Self-Portrait With Bandaged Ear And Pipe

1888

Vincent van Gogh chops off his ear

Born on This Day

Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith

1805 - 1844

American prophet who founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1830 and became its first president.

Chet Baker

Chet Baker

1929 - 1988

American trumpeter and vocalist who became known as the "Prince of Cool" for his role in the development of cool jazz.

Studio Portrait of Susan Lucci

Susan Lucci

1946 -

American actress who became known as "Daytime's Leading Lady" through her longstanding role on "All My Children."

Joseph Smith

Universal Images Group via Getty

Chet Baker

Getty Images

Susan Lucci

Corbis/VCG via Getty Images

1975

DEC

23

US President Gerald Ford signs the Metric Conversion Act, declaring the metric system “the preferred system of weights and measures” in the country. Fifty years later, the US is still miles away from widely adopting metric measures.

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 December 23rd

1620

Construction of Plymouth settlement begins

One week after the Mayflower is anchored at Plymouth harbor in present-day Massachusetts, construction of the first permanent European settlement in New England begins. On September 16, the Mayflower departed Plymouth, England, bound for the New World with 102 passengers. The ship was headed for Virginia, where the colonists—half religious dissenters and half entrepreneurs—had been authorized […]

2:16m read read

1783

George Washington resigns as commander in chief

On December 23, 1783, following the signing of the Treaty of Paris, General George Washington resigns as commander in chief of the Continental Army and retires to his home at Mount Vernon, Virginia. Washington addressed the assembled Congress: “Happy in the confirmation of our independence and sovereignty, and pleased with the opportunity afforded the United […]

2:22m read read

1823

The poem “A Visit From St. Nicholas” is first published

On December 23, 1823, “A Visit From St. Nicholas,” perhaps the most famous and influential Christmas poem ever is published in the Troy Sentinel newspaper in New York by an anonymous author. Called “arguably the best-known verses ever written,” it would shape the modern image of Santa Claus as “a right jolly old elf” who […]

1:50m read read

1867

Madam C.J. Walker is born

Future entrepreneur, philanthropist and self-made millionaire Madam C.J. Walker is born Sarah Breedlove on December 23, 1867 in Delta, Louisiana. Walker’s parents, sharecroppers who had been enslaved, died when she was seven. Walker eventually left Louisiana and spent her twenties in St. Louis, Missouri. While working as a laundress for about a dollar a day to support herself […]

2:10m read read

1944

The execution of Eddie Slovik is authorized

Gen. Dwight Eisenhower endorses the finding of a court-martial in the case of Eddie Slovik, who was tried for desertion, and authorizes his execution, the first such sentence against a U.S. Army soldier since the Civil War, and the only man so punished during World War II. Private Eddie Slovik was a draftee. Originally classified […]

2:46m read read

1948

Japanese war criminals hanged in Tokyo

In Tokyo, Japan, Hideki Tojo, former Japanese premier and chief of the Kwantung Army, is executed along with six other top Japanese leaders for their war crimes during World War II. Seven of the defendants were also found guilty of committing crimes against humanity, especially in regard to their systematic genocide of the Chinese people. […]

1:10m read read

1959

Chuck Berry is indicted on Mann Act charges in St. Louis, Missouri

On December 23, 1959, Chuck Berry is indicted in St. Louis, Missouri, on charges relating to his transportation of a 14-year-old girl across state lines for allegedly “immoral purposes.” “Never saw a man so changed,” is how the great Carl Perkins described the experience of touring England in 1964 alongside Chuck Berry. “He had been […]

2:12m read read

1968

Crew of USS Pueblo released by North Korea

The crew and captain of the U.S. intelligence gathering ship Pueblo are released after 11 months imprisonment by the government of North Korea. The ship, and its 83-man crew, was seized by North Korean warships on January 23 and charged with intruding into North Korean waters. The seizure infuriated U.S. President Lyndon Johnson. Later, he […]

1:34m read read

1972

Pittsburgh Steelers’ Franco Harris scores on “Immaculate Reception” iconic NFL play

On December 23, 1972, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Oakland Raiders, 13-7, on rookie running back Franco Harris’ “Immaculate Reception” touchdown in the waning seconds of a playoff game—one of the greatest plays in NFL history. Between 1933 and 1972, the Steelers were lovable losers, playing in only one postseason game—a 21-0 loss to the Philadelphia […]

2:02m read read

1982

Chemical contamination prompts evacuation of Missouri town

On December 23, 1982, the Missouri Department of Health and the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) inform residents of Times Beach, Missouri that their town was contaminated when the chemical dioxin was sprayed on its unpaved roads, and that the town will have to be evacuated and demolished. By February, the federal and state […]

2:22m read read

1982

Chaminade shocks No. 1 Virginia in one of greatest upsets in sports history

On December 23, 1982, Chaminade, an NAIA school with only 900 students, beats top-ranked Virginia and 7-foot-4 center Ralph Sampson, 77-72, in Honolulu in one of the greatest upsets in sports history. “Not too many people get to beat the No. 1 team in the nation,” Chaminade coach Merv Lopes tells reporters afterward. “What we did […]

1:18m read read

1983

The journal “Science” publishes first academic report on nuclear winter

Residents of Earth receive a chilling early Christmas present on December 23, 1983, when a group of scientists including Carl Sagan releases a paper titled “Nuclear Winter: Global Consequences of Multiple Nuclear Explosions.” This publication introduces the concept of nuclear winter, a period of global cold and darkness that could result from a nuclear war.

1986

Voyager completes global flight

After nine days and four minutes in the sky, the experimental aircraft Voyager lands at Edwards Air Force Base in California, completing the first nonstop flight around the globe on one load of fuel. Piloted by Americans Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, Voyager was made mostly of plastic and stiffened paper and carried more than […]

2:40m read read

1997

Woody Allen marries Soon-Yi Previn

On December 23, 1997, Woody Allen, the 62-year-old Academy Award-winning writer-director of such movies as Annie Hall and Hannah and Her Sisters, marries 27-year-old Soon-Yi Previn, the adopted daughter of his former partner Mia Farrow, in a small ceremony in Venice, Italy. When news of the couple’s relationship was first publicly revealed in the media […]

2:30m read read

2009

“Balloon Boy” parents sentenced in Colorado

On December 23, 2009, Richard Heene, who carried out a hoax in which he told authorities his 6-year-old son Falcon had floated off in a runaway, saucer-shaped helium balloon, is sentenced to 90 days in jail in Fort Collins, Colorado. Heene’s wife Mayumi received 20 days of jail time for her role in the incident. […]

2:22m read read

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