141 things happened on 23 October, from 4,004 BC to 2024. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.
1707 · 319 years ago
The first Parliament of the new Kingdom of Great Britain met. It was set up after the kingdoms of England and Scotland joined together in 1707. No fresh elections were held in England or Wales. Instead, the existing members of the English House of Commons sim…
UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
UK story
The first treaty of the Auld Alliance was signed in Paris. It was an agreement between the kingdoms of Scotland and France to stand together against England. 'Auld' is the Scots word for 'old', and the name came to mean the long friendship between the two countries. The alliance was never officially cancelled, though some say it ended in 1560.
UK story
Scotland won a clear victory over England at the Battle of Sark, also called the Battle of Lochmaben Stone. Historians are not completely sure whether it happened in 1448 or 1449. It was Scotland's first big win against England since the Battle of Otterburn in 1388. It was also the last pitched battle between the two kingdoms in the Middle Ages.
UK story
Royalists, who supported the king, fought Parliamentarians near Edge Hill and Kineton in southern Warwickshire. It was the first major battle of the English Civil War. That war was really a series of conflicts between the two sides, lasting from 1642 to 1651. The battle was fought on a Sunday.
UK story
The first Parliament of the new Kingdom of Great Britain met. It was set up after the kingdoms of England and Scotland joined together in 1707. No fresh elections were held in England or Wales. Instead, the existing members of the English House of Commons simply became members of the new British one.
UK story
Irish Catholic gentry in Ulster tried to seize control of Dublin Castle, the seat of English rule in Ireland, to force concessions to Catholics.
UK story
The runway show for Alexander McQueen's collection The Hunger was staged at London's Natural History Museum.
Emperor Mutsuhito proclaimed the start of the Meiji era in Japan. He had taken over Edo, the shoguns' seat of power, and made it his new capital, called Tokyo. The Meiji Restoration gave real power back to the emperor after more than 250 years of rule by the Tokugawa shoguns. It also led to Japan adopting many Western ways.
The Brazilian aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont flew his aeroplane, the 14-bis, for 50 metres at a height of about four metres. The 14-bis was a biplane, which means it had two main wings, one stacked above the other. Santos-Dumont carried out most of his flying experiments in Paris. He helped develop both airships and aeroplanes.
The American balloonist Jeannette Piccard piloted a balloon flight that climbed to 17,550 metres. That made her the first woman to fly in the stratosphere, the second-lowest layer of Earth's atmosphere. She held the women's height record for nearly 30 years. Later in life, she became a priest.
In Budapest, a peaceful student demonstration grew to thousands of people as it marched to the parliament building. This was the start of the Hungarian Revolution. People were protesting against a government that followed the orders of the Soviet Union. The uprising lasted 15 days before Soviet forces crushed it.
Apple showed the world the iPod, a pocket-sized digital music player that had been developed in less than a year. Steve Jobs said it put '1,000 songs in your pocket'. Its name was inspired by the space pods in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. It went on sale a few weeks later, and Apple sold an estimated 450 million iPods.
James Ussher's purported creation date of the world according to the Bible.
Valentinian III is elevated as Roman emperor at the age of six.
The Synodus Palmaris, called by Gothic king Theoderic, absolves Pope Symmachus of all charges, thus ending the schism of Antipope Laurentius.
Spanish Reconquista: At the Battle of Sagrajas, the Almoravids defeat the Castilians, but are unable to take advantage of their victory.
The Battle of Grathe Heath ended the Danish Civil War.
The most intense tornado on record in English history, an F4 storm on the Fujita scale or T8 on the TORRO scale, strikes the county of Lincolnshire, with winds of more than 213 miles per hour (343 km/h).
War of the Second Coalition: The Ottoman–Albanian forces of Ali Pasha of Janina defeated French troops and captured the town of Preveza at the Battle of Nicopolis.
The inaugural National Women's Rights Convention, presided over by American activist Paulina Wright Davis (pictured), began in Worcester, Massachusetts.
American Civil War: The Battle of Westport is the last significant engagement west of the Mississippi River, ending in a Union victory.
The Italo-Turkish War sees the first use of an airplane in combat when an Italian pilot makes a reconnaissance flight.
First Balkan War: The Battle of Kumanovo between the Serbian and Ottoman armies begins.
Second Zhili–Fengtian War: Warlord Feng Yuxiang, with the covert support of the Empire of Japan, stages a coup in Beijing against his erstwhile superiors in the Zhili clique, crippling their nearly victorious war effort against the Fengtian clique and forcing them to withdraw from northern China.
World War II: Japanese troops began an unsuccessful attempt to recapture Henderson Field on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands from American forces.
World War II: Allied forces commence the Second Battle of El Alamein, which proves to be the key turning point in the North African campaign.
World War II: The Battle of Leyte Gulf begins.
Jackie Robinson of the Kansas City Monarchs signs a contract with the Brooklyn Dodger's minor league team, the Montreal Royals, breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier.
The State of Vietnam voted in a referendum to become a republic.
The people of the Saar region vote in a referendum to unite with West Germany instead of France.
A screening of Mother India, one of the most influential Indian films in history, was held for President Rajendra Prasad and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru two days before its release.
Belgian artist Peyo's comic characters, the Smurfs, make their debut in Spirou magazine.
Vietnam War: The 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), in conjunction with the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, launches an operation seeking to destroy Communist forces during the siege of Plei Me.
Gary Gabelich sets a land speed record in a rocket-powered automobile called the Blue Flame, fueled with natural gas.
The Hungarian Republic officially replaces the communist Hungarian People's Republic.
Bankruptcy of Wärtsilä Marine, the biggest bankruptcy in the Nordic countries up until then.
Signing of the Paris Peace Accords which ends the Cambodian–Vietnamese War.
Israel and the Palestinian Authority sign the Wye River Memorandum.
Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-120, with Pamela Melroy becoming the second female space shuttle commander.
The Libyan National Transitional Council deems the Libyan Civil War over.
Hurricane Patricia, the most intense tropical cyclone on record in the Western Hemisphere, peaked with maximum sustained winds of 215 mph (345 km/h) south of Mexico.
War against the Islamic State: Philippine defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana declares the end of the Siege of Marawi.
Second Libyan Civil War: The Second Libyan Civil War comes to an end as all parties to the 5+5 Joint Libyan Military Commission agree to a ceasefire.
Xi Jinping is elected as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party by the Central Committee, beginning a third term of the paramount leader of China.
Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!
In which year did this happen: “Scotland and France sign the first Auld Alliance treaty”?
B: 1295. 1295 — that’s 731 years ago. Find it on the page
In which year did this happen: “The first major battle of the English Civil War is fought at Edgehill”?
C: 1642. 1642 — that’s 384 years ago. Find it on the page
Which of these happened first?
C: Scotland and France sign the first Auld Alliance treaty. 1642: The first major battle of the English Civil War is fought at Edgehill · 1448: Scotland defeats England at the Battle of Sark · 1295: Scotland and France sign the first Auld Alliance treaty Find it on the page
“Scotland defeats England at the Battle of Sark” happened in 1448. How many years ago was that?
B: 578 years. 2026 − 1448 = 578. Find it on the page
Famous people whose birthday is 23 October.
UK story
The businesswoman and campaigner Anita Roddick was born. In 1976 she opened her first shop in Brighton, starting The Body Shop, which sells natural beauty products. It was one of the first companies to ban animal testing for some of its products. She also campaigned for human rights and to protect the environment.
Well-known people who died on 23 October.
Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 23 October somewhere in the world.
Mole Day is an unofficial holiday for chemists and chemistry students, held from 6:02 in the morning to 6:02 in the evening. Written American-style, the date and time are 6:02 10/23. That matches the Avogadro constant, about 6.02 × 10²³, which is the number of particles in one 'mole' of a substance. It has nothing to do with the furry animal!
Content note: these entries mention things like war, violence, deaths, disasters or crime. They are part of history, but they can be upsetting. Grown-ups and teachers: you may want to read them first. They come straight from Wikipedia and have not been rewritten for children.
Stories with a heading have been written for young readers by A Day in the Past, using the linked articles as sources. Other entries show text from Wikipedia’s “October 23” page and its “On this day” feed, written by Wikipedia contributors and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Each “Read more” link goes to the article an entry is based on. Photos are credited under each picture. Spotted a mistake? Please tell us.