On This Day: 23 March

23 March in Indian history

• 2008Official opening of Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad, India.India
• 1940The Lahore Resolution (Qarardad-e-Pakistan or Qarardad-e-Lahore) is put forward at the Annual General Convention of the All-India Muslim League.India
• 1931Bhagat Singh, one of the most influential revolutionaries of the Indian independence movement, and two others were executed by the British authorities for their murder of a police officer.India
• 1889Mirza Ghulam Ahmad founded the Ahmadiyya Islamic religious movement in British India.India

23 March in world history

• 2025Gaza war: Israel Defense Forces killed 15 aid workers in the Rafah paramedic massacre.
• 2021A container ship ran aground and obstructed the Suez Canal for six days.
• 2018President of Peru Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigns from the presidency amid a mass corruption scandal before certain impeachment by the opposition-majority Congress of Peru.
• 2009FedEx Express Flight 80: A McDonnell Douglas MD-11 flying from Guangzhou, China crashes at Tokyo's Narita International Airport, killing both the captain and the co-pilot.
• 1996Taiwan holds its first direct elections and chooses Lee Teng-hui as President.
• 1991The Revolutionary United Front, with support from the special forces of Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia, invades Sierra Leone in an attempt to overthrow Joseph Saidu Momoh, sparking the 11-year Sierra Leone Civil War.
• 1965NASA launches Gemini 3, the United States' first two-man space flight (crew: Gus Grissom and John Young).
• 1956Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic in the world. This date is now celebrated as Republic Day in Pakistan.
• 1933The Nazi Party took the first step in the Gleichschaltung process by having the Enabling Act passed, giving the government the right to make laws without the involvement of the Reichstag.
• 1913A tornado outbreak kills more than 240 people in the central United States, while an ongoing flood in the Ohio River watershed was killing 650 people.
• 1905About 1,500 Cretans, led by Eleftherios Venizelos, met at the village of Theriso to call for the island's unification with Greece, beginning the Theriso revolt.
• 1901Emilio Aguinaldo, only President of the First Philippine Republic, is captured at Palanan, Isabela by the forces of American General Frederick Funston.
• 1862American Civil War: General Stonewall Jackson of the Confederate States Army lost the First Battle of Kernstown, but was still able to prevent the Union Army from reinforcing the Peninsula campaign.
• 1775American Revolution: Patrick Henry made his "Give me liberty or give me death!" speech to the House of Burgesses of Virginia, urging military action against the British Empire.

Born on 23 March

• 1976Smriti Irani, Indian actress, producer and politician, Indian Minister of Human Resource DevelopmentIndia
• 1966Lorenzo Daniel, American sprinter
• 1957Amanda Plummer, American actress
• 1953Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Indian zoologist and businesswomanIndia
• 1952Francesco Clemente, Italian painter and illustrator
• 1893Gopalswamy Doraiswamy Naidu, Indian engineer and businessman (died 1974)India

Died on 23 March

• 2012Jim Duffy, American animator, director, and producer (born 1937)
• 1978Halyna Kuzmenko, Ukrainian teacher and anarchist revolutionary (born 1897)
• 1931Bhagat Singh, Indian activist (born 1907)India
• 1931Shivaram Rajguru, Indian activist (born 1908)India

Frequently asked questions

What happened on 23 March in history?

2025: Gaza war: Israel Defense Forces killed 15 aid workers in the Rafah paramedic massacre. 2021: A container ship ran aground and obstructed the Suez Canal for six days. 2018: President of Peru Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigns from the presidency amid a mass corruption scandal before certain impeachment by the opposition-majority Congress of Peru. 2009: FedEx Express Flight 80: A McDonnell Douglas MD-11 flying from Guangzhou, China crashes at Tokyo's Narita International Airport, killing both the captain and the co-pilot.

What happened on 23 March in Indian history?

2008: Official opening of Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad, India. 1940: The Lahore Resolution (Qarardad-e-Pakistan or Qarardad-e-Lahore) is put forward at the Annual General Convention of the All-India Muslim League. 1931: Bhagat Singh, one of the most influential revolutionaries of the Indian independence movement, and two others were executed by the British authorities for their murder of a police officer.

Which famous people were born on 23 March?

Smriti Irani, Indian actress, producer and politician, Indian Minister of Human Resource Development (1976); Lorenzo Daniel, American sprinter (1966); Amanda Plummer, American actress (1957); Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Indian zoologist and businesswoman (1953).

Which day is observed on 23 March?

Shaheed Diwas & World Meteorological Day; Day of Hungarian-Polish Friendship (Hungary and Poland); Day of the Sea (Bolivia); Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Day (Azerbaijan); Pakistan Day (Pakistan).