Today In History - March 23

1026 Koenraad II crowns himself King of Italy
1066 18th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
1153 Treaty of Konstanz between Frederik I "Barbarossa" and Pope Eugene III
1490 The first dated edition of Maimonides "Mishna Torah" is published
1568 Treaty of Longjumeau: French Huguenots go on strike
1579 Friesland joins Union of Utrecht
1593 English Congressionalist Henry Barrow accused of slander
1630 French troops occupy Pinerolo Piedmont
1657 France and England form alliance against Spain; England gets Dunkirk
1708 English pretender to the throne James III lands at Firth of Forth
1743 English premiere of Handel's "Messiah"
1743 George Frideric Handel's oratorio "Messiah" premieres in London
1752 Pope Stephen II elected to succeed Zacharias, died 2 days later
1775 Patrick Henry proclaims "Give me liberty or give me death"
1794 The first U.S. patent: Joseph G Pierson for a riveting machine
1794 Lt-general Tadeusz Kosciuszko returns to Poland
1801 Murder attempt on Czar Paul I
1806 Lewis and Clark reach the Pacific coast
1808 Napoleon's brother Joseph takes the throne of Spain
1832 British Parliament passes reform bill
1835 Charles Darwin reaches Los Arenales, in the Andes
1836 Coin Press invented by Franklin Beale
1839 The first recorded use of "OK" [oll korrect] in Boston's Morning Post
1840 Draper takes first successful photo of the Moon (a daguerreotype)
1849 Battle of Novara (King Charles Albert Vs Italian republic)
1857 Elisha Otis' first elevator installed (488 Broadway, New York City)
1858 Streetcar patented: E A Gardner of Philadelphia
1861 London's first tramcars, designed by Mr. Train of New York, begins operating
1862 Battle of Kernstown VA-Jackson begins his Valley Campaign
1864 Encounter at Camden AR
1865 General Sherman/Cox' troops reach Goldsboro North Carolina
1867 Congress passes 2nd Reconstruction Act over President Johnson's veto
1868 University of California founded (Oakland California)
1873 Slavery abolished in Puerto Rico
1880 Flour rolling mill patented (John Stevens of Wisconsin)
1881 Boers and Britain sign peace accord; end first Boer war
1881 Gas lamp sets fire to Nice France opera house; 70 die
1889 President Harrison opens Oklahoma for white colonization
1891 The first jazz concert was held at Carnegie Hall
1896 Umberto Giordano's opera "Andrea Chenier," premieres in Milan
1901 Dame Nellie Melba, reveals secret of her now famous toast
1903 Wright brothers obtain airplane patent
1910 The first race at Los Angeles Motordrome: the first U.S. auto speedway
1912 Dixie Cup invented
1915 Zion Mule Corp forms
1917 Tornadoes kill 211 over 4 days in the Midwest
1918 Alick Wickham dives 200' into Australia's Yarra River
1918 Crepy-en-Laonnoise: German artillery shells Paris, 256 killed
1918 Lithuania proclaims independence
1918 Paris bombs "Thick Bertha's Dike"
1919 Bashkir ASSR, in RSFSR, constituted
1919 Benito Mussolini forms Fascist movement in Milan Italy
1919 Moscow's Politburo/Central Committee forms
1920 Perserikatan Communist of India (PKI) political party forms
1922 The first airplane lands at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
1922 KMJ-AM in Fresno California begins radio transmissions
1922 WEW-AM in Saint Louis Missouri begins radio transmissions
1923 Frank Silver and Irving Conn release "Yes, We Have No Bananas"
1925 Tennessee becomes the first state to outlaw teaching theory of evolution
1926 NHL Championship: Mont Canadiens outscore Pitt Pirates, 6-4 in 2 games
1929 The first telephone is installed in the White House
1930 U.S. Ladies Figure Skating championship won by Maribel Vinson
1930 U.S. Mens Figure Skating championship won by Roger Turner
1933 Enabling Act: German Reichstag grants Adolph Hitler dictatorial powers
1933 Kroll Opera in Berlin opens
1934 U.S. Congress accepts Philippines independence in 1945
1936 Italy, Austria and Hungary sign Pact of Rome
1937 Los Angeles Railway Co. starts using PCC streetcars
1938 Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis frees 74 St. L Cardinals minor leaguers
1940 All-India-Moslem League calls for a Moslem homeland
1940 The first radio broadcast of "Truth or Consequences" on CBS
1942 2,500 Jews of Lublin massacred or deported
1942 Japanese forces occupy Andaman Islands in Indian Ocean
1942 U.S. move native-born of Japanese ancestry into detention centers
1943 German counter attack on U.S. lines in Tunisia
1944 Bomb assassination against Southern Tirol congregation in Rome, 33 die
1944 Nicholas Alkemade falls 5,500 m without a parachute and lives
1945 British 7th Black Watch crosses the Rhine
1945 Largest operation in Pacific war, 1,500 U.S. Navy ships bomb Okinawa
1945 Premier Churchill visits Montgomery's headquarter in Straelen
1946 8th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Oklahoma State beats North Carolina 43-40
1948 John Cunningham sets world altitude record (54,492' (18,133 m))
1949 Sidney Kingsley's "Detective Story," premieres in New York City
1950 "Great to Be Alive" opens at Winter Garden Theater New York City for 52 performances
1950 22rd Academy Awards - "All King's Men," Crawford and De Havilland win
1950 Sophocles Venizelos forms liberal Greeks government
1950 U.N. World Meteorological Organization established
1951 Wages in France increase 11%
