November 23 in History

The last Sumatran rhinoceros in Malaysia, Imam, dies, making the species officially extinct in the country.

Founders of Italian fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana issue an apology following a series of offensive advertisements on social media promoting a fashion show in Shanghai, China, which was canceled.

Blue Origin's New Shepard space vehicle became the first rocket to successfully fly to space and then return to Earth for a controlled, vertical landing.

Arab Spring: After 11 months of protests in Yemen, Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh signs a deal to transfer power to the vice president, in exchange for legal immunity.

Bombardment of Yeonpyeong: North Korean artillery attack kills two civilians and two marines on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea.

The Maguindanao massacre occurs in Ampatuan, Philippines; 58 opponents of Andal Ampatuan Jr. are kidnapped and killed.

MS Explorer, a cruise liner carrying 154 people, sinks in the Antarctic Ocean south of Argentina after hitting an iceberg near the South Shetland Islands. There are no fatalities.

A series of bombings kills at least 215 people and injures 257 others in Sadr City, making it the second deadliest sectarian attack since the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is elected president of Liberia and becomes the first woman to lead an African country.

The Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi, the largest religious building in Georgia, is consecrated.

Rose Revolution: Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze resigns following weeks of mass protests over flawed elections.

Space Shuttle Endeavour launches on STS-113 to the International Space Station carrying the Expedition 6 crew and the P1 truss.

The Budapest Convention on Cybercrime is signed in Budapest, Hungary.

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 is hijacked, then crashes into the Indian Ocean off the coast of Comoros after running out of fuel, killing 125.

The first smartphone, the IBM Simon, is introduced at COMDEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury announces in a statement that he is HIV-positive. He dies the following day.

Gunmen hijack EgyptAir Flight 648 en route from Athens to Cairo. When the plane lands in Malta, Egyptian commandos storm the aircraft, but 60 people die in the raid.

Iran–Contra affair: Ronald Reagan signs the top secret National Security Decision Directive 17 (NSDD-17), giving the Central Intelligence Agency the authority to recruit and support Contra rebels in Nicaragua.

The 6.9 Mw Irpinia earthquake shakes southern Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), killing 2,483–4,900, and injuring 7,700–8,934.

Cyclone kills about 1,000 people in eastern Sri Lanka.

The Geneva Frequency Plan of 1975 goes into effect, realigning many of Europe's longwave and mediumwave broadcasting frequencies.

Jacques Mayol is the first man to reach a depth of 100 m (330 ft) undersea without breathing equipment.

Sixty Ethiopian politicians, aristocrats, military officers, and other persons are executed by the provisional military government.

The Soviet Union makes its final attempt at launching the N1 rocket.

Representatives of the People's Republic of China attend the United Nations, including the United Nations Security Council, for the first time.

The first episode of Doctor Who ("An Unearthly Child") is broadcast by the BBC, which is now the world's longest running science fiction drama.

French President Charles de Gaulle declares in a speech in Strasbourg his vision for "Europe, from the Atlantic to the Urals".

The Cocos Islands are transferred from the control of the United Kingdom to that of Australia.

French naval bombardment of Hai Phong, Vietnam, kills thousands of civilians.

World War II: The Lotta Svärd Movement is disbanded under the terms of the armistice treaty in Finland after the Continuation War.

World War II: The Deutsche Opernhaus on Bismarckstraße in the Berlin neighborhood of Charlottenburg is destroyed. It will eventually be rebuilt in 1961 and be called the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

World War II: Tarawa and Makin atolls fall to American forces.

World War II: Romania becomes a signatory of the Tripartite Pact, officially joining the Axis powers.

World War II: HMS Rawalpindi is sunk by the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau.

An Anglo-Ethiopian boundary commission in the Ogaden discovers an Italian garrison at Walwal, well within Ethiopian territory. This leads to the Abyssinia Crisis.

Edwin Hubble's discovery, that the Andromeda "nebula" is actually another island galaxy far outside our own Milky Way, is first published in The New York Times.

Thousands of Irish Republicans end the 1923 Irish hunger strikes, five die from starvation.

