September 23

Events

• 1122 - Pope Callixtus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V agree to the Concordat of Worms to put an end to the Investiture Controversy.
• 1338 - The Battle of Arnemuiden, in which a French force defeats the English, is the first naval battle of the Hundred Years' War and the first naval battle in which gunpowder artillery is used.
• 1409 - The Battle of Kherlen is the second significant victory over Ming dynasty China by the Mongols since 1368.
• 1459 - The Battle of Blore Heath, the first major battle of the English Wars of the Roses, is won by the Yorkists.
• 1568 - Spanish naval forces rout an English fleet, under the command of John Hawkins, at the Battle of San Juan de Ulúa near Veracruz.
• 1641 - The Merchant Royal, carrying a treasure of over 100,000 pounds of gold, is lost at sea off Land's End.
• 1642 - The first commencement exercises occur at Harvard College.
• 1779 - American Revolution: John Paul Jones, naval commander of the United States, on board the, wins the Battle of Flamborough Head.
• 1780 - American Revolution: British Major John André is arrested as a spy by American soldiers exposing Benedict Arnold's change of sides.
• 1803 - Second Anglo-Maratha War: The Battle of Assaye is fought between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India.
• 1806 - Lewis and Clark return to St. Louis after exploring the Pacific Northwest of the United States.
• 1821 - Tripolitsa, Greece, is captured by Greek rebels during the Greek War of Independence.
• 1845 - The Knickerbockers Baseball Club, the first baseball team to play under the modern rules, is founded in New York.
• 1846 - Astronomers Urbain Le Verrier, John Couch Adams and Johann Gottfried Galle collaborate on the discovery of Neptune.
• 1868 - Grito de Lares occurs in Puerto Rico against Spanish rule.
• 1889 - Nintendo Koppai is founded by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce and market the playing card game Hanafuda.
• 1899 - The American Asiatic Squadron destroys a Filipino battery at the Battle of Olongapo.
• 1905 - Norway and Sweden sign the "Karlstad treaty", peacefully dissolving the Union between the two countries.
• 1909 - The novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra, by Gaston Leroux, is published as a serialization in Le Gaulois.
• 1911 - Pilot Earle Ovington makes the first official airmail delivery in America under the authority of the United States Post Office Department
• 1913 - Roland Garros of France becomes the first to fly in an airplane across the Mediterranean.
• 1932 - The unification of Saudi Arabia is completed.
• 1938 - The Czechoslovak army is mobilized in response to the Munich Agreement.
• 1942 - World War II: The Matanikau action on Guadalcanal begins: U.S. Marines attack Japanese units along the Matanikau River.
• 1943 - World War II: The Nazi puppet state known as the Italian Social Republic is founded.
• 1950 - Korean War: The Battle of Hill 282 is the first US friendly-fire incident on British military personnel since World War II.
• 1962 - The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts opens in New York City.
• 1973 - Argentine general election: Juan Perón returns to power in Argentina.
• 1980 - Bob Marley plays what would be the last concert of his life in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
• 1983 - Saint Kitts and Nevis joins the United Nations.
• 1983 - Gulf Air Flight 771 is destroyed by a bomb, killing all 117 people on board.
• 1986 - Houston Astros' Jim Deshaies sets a record, striking out the first eight batters he faces against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
• 2002 - The first public version of the web browser Mozilla Firefox is released.
• 2004 - Over 3,000 people die in Haiti after Hurricane Jeanne produces massive flooding and mudslides.
• 2008 - Matti Saari kills ten people before committing suicide.
• 2019 - The British travel company, Thomas Cook Group, declares bankruptcy, leaving employees without jobs and 600,000 customers stranded abroad. Hotels throughout the world are stuck with £3.5 million in unpaid bills.

