What Happened on December 23 in World History?
Early Centuries – December 23 Historic Events – Before 1700
1. December 23, 0619 – Boniface V takes oath as Catholic Pope
2. December 23, 0962 – The Byzantine army under the guidance of the prospective king Nicephorus Phocas, marched into the city of Aleppo to retrieve the torn garment of John the Baptist
3. December 23, 1482 – agreement for peace between Louis XI of France and Maximilian of Austria, to terminate the war of the Burgundian Succession (The Peace of Utrecht (now Arras)
4. December 23, 1483 – publication of the Hartmann Schedel’s Nuremberg Chronicle translated into German by Georg Alt
5. December 23, 1588 – the assassination of Henry (Day of the Dagger), Duke of Guise, and the chief of the Catholic League by the security of King Henry III at the Chateau de Blois
6. December 23, 1620 – declaration of war against King Louis XIII by the French Protestants
7. December 23, 1672 – the discovery of Rhea, a satellite of Saturn, by Giovanni Cassini
8. December 23, 1688 – The last Roman Catholic British emperor, King James II, runs away to France from William of Orange
9. December 23, 1690 – The British astronomer, John Flamsteed views Uranus but he had not known that it had not been discovered
10. December 23, 1692 – English sovereigns, William and Mary, conferred the title “Poet Laureate” on Nahum Tate
18th Century – What Happened on December 23 – The 1700s
11. December 23, 1715 – Russian/Prussian army capture Stralsund
12. December 23, 1724 – Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria is designated as land guardian of the Austrian Netherlands by King Charles VI
13. December 23, 1728 – The Treaty of Berlin was executed by Prussian King Karel VI
14. December 23, 1751 – a proposal by France to tax the clergymen
15. December 23, 1776 – Continental Congress reached a deal for a war loan of $181,500 from France
16. December 23, 1779 – a military court punishes Benedict Arnold for inappropriate behavior
17. December 23, 1783 – resignation of US General George Washington from his position of Commander-in-Chief of the Army to Congress
18. December 23, 1788 – Maryland agrees to transfer a 10 square mile area to the District of Columbia
19. December 23, 1793 – a caution was issued by Thomas Jefferson about the rebellion by the slaves in West Indies
19th Century – December 23 This Day That Year – The 1800s
20. December 23, 1815 – John Murray publishes “Emma” by Jane Austen in London
21. December 23, 1823 – publication of “Visit from St Nicholas” by C Moore in Troy (NY) Sentinel
22. December 23, 1832 – submission of the Dutch army stationed in Antwerp
23. December 23, 1834 – copyright issued to Joseph Hansom of London for his Hansom cabs
24. December 23, 1852 – inauguration of the first theater run by Chinese, Celestial, in San Francisco
25. December 23, 1862 – Jefferson Davis announced that Union General Ben “Beast” Butler was a criminal and dangerous to mankind
26. December 23, 1876 – Turkey approves its first constitution
27. December 23, 1888 – After completing an argument with a colleague painter Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh shears his left year with a blade and sends it to a prostitute for safe keeping
28. December 23, 1893 – debut performance of the play “Hansel und Gretel” by Engelbert Humperdinck and his sister Adelheid Wette in Weimer, guided by Richard Strauss
29. December 23, 1899 – British Field Marshall Lord Roberts leaves Southampton for South Africa to take over command of 2nd Boer War
30. December 23, 1899 –a provisional agreement between Turkey and Germany to build the Baghdad railway
20th Century – Important Events On This Day December 23 – The 1900s
31. December 23, 1900 – acceptance of the US rule by Filipinos by forming a Federal Party after defeat at the hands of Americans in Filipino
32. December 23, 1907 – inauguration of the all-steel railroad coach at Altoona, Pa
33. December 23, 1909 – swearing in of Albert I as the third king of Belgians
34. December 23, 1911 – first performance of “Oaha, die Satire der Satire” by Frank Wedekind in Munich
35. December 23, 1911 – manufacture of the play “I Gioelli Della Madonna” in Berlin
36. December 23, 1912 – Keystone Kops produce their first movie “Hoffmeyer’s Legacy”
