On this day in History - Sep. 23

• 490 BC - Battle of Marathon; origin of marathon long-distance race (run by Phidippides).
• 480 BC - Euripides was born (d. 406 BC). Greek playwright.
• 063 BC - Augustus Caesar was born (d. AD 14). Roman Emperor.
• 76 or 79 - Pope Linus dies.
• 1122 - Concordat of Worms.
• 1158 - Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany was born (d. 1186).
• 1161 - Emperor Takakura of Japan was born (d. 1181).
• 1215 - Kublai Khan of the Mongol Empire was born (d. 1294).
• 1241 - Snorri Sturluson dies (b. 1178). Icelandic historian, poet, and politician.
• 1390 - John I, Duke of Lorraine dies (b. 1346).
• 1434 - Yolande of Valois was born (d. 1478). Duchess of Savoy.
• 1459 - Battle of Blore Heath, the first major battle of the English Wars of the Roses, is fought at Blore Heath in Staffordshire.
• 1529 - The Siege of Vienna begins as Suleiman II begins his attack on the city.
• 1535 - Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg dies (b. 1513). Queen of Gustav I of Sweden.
• 1571 - John Jewel dies (b. 1522). English bishop.
• 1573 - Azai Hisamasa dies (b. 1524). Japanese warlord.
• 1598 - Eleonore Gonzaga was born (d. 1655). Wife of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor.
• 1605 - Pontus de Tyard dies. French poet.
• 1642 - First commencement exercises occur at Harvard University.
• 1647 - Joseph Dudley was born (d. 1720). Colonial Governor of Massachusetts.
• 1650 - Jeremy Collier was born (d. 1726). English bishop.
• 1675 - Valentin Conrart dies (b. 1603). Founder of the Académie Française.
• 1713 - King Ferdinand VI of Spain was born (d. 1759).
• 1728 - Christian Thomasius dies (b. 1655). German jurist.
• 1738 - Herman Boerhaave dies (b. 1668). Dutch humanist and physician.
• 1740 - Empress Go-Sakuramachi of Japan was born (d. 1813).
• 1759 - Clothilde of France was born (d. 1802). Queen of piedmont-Sardinia.
• 1764 - Robert Dodsley dies (b. 1703). English writer.
• 1771 - Emperor Kokaku of Japan was born (d. 1840).
• 1773 - Johann Ernst Gunnerus dies (b. 1718). Norwegian bishop and botanist.
• 1779 - American Revolution; USS Bonhomme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones, wins a fight against the British ships of war Serapis and Countess of Scarborough off the coast of England.
• 1780 - American Revolution; British Major John Andre arrested as a spy by American soldiers exposing Benedict Arnold's treason.
• 1781 - Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld was born (d. 1860).
• 1789 - John Rogers dies (b. 1723). American Continental Congressman.


• 1791 - Johann Franz Encke was born (d. 1865). German astronomer.
• 1803 - Second Anglo-Maratha War: Battle of Assaye.
• 1806 - Lewis and Clark return to St. Louis, after exploring the Pacific Northwest of the United States.
• 1818 - Border demarcation markers for Moresnet formally installed.
• 1819 - Hippolyte Fizeau was born (d. 1896). French physicist.
• 1821 - Fall of Tripolitsa, Greece, massacre of 30.000 Turks.
• 1835 - Vincenzo Bellini dies (b. 1801). Italian composer.
• 1838 - Victoria Woodhull was born (d. 1927). American suffragist.
• 1844 - Alexander von Benckendorff dies (b. 1783). Russian general and statesman.
• 1845 - The Knickerbockers Baseball Club, the first baseball team to play under the modern rule, is founded in New York.
• 1846 - Discovery of Neptune by French astronomer Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier and British astronomer John Couch Adams; verified by German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle
• 1846 - John Ainsworth Horrocks dies (b. 1818). English-born explorer of South Australia.
• 1848 - First commercial production of chewing gum by John Curtis on a stove at his home in Bangor, Maine in the United States and marketed as 'The State of Maine Pure Spruce Gum'.
• 1850 - José Gervasio Artigas dies (b. 1764). Heroe of the Uruguayan Independence.
