August 23 is the 235th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (236th in leap years), with 130 days remaining.
- 1328 - Battle of Kassel[?]: French troops stop an uprising of Flemish farmers
- 1566 - Calvinists are granted rights in the Netherlands
- 1614 - The University of Groningen is established
- 1617 - In London, the first one-way street is established
- 1784 - Eastern Tennessee declares itself an independent state under the name of Franklin; the step is rejected by Congress one year later
- 1821 - Mexico gains its independence from Spain
- 1833 - Slavery abolished in the British colonies
- 1839 - The UK captures Hong Kong
- 1864 - The Union Navy captures Fort Morgan, Alabama, thus breaking Confederate dominance of all ports on the Gulf of Mexico
- 1866 - Austro-Prussian War ends with the Treaty of Prague[?]
- 1889 - First wireless message from a ship to the shore received
- 1904 - The automobile tire chain[?] is patented
- 1914 - Japan declares war on Germany and bombs Qingdao, China
- 1923 - Edgar F. Codd, founder of theory of relational databases
- 1924 - The distance between Earth and Mars is the smallest since the 10th century
- 1927 - Anarchists Nicola Sacco[?] and Bartolomeo Vanzetti[?] are executed
- 1939 - Germany and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression treaty, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. In a secret addition to the pact, Poland is divided between the two nations
- 1940 - The Germans start bombing London
- 1942 - Beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad
- 1943 - Kharkov liberated
- 1944 - Marseilles liberated
- 1944 - The Romanian pro-Nazi government is dismissed. Romania switches sides from the Axis to the Allies
- 1948 - World Council of Churches is formed
- 1952 - The Arab League goes into effect
- 1960 - In Equatorial Guinea, the world's largest frog (3.3 kg) is caught
- 1962 - First live television connection between the United States and Europe, via the Telstar satellite
- 1966 - Lunar Orbiter 1 takes the first photograph of Earth from orbit around the Moon
- 1973 - The Intelsat communication satellite is launched
- 1975 - Successful Communist coup in Laos
- 1976 - A major earthquake in China kills thousands of people
- 1979 - Soviet dancer Alexander Godunov[?] defects to the United States
- 1985 - Hans Tiedge[?], top counter-spy of West Germany, defects to East Germany
- 1987 - Heavy rains and floods in Bangladesh kill hundreds of victims
- 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
- 1990 - West Germany and East Germany announce that they will unite on October 3
- 1754 - King Louis XVI of France (+ 1792)
- 1769 - Georges Cuvier, biologist, statesman
- 1785 - Oliver Hazard Perry, US naval officer (Battle of Lake Erie)
- 1829 - Moritz Cantor[?], mathematician
- 1852 - Arnold Toynbee, economist, social reformer
- 1864 - Eleftherios Venizalos[?], prime minister of Greece (1910-1915, 1928-1932)
- 1869 - Edgar Lee Masters[?], author (+ 1950)
- 1875 - William Eccles[?], radio pioneer
- 1883 - US General Jonathan Wainwright, Medal of Honor recipient
- 1901 - John Sherman Cooper[?], Senator from Kentucky (+ 1991)
- 1912 - Gene Kelly, dancer, actor (+ 1996)
- 1917 - Tex Williams[?], singer
- 1921 - Eadie Del Rubio[?] (+ 1996), Elena Del Rubio[?] (+ 2001 and Milly Del Rubio[?], the Del Rubio Triplets[?], singers, musicians, actresses
- 1922 - George Kell[?], baseball player
- 1927 - Dick Bruna, illustrator
- 1927 - Houari Boumendienne[?], president of Algeria (1965-1978)
- 1929 - Peter Thompson[?], golfer
- 1929 - Vera Miles[?], actress
- 1930 - Michel Rocard[?], Prime Minister of France
- 1932 - Mark Russell[?], comedian, musician, political commentator
- 1933 - Pete Wilson[?], governor of California
- 1934 - Barbara Eden[?], actress
- 1934 - Sonny Jurgensen[?], professional football player
- 1936 - Henry Lee Lucas[?], serial killer(+ 2001)
- 1943 - Nelson DeMille[?], novelist
- 1947 - Keith Moon, singer, drummer (The Who) (+ 1978)
- 1949 - Rick Springfield, singer, actor
- 1949 - Shelley Long[?], actress
- 1951 - Queen Noor[?] of Jordan
- 1952 - Vicky Leandros, singer
- 1970 - River Phoenix, actor (+ 1993)
- 1970 - Jay Mohr[?], actor, comedian
- 1806 - Charles Augustin de Coulomb, physicist
- 1926 - Rudolph Valentino, actor
- 1927 - Nicola Sacco[?] and Bartolomeo Vanzetti[?], murderers
- 1960 - Oscar Hammerstein II, lyricist
- 1962 - Hoot Gibson[?], actor
- 1965 - John Bata[?], shoe manufacturer
- 1966 - Francis X. Bushman[?], actor
- 1977 - Sebastian Cabot[?], actor
- 1982 - Stanford Moore[?], biochemist
- 2001 - Peter Maas[?], novelist
See Also:
August 22 - August 24 - July 23 - September 23 -- listing of all days
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December