November 23 facts for kids

November 23rd is a special day in history, filled with many important events, famous births, and notable deaths. From ancient times to modern discoveries, this date has seen moments that shaped our world, from the first actor on stage to major scientific breakthroughs and political changes. Let's explore some of the key happenings on this day throughout history.

Historical Events on November 23

Early History and Medieval Times

• 534 BC – A person named Thespis from Icaria became the first actor ever recorded to play a character on a stage. This was a big step for theater!
• 1248 – Christian soldiers, led by King Ferdinand III of Castile, successfully took over the city of Seville in Spain.
• 1499 – Perkin Warbeck, who claimed to be a lost son of King Edward IV of England, was executed after reportedly trying to escape from the Tower of London. He had tried to invade England in 1497.
• 1531 – The Second War of Kappel ended, leading to the breakup of a Protestant group in Switzerland.

Events from the 1600s to 1900s

• 1644 – John Milton published his famous writing called Areopagitica. In this pamphlet, he spoke out strongly against censorship, which is when someone tries to control what people can say or read.
• 1733 – A slave uprising began on the island of St. John, which was then part of the Danish West Indies.
• 1808 – French and Polish forces defeated the Spanish army at the Battle of Tudela.
• 1863 – During the American Civil War, the Battle of Chattanooga started. Union soldiers, led by General Ulysses S. Grant, strengthened their positions in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and fought back against Confederate troops.
• 1867 – In Manchester, England, the Manchester Martyrs were executed. They had killed a police officer while helping two members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood escape from custody.
• 1876 – Boss Tweed, a powerful and corrupt political leader from Tammany Hall in New York City, was brought back to authorities after being caught in Spain.
• 1890 – King William III of the Netherlands passed away without a son to take his place. A special law was then made so his daughter, Princess Wilhelmina, could become queen.

Modern History: 1901 to Today

• 1910 – Johan Alfred Ander became the last person to be executed in Sweden.
• 1914 – During the Mexican Revolution, the last of the U.S. forces left Veracruz, Mexico. They had been there for seven months because of the Tampico Affair.
• 1921 – Warren G. Harding, the 29th President of the United States, signed a law called the Willis–Campbell Act. This law stopped doctors from being able to prescribe beer or liquor as medicine.
• 1923 – The 1923 Irish hunger strikes came to an end. Sadly, four Irish Republicans died from starvation during these strikes.
• 1924 – A huge discovery by Edwin Hubble was first shared in The New York Times. He found out that the Andromeda "nebula" was actually another huge island galaxy far, far away from our own Milky Way.
• 1934 – A team exploring the border between Britain and Ethiopia found an Italian army group in Walwal, which was deep inside Ethiopian land. This event led to the Abyssinia Crisis.
• 1939 – During World War II, the British ship HMS Rawalpindi was sunk by two German battleships, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau.
• 1940 – In World War II, Romania officially joined the Axis powers by signing the Tripartite Pact.
• 1943 – During World War II, the Deutsche Opernhaus (German Opera House) in Berlin was destroyed. It was later rebuilt in 1961 and is now called the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
• 1943 – Also in World War II, the Tarawa and Makin atolls were taken over by American forces.
• 1944 – The Lotta Svärd Movement, a Finnish women's organization, was disbanded because of the armistice treaty after the Continuation War.
• 1946 – French naval forces bombed Hai Phong, Vietnam, causing the deaths of thousands of civilians.
• 1955 – The Cocos (Keeling) Islands were transferred from the control of the United Kingdom to Australia.
• 1959 – French President Charles de Gaulle gave a speech in Strasbourg. He shared his idea for "Europe, from the Atlantic to the Urals," meaning a united Europe stretching across the continent.
• 1963 – The BBC aired An Unearthly Child, the very first episode of Doctor Who. This show, starring William Hartnell, is now the world's longest-running science fiction drama.
• 1971 – Representatives from the People's Republic of China attended the United Nations for the first time, including the United Nations Security Council.
• 1972 – The Soviet Union made its last attempt to launch the N1 rocket.
• 1974 – Sixty Ethiopian politicians, important people, military officers, and others were executed by the temporary military government.
• 1976 – Jacques Mayol became the first person to dive 100 m (330 ft) (about 328 feet) underwater without any breathing equipment.
• 1978 – A powerful cyclone hit eastern Sri Lanka, killing around 1,000 people.
• 1978 – The Geneva Frequency Plan of 1975 began. This plan changed many of Europe's radio frequencies for longwave and mediumwave broadcasting.
• 1980 – The 6.9 magnitude Irpinia earthquake struck southern Italy. It caused widespread damage and killed between 2,483 and 4,900 people, and injured many more.
• 1981 – During the Iran–Contra affair, Ronald Reagan signed a top-secret order (NSDD-17). This order allowed the Central Intelligence Agency to support Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
• 1985 – Gunmen hijacked EgyptAir Flight 648 while it was flying from Athens to Cairo. When the plane landed in Malta, Egyptian commandos stormed the aircraft. Sadly, 60 people died during the rescue attempt.
• 1991 – Queen's lead singer, Freddie Mercury, announced that he was HIV-positive. He passed away the very next day.
• 1992 – The first smartphone, called the IBM Simon, was shown at a technology event called COMDEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
• 1996 – Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 was hijacked and then crashed into the Indian Ocean near Comoros after running out of fuel. 125 people lost their lives.
• 2001 – The Convention on Cybercrime, an international agreement to fight cybercrime, was signed in Budapest, Hungary.
• 2003 – The Rose Revolution took place in Georgia. After weeks of large protests about unfair elections, Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze resigned.
• 2004 – The Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi, the largest religious building in Georgia, was officially opened and blessed.
• 2005 – Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was elected president of Liberia. She became the first woman to lead an African country.
• 2007 – The cruise ship MS Explorer, carrying 154 people, sank in the Antarctic Ocean after hitting an iceberg near the South Shetland Islands. Thankfully, everyone on board was rescued safely.
• 2011 – As part of the Arab Spring, after 11 months of protests in Yemen, Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh signed a deal to give power to the vice president. In return, he received legal protection.
• 2015 – Blue Origin's New Shepard space vehicle made history. It was the first rocket to successfully fly into space and then return to Earth for a controlled, upright landing.
• 2018 – The founders of the Italian fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana apologized for some offensive advertisements on social media. These ads were promoting a fashion show in Shanghai, China, which was later canceled.
• 2019 – Imam, the last Sumatran rhinoceros in Malaysia, died. This sad event meant that the species is now officially extinct in that country.

