# On this day: March 23

March 23 is the 82nd day of the year (83rd in leap years), with 283 days left until the end of the year.

## March 23 in one line

Headline entries for March 23, from Wikipedia: in 625, The Muslim army under Muhammad suffered a defeat against the Quraysh in the Battle of Uhud; born 1910: Akira Kurosawa, Japanese director, producer and screenwriter (died 1998); died 2011: Elizabeth Taylor, American-British actress, socialite and humanitarian (born 1932). In 2026 it is a Monday, in 2027 a Tuesday.

## Events on March 23

- 625 The Muslim army under Muhammad suffered a defeat against the Quraysh in the Battle of Uhud. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Uhud)
- 1400 After 175 years of rule, the Trần dynasty of Vietnam was deposed by Hồ Quý Ly, a court official. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tr%E1%BA%A7n_dynasty)
- 1775 American Revolution: Patrick Henry made his "Give me liberty or give me death!" speech to the House of Burgesses of Virginia, urging military action against the British Empire. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Give_me_liberty_or_give_me_death!)
- 1839 An earthquake struck central Burma, causing significant damage and killing an estimated 300 to 400 people. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1839_Ava_earthquake)
- 1848 The Italian tricolour is adopted for the flag of the Kingdom of Sardinia by Charles Albert of Sardinia during the First Italian War of Independence. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Italy)
- 1862 American Civil War: General Stonewall Jackson of the Confederate States Army lost the First Battle of Kernstown, but was still able to prevent the Union Army from reinforcing the Peninsula campaign. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_Kernstown)
- 1868 Governor of California Henry Huntly Haight signed a law establishing the University of California, today a public university system that is considered a model for public institutions across the United States. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California)
- 1888 Chaired by William McGregor, a meeting of ten English football clubs was held in London, eventually resulting in the establishment of the Football League. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_McGregor_(football))
- 1889 Mirza Ghulam Ahmad founded the Ahmadiyya Islamic religious movement in British India. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmadiyya)
- 1905 About 1,500 Cretans, led by Eleftherios Venizelos, met at the village of Theriso to call for the island's unification with Greece, beginning the Theriso revolt. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theriso_revolt)
- 1908 American diplomat Durham Stevens, an employee of Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was fatally shot in San Francisco by two Korean immigrants unhappy with his support of increased Japanese presence in Korea. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durham_Stevens)
- 1919 In Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini founds his Fascist political movement. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benito_Mussolini)
- 1931 Bhagat Singh, one of the most influential revolutionaries of the Indian independence movement, and two others were executed by the British authorities for their murder of a police officer. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagat_Singh)
- 1933 The Nazi Party took the first step in the Gleichschaltung process by having the Enabling Act passed, giving the government the right to make laws without the involvement of the Reichstag. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enabling_Act_of_1933)
- 1977 British journalist David Frost began a series of interviews with former U.S. president Richard Nixon, starting with the Watergate scandal. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Frost's_interviews_with_Richard_Nixon)
- 1982 Guatemala's government, headed by Fernando Romeo Lucas García was overthrown in a military coup by right-wing General Efraín Ríos Montt. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_Guatemalan_coup_d'%C3%A9tat)
- 1988 Angolan and Cuban forces defeated South Africa in the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cuito_Cuanavale)
- 1989 Two researchers announced the discovery of cold fusion, a claim that was later discredited. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion)
- 1991 The Sierra Leone Civil War began with the invasion of the Revolutionary United Front, in an attempt to overthrow President Joseph Saidu Momoh. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Leone_Civil_War)
- 1993 The demolition of Kowloon Walled City, a densely crowded slum in Hong Kong, began. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kowloon_Walled_City)
- 1994 Aeroflot Flight 593 crashed into a hillside in Russia's Kemerovo Oblast, killing all 75 people on board, after the pilot's 15-year-old son unknowingly disabled the autopilot while seated at the controls. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroflot_Flight_593)
- 1996 Lee Teng-hui was elected President of the Republic of China in the first direct presidential election in Taiwan. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Teng-hui)
- 2001 The Russian space agency deorbited the space station Mir, causing it to reenter the Earth's atmosphere and break up over the Pacific Ocean. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deorbit_of_Mir)
- 2005 A fire and explosion at an oil refinery in Texas City, the third-largest in the United States, killed 15 workers. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_City_refinery_explosion)
- 2021 A container ship ran aground and obstructed the Suez Canal for six days. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Suez_Canal_obstruction)
- 2025 Gaza war: Israel Defense Forces killed 15 aid workers in the Rafah paramedic massacre. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafah_paramedic_massacre)

