On This Day — 23 June
2000s
2018
Twelve boys and an assistant coach from a soccer team in Thailand are trapped in a flooding cave, leading to an 18-day rescue operation.
Tham Luang cave rescue
2017
A series of terrorist attacks take place in Pakistan, resulting in 96 deaths and wounding 200 others.
June 2017 Pakistan attacks
2016
The United Kingdom votes in a referendum to leave the European Union, by 52% to 48%.
United Kingdom
2014
The last of Syria's declared chemical weapons are shipped out for destruction.
Syrian chemical weapons program
2013
Nik Wallenda becomes the first man to successfully walk across the Grand Canyon on a tight rope.
Nik Wallenda
2013
Militants storm a high-altitude mountaineering base camp near Nanga Parbat in Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan, killing ten climbers and a local guide.
Nanga Parbat
2012
Ashton Eaton breaks the decathlon world record at the United States Olympic Trials.
Ashton Eaton
2005
American social news and discussion site Reddit is founded in Medford, Massachusetts by Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian.
2001
The 8.4 Mw southern Peru earthquake shakes coastal Peru with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). A destructive tsunami followed, leaving at least 74 people dead, and 2,687 injured.
2001 southern Peru earthquake
1900s
1994
NASA's Space Station Processing Facility, a new state-of-the-art manufacturing building for the International Space Station, officially opens at Kennedy Space Center.
NASA
1991
Sonic the Hedgehog is released in North America on the Sega Genesis platform, beginning the popular video game franchise.
Sonic the Hedgehog (1991 video game)
1985
A terrorist bomb explodes at Narita International Airport near Tokyo, killing two and injuring four. An hour later, the same group detonates a second bomb aboard Air India Flight 182, bringing the Boeing 747 down off the coast of Ireland killing all 329 aboard.
1985 Narita International Airport bombing
1973
A fire at a house in Hull, England, which kills a six-year-old boy is passed off as an accident; it later emerges as the first of 26 deaths by fire caused over the next seven years by serial arsonist Peter Dinsdale.
Kingston upon Hull
1972
Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard M. Nixon and White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman are taped talking about illegally using the Central Intelligence Agency to obstruct the Federal Bureau of Investigation's investigation into the Watergate break-ins.
Watergate scandal
1972
Title IX of the United States Civil Rights Act of 1964 is amended to prohibit sexual discrimination to any educational program receiving federal funds.
Title IX
1969
Warren E. Burger is sworn in as Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court by retiring Chief Justice Earl Warren.
Warren E. Burger
1969
IBM announces that effective January 1970 it will price its software and services separately from hardware thus creating the modern software industry.
Software industry
1968
Seventy-four people were killed and 150 other injured in a stampede at a football match between Boca Juniors and Club Atlético River Plate in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The Tragedy of Gate 12
1967
Cold War: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson meets with Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin in Glassboro, New Jersey for the three-day Glassboro Summit Conference.
Lyndon B. Johnson
1961
The Antarctic Treaty System, which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and limits military activity on the continent, its islands and ice shelves, comes into force.
Antarctic Treaty System
1960
The United States Food and Drug Administration declares Enovid to be the first officially approved combined oral contraceptive pill in the world.
Food and Drug Administration
1959
Convicted Manhattan Project spy Klaus Fuchs is released after only nine years in prison and allowed to emigrate to Dresden, East Germany where he resumes a scientific career.
Manhattan Project
1956
The French National Assembly takes the first step in creating the French Community by passing the Loi Cadre, transferring a number of powers from Paris to elected territorial governments in French West Africa.
National Assembly (France)
1951
The ocean liner SS United States is christened and launched.
SS United States
1947
The United States Senate follows the United States House of Representatives in overriding U.S. President Harry S. Truman's veto of the Taft–Hartley Act.
United States Senate
1946
The 1946 Vancouver Island earthquake strikes Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.
1946 Vancouver Island earthquake
1944
An F4 tornado tears through the Appalachian Mountains, killing over 100 people in West Virginia, particularly in the town of Shinnston.
1944 Shinnston tornado
1942
World War II: Germany's latest fighter aircraft, a Focke-Wulf Fw 190, is captured intact when it mistakenly lands at RAF Pembrey in Wales.
World War II
1941
The Lithuanian Activist Front declares independence from the Soviet Union and forms the Provisional Government of Lithuania; it lasts only briefly as the Nazis will occupy Lithuania a few weeks later.
Lithuanian Activist Front
1940
Adolf Hitler goes on a three-hour tour of the architecture of Paris with architect Albert Speer and sculptor Arno Breker in his only visit to the city.
