What are the important events that happened on March 23? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
March 23: Facts & Myths About This Day
March 23 is the 83rd day of the year 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 283 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Saturday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is March 10, 2024 – a Saturday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 28,519,200 minutes 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 ‘octacontatrigon’ day.
Aries is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Aquamarine is the modern birthstone for this month. Jade is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.
According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 312 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 4,110 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
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March 23 Historical Events
- 1868 –The University of California is founded in Oakland, California when the Organic Act is signed into law.
- 1879 –War of the Pacific: The Battle of Topáter, the first battle of the war is fought between Chile and the joint forces of Bolivia and Peru.
- 1908 –American diplomat Durham Stevens is attacked by Korean assassins Jeon Myeong-un and Jang In-hwan, leading to his death in a hospital two days later.
- 1931 –Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar are hanged for murder during the Indian struggle for independence.
- 1933 –The Reichstag passes the Enabling Act of 1933, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany.
- 1965 –NASA launches Gemini 3, the United States’ first two-man space flight (crew: Gus Grissom and John Young).
- 1982 –Guatemala’s government, headed by Fernando Romeo Lucas García is overthrown in a military coup by right-wing General Efraín Ríos Montt.
- 1983 –Strategic Defense Initiative: President Ronald Reagan makes his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles.
- 1989 –Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann announce their discovery of cold fusion at the University of Utah.
- 1991 –The Revolutionary United Front, with support from the special forces of Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia, invades Sierra Leone in an attempt to overthrow Joseph Saidu Momoh, sparking a gruesome 11-year Sierra Leone Civil War.
Who were born on March 23?
- 1769 –William Smith, English geologist and cartographer (d. 1839)
- 1895 –Encarnacion Alzona, Filipino historian (d. 2001)
- 1904 –H. Beam Piper, American science fiction author (d. 1964)
- 1907 –Daniel Bovet, Swiss-born scientist, Nobel laureate (d. 1992)
- 1920 –Tetsuharu Kawakami, Japanese baseball player and coach
- 1931 –Yevgenij Grishin, Russian speed skater (d. 2005)
- 1950 –Anthony De Longis, American actor
- 1962 –Steve Redgrave, British rower
- 1968 –Fernando Hierro, Spanish footballer
- 1976 –Jeremy Newberry, American football player
Who died on March 23?
- 1103 –Eudes I, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1058)
- 1369 –King Peter of Castile (b. 1334)
- 1548 –Itagaki Nobukata, retainer of Takeda Shingen (b. 1489)
- 1559 –Emperor Gelawdewos of Ethiopia (killed in battle)
- 1754 –Johann Jakob Wettstein, Swiss theologian (b. 1693)
- 1972 –Cristóbal Balenciaga, Spanish fashion designer (b. 1895)
- 1994 –Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mexican politician (b. 1950)
- 1999 –Luis María Argaña, Paraguayan politician (b. 1932)
- 2004 –Rupert Hamer, Australian politician (b. 1916)
- 2007 –Paul Joseph Cohen, American mathematician, Fields Medal winner (b. 1934)
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