## Born on March 23

- 1749 Pierre-Simon Laplace, French mathematician and astronomer (died 1827) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre-Simon_Laplace)
- 1881 Roger Martin du Gard, French novelist and paleographer, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1958) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Martin_du_Gard)
- 1881 Hermann Staudinger, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1965) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_Staudinger)
- 1882 Emmy Noether, Jewish German-American mathematician, physicist and academic (died 1935) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmy_Noether)
- 1887 Juan Gris, Spanish painter and sculptor (died 1927) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Gris)
- 1887 Josef Čapek, Czech painter and poet (died 1945) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_%C4%8Capek)
- 1900 Erich Fromm, German psychologist and sociologist (died 1980) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Fromm)
- 1907 Daniel Bovet, Swiss-Italian pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1992) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Bovet)
- 1910 Akira Kurosawa, Japanese director, producer and screenwriter (died 1998) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akira_Kurosawa)
- 1912 Wernher von Braun, German-American physicist and engineer, chief architect of the Saturn V launch vehicle (died 1977) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wernher_von_Braun)
- 1915 Vasily Zaytsev, Russian captain (died 1991) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Zaitsev_(sniper))
- 1931 Viktor Korchnoi, Russian chess player and author (died 2016) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Korchnoi)
- 1942 Michael Haneke, Austrian director, producer and screenwriter [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Haneke)
- 1950 Phil Lanzon, English keyboard player and songwriter [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uriah_Heep_(band))
- 1952 Rex Tillerson, American businessman, engineer and diplomat; 69th United States Secretary of State [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rex_Tillerson)
- 1956 José Manuel Barroso, Portuguese academic and politician, 115th Prime Minister of Portugal [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Manuel_Barroso)
- 1968 Fernando Hierro, Spanish footballer and manager [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Hierro)
- 1970 Gianni Infantino, Swiss-Italian football administrator, president of FIFA [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gianni_Infantino)
- 1976 Michelle Monaghan, American actress [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Monaghan)
- 1978 Walter Samuel, Argentine footballer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Samuel)
- 1986 Kangana Ranaut, Indian actress [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangana_Ranaut)
- 1992 Kyrie Irving, Australian-American basketball player [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyrie_Irving)

## Died on March 23

- 59 Agrippina the Younger, Roman empress (born 15) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50s)
- 1555 Julius III, pope of the Catholic Church (born 1487) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Julius_III)
- 1801 Paul I, Russian emperor (born 1754) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_I_of_Russia)
- 1842 Stendhal, French novelist (born 1783) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stendhal)
- 1910 Nadar, French photographer, journalist, and author (born 1820) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadar)
- 1931 Bhagat Singh, Indian activist (born 1907) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagat_Singh)
- 1946 Gilbert N. Lewis, American chemist (born 1875) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_N._Lewis)
- 1964 Peter Lorre, American actor (born 1904) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Lorre)
- 1992 Friedrich Hayek, Austrian-German economist, philosopher, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1899) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek)
- 2011 Elizabeth Taylor, American-British actress, socialite and humanitarian (born 1932) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Taylor)
- 2013 Boris Berezovsky, Russian-born Soviet-British mathematician and businessman (born 1946) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Berezovsky_(businessman))
- 2014 Adolfo Suárez, Spanish lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Spain (born 1932) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolfo_Su%C3%A1rez)
- 2015 Lee Kuan Yew, Singaporean lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Singapore (born 1923) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Kuan_Yew)
- 2022 Madeleine Albright, Czechoslovak-American diplomat, 64th United States Secretary of State (born 1937) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeleine_Albright)

## Holidays and observances

- Christian feast day: Gregory the Illuminator (Episcopal Church) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_the_Illuminator)
- Christian feast day: Gwinear [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Gwinear)
- Christian feast day: Joseph Oriol [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Oriol)
- Christian feast day: Ottone Frangipane [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottone_Frangipane)
- Christian feast day: Rafqa Pietra Choboq Ar-Rayès (Maronite Church) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafqa_Pietra_Choboq_Ar-Ray%C3%A8s)
- Christian feast day: Turibius of Mogrovejo [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turibius_of_Mogrovejo)
- Christian feast day: Victorian, Frumentius and Companions [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian%2C_Frumentius_and_Companions)
- Christian feast day: March 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_23_(Eastern_Orthodox_liturgics))
- Day of Hungarian-Polish Friendship (Hungary and Poland) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pole_and_Hungarian_brothers_be)
- Day of the Sea (Bolivia) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%ADa_del_Mar)
- Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Day (Azerbaijan) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_in_Azerbaijan)
- Pakistan Day (Pakistan) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan_Day)
- Promised Messiah Day (Ahmadiyya) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promised_Messiah_Day)
- World Meteorological Day [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Meteorological_Day)

## Sources

- [Wikipedia — “March 23”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_23) — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
- [Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/March 23”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Selected_anniversaries/March_23) — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/) — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
- [vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence)](https://github.com/vacanza/holidays) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article [“March 23”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_23) and the articles it links to ([authors and history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_23?action=history)), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/); this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for March 23 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.

## March 23 in the calendar

| Year | Weekday | ISO week | Moon (UTC) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026 | Monday | 2026-W13 | 🌒 Waxing Crescent |
| 2027 | Tuesday | 2027-W12 | 🌖 Waning Gibbous |
| 2028 | Thursday | 2028-W12 | 🌘 Waning Crescent |
| 2029 | Friday | 2029-W12 | 🌓 First Quarter |
| 2030 | Saturday | 2030-W12 | 🌖 Waning Gibbous |

Moon phases are for the day in UTC; at the edges of a phase your local date can differ.

## Public holidays on March 23

- [🇨🇴 Colombia](https://whathappen.today/holidays/colombia/): Saint Joseph's Day (2026)

[Today's holidays in 28 countries →](https://whathappen.today/holidays/)

## Nearby dates

[← March 22](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/march-22/) · [March 24 →](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/march-24/)

[All 366 days](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/)

Last updated: 15 October 2026

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Web page: https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/march-23/