September 23

It is frequently the day of the autumn Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, and the day of the Vernal Equinox in the Southern Hemisphere.

Events

*1122 - Concordat of Worms.
*1459 - Battle of Blore Heath, the first major battle of the English Wars of the Roses, is fought at Blore Heath in Staffordshire.
*1529 - The Siege of Vienna begins as Suleiman I begins his attack on the city.
*1642 - First commencement exercises occur at Harvard College.
*1779 - American Revolution: a squadron commanded by John Paul Jones on board the "USS Bonhomme Richard" wins the Battle of Flamborough Head, off the coast of England, against two British warships.
*1780 - American Revolution: British Major John André is arrested as a spy by American soldiers exposing Benedict Arnold's treason.
*1803 - Second Anglo-Maratha War: Battle of Assaye.
*1806 - Lewis and Clark return to St. Louis, after exploring the Pacific Northwest of the United States.
*1818 - Border demarcation markers for Neutral Moresnet are formally installed.
*1821 - Tripolitsa, Greece, falls and 30,000 Turks are massacred.
*1845 - The Knickerbockers Baseball Club, the first baseball team to play under the modern rules, is founded in New York.
*1846 - Neptune is discovered by French astronomer Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier and British astronomer John Couch Adams; the discovery is verified by German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle.
*1868 - Grito de Lares (Lares Revolt) occurs in Puerto Rico against Spanish rule.
*1884 - Herman Hollerith patents his mechanical tabulating machine.
*1889 - "Nintendo" Koppai (Later "Nintendo" Company, Limited) is founded by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce and market the playing card game Hanafuda.
*1905 - Norway and Sweden sign the "Karlstad treaty", peacefully dissolving the Union between the two countries.
*1908 - University of Alberta in Alberta, Canada, is founded.
*1922 - Gdynia Seaport Construction Act is passed by the Polish parliament.
*1932 - The Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd is renamed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
*1938 - Mobilization of the Czechoslovak army in response to the Munich Crisis.
*1941 - World War II: The first gas murder experiments are conducted at Auschwitz.
*1942 - World War II: First day of the September Matanikau action on Guadalcanal as United States Marine Corps forces attack Imperial Japanese Army units along the Matanikau River.
*1952 - Richard Nixon makes his "Checkers speech".
*1959 - The M/S Princess of Tasmania Australia’s first passenger RO/RO diesel ferry makes her maiden voyage across Bass Strait.
*1962 - The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City opens with the completion of the first building, the Philharmonic Hall (now Avery Fisher Hall) home of the New York Philharmonic.
*1969 - The Chicago Eight trial opens in Chicago.
*1972 - Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos announces over television and radio the implementation of martial law and signs General Order No. 1 ordering the arrest of opposition leaders, media censorship, banning travel to other countries except for diplomatic missions, abolishing the Philippine Congress, establishing dictatorial government, take-over or sequestering of public and private corporations and suspension of classes for one week.
*1973 - Juan Perón returns to power in Argentina.
*1983 - Saint Kitts and Nevis joins the United Nations.
* 1983 - Gerrie Coetzee of South Africa becomes the first African boxing world heavyweight champion.
*1988 - José Canseco of the Oakland Athletics becomes the first member of the 40-40 club.
*1999 - NASA announces that it has lost contact with the Mars Climate Orbiter.
* 1999 - Qantas Flight 1 overruns the runway in Bangkok during a storm. While some passengers only receive minor injuries, it is still the worst crash in Qantas's history since 1960.
*2002 - The first public version of the web browser Mozilla Firefox ("Phoenix 0.1") is released.
*2004 - At least 1,070 in Haiti are reported killed by floods due to Hurricane Jeanne
*2005 - FBI killing of Filiberto Ojeda on Plan Bonito Hormigueros, Puerto Rico.

