Vintage News · Odd history for October 23

What Happened On October 23

Q: What happened on October 23?

2015: Hurricane Patricia, the most intense tropical cyclone on record in the Western Hemisphere, peaked with maximum sustained winds of 215 mph (345 km/h) south of Mexico. 1934: Jeannette Piccard (pictured) piloted a hot-air balloon flight that reached 57,579 feet (17,550 m), becoming the first woman to fly in the stratosphere. 1641: Irish Catholic gentry in Ulster tried to seize control of Dublin Castle, the seat of English rule in Ireland, to force concessions to Catholics. 1882: Assommoir bombing: Anarchists such as Fanny Madignier commit the first deadly anarchist attack in France. 1864: American Civil War: The Battle of Westport is the last significant engagement west of the Mississippi River, ending in a Union victory. 1856: Second Opium War: Dissatisfied with imperial commissioner Ye Mingchen's reparations for the alleged slighting of a British-owned vessel and at Consul Harry Parkes's urging, British Rear-Admiral Michael Seymour launches an assault on the Barrier Forts outside Canton in the first military engagement of the Second Opium War. 1707: The First Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain convenes. 1642: The Battle of Edgehill is the first major battle of the English Civil War. 1641: Irish Catholic gentry from Ulster attempt to seize control of Dublin Castle, the seat of English rule in Ireland, so as to force concessions. 1448: Scotland wins a decisive victory over England at the Battle of Sark, the last pitched battle to be fought between the two kingdoms during the Medieval period.

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10 odd things that happened on October 23

2015 Oddly true
Hurricane Patricia, the most intense tropical cyclone on record in the Western Hemisphere, peaked with maximum sustained winds of 215 mph (345 km/h) south of Mexico.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1934 First ever
Jeannette Piccard (pictured) piloted a hot-air balloon flight that reached 57,579 feet (17,550 m), becoming the first woman to fly in the stratosphere.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1641 Oddly true
Irish Catholic gentry in Ulster tried to seize control of Dublin Castle, the seat of English rule in Ireland, to force concessions to Catholics.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1882 First ever
Assommoir bombing: Anarchists such as Fanny Madignier commit the first deadly anarchist attack in France.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1864 Oddly true
American Civil War: The Battle of Westport is the last significant engagement west of the Mississippi River, ending in a Union victory.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1856 First ever
Second Opium War: Dissatisfied with imperial commissioner Ye Mingchen's reparations for the alleged slighting of a British-owned vessel and at Consul Harry Parkes's urging, British Rear-Admiral Michael Seymour launches an assault on the Barrier Forts outside Canton in the first military engagement of the Second Opium War.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1707 First ever
The First Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain convenes.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1642 First ever
The Battle of Edgehill is the first major battle of the English Civil War.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1641 Oddly true
Irish Catholic gentry from Ulster attempt to seize control of Dublin Castle, the seat of English rule in Ireland, so as to force concessions.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
1448 Oddly true
Scotland wins a decisive victory over England at the Battle of Sark, the last pitched battle to be fought between the two kingdoms during the Medieval period.
Read more →
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Observed today