Famous People Born on November 23

Many interesting people were born on November 23rd throughout history. Here are some of them:

Born Before 1900

• 912 – Otto I, a powerful Holy Roman Emperor.
• 1221 – Alfonso X of Castile, a king known for his interest in learning and culture.
• 1496 – Clément Marot, a well-known French poet.
• 1553 – Prospero Alpini, an Italian doctor and botanist who studied plants.
• 1632 – Jean Mabillon, a French monk and scholar.
• 1705 – Thomas Birch, an English historian and writer.
• 1749 – Edward Rutledge, an American politician who became the 39th Governor of South Carolina.
• 1760 – François-Noël Babeuf, a French journalist and activist.
• 1804 – Franklin Pierce, the 14th President of the United States.
• 1837 – Johannes Diderik van der Waals, a Dutch physicist who won the Nobel Prize for his work on gases and liquids.
• 1860 – Hjalmar Branting, a Swedish journalist and politician who served as the 16th Prime Minister of Sweden and won the Nobel Peace Prize.
• 1869 – Valdemar Poulsen, a Danish engineer who invented the first magnetic audio recorder.
• 1887 – Boris Karloff, a famous English actor known for his roles in horror films.
• 1888 – Harpo Marx, an American comedian and musician, part of the famous Marx Brothers.
• 1892 – Erté, a Russian-French artist and designer.
• 1896 – Klement Gottwald, a Czechoslovak politician who became the President of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic.

