On This Day — 23 April

2000s

2024

The 2024 Lumut mid-air collision in Malaysia kills 10 people while rehearsing for the 90th anniversary of the Royal Malaysian Navy.

2024 Lumut mid-air collision

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2019

The April 2019 Hpakant jade mine collapse in Myanmar kills four miners and two rescuers, with at least 50 others missing and presumed dead.

April 2019 Hpakant jade mine collapse

2018

A vehicle-ramming attack kills 11 people and injures 15 in Toronto. A 25-year-old suspect, Alek Minassian, is arrested.

2018 Toronto van attack

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2013

At least 111 people are killed and 233 injured as violence breaks out in Hawija, Iraq.

2013 Hawija clashes

2005

The first YouTube video, titled "Me at the zoo", is published by co-founder Jawed Karim.

YouTube

1900s

1999

NATO bombs the headquarters of Radio Television of Serbia, as part of their aerial campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

NATO

1993

Eritreans vote overwhelmingly for independence from Ethiopia in a United Nations-monitored referendum.

Eritrea

1993

Sri Lankan politician Lalith Athulathmudali is assassinated while addressing a gathering, approximately four weeks ahead of the Provincial Council elections for the Western Province.

Sri Lanka

1990

Namibia becomes the 160th member of the United Nations and the 50th member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Namibia

1985

Coca-Cola changes its formula and releases New Coke. The response is overwhelmingly negative, and the original formula is back on the market in less than three months.

Coca-Cola

1979

SAETA Flight 011 crashes in Pastaza Province, Ecuador, killing all 57 people on board. The wreckage was not discovered until 1984.

SAETA Flight 011 (1979)

1979

Blair Peach, a British activist, is fatally injured after being knocked unconscious during an Anti-Nazi League demonstration against a National Front election meeting in Southall, London.

Death of Blair Peach

1971

Bangladesh Liberation War: The Pakistan Army and Razakars massacre approximately 3,000 Hindu emigrants in the Jathibhanga area of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).

Bangladesh Liberation War

1968

Vietnam War: Student protesters at Columbia University in New York City take over administration buildings and shut down the university.

Vietnam War

1967

Soviet space program: Soyuz 1 (Russian: Союз 1, Union 1), a crewed spaceflight carrying cosmonaut Colonel Vladimir Komarov, is launched into orbit.

Soviet space program

1966

Aeroflot Flight 2723 crashes into the Caspian Sea off the Absheron Peninsula, killing 33 people.

Aeroflot Flight 2723

1961

During the Algiers putsch by French generals, President Charles de Gaulle announces he has assumed emergency powers, and calls on troops and civilians to support him.

Algiers putsch of 1961

1951

Cold War: American journalist William N. Oatis is arrested for espionage by the Communist government of Czechoslovakia.

Cold War

1949

Chinese Civil War: Establishment of the People's Liberation Army Navy.

Chinese Civil War

1946

Manuel Roxas is elected the last President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.

Manuel Roxas

1945

World War II: Adolf Hitler's designated successor, Hermann Göring, sends him a telegram asking permission to take leadership of Nazi Germany. Martin Bormann and Joseph Goebbels advise Göring that the telegram is treasonous.

Adolf Hitler

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1942

World War II: Baedeker Blitz: German bombers hit Exeter, Bath and York in retaliation for the British raid on Lübeck.

Baedeker Blitz

1941

World War II: The Greek government and King George II evacuate Athens before the invading Wehrmacht.

World War II

1940

The Rhythm Club fire at a dance hall in Natchez, Mississippi, kills 198 people.

Rhythm Club fire

1935

The Polish Constitution of 1935 is adopted.

April Constitution of Poland

1927

Cardiff City defeat Arsenal in the FA Cup Final, the only time it has been won by a team not based in England.

Cardiff City F.C.

1920

The Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) is founded in Ankara. The assembly denounces the government of Sultan Mehmed VI and announces the preparation of a temporary constitution.

Grand National Assembly of Turkey

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1919

The Estonian Constituent Assembly is held in Estonia, which marks the birth of the Estonian Parliament, the Riigikogu.

Estonian Constituent Assembly

1918

World War I: The British Royal Navy makes a raid in an attempt to neutralise the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge.

World War I

📅

1909

In Portugal, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake strikes near Lisbon, killing at least 60 people and injuring 75.

1909 Benavente earthquake

1800s

1891

Chilean Civil War: The ironclad Blanco Encalada is sunk at Caldera Bay by torpedo boats.

Chilean Civil War of 1891

1879

Fire burns down the second main building and dome of the University of Notre Dame, which prompts the construction of the third, and current, Main Building with its golden dome.

University of Notre Dame

1815

The Second Serbian Uprising: A second phase of the national revolution of the Serbs against the Ottoman Empire, erupts shortly after the annexation of the country to the Ottoman Empire.

Second Serbian Uprising

Before 1800

1724

Johann Sebastian Bach leads the first performance of his cantata Du Hirte Israel, höre, BWV 104, illustrating the topic of the Good Shepherd in pastoral music.

Johann Sebastian Bach