1956 18th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: San Francisco beats Iowa 83-71
1956 Pakistan proclaimed an Islamic republic in Commonwealth
1956 Sudan becomes independent
1957 19th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: North Carolina beats Kansas 54-53 (3 OTs)
1957 U.S. Army sells last homing pigeons
1960 Explorer (8) fails to reach Earth orbit
1962 John F. Kennedy visits SF
1962 Nawab of Pataudi captains India cricket vs. WI age 21 years 77 days
1962 Wake Forest coach "Bones" McKinney becomes 2nd person to play and coach
1963 25th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Loyola beats Cin 60-58 (OT)
1963 Rolf Hochhuth's "Der Stellvertreter," premieres in Berlin
1964 UNCTAD 1 world conference opens in Geneva
1965 Gemini 3 launched, first U.S. 2-man space flight (Grissom and Young)
1965 Moroccan army shoots on demonstrators, about 100 killed
1966 The first official meeting after 400 years of Catholic and Anglican Church
1968 30th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: UCLA beats North Carolina 78-55
1968 Rev Walter Fauntroy, is first non-voting congressional delegate from DC
1969 Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Port Charlotte Golf Invitational
1969 Rally for Decency (Miami)
1970 U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1971 Dutch 2nd Chamber accept simplified divorce
1971 U.S.S.R. performs underground nuclear test
1972 Evil Knievel breaks 93 bones after successfully clearing 35 cars
1972 New York Yanks agree to continue playing ball in the Bronx
1973 After a 5 year run soap "Love is a Many Splendored Thing" ends
1973 U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1973 Yoko Ono is granted permanent residence in U.S.
1975 Sue Roberts wins LPGA Bing Crosby International Golf Classic
1976 International Bill of Rights goes into effect (35 nations ratifying)
1978 U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1979 Larry Holmes TKOs Osvaldo Ocasio in 7 for heavyweight boxing title
1979 Wings release "Goodnight Tonight"
1980 Border completes 150 in each inning of Test Cricket vs. Pakistan
1980 Donna Caponi Young Pro-Am wins LPGA National Golf Tournament
1980 France performs nuclear test
1980 Shah of Iran arrives in Egypt
1981 Supreme Court rules states could require, with some exceptions, parental notification when teen-age girls sought abortions
1981 Supreme Court upholds law making statutory rape a crime only for men
1982 Guatemala military coup under gen Rios Montt, President Romeo Lucas flees
1982 Isle's Mike Bossy's 20th career hat trick-4 goals
1983 U.S. president Ronald Reagan introduces "Star Wars" missile defense plan (SDI)
1984 Andrea Schone skates ladies world record 3 km (4:20.91)
1984 Ice Dance Championship at Ottawa won by J Torvill and Chris Dean (GRB)
1984 Ice Pairs Championship at Ottawa won by Underhill and Paul Martini (CAN)
1984 Ladies Figure Skating Championship in Ottawa won by Katarina Witt (GDR)
1984 Men's Figure Skating Championship in Ottawa won by Scott Hamilton (USA)
1985 Billy Joel weds supermodel Christie Brinkley
1985 Discovery moves to Vandenberg AFB for mating of STS 51-D mission
1985 Julian Lennon's first concert (San Antonio Texas)
1985 U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1986 6th Golden Raspberry Awards: Rambo: First Blood Part II wins
1986 Heavyweight Trevor Berbick KOs Pinklon Thomas
1986 Penny Pulz wins LPGA Circle K Tucson Golf Open
1987 Soap opera "Bold and Beautiful" premieres
1987 U.S. offers military protection to Kuwaiti ships in the Persian Gulf
1987 West Germany SPD chairman Willy Brandt resigns
1989 2 Utah scientists claim they have produced fusion at room temperature
1989 Joel Steinberg sentenced to 25 years for killing his adopted daughter
1990 Former Exxon Valdez Captain Joseph Hazelwood ordered to help clean up Prince William Sound and pay $50,000 in restitution for 1989 oil spill
1991 20 Tornadoes kill 5 people in Tennessee
1991 Sergei Bubka pole vaults world record indoor (6.12m)
1992 Florida Marlins begin selling tickets
1993 Belgian government of Dehaene, resigns
1993 New York Knicks and Phoenix Suns get into a major brawl
1994 Graeme Obree bicycles world record 10 km (11:28)
1994 Howard Stern formally announces his Libertarian run for New York governor
1994 Joey Buttafuoco, released from jail after 4 months and 9 days
1994 Richard Jacobs buys naming rights to Indians new ball park at Gateway for $13.8 million (renamed Jacobs Field)
1994 Russian Airbus A-310 crashes in Siberia (74-75 killed)
1994 Wayne Gretzky sets NHL record with 802 goals scored
1995 "How To Succeed in Business..." opens at R Rodgers New York City for 548 performances
1995 Dollar equals 88.41 yen (record)
1997 "Mandy Patinkin in Concert," closes at Lyceum Theater New York City
1997 17th Golden Raspberry Awards: Striptease wins
1997 Betsy King wins LPGA Standard Register PING
1997 Liberty Legends of Senior Golf
1997 Phil Mickelson wins Bay Hill Golf Invitiational
1997 Wrestlemania XIII in Chicago, Undertaker beats Psycho Sid for title
1998 70th Academy Awards - Oscar Ceremony Billy Crystal hosts, Titanic wins eleven Oscars, including Best Picture, Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt win lead acting awards

Today In History - March 23

On This Date in History

Famous Persons Born on This Date in History