37. December 23, 1912 – the inauguration of the Aswan Low Dam in the Nile
38. December 23, 1912 – demonstration by radicals in Delhi, India persists as British Viceroy Lord Hardinge is injured in a bomb detonation
39. December 23, 1913 – US President Woodrow Wilson approves the conversion of Federal Reserve Act law into a Law
40. December 23, 1914 – The army of Australia and New Zealand arrive in Cairo, Egypt – WWI
41. December 23, 1915 – debut performance of the musical “Very Good Eddie” by J Kern/S Greene in NYC
42. December 23, 1916 – combined armies of allies defeat Turkish defense in Sinai Peninsula, Egypt
43. December 23, 1917 – 3 battleships belonging to Britain move very close to Holland
44. December 23, 1919 – commissioning of the first hospital ship to transport injured naval staff
45. December 23, 1919 – copyright given to Alice H Parker for his gas heating furnace
46. December 23, 1920 – approval to dividing Ireland by Government of Ireland Act/Home Rule Act
47. December 23, 1921 – opening of the Vishwa-Bharati University
48. December 23, 1921 – Gangster Carlo Gambino moves into the US as an unauthorized immigrant by SS Vincenzo Florio
49. December 23, 1922 – commencement of broadcast of news by BBC radio
50. December 23, 1922 – Pope Pius XI issues a circular appealing for peace
51. December 23, 1923 – sale of Yankees pitcher Carl Mays for $85,000 to Reds
52. December 23, 1926 – commencement of Radio broadcasts in Portland, OR by KEX-AM
53. December 23, 1928 – radio network from coast to coast by NBC on a perpetual basis
54. December 23, 1930 – Actress Bette Davis comes to Hollywood on an agreement with Universal Studios
55. December 23, 1930 – commencement of Police Bureau of Criminal Alien Investigation in NYC
56. December 23, 1933 – Montreal Canadians defeat Detroit Red Wings, 3-0; Howie Morenz, center, Montreal Canadians achieve his professional NHL best of 249th goal
57. December 23, 1933 – capital punishment for Marinus van der Lubbe
58. December 23, 1933 – 230 lost their life in a train accident in Eastern Paris
59. December 23, 1936 – Columbia is one of the parties to the Buenos Aires copyright agreement
60. December 23, 1937 – inaugural flight of the Vickers Wellington bomber
61. December 23, 1938 – during the shooting of the movie, “The Wizard of Oz” the dress of Margaret Hamilton catches fire
62. December 23, 1938 – sighting of coelacanth (rare order of fish) in South Africa
63. December 23, 1939 – Finnish attack at Summa
64. December 23, 1939 – South Australia achieves 821/7 Vs Queensland
65. December 23, 1940 – debut performance of “Old Acquaintance” by John Van Druten in NYC
66. December 23, 1941 – surrender of American forces on Wake Island to Japanese
67. December 23, 1941 – British army occupies Benghazi, Libya
68. December 23, 1941 – Rangoon in Burma attached by Japan
69. December 23, 1942 – friendly nations assault Den Helder
70. December 23, 1943 – first broadcast of lay, Hansel & Gretel, Schenectady, NY
71. December 23, 1943 – appointment of Gen Bernard Montgomery as commandant for D-day
72. December 23, 1944 – commencement of severe winter
73. December 23, 1945 – first performance of “Cinderella” by Frederick in London
74. December 23, 1945 – issue of a circular by Pope Pius XII about Rutheense church
75. December 23, 1946 – founding of Belgian Council of State
76. December 23, 1946 – maximum ridership in NYC subway (8.8 million passengers)
77. December 23, 1946 – a possible black player in the Duquesne University basketball play team, made the University of Tennessee ban the team
78. December 23, 1947 – the creation of the transistor by John Bardeen, Walter H. Brattain, and William Shockley in Bell Labs
79. December 23, 1948 – premiere of full-length dance play, “Cinderella” by Frederick Ashton accompanied by music by Sergei Prokofiev and first played by Sadler’s Wells Ballet at Convent Garden, London
80. December 23, 1951 – power supplied to the last batch of public in Belgium
81. December 23, 1951 – Television transmission across the nation’s breadth. In the NFL game, the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cleveland Browns, 24-17
82. December 23, 1952 – Alain Bombard, a biologist proves his convection that humans can live for long periods when he traveled the Atlantic Ocean in a small without any provisions, though losing 25 kg in weight
