Today's 23 December Major Events in History

Photo for the article Today's 23 December Major Events

438 Theodosian Code of Roman laws is proclaimed in the Western Empire (first law reforms since 295)
619 Boniface V begins his reign as Catholic Pope

962 Under future Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas, Byzantine troops storm the city of Aleppo and recover the tattered tunic of John the Baptist during the Arab–Byzantine wars

The Peace of Atrecht

1482 The Peace of Atrecht (now Arras) concluded between Louis XI of France and Maximilian of Austria, ending the War of the Burgundian Succession

1493 Georg Alt's German translation of Hartmann Schedel's "The Nuremberg Chronicle" is published

Day of the Dagger

1588 "The Day of the Dagger" Henri, Duke of Guise, leader of the Catholic League is assassinated by the bodyguards of King Henry III at the Château de Blois

1672 Giovanni Cassini discovers Rhea, Saturn's second-largest moon

Last Catholic Monarch Flees

1688 King James II, the last Roman Catholic British monarch, flees to France from William of Orange

Flamsteed Fails to Recognize Uranus

1690 English astronomer John Flamsteed observes Uranus without realizing it's undiscovered

1692 Nahum Tate is appointed the third Poet Laureate by English monarchs William and Mary
1715 Russian/Prussian troops occupy Stralsund

Land Guardian

1724 Emperor Charles VI names Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria land guardian of the Austrian Netherlands

1751 France sets plan to tax clergymen
1776 Continental Congress negotiates a war loan of $181,500 from France

Benedict Arnold Court-martialed

1779 American revolutionary officer Benedict Arnold court-martialed for improper conduct and profiteering

Washington Resigns as Commander-in-Chief

1783 US General George Washington resigns his military commission as Commander-in-Chief of the Army to Congress

1788 Maryland votes to cede a 10 square mile area for District of Columbia

Goya Swears Oath to the King

1808 Painter Francisco Goya swears an oath of loyalty to Joseph Bonaparte as king of Spain, during the Napoleonic occupation of Spain [1]

1823 "Visit from St Nicholas" by C Moore published in Troy (NY) Sentinel
1832 Dutch troops in Antwerp surrender

1834 Joseph Hansom of London receives patent for Hansom cabs

1852 First Chinese theater opens in the US, the Celestial John in San Francisco

Davis Labels Beast Butler a Felon

1862 Jefferson Davis proclaims Union General Ben "Beast" Butler a "felon, outlaw and common enemy of mankind"

1866 First yacht race across the Atlantic won by the schooner Henrietta owned by Gordon Bennett of New York, first to reach Bishop Rock in the Scilly Isles after racing from NY
1876 Turkey's 1st constitution proclaimed, transferring more power to elected representatives

Van Gogh Cuts Off Ear

1888 Vincent van Gogh cuts off part of his left ear with a razor after an argument with fellow painter Paul Gauguin and sends it to a female courtesan for safekeeping

Hansel and Gretel

1893 Opera "Hansel and Gretel" by Engelbert Humperdinck and his sister Adelheid Wette premieres in Weimar, conducted by Richard Strauss

1899 British Field Marshal Lord Roberts departs Southampton for South Africa for the 2nd Boer War
1899 Tentative Turkish-German treaty for the construction of the Baghdad Railway
1900 As American forces defeat Filipino insurgents and impose civil authority, some Filipinos form a Federal Party with a platform recognizing US sovereignty
1907 First all-steel passenger railroad coach is completed in Altoona, Pennsylvania
1909 Albert I becomes the third King of the Belgians

The Jewels of the Madonna

1911 Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari's opera "I Gioielli Della Madonna" (The Jewels of the Madonna) premieres at the Kurfürstenoper in Berlin, Germany, sung in German as "Der Schmuck der Madonna"

1911 Frank Wedekind's play "Oaha, die Satire der Satire" premieres in Munich
1912 Aswan Low Dam in Nile begins operation again, after being raised for the first time

First Keystones Kops Film

1912 First "Keystone Kops" silent slapstick comedy film, entitled "Hoffmeyer's Legacy" is released

1912 Indian revolutionary underground in Bengal and Punjab, headed by Rash Behari Bose attempt to assassinate Viceroy of India Lord Hardinge, by throwing homemade bomb into Viceroys's Howdah (elephant carriage) during ceremonial procession in Delhi. Although wounded, the Viceroy survives. Investigations lead to the Delhi conspiracy trial.