Births

*480 BC - Euripides, Greek playwright (d. 406 BC)
*63 BC - Augustus Caesar, Roman Emperor (d. 14)
*1158 - Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany (d. 1186)
*1161 - Emperor Takakura of Japan (d. 1181)
*1215 - Kublai Khan of the Mongol Empire (d. 1294)
*1434 - Yolande of Valois, Duchess of Savoy (d. 1478)
*1598 - Eleonore Gonzaga, wife of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1655)
*1647 - Joseph Dudley, American statesman (d. 1720)
*1650 - Jeremy Collier, English bishop (d. 1726)
*1713 - King Ferdinand VI of Spain (d. 1759)
*1740 - Empress Go-Sakuramachi of Japan (d. 1813)
*1759 - Clothilde of France, queen of piedmont-Sardinia (d. 1802)
*1771 - Emperor Kokaku of Japan (d. 1840)
*1781 - Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (d. 1860)
*1791 - Johann Franz Encke, German astronomer (d. 1865)
*1819 - Hippolyte Fizeau, French physicist (d. 1896)
*1838 - Victoria Woodhull, American suffragist (d. 1927)
*1852 - William Stewart Halsted, American surgeon (d. 1922)
*1861 - Robert Bosch, German inventor and industrialist (d. 1942)
*1863 - Mary Eliza Church Terrell, American writer (d. 1954)
*1864 - Draga Mašin, Queen of Serbia (d. 1903)
*1865 - Emmuska Orczy, British novelist (d. 1947)
*1869 - Mary Mallon, also known as Typhoid Mary, first carrier of typhoid (d. 1938)
*1880 - John Boyd Orr, Scottish physician, Nobel Laureate (d. 1971)
*1889 - Walter Lippmann, American journalist (d. 1974)
*1890 - Friedrich Paulus, German general (d. 1957)
*1895 - Miron Merzhanov, Soviet architect (d. 1975)
* 1895 - Johnny Mokan, American baseball player (d. 1985)
*1897 - Walter Pidgeon, Canadian actor (d. 1984)
*1899 - Tom C. Clark, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1977)
*1900 - Louise Nevelson, American sculptor (d. 1988)
* 1900 - Bill Stone, British serviceman; one of the last surviving veterans of World War I
*1901 - Jaroslav Seifert, Czech writer, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1986)
*1902 - Su Buqing, Chinese mathematician and educator (d. 2003)
*1907 - Dominique Aury, French novelist (d. 1998)
* 1907 - Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza, heir to the throne of Portugal (d. 1976)
*1911 - Frank Moss, United States Senator from Utah (d. 2003)
*1912 - Ghulam Mustafa Khan, Pakistani researcher, critic and linguist (d. 2005)
* 1912 - Tony Smith, American sculptor (d. 1980)
*1914 - Omar Ali Saifuddin III, Sultan of Brunei (d. 1986)
*1915 - Clifford Shull, American physicist, Nobel Laureate (d. 2001)
*1916 - Aldo Moro, Italian politician (d. 1978)
*1920 - Mickey Rooney, American actor
*1924 - Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal, Nicaraguan newspaper editor (d. 1978)
*1925 - Denis Twitchett, Cambridge scholar, and Chinese historian (d. 2006)
* 1925 - Eleonora Rossi Drago, Italian actress
*1926 - John Coltrane, American saxophonist (d. 1967)
*1929 - Wally Whyton, English musician (d. 1997)
*1930 - Ray Charles, American musician (d. 2004)
* 1930 - Sehba Akhtar, Pakistani poet (d.1996)
* 1930 - Colin Blakely, British actor (d. 1987)
*1931 - Gerald Stairs Merrithew, Canadian educator (d. 2004)
*1934 - Ahmad Shah Khan, Crown Prince of Afghanistan
*1936 - Valentín Paniagua, Peruvian politician
*1938 - Tom Lester, American actor
* 1938 - Romy Schneider, Austrian actress (d. 1982)
*1939 - Henry Blofeld, English cricket commentator
* 1939 - Roy Buchanan, American guitarist (d. 1988)
* 1939 - Janusz Gajos, Polish actor
* 1939 - Sonny Vaccaro, American former sports executive
*1941 - Simon Nolet, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1941 - George Jackson, American civil-rights activist
