January 23 This Date In History

Join us as we take a look at the significant events that happened on January 23 throughout history. From historical battles to groundbreaking inventions, this date has seen it all. Learn more about the important events that have shaped our world on January 23!Show more

393 Roman Emperor Theodosius I proclaims his nine year old son Honorius co-emperor
1368 In a coronation ceremony, Zhu Yuanzhang (40) ascends to the throne of China as the Hongwu Emperor, initiating Ming Dynasty rule over China lasting for three centuries
1789 Georgetown, 1st US Catholic college, founded
1793 Humane Society of Philadelphia (1st aid society) organized
1845 Uniform US election day for President & VP authorized
1846 Tunisia becomes the first Arab nation to outlaw slavery in decree issued by Ahmed I Bey
1849 Elizabeth Blackwell becomes 1st woman in the US to earn a medical degree graduating from New York's Geneva Medical College
1853 John Wilkes Booth is baptized at St. Timothy's Protestant Episcopal Church
1855 1st bridge over the Mississippi River in what is now Minneapolis, Minnesota, opens; today made by the Father Louis Hennepin Bridge
1862 Agoston Haraszthy, 1st vintner in Sonoma Valley, California imports 10,000 grape vine cuttings
1870 Marias Massacre: Approximately 200 Piegan Blackfeet Indians (mostly women, children, and elderly men) killed by US Army, in Montana Territory, spawning outrage and preventing the military from regaining control of the Bureau of Indian Affairs
1889 Daniel Hale Williams forms the Provident Hospital in Chicago, the first non-segregated hospital in the US
1897 Elva Zona Heaster is found dead in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. Resulting murder trial of her husband perhaps only case in US history where the alleged testimony of a ghost helped secure a conviction.
1909 1st radio rescue at sea during CQD distress code by the British Royal Mail steamship Republic off Nantucket Island
1930 Clyde Tombaugh photographs planet Pluto
1930 George Washington Birthplace National Monument, Virginia established
1933 20th amendment, which changed the date of US presidential inaugurations to 20th January, is ratified
1941 Groundbreaking for NACA (now NASA) Lewis Research Center
1946 Rear Admiral Sidney W. Souers, USNR, becomes 1st director of CIA
1950 NFL rule changes open way for 2-platoon system (offense & defense)
1953 NFL Dallas Texans become Baltimore Colts (now Indianapolis Colts) and the NFL's National & American conference become Eastern & Western conference
1957 Wham-O Company produces the 1st Frisbee flying disc (originally called the "Pluto Platter" - until 1958)
1964 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution ratified, barring poll tax in federal elections
1970 US launches 2nd generation weather satellite, ITOS 1
1973 US President Richard Nixon announces an accord has been reached to end the Vietnam War
1975 "Barney Miller" premieres on ABC TV
1977 Mini-series "Roots" premieres on ABC
1983 Russian radioactive satellite falls into Indian Ocean
1983 TV series "The A-Team" with George Peppard and Mr T premieres on NBC
1984 Hulk Hogan defeats Iron Sheik to win his 1st World Wrestling Federation title at Madison Gardens, New York
1985 Britains House of Lords debate 1st televised
1986 Inaugural class of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees: Chuck Berry; James Brown; Ray Charles; Sam Cooke; Fats Domino; The Everly Brothers; Buddy Holly; Jerry Lee Lewis; Elvis Presley; Little Richard; Robert Johnson; Jimmie Rodgers; Jimmy Yancey; Alan Freed; John Hammond; and Sam Phillips
2002 "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh returns to the United States in Federal Bureau of Investigation custody.
2002 Reporter Daniel Pearl kidnapped in Karachi, Pakistan, and subsequently murdered.
2003 Final communication between Earth and NASA space probe Pioneer 10 (then 7.6 billion miles (12.23 billion kilometers from Earth)
2013 US armed forces overturns 1994 ban on women serving in combat
2016 Category 5 blizzard delivers record 3ft of snow to the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast US, killing 55 and incurring estimated $500m - $3bn economic losses
2019 New record for most expensive US property, $238 million for penthouse condominium overlooking Central Park, NY, bought by hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin
2019 US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi disinvites President Donald Trump from making a State of the Union address in Congress citing government shutdown
2020 China locks down the city of Wuhan and its 9 million people, in a belated but ultimately successful effort to control the city's COVID-19 epidemic
2020 Voice of a 3,000 year old Egyptian priest recreated by scientists 3D printing his vocal tract published in "Scientific Reports”