October 23

October 23 is the 296th day of the year (297th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 69 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 42 BC – Liberators' civil war: Second Battle of Philippi – Mark Antony and Octavian decisively defeat Brutus's army. Brutus commits suicide.
• 425 – Valentinian III is elevated as Roman emperor at the age of six.
• 501 – The Synodus Palmaris, called by Gothic king Theoderic the Great, discharges Pope Symmachus of all charges, thus ending the schism of Antipope Laurentius.
• 1086 – At the Battle of Sagrajas, the army of Yusuf ibn Tashfin defeats the forces of Castilian King Alfonso VI.
• 1157 – The Battle of Grathe Heath ends the civil war in Denmark. King Sweyn III is killed and Valdemar I restores the country.
• 1295 – The first treaty forming the Auld Alliance between Scotland and France against England is signed in Paris.
• 1641 – Irish Catholic gentry from Ulster tried to seize control of Dublin Castle, the seat of English rule in Ireland, to force concessions to Catholics.
• 1642 – Battle of Edgehill: First major battle of the First English Civil War.
• 1694 – British/American colonial forces, led by Sir William Phips, fail to seize Quebec from the French.
• 1707 – The first Parliament of Great Britain meets.
• 1739 – War of Jenkins' Ear starts: British Prime Minister Robert Walpole, reluctantly declares war on Spain.
• 1812 – Claude François de Malet, a French general, begins a conspiracy to overthrow Napoleon Bonaparte, claiming that the Emperor died in Russia and that he is now the commandant of Paris.
• 1850 – The first National Women's Rights Convention begins in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States.
• 1861 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus in Washington, D.C., for all military-related cases.
• 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Westport: Union forces under General Samuel R. Curtis defeat Confederate troops led by General Sterling Price at Westport, near Kansas City.
• 1867 – Seventy-two Senators are summoned by Royal Proclamation to serve as the first members of the Canadian Senate.
• 1870 – Franco-Prussian War: The Siege of Metz concludes with a decisive Prussian victory.
• 1906 – Alberto Santos-Dumont flies an airplane in the first heavier-than-air flight in Europe at Champs de Bagatelle, Paris, France.
• 1911 – First use of aircraft in war: Italo-Turkish War: An Italian pilot takes off from Libya to observe Turkish army lines.
• 1912 – First Balkan War: The Battle of Kumanovo between the Serbian and Ottoman armies begins.
• 1915 – Women's suffrage: In New York City, 25,000–33,000 women march on Fifth Avenue to advocate their right to vote.
• 1917 – Lenin calls for the October Revolution.
• 1929 – Great Depression: After a steady decline in stock market prices since a peak in September, the New York Stock Exchange begins to show signs of panic.
• 1935 – Dutch Schultz, Abe Landau, Otto Berman, and Bernard "Lulu" Rosencrantz are fatally shot at a saloon in Newark, New Jersey in what will become known as The Chophouse Massacre.
• 1939 – The Japanese Mitsubishi G4M twin-engine "Betty" Bomber makes its maiden flight.
• 1941 – World War II: Field Marshal Georgy Zhukov takes command of Red Army operations to prevent the further advance into Russia of German forces and to prevent the Wehrmacht from capturing Moscow.
• 1942 – World War II: Second Battle of El Alamein: At El Alamein in northern Egypt, the British Eighth Army under Field Marshal Montgomery begins a critical offensive to expel the Axis armies from Egypt.
• 1942 – All 12 passengers and crewmen aboard an American Airlines DC-3 airliner are killed when it is struck by a U.S. Army Air Forces bomber near Palm Springs, California. Amongst the victims is award-winning composer and songwriter Ralph Rainger ("Thanks for the Memory", "Love in Bloom", "Blue Hawaii").
• 1942 – World War II: The Battle for Henderson Field begins during the Guadalcanal Campaign and ends on October 26.
• 1944 – World War II: Battle of Leyte Gulf: The largest naval battle in history begins in the Philippines.
• 1946 – The United Nations General Assembly convenes for the first time, at an auditorium in Flushing, Queens, New York City.
• 1955 – Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm defeats former emperor Bảo Đại in a referendum and founds the Republic of Vietnam.
• 1956 – Thousands of Hungarians protest against the government and Soviet occupation. (The Hungarian Revolution is crushed on November 4).