  Births

• 63 BC - Augustus, Roman emperor
• 1158 - Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany
• 1215 - Kublai Khan, Mongolian emperor
• 1495 - Bagrat III of Imereti, King of Imereti
• 1597 - Francesco Barberini, Catholic cardinal
• 1598 - Eleonore Gonzaga, Italian wife of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor
• 1642 - Giovanni Maria Bononcini, Italian violinist and composer
• 1647 - Joseph Dudley, English politician, Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay
• 1650 - Jeremy Collier, English bishop and theologian
• 1713 - Ferdinand VI of Spain
• 1740 - Empress Go-Sakuramachi of Japan
• 1771 - Emperor Kōkaku of Japan
• 1778 - Mariano Moreno, Argentinian journalist, lawyer, and politician
• 1781 - Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
• 1791 - Johann Franz Encke, German astronomer and academic
• 1791 - Theodor Körner, German soldier and author
• 1800 - William Holmes McGuffey, American author and academic
• 1819 - Hippolyte Fizeau, French physicist and academic
• 1823 - John Colton, English-Australian politician, 13th Premier of South Australia
• 1838 - Victoria Woodhull, American journalist and activist
• 1851 - Ellen Hayes, American mathematician and astronomer
• 1852 - James Carroll Beckwith, American painter and academic
• 1852 - William Stewart Halsted, American physician and surgeon
• 1853 - Princess Marie Elisabeth of Saxe-Meiningen
• 1861 - Robert Bosch, German engineer and businessman, founded Robert Bosch GmbH
• 1863 - Mary Church Terrell, American author and activist
• 1865 - Pekka Halonen, Finnish painter
• 1865 - Emma Orczy, Hungarian-English author and playwright
• 1865 - Suzanne Valadon, French model and painter
• 1867 - John Lomax, American teacher, musicologist, and folklorist
• 1876 - Moshe Zvi Segal, Israeli rabbi and scholar
• 1880 - John Boyd Orr, 1st Baron Boyd-Orr, Scottish biologist, physician, and politician, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1889 - Walter Lippmann, American journalist and publisher, co-founded The New Republic
• 1890 - Friedrich Paulus, German general
• 1895 - Miron Merzhanov, Russian architect and engineer
• 1895 - Johnny Mokan, American baseball player
• 1897 - Paul Delvaux, Belgian painter
• 1897 - Walter Pidgeon, Canadian-American actor and singer
• 1898 - Les Haylen, Australian journalist and politician
• 1899 - Tom C. Clark, American lawyer and judge, 59th Attorney General of the United States
• 1899 - Louise Nevelson, American sculptor
• 1900 - Bill Stone, English soldier
• 1901 - Jaroslav Seifert, Czech poet and journalist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1902 - Su Buqing, Chinese mathematician and academic
• 1903 - Cec Fifield, Australian rugby league player and coach
• 1904 - Arthur Folwell, English-Australian rugby league player, coach, and administrator
• 1906 - Charles Ritchie, Canadian diplomat, High Commission of Canada to the United Kingdom
• 1907 - Tiny Bradshaw, American singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1907 - Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza
• 1908 - Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, Indian poet, academic, and politician
• 1909 - Lorenc Antoni, Kosovo-Albanian composer and conductor
• 1910 - Jakob Streit, Swiss anthroposophist and author
• 1911 - Frank Moss, American lawyer and politician
• 1912 - Ghulam Mustafa Khan, Pakistani linguist, author, and critic
• 1912 - Tony Smith, American sculptor and educator
• 1913 - Carl-Henning Pedersen, Danish painter and sculptor
• 1915 - Julius Baker, American flute player and educator
• 1915 - Clifford Shull, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1916 - Aldo Moro, Italian academic and politician, 39th Prime Minister of Italy
• 1917 - Santo, Mexican Luchador enmascarado, film actor, and folk icon
