23 January History
- 1901 - A great fire ravages Montreal, resulting in $2.5 million in property lost.
- 1913 - The "Young Turks" revolt because they are angered by the concessions made at the London peace talks.
- 1932 - Franklin D. Roosevelt enters the presidential race.
- 1948 - The Soviets refuse UN entry into North Korea to administer elections.
- 1949 - The Communist Chinese forces begin their advance on Nanking.
- 1950 - Jerusalem becomes the official capital of Israel.
- 1951 - President Truman creates the Commission on Internal Security and Individual Rights, to monitor the anti-Communist campaign.
- 1969 - NASA unveils moon-landing craft.
- 1973 - President Richard Nixon claims that Vietnam peace has been reached in Paris and that the POWs would be home in 60 days.
- 1977 - Alex Haley's Roots begins a record-breaking eight-night broadcast on ABC.
- 1981 - Under international pressure, opposition leader Kim Dae Jung's death sentence is commuted to life imprisonment in Seoul.
- 1986 - U.S. begins maneuvers off the Libyan coast.
23 January Birthdays
- 1832 - Édouard Manet, French impressionist painter best known for Luncheon in the Grass.
- 1899 - Humphrey Bogart, U.S. film actor (The African Queen, Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon).
- 1919 - Ernie Kovacs, U.S. comedian and television personality.
- 1957 - Princess Caroline of Monaco.