• 1958 – The Springhill Mine bump: An underground earthquake traps 174 miners in the No. 2 colliery at Springhill, Nova Scotia, the deepest coal mine in North America at the time. By November 1, rescuers from around the world had dug out 100 of the victims, marking the death toll at 74.
• 1958 – The Smurfs, a fictional race of blue dwarves, later popularized in a Hanna-Barbera animated cartoon series, appear for the first time in the story La flute à six schtroumpfs, a Johan and Peewit adventure by Peyo, which is serialized in the weekly Spirou magazine.
• 1965 – Vietnam War: The 1st Cavalry Division (United States) (Airmobile), in conjunction with South Vietnamese forces, launches a new operation seeking to destroy North Vietnamese forces in Pleiku in the II Corps Tactical Zone (the Central Highlands).
• 1970 – Gary Gabelich sets a land speed record in a rocket-powered automobile called the Blue Flame, fueled with natural gas.
• 1972 – Operation Linebacker, a US bombing campaign against North Vietnam in response to its Easter Offensive, ends after five months.
• 1973 – The Watergate scandal: US President Richard M. Nixon agrees to turn over subpoenaed audio tapes of his Oval Office conversations.
• 1973 – A United Nations sanctioned cease-fire officially ends the Yom Kippur War between Israel and Syria.
• 1983 – Lebanese Civil War: The U.S. Marines barracks in Beirut is hit by a truck bomb, killing 241 U.S. military personnel. A French army barracks in Lebanon is also hit that same morning, killing 58 troops.
• 1989 – The Hungarian Republic is officially declared by president Mátyás Szűrös, replacing the communist Hungarian People's Republic.
• 1989 – Bankruptcy of Wärtsilä Marine; the biggest bankruptcy in the Nordic countries until then.
• 1993 – The Troubles: A Provisional IRA bomb prematurely detonates in the Shankill area of Belfast, killing the bomber and nine civilians. Ulster loyalists retaliate a week later with the Greysteel massacre.
• 1995 – Yolanda Saldívar is found guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting death of popular Latin singer Selena. Three days later, Saldívar was sentenced to life in prison, eligible for parole in 2025
• 1998 – Israeli–Palestinian conflict: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat reach a "land for peace" agreement.
• 1998 – Swatch Internet Time, a measure of 1000 "beats" per day was inaugurated by the Swatch Group.
• 2002 – Moscow theater hostage crisis: Chechen terrorists seize the House of Culture theater in Moscow and take approximately 700 theater-goers hostage.
• 2004 – A powerful earthquake and its aftershocks hit Niigata Prefecture in northern Japan, killing 35 people, injuring 2,200, and leaving 85,000 homeless or evacuated.
• 2007 – A powerful cold front in the Bay of Campeche causes the Usumacinta jackup rig to collide with Kab 101, leading to the death and drowning of 22 people during rescue operations after evacuation of the rig.
• 2011 – A powerful 7.2 magnitude earthquake strikes Van Province, Turkey, killing 582 people and injuring thousands.
• 2011 – The Libyan National Transition Council deems the Libyan Civil War over.
• 2012 – After 38 years, the world's first teletext service (BBC's Ceefax) ceases broadcast due to Northern Ireland completing the digital switchover.
• 2015 – The lowest sea-level pressure in the Western Hemisphere, and the highest reliably-measured non-tornadic sustained winds, are recorded in Hurricane Patricia, which strikes Mexico hours later, killing at least 13 and causing over $280 million in damages.