• 1917 - Asima Chatterjee, Indian chemist
• 1920 - Mickey Rooney, American actor, singer, director, and producer
• 1923 - Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, Egyptian journalist
• 1923 - Vello Helk, Estonian-Danish historian and author
• 1924 - Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal, Nicaraguan journalist and publisher
• 1925 - Denis C. Twitchett, English historian and scholar
• 1926 - André Cassagnes, French toy maker, created the Etch A Sketch
• 1926 - John Coltrane, American saxophonist and composer
• 1928 - Frank Foster, American saxophonist and composer
• 1928 - Roger Grimsby, American journalist and actor
• 1930 - Sehba Akhtar, Pakistani poet and songwriter
• 1930 - Colin Blakely, Northern Irish actor
• 1930 - Ray Charles, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor
• 1931 - Hilly Kristal, American businessman, founded CBGB
• 1931 - Stan Lynde, American author and illustrator
• 1931 - Gerald Merrithew, Canadian educator and politician
• 1932 - Georg Keßler, German footballer and manager
• 1933 - Lloyd J. Old, American immunologist and academic
• 1934 - Per Olov Enquist, Swedish journalist, author, and playwright
• 1935 - Prem Chopra, Pakistani-Indian actor
• 1935 - Les McCann, American soul-jazz singer and pianist
• 1935 - Ron Tindall, English-Australian footballer, cricketer, and manager
• 1936 - George Eastham, English footballer
• 1936 - Valentín Paniagua, Peruvian lawyer and politician, 91st President of Peru
• 1936 - Sylvain Saudan, Swiss skier
• 1936 - Tareq Suheimat, Jordanian physician, general, and politician
• 1937 - Jacques Poulin, Canadian author and translator
• 1938 - Romy Schneider, Austrian-French actress
• 1939 - Henry Blofeld, English cricketer and journalist
• 1939 - Roy Buchanan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1939 - Joan Hanham, Baroness Hanham, English politician
• 1939 - Sonny Vaccaro, American businessman
• 1940 - Michel Temer, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 25th Vice President of Brazil
• 1940 - Dick Thornett, Australian rugby player and water polo player
• 1941 - George Jackson, American activist and author, co-founded the Black Guerrilla Family
• 1941 - Simon Nolet, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1941 - Norma Winstone, English singer-songwriter
• 1942 - Sila María Calderón, Puerto Rican-American businesswoman and politician, 12th Secretary of State of Puerto Rico
• 1942 - Colin Low, Baron Low of Dalston, Scottish scholar and politician
• 1942 - David Renneberg, Australian cricketer
• 1943 - Julio Iglesias, Spanish singer-songwriter
• 1943 - Marty Schottenheimer, American football player and coach
• 1944 - Eric Bogle, Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1944 - Richard Lambert, English journalist and academic
• 1945 - Ron Bushy, American drummer
• 1945 - Igor Ivanov, Russian politician and diplomat, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs
• 1945 - Alan Old, English rugby player
• 1946 - Franz Fischler, Austrian politician
• 1946 - Bernard Maris, French economist and journalist
• 1946 - Genista McIntosh, Baroness McIntosh, English politician
• 1946 - Davorin Popović, Bosnian singer-songwriter
• 1946 - Anne Wheeler, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1947 - Christian Bordeleau, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1947 - Mary Kay Place, American actress
• 1947 - Neal Smith, American drummer and songwriter
• 1948 - Dan Toler, American guitarist
• 1949 - Floella Benjamin, Trinidadian-English actress, academic, and politician
• 1949 - Bruce Springsteen, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1949 - Kostas Tournas, Greek singer-songwriter
• 1950 - George Garzone, American saxophonist and educator
• 1951 - Steven Springer, American guitarist and songwriter