Born After 1900

• 1907 – Run Run Shaw, a Chinese-Hong Kong businessman who founded Shaw Brothers Studio and TVB, major entertainment companies.
• 1916 – Michael Gough, a Malaysian-English actor.
• 1920 – Paul Celan, a Romanian-French poet and translator.
• 1926 – Sathya Sai Baba, an Indian spiritual leader.
• 1928 – Jerry Bock, an American composer.
• 1933 – Krzysztof Penderecki, a Polish composer and conductor.
• 1941 – Franco Nero, an Italian actor and producer.
• 1950 – Charles Schumer, an American lawyer and politician.
• 1954 – Bruce Hornsby, an American singer-songwriter and pianist.
• 1955 – Ludovico Einaudi, a famous Italian pianist and composer.
• 1960 – Robin Roberts, an American sportscaster and journalist.
• 1962 – Nicolás Maduro, the current President of Venezuela.
• 1963 – Gwynne Shotwell, an American businesswoman who is the President and Chief Operating Officer of SpaceX.
• 1966 – Vincent Cassel, a French actor and producer.
• 1966 – Michelle Gomez, a Scottish actress.
• 1970 – Oded Fehr, an Israeli-American actor.
• 1971 – Chris Hardwick, an American comedian, actor, and television host.
• 1972 – Kurupt, an American rapper and producer.
• 1979 – Kelly Brook, an English model and actress.
• 1982 – Asafa Powell, a fast Jamaican sprinter.
• 1984 – Lucas Grabeel, an American actor, singer, and songwriter.
• 1992 – Miley Cyrus, a popular American singer-songwriter and actress.

Notable People Who Died on November 23

This day also marks the passing of many influential figures.

Died Before 1900

• 955 – Eadred, an English king.
• 1407 – Louis I, Duke of Orléans.
• 1457 – Ladislaus the Posthumous, a Hungarian king.
• 1499 – Perkin Warbeck, who claimed to be the English throne.
• 1572 – Bronzino, an Italian painter and poet.
• 1585 – Thomas Tallis, a famous English composer.
• 1682 – Claude Lorrain, a French-Italian painter.
• 1814 – Elbridge Gerry, an American merchant and politician who served as the 5th Vice President of the United States.
• 1890 – William III of the Netherlands, the King of the Netherlands.
• 1896 – Ichiyō Higuchi, a Japanese writer.

Died After 1900

• 1910 – Hawley Harvey Crippen, an American doctor.
• 1937 – Jagadish Chandra Bose, a brilliant Bangladeshi-Indian physicist, biologist, and botanist.
• 1948 – Hack Wilson, an American baseball player.
• 1966 – Seán T. O'Kelly, an Irish politician who was the 2nd President of Ireland.
• 1970 – Yusof Ishak, a Singaporean journalist and politician who became the 1st President of Singapore.
• 1973 – Sessue Hayakawa, a Japanese actor, director, and producer.
• 1974 – Several notable Ethiopian figures, including generals and prime ministers, passed away.
• 1976 – André Malraux, a French writer and theorist.
• 1979 – Merle Oberon, an Indian-born British actress.
• 1990 – Roald Dahl, a beloved British novelist, poet, and screenwriter, known for his children's books.
• 1991 – Klaus Kinski, a German-American actor and director.
• 1992 – Roy Acuff, a famous American singer-songwriter and fiddler.
• 1995 – Louis Malle, a French-American director and producer.
• 1996 – Mohamed Amin, a Kenyan photographer and journalist.
• 2006 – Alexander Litvinenko, a Russian spy.
• 2012 – Larry Hagman, an American actor, famous for his role in the TV show Dallas.
• 2014 – Marion Barry, an American lawyer and politician who served as the 2nd Mayor of the District of Columbia.
• 2015 – Douglass North, an American economist who won the Nobel Prize in Economics.
• 2016 – Andrew Sachs, a German-born British actor.
• 2020 – Tarun Gogoi, an Indian Chief Minister of Assam.

Holidays and Observances

November 23rd is also a day for various celebrations and observances around the world:

• Christian feast day:
  • Alexander Nevsky (Repose, Russian Orthodox Church)
  • Blessed Miguel Agustín Pro – one of Saints of the Cristero War (Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Church)
  • Columbanus
  • Felicitas of Rome
  • Paulinus of Wales
  • Pope Clement I (Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, and the Lutheran Church)
  • Trudo (or Trond)
  • Wilfetrudis (or Vulfetrude)
• Labor Thanksgiving Day (Japan)
• Repudiation Day (Frederick County, Maryland, United States)
• Rudolf Maister Day (Slovenia)
• St George's Day (Georgia) or Giorgoba (Georgia)

Images for kids

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  A friendly robot, representing learning and discovery.