Architecture of Paris
1940
Henry Larsen begins the first successful west-to-east navigation of Northwest Passage from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Henry Larsen (explorer)
1938
The Civil Aeronautics Act is signed into law, forming the Civil Aeronautics Authority in the United States.
United States government role in civil aviation
1931
Wiley Post and Harold Gatty take off from Roosevelt Field, Long Island in an attempt to circumnavigate the world in a single-engine plane.
Wiley Post
1926
The College Board administers the first SAT exam.
College Board
1925
Shameen Incident: British Army and French Army soldiers stationed in the concession of Shameen open fire on Chinese protesters, resulting in at least 52 deaths.
Shameen Incident
1919
Estonian War of Independence: The decisive defeat of the Baltische Landeswehr in the Battle of Cēsis; this date is celebrated as Victory Day in Estonia.
Estonian War of Independence
1917
In a game against the Washington Senators, Boston Red Sox pitcher Ernie Shore retires 26 batters in a row after replacing Babe Ruth, who had been ejected for punching the umpire.
Texas Rangers (baseball)
1914
Mexican Revolution: Pancho Villa takes Zacatecas from Victoriano Huerta.
Mexican Revolution
1913
Second Balkan War: The Greeks defeat the Bulgarians in the Battle of Doiran.
Second Balkan War
1800s
1894
The International Olympic Committee is founded at the Sorbonne in Paris, at the initiative of Baron Pierre de Coubertin.
International Olympic Committee
1887
The Rocky Mountains Park Act becomes law in Canada creating the nation's first national park, Banff National Park.
Rocky Mountains Park Act
1868
Christopher Latham Sholes received a patent for an invention he called the "Type-Writer".
Christopher Latham Sholes
1865
American Civil War: At Fort Towson in the Oklahoma Territory, Confederate Brigadier General Stand Watie surrenders the last significant Confederate army.
American Civil War
1860
The United States Congress establishes the Government Printing Office.
United States Congress
1812
War of 1812: Great Britain revokes the restrictions on American commerce, thus eliminating one of the chief reasons for going to war.
War of 1812
1810
John Jacob Astor forms the Pacific Fur Company.
John Jacob Astor
Before 1800
1794
Empress Catherine II of Russia grants Jews permission to settle in Kyiv.
Catherine the Great
1780
American Revolution: Battle of Springfield fought in and around Springfield, New Jersey (including Short Hills, formerly of Springfield, now of Millburn Township).
American Revolution
1760
Seven Years' War: Battle of Landeshut: Austria defeats Prussia.
Battle of Landeshut (1760)
1758
Seven Years' War: Battle of Krefeld: British, Hanoverian, and Prussian forces defeat French troops at Krefeld in Germany.
Seven Years' War
1757
Battle of Plassey: Three thousand British troops under Robert Clive defeat a 50,000-strong Indian army under Siraj ud-Daulah at Plassey.
Battle of Plassey
1713
The French residents of Acadia are given one year to declare allegiance to Britain or leave Nova Scotia, Canada.
Acadia
1683
William Penn signs a friendship treaty with Lenape Indians in Pennsylvania.
William Penn
1611
The mutinous crew of Henry Hudson's fourth voyage sets Henry, his son and seven loyal crew members adrift in an open boat in what is now Hudson Bay; they are never heard from again.
Henry Hudson
1594
The Action of Faial, Azores. The Portuguese carrack Cinco Chagas, loaded with slaves and treasure, is attacked and sunk by English ships with only 13 survivors out of over 700 on board.
Action of Faial
1565
Dragut, commander of the Ottoman navy, dies during the Great Siege of Malta.
Dragut
1532
Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France sign the "Treaty of Closer Amity With France" (also known as the Pommeraye treaty), pledging mutual aid against Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.
Henry VIII
1314
First War of Scottish Independence: The Battle of Bannockburn (south of Stirling) begins.
First War of Scottish Independence
1305
A peace treaty between the Flemish and the French is signed at Athis-sur-Orge.
Flanders
1280
The Spanish Reconquista: In the Battle of Moclín the Emirate of Granada ambush a superior pursuing force, killing most of them in a military disaster for the Kingdom of Castile.
Reconquista
1266
War of Saint Sabas: In the Battle of Trapani, the Venetians defeat a larger Genoese fleet, capturing all its ships.
War of Saint Sabas
229
Sun Quan proclaims himself emperor of Eastern Wu.
Sun Quan