On This Day — 23 March

2026

An Aerospace Force Lockheed C-130 crashes during take-off in Puerto Leguízamo, Columbia, killing 70 people.

2026 Colombian Air Force Lockheed C-130 crash

2025

Israel Defense Forces kill 15 aid workers in the Rafah paramedic massacre.

Israel Defense Forces

2021

A container ship runs aground and obstructs the Suez Canal for six days.

2021 Suez Canal obstruction

2020

Prime Minister Boris Johnson puts the United Kingdom into its first national lockdown in response to COVID-19.

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

2019

The Kazakh capital of Astana is renamed to Nur-Sultan.

Kazakhstan

2019

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces capture the town of Baghuz in Eastern Syria, declaring military victory over the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant after four years of fighting, although the group maintains a scattered presence and sleeper cells across Syria and Iraq.

Battle of Baghuz Fawqani

2018

President of Peru Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigns from the presidency amid a mass corruption scandal before certain impeachment by the opposition-majority Congress of Peru.

President of Peru

2014

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports cases of Ebola in the forested rural region of southeastern Guinea, marking the beginning of the largest Ebola outbreak in history.

World Health Organization

2010

The Affordable Care Act becomes law in the United States.

Affordable Care Act

2009

FedEx Express Flight 80: A McDonnell Douglas MD-11 flying from Guangzhou, China crashes at Tokyo's Narita International Airport, killing both the captain and the co-pilot.

FedEx Express Flight 80

2008

Official opening of Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad, India.

Rajiv Gandhi International Airport

2003

Battle of Nasiriyah, first major conflict during the invasion of Iraq.

Battle of Nasiriyah

2001

The Russian Mir space station is disposed of, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji.

Mir

1999

Gunmen assassinate Paraguay's Vice President Luis María Argaña.

Paraguay

1996

Taiwan holds its first direct elections and chooses Lee Teng-hui as President.

Taiwan

1994

At an election rally in Tijuana, Mexican presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio is assassinated by Mario Aburto Martínez.

Tijuana

1994

A United States Air Force (USAF) F-16 aircraft collides with a USAF C-130 at Pope Air Force Base and then crashes, killing 24 United States Army soldiers on the ground alongside destroying a Starlifter by accident. This later became known as the Green Ramp disaster.

General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon

1994

Aeroflot Flight 593 crashes into the Kuznetsk Alatau mountain, Kemerovo Oblast, Russia, killing 75.

Aeroflot Flight 593

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 the 11-year Sierra Leone Civil War.

Revolutionary United Front

1988

Angolan and Cuban forces defeat South Africa in the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale.

Battle of Cuito Cuanavale

1983

Strategic Defense Initiative: President Ronald Reagan makes his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles.

Strategic Defense Initiative

1982

Guatemala's government, headed by Fernando Romeo Lucas García, is overthrown in a military coup by right-wing General Efraín Ríos Montt.

Guatemala

1980

Archbishop Óscar Romero of El Salvador gives his famous speech appealing to men of the El Salvadoran armed forces to stop killing the Salvadorans.

Óscar Romero

1978

The first UNIFIL troops arrive in Lebanon for a peacekeeping mission along the Blue Line.

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon

1977

The first of The Nixon Interviews (12 will be recorded over four weeks) is videotaped with British journalist David Frost interviewing former United States President Richard Nixon about the Watergate scandal and the Nixon tapes.

David Frost's interviews with Richard Nixon

1965

NASA launches Gemini 3, the United States' first two-man space flight (crew: Gus Grissom and John Young).

NASA

1956

Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic in the world. This date is now celebrated as Republic Day in Pakistan.

Pakistan

1940

The Lahore Resolution (Qarardad-e-Pakistan or Qarardad-e-Lahore) is put forward at the Annual General Convention of the All-India Muslim League.

Lahore Resolution

1939

The Hungarian air force attacks the headquarters of the Slovak air force in Spišská Nová Ves, killing 13 people and beginning the Slovak–Hungarian War.

Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946)

1935

Signing of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.

Constitution of the Philippines

1933

The Reichstag passes the Enabling Act of 1933, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany.

Reichstag (Weimar Republic)

1931

Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar are hanged for the killing of a deputy superintendent of police during the Indian independence movement.

Bhagat Singh

1919

In Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini founds his Fascist political movement.

Milan

1918

First World War: On the third day of the German Spring Offensive, the 10th Battalion of the Royal West Kent Regiment is annihilated with many of the men becoming prisoners of war.

World War I

1913

A tornado outbreak kills more than 240 people in the central United States, while an ongoing flood in the Ohio River watershed was killing 650 people.

1913 Easter tornado outbreak

1909

Theodore Roosevelt leaves New York for a post-presidency safari in Africa. The trip is sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society.

Theodore Roosevelt

1905

Eleftherios Venizelos calls for Crete's union with Greece, and begins what is to be known as the Theriso revolt.

Eleftherios Venizelos

1901

Emilio Aguinaldo, only President of the First Philippine Republic, is captured at Palanan, Isabela by the forces of American General Frederick Funston.

Emilio Aguinaldo

1889

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is established by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in Qadian, British India.

Ahmadiyya

1888

In England, The Football League, the world's oldest professional association football league, meets for the first time.

English Football League

1885

Sino-French War: Chinese victory in the Battle of Phu Lam Tao near Hưng Hóa, northern Vietnam.

Sino-French War

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.

War of the Pacific

1868

The University of California is founded in Oakland, California when the Organic Act is signed into law.

University of California

1862

American Civil War: The First Battle of Kernstown, Virginia, marks the start of Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign. Although a Confederate defeat, the engagement distracts Federal efforts to capture Richmond.

American Civil War

1857

Elisha Otis's first elevator is installed at 488 Broadway New York City.

Elisha Otis

1848

The ship John Wickliffe arrives at Port Chalmers carrying the first Scottish settlers for Dunedin, New Zealand. Otago province is founded.

John Wickliffe (ship)

1839

A massive earthquake destroys the former capital Inwa of the Konbaung dynasty, present-day Myanmar.

1839 Ava earthquake

1821

Greek War of Independence: Battle and fall of city of Kalamata.

Greek War of Independence

1806

After traveling through the Louisiana Purchase and reaching the Pacific Ocean, explorers Lewis and Clark and their Corps of Discovery begin their arduous journey home.

Louisiana Purchase

1801

Tsar Paul I of Russia is struck with a sword, then strangled, and finally trampled to death inside his bedroom at St. Michael's Castle.

Tsar

1775

American Revolutionary War: Patrick Henry delivers his speech – "Give me liberty or give me death!" – at St. John's Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia.

American Revolutionary War

1568

The Peace of Longjumeau is signed, ending the second phase of the French Wars of Religion.

Peace of Longjumeau

1540

Waltham Abbey is surrendered to King Henry VIII of England, the last religious community to be closed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

Waltham Abbey Church

1400

The Trần dynasty of Vietnam is deposed, after one hundred and seventy-five years of rule, by Hồ Quý Ly, a court official.

Trần dynasty

625

The Muslim army under Muhammad suffers a defeat against the Quraysh in the battle of Uhud.

Muhammad