Federal Reserve Act

1913 President Woodrow Wilson signs the Federal Reserve Act, establishing the modern central banking system of the United States to manage the money supply and promote financial stability

1914 World War I: Australian and New Zealand troops arrive in Cairo, Egypt

Very Good Eddie

1915 Jerome Kern and Schuyler Greene's musical farce "Very Good Eddie" premieres at the Princess Theatre, NYC; runs for 341 performances

1916 World War I: Battle of Magdhaba - Allied forces defeat Turkish forces in Egypt's Sinai peninsula
1917 Three British warships come close to Holland
1919 Alice H. Parker patents a gas heating furnace
1919 First hospital ship built to transport wounded naval personnel is launched
1920 Government of Ireland Act / Home Rule Act passes, partitioning Ireland

Gambino Enters US

1921 Gangster Carlo Gambino enters the United States as an illegal immigrant on the SS Vincenzo Florio

Visva-Bharati University

1921 Visva-Bharati University is inaugurated in Santiniketan, West Bengal, India, founded by Rabindranath Tagore

On the Peace of Christ

1922 Pope Pius XI pleas for peace in encyclical "Ubi arcano Dei consilio" (On the Peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ)

1923 Yankees pitcher Carl Mays sold to Reds for $85,000

The Last Laugh

1924 German silent film classic "The Last Laugh" directed by F. W. Murnau and starring Emil Jannings is released

1926 KEX-AM in Portland OR begins radio transmissions
1928 NBC establishes a permanent coast-to-coast radio network
1930 Bette Davis arrives in Hollywood under contract to Universal Studios
1930 Police Bureau of Criminal Alien Investigation started in NYC

1933 Lagny-Pomponne rail disaster: 204 people die and 120 injured in deadliest peacetime rail incident in France when express train bound for Strasbourg crashes at 110 km/h (65 mph) into the rear of an older wooden train bound for Nancy, which was stopped on the tracks on a foggy night, 20 km (12 mi) east of Paris
1933 Montreal Canadiens center Howie Morenz scores in 3-0 win v Detroit Red Wings; his NHL record 249th career goal
1936 Colombia becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty
1937 First flight of the Vickers Wellington bomber
1938 Discovery of the first modern coelacanth in South Africa

1939 Finnish counter offensive at Summa
1939 South Australia score 7-821 against Queensland
1940 John Van Druten's play "Old Acquaintance" premieres on Broadway in NYC
1941 American forces on Wake Island surrender to Japanese
1941 British troops overrun Benghazi, Libya
1941 Japan begins assault on Rangoon, Burma
1942 Allies air attack on Den Helder, Netherlands
1943 Engelbert Humperdinck's "Hansel & Gretel" becomes 1st complete opera to be telecast (WGRB, Schenectady, New York)

1944 Beginning of 'the harsh winter', contributes to the famine that develops in the Netherlands

All the Eastern Churches

1945 Pope Pius XII issues the encyclical "Orientales omnes Ecclesias" (All the Eastern Churches) commemorating the 350th anniversary of the Union of Brest

1946 Belgian Council of State forms
1946 Highest daily ridership in NYC subway history - 8.8 million fares
1946 University of Tennessee refuses to play Duquesne University after they suggested they may use a black player in their basketball game

1951 Last Belgian communities get electricity
1951 National Football League Championship, LA Memorial Coliseum: Los Angeles Rams beat Cleveland Browns 24-17; first coast-to-coast televised NFL title game
1952 Alain Bombard arrives in Barbados after 65 days at sea proving his theory that a shipwrecked person could survive with almost no provisions, despite having lost 25 kg (65 lbs) in weight
1953 Dodgers second baseman Jim Gilliam wins NL Rookie of Year
1953 René Coty elected President of the Republic and the French Union on the 13th ballot [1]
1954 First successful human kidney transplant is performed by Dr. Joseph E. Murray at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts
1957 Test cricket debut for all-time great Australian wicketkeeper Wally Grout and future captain and coach Bobby Simpson, 1st Test v South Africa in Johannesburg
1958 Abdallah Ibrahim forms government in Morocco
1960 Jan De Quay's Dutch government falls
1960 King Saud of Saudi Arabia takes power

Castro Announces Prisoner Release

1961 Fidel Castro announces Cuba will release 1,113 prisoners from the failed 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion in exchange for $62 million worth of food and medical supplies

1961 KICU TV channel 43 in Visalia-Fresno, CA (IND) begins broadcasting
1961 Train accident in Italy, 70 die
1962 AFL Championship, Jeppesen Stadium, Houston: Dallas Texans beat Houston Oilers, 20-17; Tommy Brooker lands winning 25-yard field goal in overtime
1962 Cuba starts returning US prisoners from Bay of Pigs invasion
1963 Fire on Greek ship Laconia, 128 die
1963 The Beach Boys 1st appearance on "Shindig"
1964 India and Ceylon are hit by a cyclone, killing an estimated 4,850 people
1966 Britain's rock TV show "Ready Steady Go" last program
1967 Brussels: NATO Council accept "Flexible Response" strategy
1968 82 members of the US intelligence ship Pueblo are released by North Korea
1968 First US case of space motion sickness

First People to Orbit the Moon

1968 Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders become the first people to orbit the Moon aboard Apollo 8

1969 Ballon d'Or: Milan midfielder Gianni Rivera wins award for best European football player ahead of Cagliari forward Luigi Riva and Bayern Munich striker Gerd Müller
1970 A Protestant man is shot dead at his home in Belfast, North Ireland
1970 French author Régis Debray freed in Bolivia
1970 NYC World Trade Center reaches highest point (411 m)
1970 USSR performs nuclear test

