23 November History


Month:                           Date:     

  • 1248    -    The city of Seville, France, surrenders to Ferdinand III of Castile after a two-year siege.
  • 1785    -    John Hancock is elected president of the Continental Congress for the second time.
  • 1863    -    Union forces win the Battle of Orchard Knob, Tennessee.
  • 1863    -    The Battle of Chattanooga, one of the most decisive battles of the American Civil War, begins (also in Tennessee).
  • 1903    -    Italian tenor Enrico Caruso makes his American debut in a Metropolitan Opera production of Verdi's Rigoletto.
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  • 1904    -    Russo-German talks break down because of Russia's insistence to consult France.
  • 1909    -    The Wright brothers form a million-dollar corporation for the commercial manufacture of their airplanes.
  • 1921    -    President Warren G. Harding signs the Willis Campell Act, better known as the anti-beer bill. It forbids doctors to prescribe beer or liquor for medicinal purposes.
  • 1933    -    President Franklin D. Roosevelt recalls the American ambassador from Havana, Cuba, and urges stability in the island nation.
  • 1934    -    The United States and Great Britain agree on a 5-5-3 naval ratio, with both countries allowed to build five million tons of naval ships while Japan can only build three. Japan will denounce the treaty.
  • 1936    -    The United States abandons the American embassy in Madrid, Spain, which is engulfed by civil war.
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  • 1941    -    U.S. troops move into Dutch Guiana to guard the bauxite mines.
  • 1942    -    The film Casablanca premieres in New York City.
  • 1943    -    U.S. Marines declare the island of Tarawa secure.
  • 1945    -    Wartime meat and butter rationing ends in the United States.
  • 1953    -    North Korea signs 10-year aid pact with Peking.
  • 1968    -    Four men hijack an American plane, with 87 passengers, from Miami to Cuba.
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  • 1980    -    In Europe's biggest earthquake since 1915, 3,000 people are killed in Italy.

  • 23 November Birthdays

  • 1804    -    Franklin Pierce, hero of the American war with Mexico and 14th president of the United States.
  • 1878    -    Ernest King, commander-in-chief of the U.S. fleet who designed the United States' winning strategy in World War II.
  • 1887    -    Boris Karloff, film actor most famous for his role as the monster in the movie Frankenstein.
  • 1888    -    Adolph Arthur "Harpo" Marx, American comedian, one of the Marx brothers.
  • 1897    -    Willie "The Lion" Smith, jazz and ragtime pianist.