Date·Lore

On This Day · The 23rd day of the year

January 23

January 23 carries 10 recorded events spanning between 1368 and 2002. Zhu Yuanzhang proclaims himself the Hongwu Emperor, beginning the Ming dynasty.

♒ZodiacAquarius ◈BirthstoneGarnet ❀Birth flowerCarnation

Compiled & reviewed by · Last reviewed July 13, 2026

What happened on January 23?

January 23 is the 23rd day of the year. It marks 10 notable events in history, dated between 1368 and 2002. Famous people born on January 23 include Walter Frederick Morrison, Stendhal and Subhas Chandra Bose.

The shape of the day

25 years on from 2001 Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident, January 23 is a date with an anniversary worth pausing on. Most of the weight falls in the 20th century, where conflict is a recurring thread.

Aquarius is the sign for January 23 — read more on the Aquarius page, or see January's birthstone & birth flower.

Released on January 23

Movies, games, albums & shows

2026

  • Game Escape from Ever After

2025

  • Game Dreamcore
  • TV Study Group

2024

  • Game Graven

Release data from TMDB & IGDB.

Events

10 notable moments
  1. 1368

    Hongwu Emperor

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

  2. 1656

    Blaise Pascal

    Blaise Pascal publishes the first of his Lettres provinciales.

  3. 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.

  4. 1870

    Montana

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

  5. 1942

    World War II

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

  6. 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".

  7. 1968

    USS Pueblo (AGER-2)

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

  8. 1997

    Madeleine Albright

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

  9. 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.

  10. 2002

    Daniel Pearl

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

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
  • 1947Pierre Bonnard
  • 1883Gustave Doré
  • 1567Jiajing Emperor
  • 1516Ferdinand II of Aragon
  • 1252Isabella, Queen of Armenia

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)

Historical facts, event summaries, and biographical lines above are adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license. DateLore adds curation, structure, and original editorial commentary. DateLore is not affiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation.

About the author

Roman Tailor compiles and reviews every date on DateLore. He's the writer and editor behind the site's editorial essays and the day-by-day almanac. Corrections and questions are welcome — read more about DateLore or get in touch.

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