• 1852 - William Stewart Halsted was born (d. 1922). American surgeon.
• 1855 - Abel Botelho was born in Tabuaço (d. 1917). Portuguese diplomat and writer.
• 1861 - Robert Bosch was born (d. 1942). German inventor and industrialist.
• 1863 - Mary Eliza Church Terrell was born (d. 1954). American writer and social reformer.
• 1864 - Draga Mašin was born (d. 1903). Queen of Serbia.
• 1865 - Emmuska Orczy was born (d. 1947). British novelist.
• 1868 - Grito de Lares (Lares Revolt) occurs in Puerto Rico against Spanish rule.
• 1869 - Mary Mallon, also known as Typhoid Mary, was born. First carrier of typhoid.
• 1870 - Prosper Mérimée dies (b. 1803). French author.
• 1871 - Louis-Joseph Papineau dies (b. 1786). French Canadian politician.
• 1873 - Jean Chacornac dies (b. 1823). French astronomer.
• 1875 - William Bonney ("Billy the Kid") is arrested for the first time.
• 1877 - Urbain Le Verrier dies (b. 1811). French mathematician.
• 1880 - John Boyd Orr was born (d. 1971). Scottish physician, Nobel Laureate.
• 1884 - Herman Hollerith patents his mechanical tabulating machine.
• 1885 - José Maria do Amaral dies in Niterói (b. 14 Mar 1813). Brazilian writer and diplomat.
• 1889 - Nintendo Koppai (Later Nintendo Company, Limited) founded by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce and market the playing card game Hanafuda.
• 1889 - Walter Lippmann was born (d. 1974). American journalist.
• 1889 - Wilkie Collins dies (b. 1824). British author.
• 1890 - Friedrich Paulus was born (d. 1957). German general.
• 1895 - Johnny Mokan was born (d. 1985). American baseball player.
• 1895 - Miron Merzhanov was born (d. 1975). Soviet architect.
• 1897 - Walter Pidgeon was born (d. 1984). Canadian actor.
• 1899 - Louise Nevelson was born (d. 1988). Ukrainian-born artist.
• 1899 - Tom C. Clark was born (d. 1977). Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
• 1900 - Bill Stone, British serviceman; one of the last surviving veterans of World War I
• 1900 - William Marsh Rice dies (b. 1816). American philanthropist and university founder.
• 1901 - Jaroslav Seifert was born. Tcheckoslovakian writer who won in 1948 The Nobel Prize in Literature.
• 1902 - Su Buqing was born (d. 2003). Chinese mathematician and educator.
• 1905 - Norway and Sweden sign the "Karlstad treaty", peacefully dissolving the Union between the two countries.
• 1907 - Dominique Aury was born (d. 1998). French novelist.
• 1907 - Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza was born (d. 1976). Heir to the throne of Portugal.
• 1911 - Frank Moss was (d. 2003). U.S. Senator from Utah.
• 1912 - First Mack Sennett "Keystone Comedy" is released.
• 1912 - Ghulam Mustafa Khan was born (d. 2005). Pakistani researcher, critic and linguist.
• 1912 - Tony Smith was born (d. 1980). American sculptor.
• 1914 - Omar Ali Saifuddin III was born (d. 1986). Sultan of Brunei.
• 1915 - Clifford Shull was born (d. 2001). American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1916 - Aldo Moro was born (d. 1978). Italian politician.
• 1917 - Werner Voss dies (b. 1897). German World War I pilot.
• 1920 - Mickey Rooney was born. American actor.
• 1922 - Gdynia Seaport Construction Act passed by the Polish parliament.
• 1924 - Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal was born (d. 1978). Nicaraguan newspaper editor.
• 1925 - Denis Twitchett was born (d. 2006). Cambridge scholar, and Chinese historian.
• 1925 - Eleonora Rossi Drago was born. Italian actress.
• 1926 - John Coltrane was born (d. 1967). American saxophonist and composer.
• 1929 - Richard Adolf Zsigmondy dies (b. 1865). Austrian-born chemist, Nobel Prize laureate in 1925
• 1929 - Wally Whyton was born (d. 1997). English musician.