83. December 23, 1953 – award of NL Rookie of the Year title to the baseman of Dodgers, Jim “Junior” Gilliam
84. December 23, 1954 – Dr Joseph E Murray at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, conducts the first human transplant of the kidney
85. December 23, 1957 – First Test Vs South Africa in Johannesburg; This was the first Test Match for a great player, Australian wicketkeeper Wally Grout, and future captain and guide Bobby Simpson
86. December 23, 1958 – premiere of “Party with Comden & Green” at John Golden NYC to give 38 presentations
87. December 23, 1958 – Abdalla Ibrahim installed as Prime Minister of Morocco
88. December 23, 1960 – stepping down of De Quay in Dutch
89. December 23, 1960, King Saud of Saudi Arabia takes control of power
90. December 23, 1961 – TV transmission channel 43 in Visalia-Fresno, CA (Ind) commences airing the programs
91. December 23, 1961 – In a train accident in Italy, 70 lost their life
92. December 23, 1961 – announcement by Fidel Castro about setting free of 1113 prisoners of the 1961 unsuccessful war at Bay of Pigs in exchange for $26M in food and medicine
93. December 23, 1962 – US Prisoners of War Bay of Pigs war, commence returning from Cuba
94. December 23, 1962 – Dallas Texans defeat Houston Oilers, 20-17; Tommy Brooker achieves winning 25-yard field goal during extra time at the AFL Championship, Jeppesen Stadium, Houston
95. December 23, 1963 – premiere of Beach Boys on “Shindig”
96. December 23, 1963 – in a fire accent on board of Greek ship Laconia, 128 people lost their lives
97. December 23, 1964 – a severe hurricane strikes India and Ceylon causing the death of 4850
98. December 23, 1966 – closing performance of Britain’s rock TV show, “Ready Steady Go”
99. December 23, 1968 – first incidence of space motion illness in the US
100. December 23, 1968 – North Korea set free 82 members of the US intelligence vessel Pueblo by North Korea
101. December 23, 1968 – The first persons to orbit the moon were Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William Anders
102. December 23, 1969 – Gianni Rivera, midfielder of Milan was declared as the best European football player earlier to Cagliari forward Luigi Riva and Bayern Munich striker Gerd Muller
103. December 23, 1970 – The play, “The Mousetrap” by Agatha Christie, had a maximum record of 7511 performance
104. December 23, 1970 – Regis Debray, a French author, was released in Bolivia
105. December 23, 1970 – The height of the World Trade Centre in NYC touched 411 m
106. December 23, 1970 – atomic test by USSR
107. December 23, 1970 – the murder of a man belonging to the protestant group was murdered in his house in Belfast, North Ireland
108. December 23, 1971 – North Ireland had been experiencing rebellion, and British Prime Minister Edward Heath during his visit announced his resolve to put an end to the rebellion
109. December 23, 1972 – The 16 survivors of an aircraft were saved after 70 days; they were saved from men who eat man’s flesh
110. December 23, 1972 – Earthquake of 6.25 magnitude strikes central Managua Nicaragua killing 10,000
111. December 23, 1972 – In a cricket match between India and England in Delhi, Chandrashekar takes 79/8
112. December 23, 1972 – The winless 15 play for New York Islanders ended
113. December 23, 1972 – The Immaculate Reception is the name given to the play when Steelers achieve a 13-7 score against Riders with a last-second touchdown reception
114. December 23, 1973 – The price of oil by 6 Persian Gulf nations increased twice their earlier price
115. December 23, 1973 – 106 people lost their lives in an air accident involving a French jet airliner in Morocco
116. December 23, 1974 – premiere of “Good News” at St James Theater NYC to give 16 performances
117. December 23, 1974 – Composer Dmitri Shostakovich completes the premiere of Michelangelo-liederen
118. December 23, 1975 – The Congress approved the Metric Conversion Act
119. December 23, 1975 – appointment of Andy Messersmith & Dave McNally by Peter Seitz as free agents
120. December 23, 1978 – Center Bryan Trottier of NY Islanders scored a maximum of 6 points – 4 goals and 2 assists – to achieve a 9-4 victory over NY Rangers; they achieved a total of 8 points by adding 8 points; Islanders winning line reaches to 16 games
