23rd January In History

January 23 is the 23rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 342 days remain until the end of the year (343 in leap years).

So, What happened on 23rd January in history

What happened today in history (23rd January): Subhas Chandra Bose, Bal Thackeray and Arjen Robben born, Salvador Dali and King Abdullah died, first version of Java released, longest speech at the UN, Wuhan lockdown by China, TV show Roots premiered, and more.

It may not mean much to you right now, but by the end of this article, you will have learned that January 23 holds a significant place in history.

Dive in to know what happened on this day (Jan. 23) in sports, politics and art, along with famous birthdays and deaths in world history.

Early Events

In 393 – Roman emperor Theodosius I proclaims his eight-year-old son Honorius co-emperor
In 971 – Using crossbows, Song dynasty troops soundly defeat a war elephant corps of the Southern Han at Shao.
In 1556 – The deadliest earthquake in history, the Shaanxi earthquake, hits Shaanxi province, China. The death toll may have been as high as 830,000
In 1571 – The Royal Exchange opens in London.
In 1580 – The Union of Utrecht forms a Protestant republic in the Netherlands.
In 1656 – French philosopher and theologian Blaise Pascal publishes the first of his Lettres provinciales.
In 1719 – Liechtenstein became a sovereign member state of the Holy Roman.
In 1779 – Charles Messier catalogs M56 (globular cluster in Lyra).
In 1789 – Georgetown, 1st US Catholic college, founded.
In 1793 – 2nd Partition of Poland, between Prussia & Russia.
In 1795 – War of the First Coalition: French cavalry captures 14 Dutch ships and 850 guns near the port of Den Helder – rare instance of cavalry capturing a fleet.
In 1779 – Elizabeth Blackwell becomes 1st woman in the US to earn a medical degree graduating from New York’s Geneva Medical College.
In 1899 – Emilio Aguinaldo is sworn in as President of the First Philippine Republic.

Relatively New Events On This Day

In 1912, The International Opium Convention is signed at The Hague.
In 1913, The ‘Young Turks’ lead a coup d’etat against the Turkish Government, assassinating Minister of War Nazim Pasha.
In 1924, After Stanley Baldwin’s resignation, Ramsay MacDonald forms Britain’s first Labour Government, climaxing 24 years of struggle by the Labour Party.
In 1930, Clyde Tombaugh photographs dwarf planet Pluto.
In 1930, WIS-AM (now WOMG) in Columbia SC begins radio transmissions.
In 1937, The trial of the anti-Soviet Trotskyist center sees seventeen mid-level Communists accused of sympathizing with Leon Trotsky and plotting to overthrow Joseph Stalin’s regime.
In 1941, Charles Lindbergh testifies before the U.S. Congress and recommends that the United States negotiate a neutrality pact with Adolf Hitler.
In 1945, World War II: German admiral Karl Dönitz launches Operation Hannibal.
In 1962, British intelligence officer Kim Philby defects to USSR.
In 1973, US President Richard Nixon announces an accord has been reached to end the Vietnam War.
In 1974, 1st edition of women’s magazine “Story”.
In 1978, Sweden becomes the first nation in the world to ban aerosol sprays, believed to be damaging to earth’s ozone layer.
In 1983, Russian radioactive satellite falls into Indian Ocean.
In 1986, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts its first members: Little Richard, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley.
In 1993, NY Newsday reports US Senator Bob Packwood sexually harassed 23 women
In 1996, The first version of the Java programming language released.
In 1998, Netscape announces Mozilla, with the intention to release Communicator code as open source.
In 2003, Final communication between Earth and NASA space probe Pioneer 10 (then 7.6 billion miles (12.23 billion kilometers from Earth).
In 2012, European Union agrees to embargo Iranian oil in protest against Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program.
In 2013, US armed forces overturns 1994 ban on women serving in combat.
In 2019, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi disinvites President Donald Trump from making a State of the Union address in Congress citing government shutdown.
In 2020, China locks down the city of Wuhan and its 9 million people, in a belated but ultimately successful effort to control the city’s COVID-19 epidemic.
In 2020, Voice of a 3,000 year old Egyptian priest recreated by scientists 3D printing his vocal tract published in “Scientific Reports”.

Sports Events On This Day

In 1948 Australian cricket captain Don Bradman scores 201 in 4th Test win v India in Adelaide; Sid Barnes 112 and Lindsay Hassett 198no in Australian total 674.
In 1958 Pakistani cricket batsman Hanif Mohammad scores record 337 runs in 970 minutes in drawn 1st Test v West Indies at Bridgetown, longest innings in Test history.
In 1983 Ivan Lendl scores a 6–4, 6-4, 6–2 win over American John McEnroe to claim back-to-back ATP Masters Grand Prix tennis titles at Madison Square Garden, NYC.
In 1983Tennis great Björn Borg announces retirement at 26 (5 x Wimbledon, 6 x French Open)
In 1984Hulk Hogan defeats Iron Sheik to win his 1st World Wrestling Federation title at Madison Gardens, New York.

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Art and Culture Events – What Happened on 23rd January

In 1943 Duke Ellington plays at Carnegie Hall in New York City for the first time.
In 1986 “Jerome Kern Goes to Hollywood” opens at Ritz Theater NYC for 13 performances.

Famous Birthdays On 23rd January

Sr No	Birth Year	Personality
1	1737	John Hancock, American politician, 1st Governor of Massachusetts
2	1897	Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Indian freedom fighter, politician, activist
3	1919	Ernie Kovacs, American comedian, actor
4	1926	Bal Thackeray, Indian politician
5	1984	Arjen Robben, Dutch footballer

Notable Deaths On 23rd January

Sr No	Death Year	Personality
1	1944	Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter
2	1986	Joseph Beuys, German sculptor, illustrator
3	1989	Salvador Dalí, Spanish painter
4	2002	Pierre Bourdieu, French sociologist
5	2005	Johnny Carson, American television host