Births

• 64 BC – Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, Roman general and politician (d. 12 BC)
• 1516 – Charlotte of Valois (d. 1524)
• 1634 – Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp (d. 1715)
• 1654 – Johann Bernhard Staudt, Austrian composer (d. 1712)
• 1698 – Ange-Jacques Gabriel, French architect, designed the École Militaire (d. 1782)
• 1705 – Maximilian Ulysses Browne, Austrian field marshal (d. 1757)
• 1713 – Pieter Burman the Younger, Dutch philologist, poet, and educator (d. 1778)
• 1715 – Peter II of Russia (d. 1730)
• 1752 – Maria Anna Adamberger, Austrian actress (d. 1804)
• 1762 – Samuel Morey, American engineer (d. 1843)
• 1766 – Emmanuel de Grouchy, Marquis de Grouchy, French general (d. 1847)
• 1790 – Chauncey Allen Goodrich, American minister, lexicographer, and educator (d. 1860)
• 1796 – Stefano Franscini, Swiss statistician and politician (d. 1857)
• 1801 – Albert Lortzing, German singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1851)
• 1805 – John Russell Bartlett, American linguist and historian (d. 1886)
• 1813 – Ludwig Leichhardt, German-Australian explorer (d. 1848)
• 1815 – João Maurício Vanderlei, Baron of Cotejipe, Brazilian politician (d. 1889)
• 1817 – Pierre Larousse, French lexicographer and author (d. 1875)
• 1835 – Adlai Stevenson I, American lawyer and politician, 23rd Vice President of the United States (d. 1914)
• 1844 – Robert Bridges, English poet and playwright (d. 1930)
• 1857 – Juan Luna, Filipino painter and sculptor (d. 1899)
• 1865 – Neltje Blanchan, American historian and author (d. 1918)
• 1869 – John Heisman, American football player and coach (d. 1936)
• 1870 – Francis Kelley, Canadian-American bishop (d. 1948)
• 1873 – William D. Coolidge, American physicist and engineer (d. 1975)
• 1874 – Charles Kilpatrick, American runner and educator (d. 1921)
• 1875 – Gilbert N. Lewis, American chemist and academic (d. 1946)
• 1876 – Franz Schlegelberger, German judge and politician, Reich Ministry of Justice (d. 1970)
• 1880 – Una O'Connor, Irish-American actress and singer (d. 1959)
• 1885 – Lawren Harris, Canadian painter and educator (d. 1970)
• 1888 – Onésime Gagnon, Canadian scholar and politician, 20th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 1961)
• 1893 – Jean Acker, American actress (d. 1978)
• 1893 – Gummo Marx, American actor and agent (d. 1977)
• 1894 – Rube Bressler, American baseball player (d. 1966)
• 1894 – Emma Vyssotsky, American astronomer and academic (d. 1975)
• 1896 – André Lévêque, French soldier and engineer (d. 1930)
• 1896 – Lilyan Tashman, American actress (d. 1934)
• 1897 – John Baker, English air marshal (d. 1978)
• 1897 – Marjorie Flack, American author and illustrator (d. 1958)
• 1900 – Douglas Jardine, Indian-English cricketer and lawyer (d. 1958)
• 1904 – Harvey Penick, American golfer and coach (d. 1995)
• 1905 – Felix Bloch, Swiss physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1983)
• 1905 – Yen Chia-kan, Chinese lawyer and politician, President of the Republic of China (d. 1993)
• 1905 – Gertrude Ederle, American swimmer (d. 2003)
• 1908 – František Douda, Czech shot putter (d. 1990)
• 1908 – Ilya Frank, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1990)
• 1909 – Zellig Harris, American linguist and methodologist (d. 1992)
• 1910 – Richard Mortensen, Danish painter and educator (d. 1993)
• 1910 – Hayden Rorke, American actor (d. 1987)
• 1911 – Jack Keller, American hurdler (d. 1978)
• 1918 – Augusta Dabney, American actress (d. 2008)
• 1918 – James Daly, American actor (d. 1978)
• 1918 – Peggy Moran, American actress and singer (d. 2002)
• 1918 – Paul Rudolph, American architect and academic, designed the Lippo Centre (d. 1997)
• 1919 – Manolis Andronikos, Greek archaeologist and academic (d. 1992)
• 1920 – Ted Fujita, Japanese-American meteorologist and academic (d. 1998)
• 1920 – Bob Montana, American illustrator (d. 1975)
• 1922 – Jean Barker, Baroness Trumpington, English politician
• 1922 – Coleen Gray, American actress (d. 2015)
• 1923 – Aslam Farrukhi, Indian-Pakistani linguist, author, and scholar
• 1923 – Ned Rorem, American composer and author
• 1923 – Frank Sutton, American actor (d. 1974)
• 1924 – Arthur Brittenden, English journalist (d. 2015)
• 1925 – Johnny Carson, American comedian and talk show host (d. 2005)