*1942 - Sila María Calderón, Puerto Rican politician
*1943 - Julio Iglesias, Spanish singer
* 1943 - Marty Schottenheimer, American football coach
* 1943 - Tanuja, Indian actress
*1944 - Eric Bogle, British/Australian singer and songwriter
*1945 - Paul Petersen, American actor
* 1945 - Igor Ivanov, Russian politician
*1946 - Franz Fischler, Austrian politician
*1947 - Mary Kay Place, American actress
* 1947 - Jerry Corbetta, American singer and musician (Sugarloaf)
* 1947 - Neal Smith, American musician (Alice Cooper)
*1949 - Bruce Springsteen, American singer and songwriter
*1954 - Charlie Barnett, American actor (d. 1996)
*1956 - Paolo Rossi, Italian footballer
* 1956 - Peter David, American writer
*1957 - Rosalind Chao, American actress
* 1957 - Tony Fossas, Cuban baseball player
* 1957 - Kumar Sanu, Indian playback singer
*1958 - Danielle Dax, British musician
* 1958 - Marvin Lewis, American football coach
* 1958 - Larry Mize, American golfer
*1959 - Jason Alexander, American actor
* 1959 - Martin Page, English singer and songwriter
* 1959 - Elizabeth Peña, American actress
*1960 - Jason Carter, British actor
*1961 - Chi McBride, American actor
* 1961 - Willie McCool, American astronaut (d. 2003)
* 1964 - Clayton Blackmore, Welsh footballer
*1964 - Koshi Inaba, Japanese singer (B'z)
* 1964 - Larry Krystkowiak, American basketball player and head coach
*1966 - Pete Harnisch, American baseball player
* 1966 - LisaRaye, American actress
*1968 - Yvette Fielding, English television presenter
*1969 - Michelle Thomas, American actress (d. 1998)
* 1969 - Patrick Fiori, French singer
* 1969 - Tapio Laukkanen, Finnish rally driver
* 1969 - Donald Audette, Canadian ice hockey player
*1970 - Ani DiFranco, American musician
* 1970 - Georgios Koltsidas, Greek footballer
*1971 - Eric Montross, American basketball player
* 1971 - Moin Khan, Pakistani cricketer
*1972 - Jermaine Dupri, American music producer and rapper
* 1972 - Karl Pilkington, British radio personality
*1973 - Ingrid Fliter, Argentinian pianist
*1974 - Matt Hardy, American professional wrestler
* 1974 - Harumi Inoue, Japanese actress and model
*1975 - Jaime Bergman, American model and actress
* 1975 - Layzie Bone, American rapper (Bone Thugs-N-Harmony)
* 1975 - Chris Hawkins, British radio personality
* 1975 - Kim Dong-moon, South Korean badminton player
*1976 - Faune A. Chambers, American actress
* 1976 - Kip Pardue, American actor and model
* 1976 - Wladimir Sidorenko, Ukrainian boxer
*1977 - Rachael Yamagata, American singer and songwriter
* 1977 - Matthieu Descoteaux, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1977 - Susan Tamim, Lebanese singer and actress (d. 2008)
*1978 - Worm Miller, American filmmaker
* 1978 - Keri Lynn Pratt, American actress
*1979 - Ricky Davis, American basketball player
*1980 - Cameron Litvack, American television producer
*1981 - Robert Doornbos, Dutch race car driver
* 1981 - Natalie Horler, German singer (Cascada)
* 1981 - Misti Traya, American actress
*1984 - Anneliese van der Pol, American actress
* 1984 - Louie Stephens, American musician (Rooney)
*1984 - Nathan Jendrick, American author
* 1984 - Matt Kemp, American baseball player
*1985 - Maki Goto, Japanese pop singer
* 1985 - Jared High, American victim of bullying (d. 1998)
* 1985 - Brian Brohm, American football player
* 1985 - Lukáš Kašpar, Czech ice hockey player
* 1985 - Hossein Ka'abi, Iranian footballer
* 1985 - Joba Chamberlain, American baseball player
*1986 - Martin Cranie, English footballer
*1989 - Brandon Jennings, American basketball player

Deaths

* 79 - Pope Linus
*1241 - Snorri Sturluson, Icelandic historian, poet, and politician (b. 1178)
*1390 - John I, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1346)
*1535 - Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg, queen of Gustav I of Sweden (b. 1513)
*1571 - John Jewel, English bishop (b. 1522)
*1573 - Azai Hisamasa, Japanese warlord (b. 1524)
*1605 - Pontus de Tyard, French poet
*1675 - Valentin Conrart, founder of the Académie Française (b. 1603)
*1728 - Christian Thomasius, German jurist (b. 1655)
*1738 - Herman Boerhaave, Dutch humanist and physician (b. 1668)
*1764 - Robert Dodsley, English writer (b. 1703)
*1773 - Johann Ernst Gunnerus, Norwegian bishop and botanist (b. 1718)
*1789 - John Rogers, American Continental Congressman (b. 1723)
*1835 - Vincenzo Bellini, Italian composer (b. 1801)
*1844 - Alexander von Benckendorff, Russian general and statesman (b. 1783)
*1846 - John Ainsworth Horrocks, English-born explorer of South Australia (b. 1818)
*1850 - José Gervasio Artigas, Uruguayan hero (b. 1764)
*1870 - Prosper Mérimée, French author (b. 1803)
*1871 - Louis-Joseph Papineau, French Canadian politician (b. 1786)
*1873 - Jean Chacornac, French astronomer (b. 1823)
*1877 - Urbain Le Verrier, French mathematician (b. 1811)
*1889 - Wilkie Collins, British author (b. 1824)
*1900 - William Marsh Rice, American philanthropist and university founder (b. 1816)
*1917 - Werner Voss, German World War I pilot (b. 1897)
*1929 - Richard Adolf Zsigmondy, Austrian-born chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1865)
*1939 - Sigmund Freud, Austrian psychiatrist (b. 1856)
*1943 - Elinor Glyn, English author (b. 1864)
*1944 - Jakob Schaffner, Swiss novelist (b. 1875)
*1950 - Sam Barry, American basketball player and coach (b. 1892)
*1968 - Francesco Forgione, "Padre Pio", Catholic saint (b. 1887)
*1970 - Bourvil, French actor and singer (b. 1917)
*1971 - J. W. Alexander, American mathematician (b. 1888)
* 1971 - Billy Gilbert, American actor (b. 1894)
*1973 - Pablo Neruda, Chilean poet, Nobel laureate (b. 1904)
*1974 - Cliff Arquette, American comedian and actor (b. 1905)
*1978 - Lyman Bostock, American baseball player (murdered) (b. 1950)
*1981 - Chief Dan George, Canadian actor (b. 1899)
*1987 - Bob Fosse, American dancer, choreographer, and actor (b. 1927)
*1988 - Tibor Sekelj, Croatian explorer (b. 1912)
*1992 - James Van Fleet, U.S. Army general (b. 1892)
*1994 - Jerry Barber, American golfer (b. 1916)
* 1994 - Robert Bloch, American author (b. 1917)
* 1994 - Madeleine Renaud, French theater and film actress (b. 1900)
*1996 - Fujiko F. Fujio, Japanese cartoonist (b. 1933)
*1998 - Mary Frann, American actress (b. 1943)
*1999 - Ivan Goff, Australian screenwriter (b. 1910)
*2000 - Aurelio Rodríguez, Mexican Major League Baseball player (b. 1947)
* 2000 - Carl Rowan, American journalist (b. 1925)
*2001 - Ron Hewitt, Welsh footballer (b. 1928)
*2002 - Vernon Corea, Sri Lankan broadcaster (b. 1927)
*2003 - Ronnie Dawson, American rockabilly musician (b. 1939)
* 2003 - Yuri Senkevich, Russian TV anchorman (b. 1937)
*2004 - André Hazes, Dutch singer (b. 1951)
* 2004 - Billy Reay, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1918)
*2005 - Filiberto Ojeda, Puerto Rican revolutionary (b. 1933)
* 2005 - Roger Brierley, English actor (b. 1935)
*2006 - Sir Malcolm Arnold, English composer and professional trumpeter (b. 1921)
* 2006 - Etta Baker, American blues guitarist (b.1913)
*2008 - Peter Leonard, Australian journalist (b.1942)

Holidays and observances

*Astrology: Usually the first day of sun sign Libra in the tropical zodiac.
*In ancient Latvia, the second day of Mikeli.
*Roman Catholic Saints - Feast day of Saint Adomnan of Iona, Saint Thecla, Padre Pio of Pietrelcina
*Also see September 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics).
*Traditional New Year's Day in Constantinople and Eastern Orthodox Churches — because of the birthday of Augustus, not because of the equinox.
*Japanese Autumnal equinox Day (秋分の日/Shūbun no hi).
*Saudi Arabia - National Day (unification 1932).
*French Republican Calendar - Safran (Saffron) Day, second day in the Month of Vendémiaire.
*Celebrate Bisexuality Day was first recognized in 1999 and is observed mainly in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Australia.
*Adamnan of Iona

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/23 BBC: On This Day]
*NYT On this day|month=09|day=23
* [http://www1.sympatico.ca/cgi-bin/on_this_day?mth=Sep&day=23 On This Day in Canada] ----