September 23 - Definition

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