2022Xi Jinping is elected as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party by the Central Committee, beginning a third term of the paramount leader of China. Wikipedia →
2022Myanmar Air Force airstrikes a concert in Hpakant Township, Kachin state killing at least 80 people, including senior Kachin Independence Organisation officials, in the Hpakant massacre. Wikipedia →
2020Second Libyan Civil War: The Second Libyan Civil War comes to an end as all parties to the 5+5 Joint Libyan Military Commission agree to a ceasefire. Wikipedia →
2017War against the Islamic State: Philippine defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana declares the end of the Siege of Marawi. Wikipedia →
2015The lowest sea-level pressure in the Western Hemisphere, and the highest reliably-measured non-tornadic sustained winds, are recorded in Hurricane Patricia, which strikes Mexico hours later, killing at least 13 and causing over $280 million in damages. Wikipedia →
2011A powerful 7.2 magnitude earthquake strikes Van Province, Turkey, killing 582 people and injuring thousands. Wikipedia →
2011The Libyan National Transitional Council deems the Libyan Civil War over. Wikipedia →
2011Motorcycle racer Marco Simoncelli dies in a racing accident at the Malaysian Grand Prix. Wikipedia →
2007A storm causes the Mexican Kab 101 oil platform to collide with a wellhead, leading to the death and drowning of 22 people during rescue operations after evacuation of the platform. Wikipedia →
2007Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-120, with Pamela Melroy becoming the second female space shuttle commander. Wikipedia →
2004A powerful earthquake and its aftershocks hit Niigata Prefecture in northern Japan, killing 35 people, injuring 2,200, and leaving 85,000 homeless or evacuated. Wikipedia →
2002Second Chechen War: Chechen separatist terrorists seize the House of Culture theater in Moscow and take approximately 700 theater-goers hostage. Wikipedia →
2001Apple Computer releases the iPod. Wikipedia →
1998Israel and the Palestinian Authority sign the Wye River Memorandum. Wikipedia →
1995Yolanda Saldívar is found guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting death of popular Latin singer Selena. Wikipedia →
1993The Troubles: A Provisional IRA bomb prematurely detonates in Belfast, killing the bomber and nine civilians. Wikipedia →
1991Signing of the Paris Peace Accords which ends the Cambodian–Vietnamese War. Wikipedia →
1989The Hungarian Republic officially replaces the communist Hungarian People's Republic. Wikipedia →
1989Bankruptcy of Wärtsilä Marine, the biggest bankruptcy in the Nordic countries up until then. Wikipedia →
1989An explosion at the Houston Chemical Complex in Pasadena, Texas, which registered a 3.5 on the Richter magnitude scale, kills 23 and injures 314. Wikipedia →
1983Lebanese Civil War: The U.S. Marines Corps barracks in Beirut is hit by a truck bomb, killing 241 U.S. military personnel. A French Army barracks in Lebanon is also hit that same morning, killing 58 troops. Wikipedia →
1982A gunfight breaks out between police officers and members of a religious cult in Arizona. The shootout leaves two cultists dead and dozens of cultists and police officers injured. Wikipedia →
1978Aeroflot Flight 6515 crashes off Syvash, killing all 26 people aboard. Wikipedia →
1972Vietnam War: Operation Linebacker, a US bombing campaign against North Vietnam in response to its Easter Offensive, ends after five months. Wikipedia →
1970Gary Gabelich sets a land speed record in a rocket-powered automobile called the Blue Flame, fueled with natural gas. Wikipedia →
1965Vietnam War: The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), in conjunction with the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, launches an operation seeking to destroy Communist forces during the siege of Plei Me. Wikipedia →
1959Aeroflot Flight 200 crashes while attempting to land at Vnukovo International Airport, killing 28. Wikipedia →
1958Canada's Springhill mining disaster kills seventy-five miners, while ninety-nine others are rescued. Wikipedia →
1958Belgian artist Peyo's comic characters, the Smurfs, make their debut in Spirou magazine. Wikipedia →
1956Secret police shoot several anti-communist protesters, igniting the Hungarian Revolution. Wikipedia →
1955Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm defeats former emperor Bảo Đại in a referendum and founds the Republic of Vietnam. Wikipedia →
1955The people of the Saar region vote in a referendum to unite with West Germany instead of France. Wikipedia →
1945Jackie Robinson of the Kansas City Monarchs signs a contract with the Brooklyn Dodger's minor league team, the Montreal Royals, breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier. Wikipedia →
1944World War II: The Battle of Leyte Gulf begins. Wikipedia →
1942World War II: Allied forces commence the Second Battle of El Alamein, which proves to be the key turning point in the North African campaign. Wikipedia →
1942All 12 passengers and crewmen aboard American Airlines Flight 28 are killed when it collides with a U.S. Army Air Force bomber near Palm Springs, California. Wikipedia →
1942World War II: The Battle for Henderson Field begins on Guadalcanal. Wikipedia →
1941The Holocaust: Nazi Germany prohibits Jews from emigrating, including in its occupied territories. Wikipedia →
1940Adolf Hitler and Francisco Franco meet at Hendaye to discuss the possibility of Spain entering the Second World War. Wikipedia →
1927The Imatra Cinema is destroyed in a fire in Tampere, Finland, during showing the 1924 film Wages of Virtue; 21 people die in the fire and almost 30 are injured. Wikipedia →
1924Second Zhili–Fengtian War: Warlord Feng Yuxiang, with the covert support of the Empire of Japan, stages a coup in Beijing against his erstwhile superiors in the Zhili clique, crippling their nearly victorious war effort against the Fengtian clique and forcing them to withdraw from northern China. Wikipedia →
1923German October: Due to a miscommunication with the party leadership, a militant section of the Communist Party of Germany launches an insurrection in Hamburg. Wikipedia →
1912First Balkan War: The Battle of Kumanovo between the Serbian and Ottoman armies begins. Wikipedia →
1911The Italo-Turkish War sees the first use of an airplane in combat when an Italian pilot makes a reconnaissance flight. Wikipedia →
1906Alberto Santos-Dumont flies an airplane in the first heavier-than-air flight in Europe. Wikipedia →
1882Assommoir bombing: Anarchists such as Fanny Madignier commit the first deadly anarchist attack in France. Wikipedia →
1868Meiji Restoration: Having taken the shogunate's seat of power at Edo and declared it his new capital as Tokyo, Mutsuhito proclaims the start of the new Meiji era. Wikipedia →
1864American Civil War: The Battle of Westport is the last significant engagement west of the Mississippi River, ending in a Union victory. Wikipedia →
1856Second Opium War: Dissatisfied with imperial commissioner Ye Mingchen's reparations for the alleged slighting of a British-owned vessel and at Consul Harry Parkes's urging, British Rear-Admiral Michael Seymour launches an assault on the Barrier Forts outside Canton in the first military engagement of the Second Opium War. Wikipedia →
1850The first National Women's Rights Convention begins in Worcester, Massachusetts. Wikipedia →
1812General Claude François de Malet begins a conspiracy to overthrow Napoleon, claiming that the Emperor died in the Russian campaign. Wikipedia →
1798The forces of Ali Pasha of Janina defeat the French and capture the town of Preveza in the Battle of Nicopolis. Wikipedia →
1707The First Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain convenes. Wikipedia →
1666The most intense tornado on record in English history, an F4 storm on the Fujita scale or T8 on the TORRO scale, strikes the county of Lincolnshire, with winds of more than 213 miles per hour (343 km/h). Wikipedia →
1642The Battle of Edgehill is the first major battle of the English Civil War. Wikipedia →
1641Irish Catholic gentry from Ulster attempt to seize control of Dublin Castle, the seat of English rule in Ireland, so as to force concessions. Wikipedia →
1448Scotland wins a decisive victory over England at the Battle of Sark, the last pitched battle to be fought between the two kingdoms during the Medieval period. Wikipedia →
1295The first treaty forming the Auld Alliance between Scotland and France against England is signed in Paris. Wikipedia →
1157The Battle of Grathe Heath ends the Danish Civil War. Wikipedia →
1086Spanish Reconquista: At the Battle of Sagrajas, the Almoravids defeat the Castilians, but are unable to take advantage of their victory. Wikipedia →
502The Synodus Palmaris, called by Gothic king Theoderic, absolves Pope Symmachus of all charges, thus ending the schism of Antipope Laurentius. Wikipedia →
425Valentinian III is elevated as Roman emperor at the age of six. Wikipedia →
42 BCLiberators' civil war: Mark Antony and Octavian decisively defeat an army under Brutus in the second part of the Battle of Philippi, with Brutus committing suicide and ending the civil war. Wikipedia →
4004 BCJames Ussher's purported creation date of the world according to the Bible. Wikipedia →

From The Guardian Archives — On This Day

2019The Guardian
New guidelines force pension funds to reveal shareholder voting records
Firms must report actions on environmental and social issues under revamped code
Read on The Guardian →
2015The Guardian
Sales of £1m-plus homes dropped 11% in first half of 2015, figures show
Lloyds Bank data suggests higher stamp duty and uncertainty over election result in May slowed top end of property ma…
Read on The Guardian →
1991The New York Times
Girl, 2, Killed in Hit-and-Run
A 2-year-old Newark girl was killed and four members of her family were injured yesterday afternoon when they were st…
Read on NYTimes.com →

Headlines via The Guardian Open Platform · Historic front pages via the NYT Archive API

Facts from Wikipedia On This Day API (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia. Thumbnails CC BY-SA. Headlines via The Guardian Open Platform and the NYT Archive API. Historic pages via Library of Congress Chronicling America. Curated by OddlyTrue.