• 1952 - Mark Bego, American author
• 1952 - Anshuman Gaekwad, Indian cricketer
• 1952 - Dennis Lamp, American baseball player
• 1952 - Jim Morrison, American baseball player and manager
• 1953 - Nicholas Witchell, English journalist
• 1954 - Charlie Barnett, American actor
• 1954 - Cherie Blair, English lawyer and academic
• 1956 - Peter David, American author, actor, and screenwriter
• 1956 - Tom Hogan, Australian cricketer
• 1956 - Paolo Rossi, Italian footballer
• 1957 - Rosalind Chao, American actress
• 1958 - Danielle Dax, English singer-songwriter and producer
• 1958 - Khaled El Sheikh, Bahraini singer-songwriter
• 1958 - Tony Fossas, Cuban-American baseball player and coach
• 1958 - Marvin Lewis, American football player and coach
• 1958 - Larry Mize, American golfer
• 1959 - Jason Alexander, American actor, singer, and voice artist
• 1959 - Frank Cottrell-Boyce, English author and screenwriter
• 1959 - Hans Nijman, Dutch mixed martial artist and wrestler
• 1959 - Chris O'Sullivan, Australian rugby league player
• 1959 - Martin Page, English singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
• 1959 - Elizabeth Peña, American actress
• 1959 - Karen Pierce, English diplomat
• 1960 - Kurt Beyer, American wrestler
• 1960 - Luis Moya, Spanish race car driver
• 1961 - Chi McBride, American actor
• 1961 - William C. McCool, American commander, pilot, and astronaut
• 1962 - Deborah Orr, Scottish journalist
• 1963 - Anne-Marie Cadieux, Canadian actress, director, and screenwriter
• 1963 - Alex Proyas, Egyptian-Australian director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1964 - Clayton Blackmore, Welsh footballer and manager
• 1964 - Josefa Idem, German-born Italian kayaker
• 1964 - Koshi Inaba, Japanese singer-songwriter
• 1964 - Larry Krystkowiak, American basketball player and coach
• 1964 - Katie Mitchell, English director and producer
• 1964 - Julian Parkhill, English biologist and academic
• 1964 - Bill Phillips, American businessman and author
• 1965 - Mark Woodforde, Australian tennis player and sportscaster
• 1966 - Pete Harnisch, American baseball player and coach
• 1967 - Hilary Andersson, American-English journalist
• 1967 - Chris Wilder, English footballer and manager
• 1968 - Yvette Fielding, English actress and producer
• 1968 - Adam Price, Welsh politician
• 1969 - Donald Audette, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1969 - Patrick Fiori, French singer-songwriter
• 1969 - Tapio Laukkanen, Finnish race car driver
• 1969 - Rod Pampling, Australian golfer
• 1969 - Jan Suchopárek, Czech footballer and manager
• 1970 - Adrian Brunker, Australian rugby player
• 1970 - Lucia Cifarelli, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player
• 1970 - Ani DiFranco, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1970 - Giorgos Koltsidas, Greek footballer
• 1971 - Moin Khan, Pakistani cricketer and coach
• 1971 - Eric Montross, American basketball player and sportscaster
• 1971 - Sean Spicer, 30th White House Press Secretary
• 1972 - Sarah Bettens, Belgian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1972 - Alistair Campbell, Zimbabwean cricketer
• 1972 - Jermaine Dupri, American rapper and producer
• 1972 - Karl Pilkington, English actor and producer
• 1973 - Ingrid Fliter, Argentinian pianist
• 1973 - Vangelis Krios, Greek footballer and coach
• 1974 - Ben Duckworth, Australian rugby league player
• 1974 - Matt Hardy, American wrestler
• 1975 - Layzie Bone, American rapper
• 1975 - Kim Dong-moon, South Korean badminton player
• 1975 - Chris Hawkins, English journalist and producer
• 1975 - Eric Miller, Irish rugby player, footballer, and coach
• 1976 - Sarah Blasko, Australian singer-songwriter and producer
• 1976 - Valeriy Sydorenko, Ukrainian boxer
• 1976 - Volodymyr Sydorenko, Ukrainian boxer