PM Visits Northern Ireland

1971 British Prime Minister Edward Heath visits Northern Ireland and expresses his determination to end the violence

Nixon Commutes Hoffa's Sentence

1971 US President Richard Nixon commutes remaining 8 years of Teamsters labor union leader Jimmy Hoffa's 13-year jail term for bribery and fraud

1972 "Immaculate Reception" Steelers turns around a 7-6 defeat with a last second touchdown reception against Raiders to win 13-7 [1]
1972 16 plane crash survivors rescued from Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 after 72 days on the Andean Mountains, after only surviving through cannibalism
1972 6.25 Earthquake destroys central Managua Nicaragua, 10,000 die
1972 B. S. Chandrasekhar takes 8-79 India v England at Delhi
1972 New York Islanders end 15 games winless streak
1973 6 Persian Gulf nations double their oil prices
1973 French Caravelle airliner crashes in Morocco, 106 killed
1974 Dmitri Shostakovich' son cycle "Suite on Verses of Michelangelo Buonarroti" premieres in Leningrad
1975 Chairman of MLB arbitration panel Peter Seitz rules pitchers Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally to be free agents

Metric Conversion Act

1975 US President Gerald Ford signs Metric Conversion Act in to law

1977 British singer-songwriter Cat Stevens formally converts to Islam, taking the name Yusuf Islam
1978 NY Islanders center Bryan Trottier sets NHL record scoring 6 points - 4 goals & 2 assists - in 2nd period of 9-4 win over rival NY Rangers; adds goal & assist for game total 8 points; Islanders undefeated home streak stands at 16 games
1979 NY Islanders greatest shutout lose (8-0) vs Chicago Black Hawks
1979 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
1981 Geoffrey Boycott becomes leading run-scorer in Test Cricket with 8033
1982 The United States Environmental Protection Agency announces it has identified dangerous levels of dioxin in the soil of Times Beach, Missouri.
1983 Journal "Science" publishes 1st report on nuclear winter
1985 A twin-engine light plane crashes into a shopping mall after failing a landing attempt at nearby airfield in Concord, California; 7 people die, 77 injured, and $3.5 million in damage to the mall
1986 Experimental airplane Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, completes the first nonstop, round-the-world flight without refueling and lands at Edwards Air Force Base in California's Mojave Desert 9 days after taking off from the same location
1987 Buffalo goaltender Tom Barrasso leads the Sabres to a 5-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings to record his 100th NHL victory; makes him the youngest player to reach milestone at just 22 years, 9 months
1987 Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, serving a life sentence for attempted assassination of President Gerald Ford, escapes from Alderson Prison
1990 Slovenians vote to secede from Yugoslavia
1991 NY Daily News publisher Kevin Maxwell resigns
1994 Baseball owners impose salary cap, fiercely opposed by players

Bulger Flees and Hides

1994 Fearing arrest by the FBI, organized crime boss Whitey Bulger flees Boston, and successfully hides from law enforcement for the next 16 years

1996 Four women are ordained as priests in Jamaica, the first in 330 years of Anglican history

1997 A Chanukah candle is officially lit in Vatican City for the first time to celebrate Hanukkah and reconcile Roman Catholics and Jews [1]

1997 Ballon d'Or: Barcelona/Inter's Brazilian striker Ronaldo wins his first of two best football player in Europe awards ahead of Real Madrid forward Predrag Mijatović and Juventus midfielder Zinedine Zidane

Jackson Quickest to 500 Wins

1997 Chicago Bulls coach Phil Jackson is quickest to reach 500 wins (682 games)

1997 Colorado Avalanche Jari Kurri is 8th NHLer to score 600 career goals
1997 Terry Nichols found guilty of manslaughter in Oklahoma bombing
1997 US Agriculture Department estimates it costs $149,820 to raise a child to 18
2002 A MQ-1 Predator is shot down by an Iraqi MiG-25, the first time in history that an aircraft and a modern unmanned drone engage in combat
2003 PetroChina Chuandongbei natural gas field explosion, Guoqiao, Kai, Chongqing, China, killing at least 234.
2004 Macquarie Island in the Southern Ocean is hit by an 8.1 magnitude earthquake
2005 Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 217 from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Aktau, Kazakhstan, crashes shortly after takeoff, killing 23 people
2005 Chad declares a state of war against Sudan following a December 18 attack on Adré, which left about 100 people dead
2012 200 civilians are killed by Syrian government warplanes in Helfaya, Syria
2012 The Seleka rebel coalition takes over Bambari, the third largest town in the Central African Republic
2016 United Nations Security Council adopts a landmark resolution demanding a halt to all Israeli settlement in Palestinian territory occupied since 1967. Resolution 2334 was moved by New Zealand, Malaysia, Senegal and Venezuela and passed 14-0 with a US abstention.

Ovechkin Passes Howe

2022 Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin scores two goals to move past Gordie Howe for second place on most NHL career goals list in 4-1 win over visiting Winnipeg Jets

2024 Ugandan-English runner and human rights activist Deo Kato (37) completes trek from Cape Town, South Africa to London, England to highlight the story of human migration; 8,230-mile journey took 518 days [1]