Warren G. Harding, 29th President of the United States, signs the Willis–Campbell Act into law, prohibiting doctors from prescribing beer or liquor for medicinal purposes.

Mexican Revolution: The last of U.S. forces withdraw from Veracruz, occupied seven months earlier in response to the Tampico Affair.

Johan Alfred Ander becomes the last person to be executed in Sweden.

King William III of the Netherlands dies without a male heir and a special law is passed to allow his daughter Princess Wilhelmina to succeed him.

Corrupt Tammany Hall leader William Magear Tweed (better known as Boss Tweed) is delivered to authorities in New York City after being captured in Spain.

The Manchester Martyrs are hanged in Manchester, England, for killing a police officer while freeing two Irish Republican Brotherhood members from custody.

American Civil War: Battle of Chattanooga begins: Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant reinforce troops at Chattanooga, Tennessee, and counter-attack Confederate troops.

French and Poles defeat the Spanish at Battle of Tudela.

The start of the 1733 slave insurrection on St. John in what was then the Danish West Indies.

John Milton publishes Areopagitica, a pamphlet decrying censorship.

Seven days after being convicted of treason, Perkin Warbeck, a pretender to the throne of England, is hanged for attempting to escape from the Tower of London; his supporter John Atwater is executed with him.

Conquest of Seville by Christian troops under King Ferdinand III of Castile.

Thespis of Icaria becomes the first recorded actor to portray a character on stage.

Tino Anjorin, English footballer

Boubacar Kamara, French footballer

Caoimhín Kelleher, Irish footballer

Alexis Ren, American social media personality, model, and actress

James Maddison, English footballer

Anna Yanovskaya, Russian ice dancer

Kelly Rosen, Estonian footballer

Wes Burns, Welsh footballer

Miley Cyrus, American singer-songwriter and actress

Gabriel Landeskog, Swedish ice hockey player

Christian Cueva, Peruvian footballer

Willian José, Brazilian footballer

Ahmed Shehzad, Pakistani cricketer

Shaun Hutchinson, English footballer

Eddy Kim, South Korean singer-songwriter and guitarist

Alena Leonova, Russian figure skater

Christopher Quiring, German footballer[better source needed]

Nicklas Bäckström, Swedish ice hockey player

Snooki, American reality television personality

Viktor An, South Korean speed skater

Hilton Armstrong, American basketball player

Lucas Grabeel, American actor, singer, and songwriter

Amruta Khanvilkar, Indian actress and dancer

Justin Turner, American baseball player

Fatih Yiğituşağı, Turkish footballer

Colby Armstrong, Canadian ice hockey player

Asafa Powell, Jamaican sprinter

Ishmael Beah, Sierra Leonean child soldier and American author

Jonathan Papelbon, American baseball player

Kirk Penney, New Zealand basketball player

Kelly Brook, English model and actress

Ivica Kostelić, Croatian skier

Myriam Boileau, Canadian diver

Adam Eaton, American baseball player

Page Kennedy, American actor and rapper

Tony Renna, American race car driver (died 2003)

Murat Salar, German-Turkish footballer and manager

Kohei Suwama, Japanese wrestler

Saku Koivu, Finnish ice hockey player

Malik Rose, American basketball player, sportscaster, and executive

Christopher James Adler, American drummer

Alfie Haaland, Norwegian footballer

Kurupt, American rapper and producer

Helen Luz, Brazilian basketball player

Khaled Al-Muwallid, Saudi Arabian footballer

Ashraf Amaya, American basketball player

Vin Baker, American basketball player and coach

Chris Hardwick, American comedian, actor, producer, and television host

Zoë Ball, English radio and television host

Oded Fehr, Israeli-American actor

Danny Hoch, American actor and screenwriter

Karsten Müller, German chess player and author

Olivier Beretta, Monégasque racing driver

Mike Lünsmann, German footballer

Robin Padilla, Filipino actor, martial artist, and screenwriter

Miloš Babić, Serbian basketball player

Robert Denmark, English runner and coach

Anthony Sullivan, English rugby league and union player

Kirsty Young, Scottish journalist

Gary Kirsten, South African cricketer and coach

Salli Richardson, American actress, director, and producer

Vincent Cassel, French actor and producer

Kevin Gallacher, Scottish footballer and sportscaster

Michelle Gomez, Scottish actress

Jerry Kelly, American golfer

Mark Robinson, English cricketer and coach

Jennifer Michael Hecht, American historian, author, and poet

Steve Alford, American basketball player and coach

Marilyn Kidd, Australian rower

Frank Rutherford, Bahamian triple jumper

Arto Heiskanen, Finnish professional hockey player (died 2023)

