What are the important events that happened on October 23? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

October 23: Facts & Myths About This Day

October 23 is the 296^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 69 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Thursday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is October 10, 2025 – a Thursday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 489,216 hours has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘dihectaenneacontahexagon’ day.

Libra is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Opal is the modern birthstone for this month. Jasper is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 117 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,689 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

October 23 Historical Events

• 1694 –
  British/American colonial forces, led by Sir William Phipps, fail to seize Quebec from the French.
• 1850 –
  The first National Women’s Rights Convention begins in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States.
• 1906 –
  Alberto Santos-Dumont flies an airplane in the first heavier-than-air flight in Europe at Champs de Bagatelle, Paris, France.
• 1911 –
  First use of aircraft in war: An Italian pilot takes off from Libya to observe Turkish army lines during the Turco-Italian War.
• 1944 –
  World War II: The Soviet Red Army enters Hungary.
• 1956 –
  Thousands of Hungarians protest against the government and Soviet occupation. (The Hungarian Revolution is crushed on November 4).
• 1958 –
  The Smurfs, a fictional race of blue dwarves, later popularized in a Hanna-Barbera animated cartoon series, appear for the first time in the story La flute à six schtroumpfs, a Johan and Peewit adventure by Peyo which is serialized in the weekly comics magazine Spirou.
• 1973 –
  The Watergate Scandal: US President Richard M. Nixon agrees to turn over subpoenaed audio tapes of his Oval Office conversations.
• 1992 –
  Emperor Akihito becomes the first Emperor of Japan to stand on Chinese soil.
• 1993 –
  Shankill Road bombing: A Provisional IRA bomb prematurely detonates in the Shankill area of Belfast, killing the bomber and nine civilians.

Who were born on October 23?

• 1885 –
  Lawren Harris, Canadian painter (d. 1970)
• 1896 –
  André Lévêque, French engineer (d. 1930)
• 1925 –
  Fred Shero, Canadian hockey player and coach (d. 1990)
• 1940 –
  Baby Jane Holzer, American art collector, film producer and Andy Warhol “superstar”
• 1941 –
  Mel Winkler, American actor
• 1958 –
  Rose Nabinger, German singer
• 1967 –
  Dale Crover, American musician (Melvins, The Men of Porn, Altamont)
• 1975 –
  Michelle Beadle, American television personality
• 1978 –
  Jimmy Bullard, English footballer
• 1990 –
  Stevie Brock, American singer

Who died on October 23?

• 877 –
  Ignatius, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople (b. 797)
• 1550 –
  Tiedemann Giese, Polish Catholic bishop (b. 1480)
• 1867 –
  Franz Bopp, German linguist (b. 1791)
• 1910 –
  Chulalongkorn, King of Thailand (b. 1853)
• 1939 –
  Zane Grey, American author (b. 1872)
• 1944 –
  Charles Glover Barkla, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1877)
• 1978 –
  Maybelle Carter, American guitarist and musical innovator (b. 1909)
• 1998 –
  Barnett Slepian, American physician (b. 1946)
• 2005 –
  Stella Obasanjo, Nigerian first lady (b. 1945)
• 2007 –
  Lim Goh Tong, Malaysian-born Chinese businessman (b. 1918)