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Hostage crisis in Moscow theater

Born on This Day

Johnny Carson

1925 - 2005

The king of late-night TV who hosted “The Tonight Show” for three decades, innovating with a house band and couch for guests.

Pelé

1940 - 2022

Legendary Brazilian soccer star who helped power his homeland to three World Cup victories between 1958 and 1970.

Weird Al Yankovic

1959 -

Accordion-playing musician best known for parodying pop hits, like his send-up of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” called “Eat It.”

Johnny CarsonNBCUniversal via Getty Images

PeléGetty Images

Weird Al YankovicGetty Images

1941

OCT23

Disney releases Dumbo. Dumbo was set to be crowned Time magazine’s “Mammal of the Year” in late 1941 but got bumped off the cover by Pearl Harbor.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on October 23rd

Brutus dies by suicide

Marcus Junius Brutus, a leading conspirator in the assassination of Julius Caesar, dies by suicide after his defeat at the second battle of Philippi. Two years before, Brutus had joined Gaius Cassius Longinus in the plot against the Roman dictator Julius Caesar, believing he was striking a blow for the restoration of the Roman Republic. […]

The first National Women’s Rights Convention begins

Suffragist organizers hold the first-ever National Women’s Rights Convention in Worcester, Massachusetts on October 23, 1850. More than 1,000 delegates from 11 states arrived for the two-day conference, which had been planned by members of the Anti-Slavery Society. The convention followed the steps laid out at the landmark Seneca Falls Convention two years before: “In entering […]

Boris Pasternak wins Nobel Prize for ‘Dr. Zhivago,’ later forced to refuse the honor

On October 23, 1958, Boris Pasternak is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for his novel “Doctor Zhivago.” The Soviet government, who banned the book, forced the author to renounce the honor.

Beirut barracks blown up

A suicide bomber drives a truck packed with explosives into the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, killing 241 U.S. military personnel. That same morning, 58 French soldiers were killed in their barracks two miles away in a separate suicide terrorist attack. The U.S. Marines were part of a multinational force sent to Lebanon in August […]

Gas leak kills 23 at plastics factory

On October 23, 1989, 23 people die in a series of explosions sparked by an ethylene leak at a factory in Pasadena, Texas. The blasts, which took place at a Phillips Petroleum Company plant, were caused by inadequate safety procedures. A polyethylene reactor at the Phillips 66 Chemical Complex in Pasadena created chemical compounds necessary […]

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Toronto Blue Jay Joe Carter wins World Series with ninth-inning home run

On October 23, 1993, Toronto Blue Jay Joe Carter wins the World Series for his team by whacking a ninth-inning home run over the SkyDome’s left-field wall. It was the first time the World Series had ended with a home run since Pittsburgh’s Bill Mazeroski homered to break a 9-9 tie with the Yankees in […]

Doctor is killed by anti-abortion radical

Doctor Barnett Slepian is shot to death inside his home in Amherst, New York by an anti-abortion radical. His killing marks the fifth straight year that an abortion-providing doctor in upstate New York and Canada became the victim of a sniper attack. Slepian and his family had just returned from religious services at their synagogue when […]

Apple announces the first iPod

On October 23, 2001, Apple introduces the original iPod, a portable digital music player that revolutionized the music industry and transformed the consumption of audio and eventually video content.

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