Gwynne Shotwell, American businesswoman, President and Chief Operating Officer of SpaceX

Nicolás Maduro, Venezuelan union leader and politician, President of Venezuela

Keith Ablow, American psychiatrist and author

Nicolas Bacri, French composer

Merv Hughes, Australian cricketer

Peter Stanford, English journalist and author

Robin Roberts, American sportscaster and journalist

Maxwell Caulfield, English-American actor

Martin Snedden, New Zealand cricketer and lawyer

Andrew Toney, American basketball player

Bruce Edgar, New Zealand cricketer

Shane Gould, Australian swimmer and coach

Karin Guthke, German diver

Steven Brust, American singer-songwriter, drummer, and author

Ludovico Einaudi, Italian pianist and composer

Mary Landrieu, American politician

Pete Allen, English clarinet player and saxophonist

Glenn Brummer, American baseball player

Bruce Hornsby, American singer-songwriter and pianist

Aavo Pikkuus, Estonian cyclist

Rick Bayless, American chef and author

Francis Cabrel, French singer-songwriter and guitarist

Johan de Meij, Dutch trombonist, composer, and conductor

Martin Kent, Australian cricketer

Maik Galakos, Greek footballer and manager

Nrisingha Prasad Bhaduri, Indian indologist, author, and academic

Carlos Eire, Cuban-born American author and academic

Charles Schumer, American lawyer and politician

Paul Wilson, Scottish footballer (died 2017)

Alan Paul, American singer-songwriter and actor

Sandra Stevens, English singer

Bård Breivik, Norwegian sculptor and art instructor (died 2016)

Bruce Vilanch, American actor and screenwriter

Frank Worthington, English footballer and manager (died 2021)

Jean-Pierre Foucault, French radio and television host

Diana Quick, English actress

Bobby Rush, American activist and politician

Assi Dayan, Israeli actor, director, and screenwriter (died 2014)

Jim Doyle, American lawyer and politician, 44th Governor of Wisconsin

Tony Pond, English racing driver (died 2002)

Joe Eszterhas, Hungarian-American screenwriter and producer

Peter Lindbergh, German-French photographer and director (died 2019)

James Toback, American actor, director, and screenwriter

Andrew Goodman, American activist (died 1964)

Sue Nicholls, English actress

David Nolan, American activist and politician (died 2010)

Petar Skansi, Croatian basketball player and coach (died 2022)

Susan Anspach, American actress (died 2018)

Alan Mullery, English footballer and manager

Franco Nero, Italian actor and producer

Luis Tiant, Cuban-American baseball player and coach (died 2024)

Betty Everett, American singer and pianist (died 2001)

Patrick Kelly, English archbishop

Ken Eastwood, Australian cricketer

Vladislav Volkov, Russian engineer and astronaut (died 1971)

Lew Hoad, Australian tennis player (died 1994)

Robert Towne, American actor, director, and screenwriter (died 2024)

James R. Hogg, American admiral (died 2025)

Krzysztof Penderecki, Polish composer and conductor (died 2020)

Ali Shariati, Iranian sociologist and activist (died 1977)

Renato Martino, Italian Roman Catholic cardinal (died 2024)

Michel David-Weill, French-American banker (died 2022)

Geeta Dutt, Indian singer and actress (died 1972)

Jack McKeon, American baseball player and manager

Hal Lindsey, American evangelist and Christian writer (died 2024)

Jerry Bock, American composer (died 2010)

John Coleman, Australian rules footballer and coach (died 1973)

Elmarie Wendel, American actress and singer (died 2018)