121. December 23, 1979 – Chicago Black Hawks defeat NY Islanders, 8-0
122. December 23, 1979 – atomic test by USSR at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk, USSR
123. December 23, 1980 – debut performance of “True West” by Sam Shepard in NYC
124. December 23, 1981 – The top run-scorer in Test Cricket, at 8033, was Geoffrey Boycott
125. December 23, 1982 – The soil of Times Beach, Missouri has reached an unsafe level of dioxin as per the declaration made by The United States Environmental Protection Agency
126. December 23, 1983 – a report on nuclear winter in the Journal of Science
127. December 23, 1984 – Viv Richards achieves a run of 208 in the Test Cricket at MCG
128. December 23, 1986 – Dick Rutan & Jeana Yeager go around non-stop round-the-world in an investigational aircraft, Voyager, even without refueling breaks
129. December 23, 1987 – Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, convict on life term of prison on the attempt to kill President Gerald Ford, bolts from the Alderson Jail
130. December 23, 1987 – Tom Barrasso, goalkeeper of Buffalo achieves a 5-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings to score his 100th NHL victory; becomes the youngest to reach the target at just 22years, and 9 months
131. December 23, 1990 – last show of “Lettice & Lovage” at Barrymore Theater NYC after 284 presentations
132. December 23, 1990 – a referendum favors Slovenians to separate from Yugoslavia
133. December 23, 1991 – stepping down of Kevin Maxwell from NY Daily News Publisher
134. December 23, 1994 – Baseball players aggressively oppose the maximum limit on their salary imposed by the baseball owners
135. December 23, 1994 – Whitey Bulger, anticipated detention by the FBI, secretly runs away from Boston and disappears for 16 years without being detected by the FBI
136. December 23, 1996 – a first of its kind in Anglican history, four women were identified as priests in Jamaica
137. December 23, 1997 – Phil Jackson of the Chicago Bulls achieved a target of 500 victories out of 682 plays in the shortest time
138. December 23, 1997 – the 8th NHLer to achieve 600 professional goals was Colorado Avalanche Jari Kurri
139. December 23, 1997 – trial found Terry Nichols culpable of homicide in Oklahoma terror campaign
140. December 23, 1997 – $149,820 is the estimated cost to bring up a child to 18, as per the estimation of the US Agriculture Department
141. December 23, 1997 – premiere of the movie “As Good as It Gets” by James L. Brooks, featuring Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt
142. December 23, 1997 – award of first two best football player in Europe title to Ronaldo, Barcelona/Inter’s earlier to Real Madrid forward Predrag Mijatovic and Juventus midfielder Zinedine Zidane
21st Century – December 23 This Day In History – The 2000s
143. December 23, 2000 – New Zealand defeats Australia by 4 runs in the Cricket Women’s World Cup
144. December 23, 2002 – An Iraqi MiG-25 shoots down an MQ-1 Predator – a first in which there was a fight between an aircraft and an unmanned drone
145. December 23, 2003 – a minimum of 234 lost their life in a natural gas field explosion in PetroChina Chuandongbei, Guoqiao, Kai, Chongqing, China
146. December 23, 2004 – earthquake of strength 8.1 strikes the Macquarie Island in the Southern Ocean
147. December 23, 2005 – an accident on Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 217 from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Aktau, Kazakhstan shortly after, and the death toll reached 23
148. December 23, 2005 – Chad engages in war with Sudan consequent to December 18 on Adre where more than 100 lost their life
149. December 23, 2012 – A Warplane attack in Helfaya, Syria leaves 200 civilians dead
150. December 23, 2012 – Bambari, the third largest city in the Central African Republic surrendered to the Seleka insurgents
151. December 23, 2016 – The United Nations Security Council accepts an important decision to ban all Israeli townships in the Palestinian region in its control since 1967 The subject (No.2334) was sponsored by New Zealand, Malaysia, Senegal, and Venezuela. This was adopted 14-0, with the US not participating
See Also: