On This Day: 23 July

23 July in Indian history

• 1983Thirteen Sri Lanka Army soldiers are killed after a deadly ambush by the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.India
• 1927The first station of the Indian Broadcasting Company goes on the air in Bombay.India

23 July in world history

• 2015NASA announces discovery of Kepler-452b by the Kepler space telescope.
• 2012The Solar storm of 2012 was an unusually large coronal mass ejection that was emitted by the Sun which barely missed the Earth by nine days. If it hit, it would have caused up to US$2.6 trillion in damages to electrical equipment worldwide.
• 2011A high-speed train rear-ends another on a viaduct on the Yongtaiwen railway line in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, China, resulting in 40 deaths.
• 2001Megawati Sukarnoputri was sworn in as the first female president of Indonesia following her predecessor's impeachment.
• 1999Forty-seven people were arrested in Tulia, Texas, for dealing cocaine; 35 of them were pardoned by the governor of Texas years later.
• 1999Space Shuttle Columbia launches on STS-93, with Eileen Collins becoming the first female space shuttle commander. The shuttle also carried and deployed the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
• 1992A Vatican commission, led by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, establishes that limiting certain rights of homosexual people and non-married couples is not equivalent to discrimination on grounds of race or gender.
• 1984Vanessa Williams, the first African-American Miss America, was forced to resign after the magazine Penthouse published nude photos of her without consent.
• 1982A helicopter crashed during the filming of Twilight Zone: The Movie in Valencia, California, killing actor Vic Morrow and two child actors.
• 1968The only successful hijacking of an El Al aircraft takes place when a Boeing 707 carrying ten crew and 38 passengers is taken over by three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The aircraft was en route from Rome, Italy to Lod, Israel.
• 1942The Holocaust: The gas chambers at Treblinka extermination camp began operation, killing 6,500 Jews who had been transported from the Warsaw Ghetto the day before.
• 1942World War II: The German offensives Operation Edelweiss and Operation Braunschweig begin on the Eastern Front.
• 1940Sumner Welles, U.S. Under Secretary of State, issued a declaration that the U.S. government would not recognize the Soviet Union's annexation of the Baltic states.
• 1927Wilfred Rhodes of England and Yorkshire became the only person to play in 1,000 first-class cricket matches.
• 1914July Crisis: Austria-Hungary issues a series of demands in an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia demanding Serbia to allow the Austrians to determine who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Serbia accepts all but one of those demands and Austria declares wa
• 1891During a visit of the French Navy to Kronstadt in Russia, the two nations reached a secret agreement on a joint response to any future war in Europe.

Born on 23 July

• 1973Himesh Reshammiya, Indian singer-songwriter, producer, actor, and directorIndia
• 1961Milind Gunaji, Indian actor, model, television show host, and authorIndia
• 1935Jim Hall, American race car driver
• 1906Chandra Shekhar Azad, Indian activist (died 1931)India
• 1777Philipp Otto Runge, German painter and illustrator (died 1810)
• 1635Adam Dollard des Ormeaux, New France garrison commander (died 1660)

Died on 23 July

• 2015Shigeko Kubota, Japanese-American sculptor and director (born 1937)
• 2012Lakshmi Sahgal, Indian soldier and politician (born 1914)India
• 2004Mehmood Ali, Indian actor, director, and producer (born 1932)India
• 1955Cordell Hull, American captain, lawyer, and politician, 47th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1871)

Frequently asked questions

What happened on 23 July in history?

2015: NASA announces discovery of Kepler-452b by the Kepler space telescope. 2012: The Solar storm of 2012 was an unusually large coronal mass ejection that was emitted by the Sun which barely missed the Earth by nine days. If it hit, it would have caused up to US$2.6 trillion in damages to electrical equipment worldwide. 2011: A high-speed train rear-ends another on a viaduct on the Yongtaiwen railway line in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, China, resulting in 40 deaths. 2001: Megawati Sukarnoputri was sworn in as the first female president of Indonesia following her predecessor's impeachment.

What happened on 23 July in Indian history?

1983: Thirteen Sri Lanka Army soldiers are killed after a deadly ambush by the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. 1927: The first station of the Indian Broadcasting Company goes on the air in Bombay.

Which famous people were born on 23 July?

Himesh Reshammiya, Indian singer-songwriter, producer, actor, and director (1973); Milind Gunaji, Indian actor, model, television show host, and author (1961); Jim Hall, American race car driver (1935); Chandra Shekhar Azad, Indian activist (died 1931) (1906).

Which day is observed on 23 July?

Birthday of Haile Selassie (Rastafari); Children's Day (Indonesia); National Remembrance Day (Papua New Guinea); Renaissance Day (Oman); Revolution Day (Egypt).