• 1930 - Colin Blakely was born (d. 1987). British actor.
• 1930 - Ray Charles was born (d. 2004). American musician and singer.
• 1930 - Sehba Akhtar was born (d- 1996). Pakistani poet.
• 1931 - Gerald Stairs Merrithew was born (d. 2004). Canadian educator and statesman.
• 1932 - The Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd is renamed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
• 1932 - Víctor Jara was born. Chuleab singer and theatre director.
• 1934 - Ahmad Shah Khan was born. Crown Prince of Afghanistan.
• 1936 - Valentín Paniagua was born. Peruvian politician.
• 1938 - Romy Schneider was born (d. 1982). Austrian actress.
• 1938 - Tom Lester was born. American actor.
• 1939 - Henry Blofeld was born. English cricket commentator.
• 1939 - Janusz Gajos was born. Polish actor.
• 1939 - Roy Buchanan was born (d. 1988). American guitarist.
• 1939 - Sonny Vaccaro was born. American former sports executive
• 1939 - Sigmund Freud dies (1856). Austrian psychiatrist.
• 1941 - The first gas murder experiments are conducted at Auschwitz.
• 1941 - George Jackson was born. American civil-rights activist.
• 1941 - Simon Nolet was born. French Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1941 - George Jackson was born. Black Panther and American revolutionary.
• 1942 - First day of the September Matanikau action on Guadalcanal as United States Marine Corps forces attack Imperial Japanese Army units along the Matanikau River.
• 1942 - Sila María Calderón was born. Governor of Puerto Rico.
• 1943 - Antonio Tabucchi was born. Italian writer.
• 1943 - Julio Iglesias was born. Spanish singer.
• 1943 - Marty Schottenheimer was born. American football coach.
• 1943 - Tanuja was born. Indian actress.
• 1943 - Elinor Glyn dies (b. 1864). English author.
• 1944 - Eric Bogle was born. Scottish-born Australian singer and songwriter.
• 1944 - Jakob Schaffner dies (b. 1875). Swiss novelist.
• 1945 - Paul Petersen was born. American actor.
• 1945 - Igor Ivanov was born. Russian politician.
• 1946 - Franz Fischler was born. Austrian politician.
• 1947 - Jerry Corbetta was born. American singer and musician (Sugarloaf).
• 1947 - Mary Kay Place was born. American actress.
• 1947 - Neal Smith was born. American drummer for Alice Cooper.
• 1949 - Bruce Springsteen was born. American singer and songwriter.
• 1950 - Sam Barry dies (d. 1892). American basketball player and coach.
• 1952 - Rocky Marciano knocked Jersey Joe Walcott out in the thirteenth round, becoming the new Heavyweight Champion.
• 1952 - Richard Nixon makes his "Checkers speech".
• 1954 - Charlie Barnett was born (d. 1996). American actor.
• 1956 - Paolo Rossi was born. Italian footballer.
• 1956 - Peter David was born. American writer.
• 1957 - Kumar Sanu was born. Indian playback singer.
• 1957 - Rosalind Chao was born. American actress.
• 1957 - Tony Fossas was born. Cuban baseball player.
• 1958 - Danielle Dax was born. British musician.
• 1958 - Lita Ford was born. English-born singer (The Runaways).
• 1958 - Marvin Lewis was born. American football coach.
• 1958 - Larry Mize was born. American golfer.
• 1959 - The M/S Princess of Tasmania Australia’s first passenger RO/RO diesel ferry makes maiden voyage across Bass Strait.
• 1959 - Elizabeth Peña was born. American actress.
• 1959 - Jason Alexander was born. American actor.
• 1959 - Martin Page was born. English singer and songwriter.
• 1960 - Jason Carter was born. British actor.
• 1961 - Chi McBride was born. American actor.
• 1961 - Willie McCool was born (d. 2003). American astronaut.
• 1962 - The Jetsons aired for the first time.
• 1962 - Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City opens with the first building completed, Philharmonic Hall, now Avery Fisher Hall home of the New York Philharmonic.
• 1964 - Clayton Blackmore was born. Welsh footballer
• 1964 - Koshi Inaba was born. Japanese singer (B'z)
• 1964 - Larry Krystkowiak was born. American basketball player and head coach
• 1966 - Pete Harnisch was born. American Baseball player
• 1966 - LisaRaye was born. American actress.
• 1967 - Augusto Casimiro dos Santos diers in Lisbon (b. 1889). Portuguese poet and memorialist/ Morre, em Lisboa, Augusto Casimiro dos Santos (n. 11 Mai 1889). Poeta e memorialista português. Director da revista "Seara Nova" desde 1961 até à sua morte.
• 1968 - Francesco Forgione dies (b. 1887). "Padre Pio", Catholic saint.
• 1968 - Yvette Fielding was born. English television presenter.
• 1969 - The Chicago 8 trial opens in Chicago, Illinois.
• 1969 - Donald Audette was born. Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1969 - Michelle Thomas was born (d. 1998). American actress.
• 1969 - Patrick Fiori was born. French singer.
• 1969 - Tapio Laukkanen was born. Finnish rally driver.
• 1970 - Ani DiFranco was born. American musician.
• 1970 - Georgios Koltsidas was born. Greek footballer.
• 1970 - Bourvil dies (b. 1917). French actor and singer.
• 1971 - Eric Montross was born. American basketball player.
• 1971 - Moin Khan was born. Pakistani cricketer.
• 1971 - Billy Gilbert dies (b. 1894). American actor.
• 1971 - J. W. Alexander dies (b. 1888). American mathematician.
• 1972 - Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos announces over television and radio the implementation of martial law and signs General Order No. 1 which orders the arrest of opposition leaders, media censorship, banning travel to other countries except for diplomatic missions, abolishing the Philippine Congress, establishing dictatorial government, take-over or sequestering of public and private corporations and suspension of classes for one week in the Philippines.
• 1972 - Jermaine Dupri was born. American music producer and rapper.
• 1972 - Karl Pilkington was born. British radio personality.
• 1973 - Juan Perón returns to power in Argentina.
• 1973 - Ingrid Fliter was born. Argentinian pianist.
• 1973 - Pablo Neruda dies (b. 1904). Chilean poet, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1974 - Matt Hardy was born. American professional wrestler.
• 1974 - Harumi Inoue was born. Japanese actress and model.
• 1974 - Cliff Arquette dies (b. 1905). American comedian and actor.
• 1975 - Jaime Bergman was born. American model and actress.
• 1975 - Chris Hawkins was born. British radio personality and disk jockey.
• 1975 - Layzie Bone was born. American rapper (Bone Thugs-N-Harmony)
• 1975 - Kim Dong-moon was born. South Korean badminton player.
• 1976 - Faune A. Chambers was born. American actress.
• 1976 - Kip Pardue was born. American actor and model.
• 1976 - Wladimir Sidorenko was born. Ukrainian boxer and current WBA Bantamweight champion
• 1977 - Rachael Yamagata was born. American singer and songwriter.
• 1977 - Matthieu Descoteaux was born. Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1977 - Susan Tamim was born (d. 2008). Lebanese singer and actress.
• 1978 - Worm Miller was born. American filmmaker.
• 1978 - Lyman Bostock dies murdered (b. 1950). American baseball player.
• 1979 - Ricky Davis was born. American basketball player.
• 1980 - Bob Marley's last concert.
• 1980 - The premiere of Brian Friel's play Translations in Derry, Northern Ireland.
• 1980 - Cameron Litvack was born. American television producer.
• 1981 - Robert Doornbos was born. Dutch race car driver.
• 1981 - Natalie Horler was born. German singer (Cascada)
• 1981 - Misti Traya was born. American actress
• 1981 - Jack Henry Abbott, best-selling author, is arrested for murder.
• 1981 - Chief Dan George dies (b. 1899). Canadian actor.
• 1983 - Saint Kitts and Nevis joins the United Nations.
• 1983 - Gerrie Coetzee of South Africa becomes the first Africam boxing world heavyweight champion.
• 1984 - Anneliese van der Pol was born. Dutch-American actress.
• 1984 - Louie Stephens was born. American musician (Rooney) .
• 1984 - Nathan Jendrick was born. American author.
• 1984 - Matt Kemp was born. American baseball player.
• 1985 - Maki Goto was born. Japanese pop singer.
• 1985 - Jared High was born (d. 1998). American victim of bullying.
• 1985 - Brian Brohm was born. American football player.
• 1985 - Lukáš Kašpar was born. Czech ice hockey player.
• 1985 - Hossein Ka'abi was born. Iranian footballer.
• 1985 - Joba Chamberlain was born. American baseball player.
• 1986 - Martin Cranie was born. English footballer
• 1987 - Bob Fosse dies (b. 1927). American dancer, choreographer and actor.
• 1987 - Pablo Neruda dies in Santiago (b. 1904). Chilean poet. 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature.
• 1988 - Jose Canseco of the Oakland Athletics becomes the first member of the 40-40 club.
• 1988 - Tibor Sekelj dies (b. 1912). Croatian explorer.
• 1989 - Brandon Jennings was born. American basketball player.
• 1992 - James Van Fleet dies (b. 1892). U.S. Army general.
• 1993 - Sydney is chosen to be the place for 2000 Olimpic Games.
• 1993 - Sonic the Hedgehog CD is released for the Sega Mega-CD in Japan.
• 1994 - Jerry Barber dies (b. 1916). American golfer.
• 1994 - Madeleine Renaud dies (b. 1900). French theater and film actress.
• 1994 - Robert Bloch dies (b. 1917). American author.
• 1995 - Fernando de Melo Frazão. Portuguese illustrator and figurinist.
• 1996 - Dorita Castel-Branco dies. Portuguese sculptor.
• 1996 - Fujiko F. Fujio dies (b. 1933). Japanese cartoonist.
• 1998 - Mary Frann dies (b. 1943). American actress.
• 1999 - NASA announces that it lost contact with the Mars Climate Orbiter.
• 1999 - Qantas Flight 1 overruns the runway in Bangkok during a storm. While some passengers only received minor injuries, it is still the worst crash in Qantas's history to date.
• 1999 - Ivan Goff dies (b. 1910). Australian screenwriter.
• 2000 - Aurelio Rodríguez dies (b. 1947). Mexican Major League Baseball player.
• 2000 - Carl Rowan dies (b. 1925). American journalist.
• 2001 - Ron Hewitt dies (b. 1928). Welsh footballer.
• 2002 - The first public version of the web browser Mozilla Firefox ("Phoenix 0.1") is released.
• 2002 - Vernon Corea dies (b. 1927). Sri Lankan broadcaster.
• 2003 - Ronnie Dawson dies (b. 1939). American rockabilly musician.
• 2003 - Yuri Senkevich dies (b. 1937). Russian TV anchorman.
• 2004 - At least 1,070 in Haiti reported killed by floods due to Hurricane Jeanne
• 2004 - André Hazes dies (b. 1951). Dutch singer.
• 2004 - Billy Reay dies (b. 1918). Canadian ice hockey player and coach.
• 2005 - FBI killing of Filiberto Ojeda on Plan Bonito Hormigueros, Puerto Rico.
• 2005 - Filiberto Ojeda dies (b. 1933). Puerto Rican revolutionary
• 2005 - Roger Brierley dies (b. 1935). English actor.
• 2006 - Sir Malcolm Arnold dies (b. 1921). English composer and professional trumpeter.
• 2006 - Etta Baker dies (b. 1913). American blues guitarist.
• In ancient Latvia, the second day of Mikeli.
• Japanese Autumnal equinox Day (Shūbun no hi).
• Astrology: Usually the first day of sun sign Libra in the tropical zodiac.
• RC Saints - Feast day of Saint Adomnan of Iona, Saint Thecla, Padre Pio of Pietrelcina.
• Traditional New Year's Day in Constantinople and Eastern Orthodox Churches — because of the birthday of Augustus, not because of the equinox.
• Saudi Arabia - National Day (unification 1932).
• French Republican Calendar - Safran (Saffron) Day, second day in the Month of Vendémiaire.
• Celebrate Bisexuality Day was first recognized in 1999 and is observed mainly in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Australia. Adamnan of Iona