• 1925 – Manos Hatzidakis, Greek composer and theorist (d. 1994)
• 1925 – Fred Shero, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (d. 1990)
• 1927 – Sonny Criss, American saxophonist and composer (d. 1977)
• 1927 – Dezső Gyarmati, Hungarian water polo player and coach (d. 2013)
• 1927 – Leszek Kołakowski, Polish-English historian and philosopher (d. 2009)
• 1928 – Bella Darvi, Polish-American actress (d. 1971)
• 1929 – Shamsur Rahman, Bangladeshi poet and journalist (d. 2006)
• 1930 – Eiji Maruyama, Japanese voice actor (d. 2015)
• 1931 – Jim Bunning, American baseball player and politician
• 1931 – William P. Clark, Jr., American judge and politician, 12th United States National Security Advisor (d. 2013)
• 1931 – Diana Dors, English actress and singer (d. 1984)
• 1932 – Vasily Belov, Russian poet and playwright (d. 2012)
• 1933 – Carol Fran, American singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1935 – Chi-Chi Rodríguez, Puerto Rican-American golfer
• 1936 – Charles Goodhart, English economist and academic
• 1936 – Philip Kaufman, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1937 – Carlos Lamarca, Brazilian captain (d. 1971)
• 1937 – Deven Verma, Indian actor, director, and producer (d. 2014)
• 1938 – Alan Gilzean, Scottish footballer and manager
• 1939 – Stanley Anderson, American actor
• 1939 – C. V. Vigneswaran, Sri Lankan lawyer, judge, and politician, 1st Chief Minister of the Northern Province
• 1940 – Pelé, Brazilian footballer and actor
• 1940 – Ellie Greenwich, American singer-songwriter and producer (The Raindrops) (d. 2009)
• 1940 – Jane Holzer, American model, actress, producer, and art collector
• 1941 – Mel Winkler, American actor
• 1941 – Igor Smirnov, Moldovan engineer and politician, 1st President of Transnistria
• 1942 – Michael Crichton, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2008)
• 1942 – Douglas Dunn, Scottish poet, critic, and academic
• 1942 – Bernd Erdmann, German footballer and manager
• 1942 – Anita Roddick, English businesswoman and activist, founded The Body Shop (d. 2007)
• 1943 – Alida Chelli, Italian actress and singer (d. 2012)
• 1944 – Mike Harding, English singer-songwriter and comedian
• 1945 – Maggi Hambling, English sculptor and painter
• 1945 – Kim Larsen, Danish singer-songwriter and guitarist (Gasolin')
• 1946 – Graeme Barker, English archaeologist and academic
• 1946 – Mel Martínez, American lawyer and politician, 12th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
• 1946 – Miklós Németh, Hungarian javelin thrower
• 1947 – Kazimierz Deyna, Polish footballer (d. 1989)
• 1948 – Hermann Hauser, Austrian-English businessman, co-founded Acorn Computers and Olivetti Research Laboratory
• 1948 – Gerry Robinson, Irish businessman
• 1948 – Brian Ross, American journalist
• 1949 – Würzel, English singer and guitarist (Motörhead) (d. 2011)
• 1949 – Nick Tosches, American journalist, author, and poet
• 1950 – Maths O. Sundqvist, Swedish businessman (d. 2012)
• 1951 – Charly García, Argentine singer-songwriter and keyboard player (Sui Generis, Serú Girán, and La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros)
• 1951 – Fatmir Sejdiu, Kosovan academic and politician, 2nd President of Kosovo
• 1952 – Pierre Moerlen, French drummer (Gong) (d. 2005)
• 1952 – Ken Tipton, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1953 – Taner Akçam, Turkish sociologist and historian
• 1954 – Ang Lee, Taiwanese-American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1956 – Akie Asaka, Japanese comedian and actress
• 1956 – Dianne Reeves, American singer
• 1956 – Dwight Yoakam, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
• 1957 – Paul Kagame, Rwandan soldier and politician, 6th President of Rwanda
• 1957 – Martin Luther King III, American activist
• 1958 – Michael Eric Dyson, American activist, author, and academic
• 1958 – Rose Nabinger, German singer
• 1958 – Hiroyuki Kinoshita, Japanese actor
• 1958 – Frank Schaffer, German sprinter
• 1959 – Nancy Grace, American lawyer and journalist
• 1959 – Sam Raimi, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1959 – "Weird Al" Yankovic, American singer-songwriter, comedian, and actor
• 1960 – Mirwais Ahmadzaï, Swiss-French keyboard player, songwriter, and producer (Taxi Girl and Y.A.S.)
