✦ DateLore

On This Day · The 23rd day of the year

January 23

A look at January 23 through the almanac — historic events, famous birthdays including Walter Frederick Morrison and Stendhal, and the day's notable deaths and observances.

♒ZodiacAquarius ◈BirthstoneGarnet ❀Birth flowerCarnation
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Events

10 notable moments
  1. 2002

    Daniel Pearl

    U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl is kidnapped in Karachi, Pakistan and subsequently murdered.

    American journalist beheaded by
  2. 2001

    2001 Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident

    Five people attempt to set themselves on fire in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, an act that many people later claim is staged by the Chinese Communist Party to frame Falun Gong and thus escalate their persecution.

    Incident in Beijing, China
  3. 1997

    Madeleine Albright

    Madeleine Albright becomes the first woman to serve as United States Secretary of State.

    American diplomat and political
  4. 1968

    USS Pueblo (AGER-2)

    USS Pueblo (AGER-2) is attacked and seized by the Korean People's Navy.

    Ship attacked and captured
  5. 1957

    Walter Frederick Morrison

    American inventor Walter Frederick Morrison sells the rights to his flying disc to the Wham-O toy company, which later renames it the "Frisbee".

    American inventor (1920-2010)
  6. 1942

    World War II

    World War II: The Battle of Rabaul commences Japan's invasion of Australia's Territory of New Guinea.

    1939–1945 global conflict
  7. 1870

    Montana

    In Montana, U.S. cavalrymen kill 173 Native Americans, mostly women and children, in what becomes known as the Marias Massacre.

    U.S. state
  8. 1849

    Elizabeth Blackwell

    Elizabeth Blackwell is awarded her M.D. by the Geneva Medical College of Geneva, New York, becoming the United States' first female doctor.

    British-American physician (1821–1910)
  9. 1656

    Blaise Pascal

    Blaise Pascal publishes the first of his Lettres provinciales.

    French polymath (1623–1662)
  10. 1368

    Hongwu Emperor

    Zhu Yuanzhang proclaims himself the Hongwu Emperor, beginning the Ming dynasty.

    Emperor of China from
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Famous birthday twins

Born on January 23

Walter Frederick Morrison

b. 1920

American businessman, invented the Frisbee

Stendhal

b. 1783

French novelist

Subhas Chandra Bose

b. 1897

Indian freedom fighter and politician

Paul Langevin

b. 1872

French physicist and academic

Gertrude B. Elion

b. 1918

American biochemist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate

Édouard Manet

b. 1832

French painter

David Hilbert

b. 1862

German mathematician and academic

Arjen Robben

b. 1984

Dutch footballer

Deaths

  • 1989Salvador Dalí, Spanish painter and sculptor
  • 1947Pierre Bonnard, French painter
  • 1883Gustave Doré, French engraver and illustrator
  • 1567Jiajing Emperor, of China
  • 1516Ferdinand II of Aragon, King of Aragon from 1479 to 1516
  • 1252Isabella, Queen of Armenia, Queen of Cilician Armenia from 1219 to 1252

Holidays & observances

  • —Bounty Day (Pitcairn Islands)
  • —Christian feast day: Abakuh
  • —Christian feast day: Marianne of Molokai
  • —Christian feast day: Emerentiana
  • —Christian feast day: Espousals of the Blessed Virgin Mary
  • —Christian feast day: Ildefonsus of Toledo
  • —Christian feast day: Phillips Brooks (Episcopal Church (USA))
  • —Christian feast day: January 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

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