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

• 1157 –
  The Battle of Grathe Heath ends the civil war in Denmark. King Sweyn III is killed and Valdemar I restores the country.
• 1641 –
  Outbreak of the Irish Rebellion of 1641.
• 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.
• 1946 –
  The United Nations General Assembly convenes for the first time, at an auditorium in Flushing, Queens, New York City.
• 1958 –
  The Springhill Mine Bump – An underground earthquake traps 174 miners in the No. 2 colliery at Springhill, Nova Scotia, the deepest coal mine in North America at the time. By November 1, rescuers from around the world had dug out 100 of the victims, marking the death toll at 74.
• 1973 –
  A United Nations sanctioned cease-fire officially ends the Yom Kippur War between Israel and Syria.
• 1989 –
  The Hungarian Republic is officially declared by president Mátyás Szűrös, replacing the communist Hungarian People’s Republic.
• 1992 –
  Emperor Akihito becomes the first Emperor of Japan to stand on Chinese soil.
• 2007 –
  A powerful cold front in the Bay of Campeche causes the Usumacinta Jackup rig to collide with Kab 101, leading to the death and drowning of 22 people during rescue operations after evacuation of the rig.

Who were born on October 23?

• 1905 –
  Felix Bloch, Swiss physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1983)
• 1908 –
  Ilya Frank, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1990)
• 1922 –
  Coleen Gray, American actress
• 1927 –
  Leszek Kołakowski, Polish philosopher (d. 2009)
• 1940 –
  Ellie Greenwich, American singer (d. 2009)
• 1941 –
  Mel Winkler, American actor
• 1970 –
  Zoe Wiseman, American Model and Photographer
• 1985 –
  Luca Spinetti, Italian footballer
• 1990 –
  Axel Ehnström, Finnish singer (Better known by stage name Paradise Oskar)
• 1990 –
  Stan Walker, Australian/New Zealand recording artist and actor.

Who died on October 23?

• 877 –
  Ignatius, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople (b. 797)
• 1550 –
  Tiedemann Giese, Polish Catholic bishop (b. 1480)
• 1730 –
  Anne Oldfield, English actress (b. 1683)
• 1869 –
  Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1799)
• 1939 –
  Zane Grey, American author (b. 1872)
• 1959 –
  George Bouzianis, Greek painter (b. 1885)
• 2001 –
  Ronald William “Josh” Kirby, British artist (b. 1928)
• 2004 –
  Robert Merrill, American baritone (b. 1919)
• 2010 –
  Leo Cullum, American cartoonist (b. 1942)
• 2011 –
  John McCarthy, American computer scientist and pioneer in the field of Artificial Intelligence, inventor of the Lisp programming language.(b. 1927)