• 1960 – Katoucha Niane, French model and actress (d. 2008)
• 1960 – Randy Pausch, American author and academic (d. 2008)
• 1960 – Wayne Rainey, American motorcycle racer
• 1961 – Laurie Halse Anderson, American author
• 1961 – Andoni Zubizarreta, Spanish footballer and sportscaster
• 1962 – Doug Flutie, American football player, sportscaster, and drummer
• 1963 – Gordon Korman, Canadian-American author
• 1964 – Robert Trujillo, American bass player and songwriter (Metallica, Black Label Society, Suicidal Tendencies, and Infectious Grooves)
• 1965 – Augusten Burroughs, American author and screenwriter
• 1965 – Al Leiter, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1966 – Alex Zanardi, Italian race car driver and cyclist
• 1967 – Dale Crover, American singer-songwriter, drummer, and producer (Melvins, Men of Porn, and Altamont)
• 1967 – Walt Flanagan, American actor and illustrator
• 1967 – Jaime Yzaga, Peruvian tennis player
• 1969 – Trudi Canavan, Australian author and illustrator
• 1969 – Bill O'Brien, American football player and coach
• 1969 – Brooke Theiss, American actress
• 1970 – Matthew Barzun, American diplomat, United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom
• 1970 – Grant Imahara, American engineer
• 1970 – Steve Wilder, American actor
• 1970 – Zoe Wiseman, American model and photographer
• 1971 – Carlo Forlivesi, Italian-Japanese composer and scholar
• 1971 – Chris Horner, American cyclist
• 1972 – Tiffeny Milbrett, American soccer player
• 1972 – Bryan Pratt, American lawyer and politician
• 1972 – Jasmin St. Claire, Virgin Islander porn actress and director
• 1972 – Jimmy Wayne, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1973 – Christian Dailly, Scottish footballer
• 1973 – Emi Hashino, Japanese comedian and actress
• 1974 – Aravind Adiga, Indian journalist and author
• 1974 – Beatrice Faumuina, New Zealand discus thrower
• 1974 – DJ Spinbad, American DJ and producer
• 1974 – Sander Westerveld, Dutch footballer
• 1975 – Jessicka, American singer-songwriter (Jack Off Jill and Scarling.)
• 1975 – Michelle Beadle, American sportscaster
• 1975 – Odalys García, Cuban actress and singer
• 1975 – Yoon Son-ha, South Korean actress and singer
• 1975 – Keith Van Horn, American basketball player
• 1976 – Cat Deeley, English model, actress, and television host
• 1976 – Ryan Reynolds, Canadian-American actor and producer
• 1977 – Brad Haddin, Australian cricketer
• 1977 – Alex Tudor, English cricketer and coach
• 1978 – Jimmy Bullard, English footballer
• 1978 – Steve Harmison, English cricketer and sportscaster
• 1978 – John Lackey, American baseball player
• 1978 – Wang Nan, Chinese table tennis player
• 1978 – Archie Thompson, New Zealand-Australian footballer
• 1979 – Prabhas, Indian actor
• 1979 – Ramón Castro, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1979 – Simon Davies, Welsh footballer
• 1979 – Jorge Solís, Mexican boxer
• 1979 – Bud Smith, American baseball player
• 1980 – Mate Bilić, Croatian footballer
• 1980 – Pedro Liriano, Dominican baseball player
• 1981 – Jeroen Bleekemolen, Dutch race car driver
• 1981 – Ben Francisco, American baseball player
• 1981 – Jackie Long, American actor and producer
• 1981 – Huo Siyan, Chinese actress
• 1982 – Valentin Badea, Romanian footballer
• 1982 – Rickey Paulding, American basketball player
• 1982 – Kristjan Kangur, Estonian basketball player
• 1982 – Aleksandar Luković, Serbian footballer
• 1982 – Rodolfo Dantas Bispo, Brazilian footballer
• 1983 – Filippos Darlas, Greek footballer
• 1983 – Goldie Harvey, Nigerian singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
• 1983 – Sayaka Isoyama, Japanese model and actress
• 1983 – Josh Strickland, American actor and singer
• 1984 – Martin Garcia, Mexican-American jockey
• 1984 – Izabel Goulart, Brazilian-American model and actress
• 1984 – Simone Masini, Italian footballer
• 1984 – Keiren Westwood, English footballer
• 1984 – Jeffrey Hoogervorst, Dutch footballer
• 1984 – Meghan McCain, American journalist and author