• 1977 - Matthieu Descoteaux, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1977 - Dmitri Kulikov, Estonian footballer
• 1977 - Fabio Ongaro, Italian rugby player
• 1977 - Brett Prebble, Australian jockey
• 1977 - Rachael Yamagata, American singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1978 - Benjamin Curtis, American guitarist, drummer, and songwriter
• 1978 - Anthony Mackie, American actor
• 1979 - Ricky Davis, American basketball player
• 1979 - Bryant McKinnie, American football player
• 1979 - Fábio Simplício, Brazilian footballer
• 1979 - Lote Tuqiri, Fijian-Australian rugby player
• 1980 - Matt White, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1980 - Liz Murray, American inspirational speaker
• 1981 - Robert Doornbos, Dutch race car driver
• 1981 - Natalie Horler, German singer
• 1981 - Helen Richardson-Walsh, English field hockey player
• 1982 - Mait Künnap, Estonian tennis player
• 1982 - Shyla Stylez, Canadian pornographic actress
• 1983 - Shane del Rosario, American mixed martial artist and kick-boxer
• 1983 - Joffrey Lupul, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1983 - Regan Smith, American race car driver
• 1984 - Patrick Ehelechner, German ice hockey player
• 1984 - Matt Kemp, American baseball player
• 1984 - Anneliese van der Pol, Dutch-American entertainer
• 1985 - Brian Brohm, American football player
• 1985 - Joba Chamberlain, American baseball player
• 1985 - Hossein Kaebi, Iranian footballer
• 1985 - Nahomi Kawasumi, Japanese footballer
• 1985 - Lukáš Kašpar, Czech ice hockey player
• 1986 - Martin Cranie, English footballer
• 1988 - Juan Martín del Potro, Argentinian tennis player
• 1988 - Anthony Straker, English footballer
• 1988 - Yannick Weber, Swiss ice hockey player
• 1989 - Brandon Jennings, American basketball player
• 1989 - Taniela Lasalo, Australian rugby league player
• 1991 - Lee Alexander, Scottish footballer
• 1991 - Melanie Oudin, American tennis player
• 1993 - Duke Johnson, American football player
• 1994 - John Folau, Australian-Tongan rugby league player

  Deaths

• 788 - Ælfwald I, king of Northumbria
• 965 - Al-Mutanabbi, Arab poet
• 1193 - Robert de Sablé, French knight
• 1241 - Snorri Sturluson, Icelandic historian, poet, and politician
• 1253 - Wenceslaus I of Bohemia
• 1267 - Beatrice of Provence, countess regnant of Provence
• 1386 - Dan I of Wallachia
• 1390 - John I, Duke of Lorraine
• 1448 - Adolph I, Duke of Cleves
• 1461 - Charles, Prince of Viana, King of Navarre
• 1508 - Beatrice of Naples, queen consort of Hungary
• 1535 - Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg
• 1571 - John Jewel, English bishop
• 1573 - Azai Hisamasa, Japanese warlord
• 1605 - Pontus de Tyard, French priest and poet
• 1675 - Valentin Conrart, French author, founded the Académie française
• 1728 - Christian Thomasius, German jurist and philosopher
• 1738 - Herman Boerhaave, Dutch botanist and physician
• 1764 - Robert Dodsley, English poet and playwright
• 1773 - Johan Ernst Gunnerus, Norwegian bishop and botanist
• 1789 - John Rogers, American lawyer and politician
• 1835 - Vincenzo Bellini, Italian composer
• 1851 - Émilie Gamelin, Canadian nun, founded the Sisters of Providence
• 1846 - John Ainsworth Horrocks, English-Australian explorer
• 1850 - José Gervasio Artigas, Uruguayan general and politician
• 1870 - Prosper Mérimée, French archaeologist and historian
• 1871 - Louis-Joseph Papineau, Canadian lawyer and politician
• 1873 - Jean Chacornac, French astronomer
• 1877 - Urbain Le Verrier, French mathematician and astronomer
• 1889 - Wilkie Collins, English novelist, short story writer, and playwright
• 1900 - William Marsh Rice, American businessman, founded Rice University
• 1913 - Donato Álvarez, Argentinian general
• 1917 - Werner Voss, German lieutenant and pilot
• 1929 - Richard Adolf Zsigmondy, Austrian-German chemist, physicist, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1939 - Sigmund Freud, Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist
• 1939 - Francisco León de la Barra, Mexican politician and diplomat, interim president, 1911
• 1940 - Hale Holden, American businessman
• 1943 - Elinor Glyn, English author, screenwriter, and producer
• 1944 - Jakob Schaffner, Swiss author and critic
• 1950 - Sam Barry, American basketball player and coach
• 1958 - Jacob Nicol, Canadian publisher, lawyer, and politician
• 1967 - Stanislaus Zbyszko, Polish wrestler and strongman
• 1968 - Pio of Pietrelcina, Italian priest and saint
• 1971 - James Waddell Alexander II, American mathematician and topologist
• 1973 - Pablo Neruda, Chilean poet and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1974 - Cliff Arquette, American actor and comedian
• 1974 - Robbie McIntosh, Scottish drummer
• 1978 - Lyman Bostock, American baseball player
• 1979 - Catherine Lacey, English actress
• 1981 - Chief Dan George, Canadian actor, author, and poet
• 1987 - Bob Fosse, American actor, dancer, choreographer, and director
• 1988 - Tibor Sekelj, Hungarian-Serbian explorer and author
• 1992 - Ivar Ivask, Estonian poet and scholar
• 1992 - Glendon Swarthout, American author and academic
• 1992 - James Van Fleet, American general
• 1994 - Jerry Barber, American golfer
• 1994 - Robert Bloch, American author and screenwriter
• 1994 - Madeleine Renaud, French actress
• 1997 - Natalie Savage Carlson, American author
• 1998 - Ray Bowden, English footballer
• 1998 - Mary Frann, American actress
• 1999 - Ivan Goff, Australian-American screenwriter and producer
• 2000 - Aurelio Rodríguez, Mexican baseball player and manager
• 2000 - Carl Rowan, American journalist and author
• 2000 - Raoul Berger, American attorney and law professor
• 2001 - Ron Hewitt, Welsh footballer
• 2003 - Yuri Senkevich, Russian physician and journalist
• 2004 - Billy Reay, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach
• 2005 - Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, Puerto Rican activist
• 2006 - Malcolm Arnold, English trumpet player and composer
• 2006 - Etta Baker, American singer and guitarist
• 2008 - Peter Leonard, Australian journalist
• 2008 - Loren Pope, American journalist and author
• 2009 - Paul B. Fay, American sailor and politician, United States Secretary of the Navy
• 2010 - Malcolm Douglas, Australian hunter and television host
• 2012 - Henry Champ, Canadian journalist and academic
• 2012 - Pavel Grachev, Russian general and politician, 1st Minister of Defence for Russia
• 2012 - Roberto Rodríguez, Venezuelan baseball player and coach
• 2012 - Corrie Sanders, South African boxer
• 2012 - Sam Sniderman, Canadian businessman, founded Sam the Record Man
• 2013 - Abdel Hamid al-Sarraj, Syrian colonel and politician
• 2013 - Gil Dozier, American captain, lawyer, and politician
• 2013 - Ruth Patrick, American botanist and immunologist
• 2014 - A. W. Davis, American basketball player and coach
• 2014 - Irven DeVore, American anthropologist and biologist
• 2014 - Don Manoukian, American football player and wrestler
• 2014 - Al Suomi, American ice hockey player and referee
• 2015 - Dayananda Saraswati, Indian monk and philosopher
• 2018 - Charles Kuen Kao, Hong Kong-American-British electrical engineer and physicist
• 2018 - Gary Kurtz, American film producer
• 2018 - Jane Fortune, American author, journalist, and philanthropist

  Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
• *Adomnán
• *Cissa of Crowland
• *Blessed Émilie Gamelin
• *Padre Pio
• *Pope Linus
• *Sossius
• *Thecla
• *Xanthippe and Polyxena
• *September 23
• Grito de Lares
• Holocaust Memorial Day
• Kyrgyz Language Day
• National Day
• Teachers' Day