Brendan Pereira, Indian advertising executive (died 2024)

John Cole, Irish-English journalist and author (died 2013)

Guy Davenport, American author and scholar (died 2005)

Angelo Sodano, Italian cardinal (died 2022)

Sathya Sai Baba, Indian guru and philosopher (died 2011)

R. L. Burnside, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2005)

José Napoleón Duarte, Salvadoran engineer and politician, President of El Salvador (died 1990)

Johnny Mandel, American composer and conductor (died 2020)

William Tebeau, African-American engineer (died 2013)

Irvin J. Borowsky, American publisher and philanthropist (died 2014)

Josephine D'Angelo, American baseball player and educator (died 2013)

Paula Raymond, American model and actress (died 2003)

Colin Turnbull, English-American anthropologist and author (died 1994)

Daniel Brewster, American colonel, lawyer, and politician (died 2007)

Julien J. LeBourgeois, American admiral (died 2012)

Gloria Whelan, American author and poet

Manuel Fraga Iribarne, Spanish politician, 3rd President of the Xunta of Galicia (died 2012)

Võ Văn Kiệt, Vietnamese soldier and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Vietnam (died 2008)

Fred Buscaglione, Italian singer and actor (died 1960)

Elyakim Schlesinger, Austrian-born British Orthodox rabbi (died 2026)

Paul Celan, Romanian-French poet and translator (died 1970)

Michael Gough, Malaysian-English actor (died 2011)

P. K. Page, English-Canadian author and poet (died 2010)

Anne Burns, British aeronautical engineer and glider pilot (died 2001)

John Dehner, American actor (died 1992)

Marc Simont, French-American illustrator (died 2013)

Donald Nixon, American businessman (died 1987)

Wilson Tucker, American projectionist and author (died 2006)

George O'Hanlon, American actor and screenwriter (died 1989)

Nigel Tranter, Scottish historian and author (died 2000)

Nelson S. Bond, American author and playwright (died 2006)

Lars Leksell, Swedish physician and neurosurgeon (died 1986)

Run Run Shaw, Chinese-Hong Kong businessman and philanthropist, founded Shaw Brothers Studio and TVB (died 2014)

Betti Alver, Estonian author and poet (died 1989)

K. Alvapillai, Sri Lankan civil servant (died 1979)

Joe Nibloe, Scottish footballer (died 1976)

Aaron Bank, American colonel (died 2004)

Victor Jory, Canadian-American actor (died 1982)

Bennie Osler, South African rugby player (died 1962)

Manuel dos Reis Machado, Brazilian martial artist and educator (died 1974)

Nirad C. Chaudhuri, British-Indian historian, author, and critic (died 1999)

Karl Gebhardt, German physician and war criminal (died 1948)

Klement Gottwald, Czechoslovak politician, President of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (died 1953)

Tsunenohana Kan'ichi, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 31st Yokozuna (died 1960)

Erté, Russian-French illustrator and designer (died 1990)

El Lissitzky, Russian photographer and architect (died 1941)

Harry Sunderland, Australian-English journalist and businessman (died 1964)

Harpo Marx, American comedian and musician (died 1964)

Boris Karloff, English actor (died 1969)

Henry Moseley, English physicist and chemist (died 1915)

Eduards Smiļģis, Latvian actor and director (died 1966)

José Clemente Orozco, Mexican painter (died 1949)

Frank Pick, English lawyer and businessman (died 1941)

Sara Prinsep, British salon organiser (died 1959)

Manuel de Falla, Spanish pianist and composer (died 1946)

Anatoly Lunacharsky, Russian journalist and politician (died 1933)

Signe Salén, Swedish doctor (died 1963)

William Watt, Australian accountant and politician, 24th Premier of Victoria (died 1946)

Valdemar Poulsen, Danish engineer (died 1942)

Johan Scharffenberg, Norwegian psychiatrist (died 1965)

Mary Brewster Hazelton, American painter (died 1953)

Henry Bourne Joy, American businessman (died 1936)

Hjalmar Branting, Swedish journalist and politician, 16th Prime Minister of Sweden, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1925)

Albert Ranft, Swedish actor and director (died 1938)

Stephanos Skouloudis, Greek banker and politician, 97th Prime Minister of Greece (died 1928)

Johannes Diderik van der Waals, Dutch physicist and thermodynamicist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1923)

Isaac Todhunter, English mathematician and author (died 1884)

Franklin Pierce, American general, lawyer, and politician, 14th President of the United States (died 1869)

Theodore Dwight Weld, American author and activist (died 1895)

Jan Roothaan, Dutch priest, 21st Superior-General of the Society of Jesus (died 1853)

Theodor Valentin Volkmar, German lawyer and politician, 1st Mayor of Marburg (died 1847)

François-Noël Babeuf, French journalist and activist (died 1797)

Edward Rutledge, American captain and politician, 39th Governor of South Carolina (died 1800)

Spranger Barry, Irish actor (died 1777)

Pierre Charles Le Monnier, French astronomer and author (died 1799)

Thomas Birch, English historian and author (died 1766)

Jean Baptiste Senaillé, French violinist and composer (died 1730)

Anthonie Heinsius, Dutch lawyer and politician (died 1720)

Jean Mabillon, French monk and scholar (died 1707)

Prospero Alpini, Italian physician and botanist (died 1617)

Francis, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, youngest son of Henry the Middle (died 1549)

Clément Marot, French poet (died 1544)

William FitzAlan, 16th Earl of Arundel, English politician (died 1487)

Jean de Dunois, French soldier (died 1468)

Alfonso X of Castile (died 1284)

Pope Clement IV (died 1268)

Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (died 973)

Alexander, Byzantine emperor (died 913)

Rico Carty, Dominican baseball player (born 1939)

Fred R. Harris, American politician (born 1930)

Chuck Woolery, American game show host and television personality (born 1941)

Tarun Gogoi, Indian Chief Minister of Assam (born 1934)

Stela Popescu, Romanian actress (born 1935)

Rita Barberá Nolla, Spanish politician (born 1948)

Ralph Branca, American baseball player (born 1926)

Andrew Sachs, German-born British actor (born 1930)

Joe Esposito, road manager for Elvis Presley (born 1938)

Jamiluddin Aali, Pakistani poet, playwright, and critic (born 1925)

Manmeet Bhullar, Canadian lawyer and politician (born 1980)

Douglass North, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1920)

Marion Barry, American lawyer and politician, 2nd Mayor of the District of Columbia (born 1936)

Dorothy Cheney, American tennis player (born 1916)

Murray Oliver, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (born 1937)

Pat Quinn, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1943)

Connie Broden, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1932)

Costanzo Preve, Italian philosopher and theorist (born 1943)

José Luis Borau, Spanish actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1929)

Chuck Diering, American baseball player (born 1923)

Larry Hagman, American actor, director, and producer (born 1931)

Diana Isaac, English-New Zealand businesswoman and philanthropist (born 1921)

Jim Rathmann, American race car driver (born 1928)

Nassos Daphnis, Greek-American painter and sculptor (born 1914)

Joyce Howard, English-American actress (born 1922)

José Arraño Acevedo, Chilean journalist and historian (born 1921)

Joe Kennedy, American baseball player (born 1979)

Óscar Carmelo Sánchez, Bolivian footballer and manager (born 1971)

Robert Vesco, American-Cuban financier (born 1935)

Pat Walsh, New Zealand rugby union player (born 1936)

Jesús Blancornelas, Mexican journalist, co-founded Zeta Magazine (born 1936)

Nick Clarke, English journalist (born 1948)

Betty Comden, American actress, singer, and screenwriter (born 1917)

Alexander Litvinenko, Russian spy and defector (born 1962)

Philippe Noiret, French actor (born 1930)

Anita O'Day, American singer (born 1919)

Willie Pep, American boxer and referee (born 1922)

Constance Cummings, American-English actress (born 1910)

Frank Gatski, American football player and soldier (born 1919)

Pete Franklin, American radio host (born 1928)

Roberto Matta, Chilean-Italian painter and sculptor (born 1911)

Bo Belinsky, American baseball player (born 1936)

Mary Whitehouse, English educator and activist (born 1910)

Jorge Mas Canosa, Cuban-American businessman (born 1939)

Mohamed Amin, Kenyan photographer and journalist (born 1943)

Art Porter, Jr., American saxophonist and songwriter (born 1961)

Idries Shah, Indian author, thinker and teacher in the Sufi tradition.

Louis Malle, French-American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1932)

Junior Walker, American singer and saxophonist (born 1931)

Art Barr, American wrestler (born 1966)

Irwin Kostal, American songwriter, screenwriter, and publisher (born 1911)

Roy Acuff, American singer-songwriter and fiddler (born 1903)

Jean-François Thiriart, Belgian politician (born 1922)

Klaus Kinski, German-American actor and director (born 1926)

Roald Dahl, British novelist, poet, and screenwriter (born 1916)

Leonard Baker, American historian and author (born 1931)

Juhan Muks, Estonian painter (born 1899)

Waheed Murad, Pakistani actor, producer, and screenwriter (born 1938)

Grady Nutt, American minister and author (born 1934)

Merle Oberon, Indian-born British actress (born 1911)

Judee Sill, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1944)

André Malraux, French theorist and author (born 1901)

Notable victims of the Massacre of the Sixty:

Notable victims of the Massacre of the Sixty:

Notable victims of the Massacre of the Sixty:

Notable victims of the Massacre of the Sixty:

Notable victims of the Massacre of the Sixty:

Cornelius Ryan, Irish-American journalist and author (born 1920)

Sessue Hayakawa, Japanese actor, director, and producer (born 1889)

Marie Wilson, American actress (born 1916)

Yusof Ishak, Singaporean journalist and politician, 1st President of Singapore (born 1910)

Seán T. O'Kelly, Irish politician, 2nd President of Ireland (born 1882)

Nikolaos Georgantas, Greek discus thrower (born 1880)

Stanley Argyle, Australian politician, 32nd Premier of Victoria (born 1867)

Jagadish Chandra Bose, Indian physicist, biologist, botanist, and archaeologist (born 1858)

George Albert Boulenger, Belgian-English zoologist and botanist (born 1858)

Giovanni Brunero, Italian cyclist (born 1895)

Andy O'Sullivan, Irish Republican died on hunger strike

Hawley Harvey Crippen, American physician and murderer (born 1862)

Naimuddin, Bengali writer and Islamic scholar (born 1832)

John Burdon-Sanderson, English physiologist and academic (born 1828)

Thomas Henry Ismay, English businessman, founded White Star Line (born 1837)

Ichiyō Higuchi, Japanese writer (born 1872)

William III of the Netherlands (born 1817)

Thomas Henderson, Scottish astronomer (born 1798)

Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, French general and politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (born 1762)

Elbridge Gerry, American merchant and politician, 5th Vice President of the United States (born 1744)

Jean-François Rewbell, French lawyer and politician (born 1747)

Richard Graves, English minister and author (born 1715)

Ivan Mane Jarnović, Italian violinist and composer (born 1747)

Roger Newdigate, English politician (born 1719)

Constantine Mavrocordatos, Greek prince (born 1711)

Friedrich Heinrich von Seckendorff, German field marshal and diplomat (born 1673)

Claude Lorrain, French-Italian painter and engraver (born 1604)

Richard Hakluyt, English priest and author (born 1552)

Thomas Tallis, English composer (born c.1505)

Bronzino, Italian painter and poet (born 1503)

Beatriz Galindo, Spanish Latinist and educator (born c. 1465)

Bona of Savoy (born 1449)

Margaret of York (born 1446)

Perkin Warbeck, pretender to the English throne (born c. 1474)

Blessed Margaret of Savoy (born 1390)

Ladislaus the Posthumous, Hungarian king (born 1440)

Louis I, Duke of Orléans (born 1372)

William Fitz Robert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester (born 1116)

Adam, Abbot of Ebrach

Eadred, English king (born 923)

Berthold, Duke of Bavaria (born 900)

Jin Feidi, emperor of the Jin Dynasty (born 342)