August 23 in History

Historical Events on August 23

1799 Napoleon I of France leaves Egypt for France en route to seizing power.

1839 The United Kingdom captures Hong Kong as a base as it prepares for war with Qing China. The ensuing three-year conflict will later be known as the First Opium War.

1914 World War I: Battle of Mons: The British Army begins withdrawal.

1939 World War II: Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression treaty, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. In a secret addition to the pact, the Baltic states, Finland, Romania, and Poland are divided between the two nations.

1943 World War II: Kharkiv is liberated after the Battle of Kursk.

1970 Organized by Mexican American labor union leader César Chávez, the Salad Bowl strike, the largest farm worker strike in U.S. history, begins.

1990 Saddam Hussein appears on Iraqi state television with a number of Western "guests" (actually hostages) to try to prevent the Gulf War.

1990 Armenia declares its independence from the Soviet Union.

2011 Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is overthrown after the National Transitional Council forces take control of Bab al-Azizia compound during the Libyan Civil War.

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Famous Birthdays on August 23

1864 Eleftherios Venizelos

1963 Kenny Wallace

1978 Kobe Bryant

1988 Jeremy Lin

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Famous Deaths on August 23

634 Abu Bakr

1819 Oliver Hazard Perry

1927 Nicola Sacco

1927 Bartolomeo Vanzetti

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