• 1984 – Michael Sim, Australian golfer
• 1985 – Miguel, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1985 – Mohammed Abdellaoue, Norwegian footballer
• 1985 – Masiela Lusha, Albanian-American actress and poet
• 1985 – Chris Neal, English footballer
• 1985 – Luca Spinetti, Italian footballer
• 1985 – Panagiotis Vouis, Greek footballer
• 1986 – Briana Evigan, American actress and dancer
• 1986 – Jake Robinson, English footballer
• 1986 – Jessica Stroup, American actress
• 1987 – Faye, Swedish singer-songwriter (Play)
• 1987 – Robin Copeland, Irish rugby player
• 1987 – Félix Doubront, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1987 – Kyle Gibson, American baseball player
• 1987 – Miyuu Sawai, Japanese model and actress
• 1987 – Seo In-guk, South Korean singer and actor
• 1987 – Naomi Watanabe, Japanese actress
• 1988 – Jordan Crawford, American basketball player
• 1988 – Aleksandr Salugin, Russian footballer
• 1988 – Carolin Schiewe, German footballer
• 1989 – Viktor Agardius, Swedish footballer
• 1989 – Anisya Kirdyapkina, Russian race walker
• 1990 – Matt Angel, Australian actor
• 1990 – Stevie Brock, American singer
• 1990 – Paradise Oskar, Finnish singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1990 – Stan Walker, Australian-New Zealand singer and actor
• 1991 – Princess Mako of Akishino
• 1992 – Álvaro Morata, Spanish footballer
• 1993 – Josh Ruffels, English footballer
• 1993 – Taylor Spreitler, American actress and singer
• 1997 – Daphne Blunt, American actress and singer
• 1998 – Amandla Stenberg, American actress
• 1999 – Joseph Andre Garcia, Filipino actor

Deaths

• 42 BC – Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger, Roman general and politician (b. 85 BC)
• 877 – Ignatios of Constantinople (b. 797)
• 891 – Yazaman al-Khadim, Arab general and politician
• 930 – Emperor Daigo of Japan (b. 885)
• 1456 – John of Capistrano, Italian priest and saint (b. 1386)
• 1550 – Tiedemann Giese, Polish bishop (b. 1480)
• 1581 – Michael Neander, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1529)
• 1616 – Leonhard Hutter, German theologian and academic (b. 1563)
• 1688 – Charles du Fresne, sieur du Cange, French philologist and historian (b. 1610)
• 1730 – Anne Oldfield, English actress (b. 1683)
• 1764 – Emmanuel-Auguste de Cahideuc, Comte Dubois de la Motte, French admiral (b. 1683)
• 1774 – Michel Benoist, French missionary and astronomer (b. 1715)
• 1867 – Franz Bopp, German linguist and academic (b. 1791)
• 1869 – Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1799)
• 1872 – Théophile Gautier, French journalist, author, and poet (b. 1811)
• 1885 – Charles S. West, American lawyer, jurist, and politician, Secretary of State of Texas (b. 1829)
• 1893 – Alexander of Battenberg (b. 1857)
• 1910 – Chulalongkorn, Thai king (b. 1853)
• 1915 – W. G. Grace, English cricketer and physician (b. 1848)
• 1916 – Richard McFadden, Scottish footballer and solider (b. 1889)
• 1917 – Eugène Grasset, Swiss illustrator (b. 1845)
• 1921 – John Boyd Dunlop, Scottish businessman, founded Dunlop Rubber (b. 1840)
• 1935 – Charles Demuth, American painter and educator (b. 1883)
• 1939 – Zane Grey, American dentist and author (b. 1872)
• 1942 – Ralph Rainger, American pianist and composer (b. 1901)
• 1943 – Wakashima Gonshirō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 21st Yokozuna (b. 1876)
• 1944 – Charles Glover Barkla, English-Scottish physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1877)
• 1944 – Hana Brady, Czech holocaust victim (b. 1931)
• 1950 – Al Jolson, Lithuanian-American actor and singer (b. 1886)
• 1953 – Adrien de Noailles, French son of Jules Charles Victurnien de Noailles (b. 1869)
• 1957 – Christian Dior, French fashion designer, founded Christian Dior S.A. (b. 1905)
• 1959 – George Bouzianis, Greek painter (b. 1885)
• 1959 – Gerda Lundequist, Swedish actress (b. 1871)
• 1964 – Frank Luther Mott, American historian and journalist (b. 1886)
• 1978 – Maybelle Carter, American singer and autoharp player (Carter Family) (b. 1909)
• 1983 – Jessica Savitch, American journalist (b. 1947)
• 1984 – Oskar Werner, Austrian-German actor (b. 1922)
• 1986 – Edward Adelbert Doisy, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1893)
• 1988 – Asashio Tarō III, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 46th Yokozuna (b. 1929)
• 1989 – Armida, Mexican-American actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1911)
• 1990 – Thomas Williams, American author and academic (b. 1926)
• 1994 – Robert Lansing, American actor (b. 1928)
• 1996 – Bob Grim, American baseball player (b. 1930)
• 1997 – Bert Haanstra, Dutch director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1916)
• 1998 – Barnett Slepian, American physician (b. 1946)
• 2000 – Yokozuna, American wrestler (b. 1966)
• 2001 – Josh Kirby, English illustrator (b. 1928)
• 2001 – Daniel Wildenstein, French art dealer and historian (b. 1917)
• 2002 – Adolph Green, American playwright and songwriter (b. 1915)
• 2003 – Tony Capstick, English actor and singer (b. 1944)
• 2003 – Soong Mei-ling, Chinese wife of Chiang Kai-shek, 2nd First Lady of the Republic of China (b. 1897)
• 2004 – Robert Merrill, American actor and singer (b. 1919)
• 2004 – Bill Nicholson, English footballer, coach, and manager (b. 1919)
• 2005 – William Hootkins, American actor (b. 1948)
• 2005 – John Muth, American economist and academic (b. 1930)
• 2005 – Stella Obasanjo, Nigerian wife of Olusegun Obasanjo, 10th First Lady of Nigeria (b. 1945)
• 2006 – Lebo Mathosa, South African singer (Boom Shaka) (b. 1977)
• 2007 – John Ilhan, Turkish-Australian businessman, founded Crazy John's (b. 1965)
• 2007 – Lim Goh Tong, Malaysian-Chinese businessman (b. 1918)
• 2008 – Kevin Finnegan, English boxer (b. 1948)
• 2009 – Lou Jacobi, Canadian-American actor (b. 1913)
• 2010 – Fran Crippen, American swimmer (b. 1984)
• 2010 – Stanley Tanger, American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Tanger Factory Outlet Centers (b. 1923)
• 2011 – Herbert A. Hauptman, American chemist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
• 2011 – John McCarthy, American computer scientist and academic, developed the Lisp programming language (b. 1927)
• 2011 – Marco Simoncelli, Italian motorcycle racer (b. 1987)
• 2012 – William Joel Blass, American lawyer and politician (b. 1917)
• 2012 – Wilhelm Brasse, Polish photographer (b. 1917)
• 2012 – Roland de la Poype, French soldier and pilot (b. 1920)
• 2012 – Sunil Gangopadhyay, Indian author and poet (b. 1934)
• 2012 – Michael Marra, Scottish singer-songwriter (b. 1952)
• 2013 – Wes Bialosuknia, American basketball player (b. 1945)
• 2013 – Anthony Caro, English sculptor and academic (b. 1924)
• 2013 – Niall Donohue, Irish hurler (b. 1990)
• 2013 – Gypie Mayo, English guitarist and songwriter (Dr. Feelgood and The Yardbirds) (b. 1951)
• 2013 – Bill Mazer, Ukrainian-American journalist and sportscaster (b. 1920)
• 2014 – Ghulam Azam, Bangladeshi politician (b. 1922)
• 2014 – John Bramlett, American football player (b. 1941)
• 2014 – Bernard Mayes, English-American journalist and academic (b. 1929)
• 2014 – Joan Quigley, American astrologer and author (b. 1927)
• 2014 – Tullio Regge, Italian physicist and academic (b. 1931)
• 2014 – Alvin Stardust, English singer and actor (b. 1942)
• 2015
• 2015 – Leon Bibb, American-Canadian singer (b. 1922)
• 2015 – Roger De Clerck, Belgian businessman (b. 1924)
• 2015 – Jim Roberts, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (b. 1940)
• 2015 – Fred Sands, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded the Museum of Contemporary Art (b. 1938)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius
  • James the Just (Lutheran/Episcopal Church)
  • Giovanni da Capistrano
  • Ignatios of Constantinople
  • Severin of Cologne
  • October 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Chulalongkorn Day (Thailand)
• Day of the Macedonian Revolutionary Struggle (Republic of Macedonia)
• Mole Day (Chemists)
• National Day (Hungary)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada