – Georges Auric, French composer (b. 1899)
• 1985 – Johnny Wardle, English cricketer (b. 1923)
• 1989 – Donald Barthelme, American short fiction writer and reporter (b. 1931)
• 1990 – Kenjiro Takayanagi, Japanese developer of television (b. 1899)
• 1993 – James R. Jordan, Sr., American soldier and murder victim, father of Michael Jordan (b. 1936)
• 1996 – Aliki Vougiouklaki, Greek actress (b. 1934)
• 1996 – Jean Muir, American actress (b. 1911)
• 1997 – Chūhei Nambu, Japanese long and triple jumper (b. 1904)
• 1999 – King Hassan II of Morocco (b. 1929)
• 2001 – Eudora Welty, American writer (b. 1909)
• 2002 – Leo McKern, Australian actor (b. 1920)
• 2002 – William Luther Pierce, American white nationalist and novelist (b. 1933)
• 2002 – Chaim Potok, American novelist and rabbi (b. 1929)
• 2003 – James E. Davis, New York City police officer and councilman (murdered) (b. 1962)
• 2004 – Mehmood, Indian actor (b. 1932)
• 2004 – Carlos Paredes, Portuguese guitarist and composer (b. 1925)
• 2004 – Piero Piccioni, Italian pianist, organist, conductor and composer (b. 1921)
• 2004 – Serge Reggiani, French singer and actor (b. 1922)
• 2005 – Ted Greene, American jazz guitarist and teacher (b. 1946)
• 2006 – Jean-Paul Desbiens, Quebec writer and journalist (b. 1927)
• 2007 – Tor Kamata, American-Canadian professional wrestler (b. 1937)
• 2007 – Ron Miller, American songwriter and record producer (b. 1933)
• 2007 – Mohammed Zahir Shah, King of Afghanistan (b. 1914)
• 2008 – Kurt Furgler, member of the Swiss Federal Council (b. 1924)
• 2010 – Daniel Schorr, American journalist (b. 1916)

Holidays and observances

• Birthday of Haile Selassie (Rastafari movement)
• Christian Feast Day:
  • Bridget of Sweden
  • Heiromartyr Phocas (Eastern Orthodox)
  • Liborius of Le Mans
• Neptunalia, in honor of Neptune. (Roman Empire)
• Renaissance Day (Oman)
• Revolution Day (Egypt)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada