23 September - Definition and Overview

September 23 is the 266th day of the year (267th in leap years). There are 99 days remaining. Also an important date in pagan history celebrating fall.

Events

• 490 BC - Battle of Marathon; origin of marathon long-distance race (run by Phidippides)
• 1122 - Concordat of Worms
• 1459 - The Battle of Blore Heath. The first major battle of the English Wars of the Roses, fought at Blore Heath, in Staffordshire, England
• 1529 - Siege of Vienna begins as Suleiman II begins his attack on the city.
• 1642 - First commencement exercises occur at Harvard University.
• 1779 - 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 - British Major John Andre arrested as a spy by American soldiers
• 1803 - Battle of Assaye
• 1806 - Lewis and Clark return, after exploring the Pacific Northwest.
• 1845 - The Knickerbocker Baseball Club, the first professional baseball team, 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
• 1868 - Grito de Lares (Lares Revolt) occurs in Puerto Rico against Spanish rule.
• 1875 - William Bonney ("Billy the Kid") is arrested for the first time.
• 1884 - Herman Hollerith patents his mechanical tabulating machine.
• 1912 - First Mack Sennett "Keystone Comedy" is released.
• 1922 - Gdynia Seaport Construction Act passed by the Polish parliament.
• 1932 - The Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd renamed Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
• 1941 - First gas experiments at Auschwitz
• 1952 - Richard Nixon makes his "Checkers" speech
• 1962 - The Jetsons aired for the first time.
• 1969 - The Chicago 8 trial opens in Chicago, Illinois
• 1973 - Juan Peron returns to power in Argentina
• 1981 - Jack Henry Abbott, best-selling author, is arrested for murder
• 1983 - Saint Kitts and Nevis joins the United Nations.
• 1983 - Gerrie Coetzee of South Africa becomes the first boxing world heavyweight champion ever to come from Africa when he knocks out defending WBA champion Michael Dokes in Akron, Ohio.
• 1993 - Sonic the Hedgehog CD is released for the Sega Mega-CD in Japan.
• 1999 - NASA announces that it lost contact with the Mars Climate Orbiter.
• 2002 - Mozilla Firefox (Phoenix) web browser is born: version 0.1
• 2004 - At least 1,070 in Haiti reported killed by floods due to Hurricane Jeanne.

Births

• 480 BC - Euripides, playwright (d. 406 BC)
• 63 BC - Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar
• AD 1158 - Geoffrey Plantagenet, Duke of Brittany
• 1650 - Jeremy Collier, English bishop (d. 1726)
• 1713 - King Ferdinand VI of Spain
• 1800 - William McGuffy, educator (McGuffy's Readers)
• 1838 - Victoria Woodhull, suffragist (d. 1927)
• 1852 - William Stewart Halsted, surgeon (d. 1922)
• 1863 - Mary Eliza Church Terrell, U.S. writer, social reformer (d. 1954)
• 1865 - Baroness Emmuska Orczy, novelist (d. 1947)
• 1889 - Walter Lippmann, journalist
• 1895 - Johnny Mokan, basball player (d. 1985)
• 1897 - Walter Pidgeon, actor (d. 1984)
• 1899 - Louise Nevelson, artist
• 1911 - Frank Moss, U.S. Senator Utah
• 1916 - Aldo Moro, Italian politician (d. 1978)
• 1920 - Mickey Rooney, actor
• 1926 - John Coltrane, saxophonist, composer (d. 1967)
• 1930 - Ray Charles, U.S. R&B and jazz musician, singer (d. 2004)
• 1931 - Gerald Stairs Merrithew, educator, statesman
• 1931 - Pat Suzuki, actor
• 1938 - Romy Schneider, actress (d. 1982)
• 1939 - Roy Buchanan, U.S. guitarist (d. 1988)
• 1939 - Janusz Gajos, Polish actor
• 1942 - Sila María Calderón, Governor of Puerto Rico
• 1943 - Julio Iglesias, singer
• 1945 - Paul Petersen, actor
• 1946 - Franz Fischler, politician
• 1947 - Mary Kay Place, actor
• 1949 - Bruce Springsteen, singer, songwriter
• 1958 - Marvin Lewis, American football coach
• 1959 - Jason Alexander, actor
• 1959 - Lita Ford, singer, guitarist
• 1959 - Elizabeth Peña, actress
• 1970 - Ani Difranco, musician
• 1974 - Harumi Inoue, Japanese actress, model, pop idol
• 1975 - Jaime Bergman, American model and actress
• 1984 - Anneliese van der Pol, actress
• 1997 - Ahmed Bashein, athlete

Deaths

• 918 - King Conrad I of Germany
• 1241 - Snorri Sturluson, Icelandic historian, poet and politician
• 1573 - Azai Hisamasa - Japanese warlord (b. 1524)
• 1835 - Vincenzo Bellini, composer
• 1870 - Prosper Mérimée, author
• 1873 - Jean Chacornac, astronomer (b. 1823)
• 1889 - Wilkie Collins, author
• 1900 - William Marsh Rice, philanthropist, university founder
• 1939 - Sigmund Freud, psychiatrist (b. 1856)
• 1943 - Elinor Glyn, English author (b. 1864)
• 1950 - Sam Barry, Hall of Fame basketball coach
• 1973 - Pablo Neruda, poet (b. 1904)
• 1974 - Cliff Arquette, comedian, actor
• 1987 - Bob Fosse, dancer, choreographer, actor
• 1988 - Tibor Sekelj, Croat explorer (b. 1912)
• 1994 - Robert Bloch, author
• 1998 - Mary Frann, actress
• 2000 - Carl Rowan, U.S. journalist (b. 1925)
• 2002 - Vernon Corea, broadcaster, pioneer of Radio Ceylon/BBC
• 2004 - Andre Hazes, Dutch singer

Holidays and observances

• Feast day of Saint Adomnan of Iona
• Feast day of St Constantius
• In ancient Latvia, the second day of Mikeli
• Japanese Autumnal Equinox Day (秋分の日/Shuubun no hi)

September 22 · September 24 · August 23 · October 23 · more historical anniversaries