Historical Events on December 23, Facts & Special Events On This Day - CalendarZ

Historical Events on December 23

484
Huneric dies and is succeeded by his nephew Gunthamund, who becomes king of the Vandals. During his reign Christians are protected from persecution.
558
Chlothar I is crowned King of the Franks.
562
Hagia Sophia in Constantinople reopened with a rebuilt dome after a series of earthquakes caused the original to collapse.
583
Maya queen Yohl Ik'nal is crowned ruler of Palenque.
679
King Dagobert II is murdered while hunting.
962
Arab-Byzantine wars: Under the future Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, Byzantine troops storm the city of Aleppo.
1572
Theologian Johann Sylvan is executed in Heidelberg for his heretical Antitrinitarian beliefs.
1688
As part of the Glorious Revolution, King James II of England flees from England to Paris, France after being deposed in favor of his nephew, William of Orange and his daughter Mary.
1783
George Washington resigns as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army at the Maryland State House in Annapolis, Maryland.
1793
The Battle of Savenay: a decisive defeat of the royalist counter-revolutionaries in War in the Vendée during the French Revolution.
1815
The novel Emma by Jane Austen is first published.
1876
First day of the Constantinople Conference which resulted in agreement for political reforms in the Balkans.
1893
The opera Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck is first performed.
1913
The Federal Reserve Act is signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson, creating the Federal Reserve System.
1914
World War I: Australian and New Zealand troops arrive in Cairo, Egypt.
1916
World War I: Battle of Magdhaba - Allied forces defeat Turkish forces in the Sinai Peninsula.
1919
Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 becomes law in the United Kingdom.
1936
Colombia becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
1941
World War II: After 15 days of fighting, the Imperial Japanese Army occupies Wake Island.
1947
The transistor is first demonstrated at Bell Laboratories.
1948
Seven Japanese military and political leaders convicted of war crimes by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East are executed by Allied occupation authorities at Sugamo Prison in Tokyo, Japan.
1954
First successful kidney transplant is performed by J. Hartwell Harrison and Joseph Murray.
1968
The 82 sailors from the USS Pueblo are released after eleven months of internment in North Korea.
1970
The North Tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York, New York is topped out at 1,368 feet (417 m), making it the tallest building in the world.
1970
The Democratic Republic of the Congo officially becomes a one-party state.
1972
A 6.5 magnitude earthquake strikes the Nicaraguan capital of Managua killing more than 10,000.
1972
The 16 survivors of the Andes flight disaster are rescued after 73 days, having reportedly survived by cannibalism.
1979
Soviet war in Afghanistan: Soviet Union forces occupy Kabul, the Afghan capital.
1986
Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, lands at Edwards Air Force Base in California becoming the first aircraft to fly non-stop around the world without aerial or ground refueling.
1990
History of Slovenia: In a referendum, 88.5% of Slovenia's overall electorate vote for independence from Yugoslavia.
2002
A U.S. MQ-1 Predator is shot down by an Iraqi MiG-25 in the first combat engagement between a drone and conventional aircraft.
2003
PetroChina Chuandongbei natural gas field explosion, Guoqiao, Kai County, Chongqing, China, killing at least 234.
2007
An agreement is made for the Kingdom of Nepal to be abolished and the country to become a federal republic with the Prime Minister becoming head of state.

December 23 Birthdays

December 23 Deaths