October 23 is the 296th day of the year (297th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 69 days remaining until the end of the year.
Up to 1900
- 42 BC - Roman civil wars: Second Battle of Philippi - Mark Antony and Octavian defeat the army of Marcus Junius Brutus, who commits suicide shortly after.
- 425 – Valentinian III becomes Roman Emperor, at the age of 6.
- 1086 - Battle of az-Zallaqah: The army of Yusuf ibn Tashfa defeats forces of King Alfonso VI of Castile.
- 1157 - The Battle of Grathe-Heath ends the civil war in Denmark. King Sweyn III is killed and Valdemar I of Denmark takes over.
- 1295 – Scotland and France sign the first treaty of the 'Auld Alliance' in Paris, against England.
- 1520 - Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor is crowned in Aachen.
- 1642 – English Civil War: The Battle of Edgehill
- 1707 – The first parliament of Great Britain meets.
- 1739 - War of Jenkins' Ear: British Prime Minister Robert Walpole reluctantly declares war on Spain.
- 1812 - Charles Francois de Malet, a French general, begins a conspiracy to overthrow then-Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, by falsely claiming that he (Napoleon) had died in his attempt to conquer Russia.
- 1850 - The first National Women's Rights Convention begins in Worcester, Massachusetts.
- 1864 - American Civil War: Union forces defeat the Confederates in the Battle of Westport.
- 1870 - Franco-Prussian War: The Siege of Metz concludes with a decisive Prussian victory.
1901 – 2000
- 1906 – Alberto Santos-Dumont flies an aircraft in the first heavier-than-air flight, in Paris.
- 1912 – The Battle of Kumanovo between Russian and Ottoman forces begins.
- 1915 - 25,000 to 33,000 women march on Fifth Avenue in New York City to advocate their right to vote.
- 1917 - Vladimir Lenin calls for the October Revolution in Russia.
- 1929 – Great Depression: The first signs of panic show.
- 1940 - Norwegian Hurtigruten passenger steamer Prinsesse Ragnhild sinks after an explosion off northern Norway, killing 299 people on board.
- 1941 – World War II: Georgy Zhukov takes command of the Red Army operation to prevent the Nazis' further advances into Russia.
- 1942 – World War II: The Second Battle of El Alamein takes place, as the British Eighth Army begins an offensive to expel the Axis armies from Egypt.
- 1942 - World War II: The Battle of Henderson Field begins in the Guadalcanal Campaign, lasting until October 26.
- 1944 – World War II: The Red Army enters Hungary.
- 1944 - World War II: The Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines.
- 1946 – In New York, the UN General Assembly meets for the first time.
- 1956 – The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 against Soviet rule begins.
- 1958 - The Smurfs cartoons appear for the first time.
- 1958 - The Springhill Mine Bump mining disaster in Nova Scotia, killing 74 people, with 100 surviving the accident.
- 1970 - Gary Gabelich sets a land-speed record in a rocket-powered automobile called the Blue Flame, fueled by natural gas.
- 1972 - Vietnam War: Operation Linebacker - The US ends a bombing campaign of North Vietnam following the Easter Offensive.
- 1973 - A UN-sanctioned ceasefire officially ends the Yom Kippur War between Israel and Syria.
- 1983 – A truck bomb hits a US barracks in Lebanon, killing 241 troops. On the same day, another truck bomb hits a French barracks, killing 58 military personnel.
- 1989 – The Hungarian Republic is declared.
- 1989 - The Philips Disaster in Pasadena, Texas kills 23 people.
- 1992 – Akihito becomes the first Japanese Emperor to stand on Chinese soil.
- 1995 - Yolanda Saldivar is convicted of murdering the singer Selena on March 31 of the same year.
From 2001
- 2001 – The iPod is released.
- 2002 – The Moscow Theatre Siege begins, as Chechen terrorists take around 700 theatregoers hostage.
- 2003 - The Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California, designed by Frank Gehry, is opened.
- 2004 – An earthquake in the Niigata Prefecture in Japan kills 35 people and injures around 2,200.
- 2005 – Hurricane Wilma hits the Yucatán, in Mexico.
- 2005 – Lech Kaczynski is elected President of Poland, ahead of Donald Tusk.
- 2011 – New Zealand wins the Rugby World Cup, defeating France 8-7 in Auckland.
- 2011 – Motorcycle rider Marco Simoncelli is killed in a crash at the Malaysian Moto GP.
- 2011 – A powerful magnitude 7.2 earthquake hits Van Province, in eastern Turkey.
- 2012 - The BBC ends its 38-year teletext service Ceefax, with Northern Ireland completing the United Kingdom's transition to digital television broadcasting.
- 2015 - Hurricane Patricia is measured as the heaviest hurricane ever to hit North or Central America, as it hits the Pacific Ocean coast of Mexico.
- 2015 - 43 people, mostly pensioners on a day-trip, die in a coach crash in Southwestern France, in one of the country's deadliest-ever road accidents.
- 2018 - The Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge is officially opened by Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping.
- 2018 - October 2018 United States mail bombing attempts: A mail bomb addressed to former United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is caught by police, after one addressed to George Soros was caught the previous day.
- 2019 - The bodies of 39 people are found in a lorry trailer at Purfleet, Essex, England.
Up to 1900
- 63 BC - Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, Roman general (d. 12 BC)
- 1503 – Isabella of Portugal (d. 1539)
- 1516 – Charlotte of Valois, French princess (d. 1524)
- 1634 - Hedvig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp (d. 1715)
- 1654 - Johann Bernhard Staudt, Austrian Jesuit composer (d. 1712)
- 1713 - Pieter Burman the Younger, Dutch philologist (d. 1778)
- 1715 – Tsar Peter II of Russia (d. 1730)
- 1762 - Samuel Morey, American inventor (d. 1843)
- 1770 - George Ramsay, 9th Earl of Dalhousie, Scottish soldier and colonial administrator (d. 1838)
- 1771 - Jean-Andoche Junot, French general (d. 1813)
- 1796 - Stefano Franscini, Swiss Federal Councillor (d. 1857)
- 1801 – Albert Lortzing, German composer (d. 1851)
- 1813 – Ludwig Leichhardt, German explorer (d. 1848)
- 1815 - Joao Mauricio Wanderley, Brazilian magistrate and politician (d. 1889)
- 1817 - Pierre Athanase Larousse, French lexicographer (d. 1875)
- 1831 - Basil Lanneau Gilders Lane, American classical[disambiguation needed] scholar (d. 1924)
- 1835 – Adlai E. Stevenson, Vice President of the United States (d. 1914)
- 1844 - Robert Bridges, English poet (d. 1930)
- 1857 – Juan Luna, Filipino painter (d. 1899)
- 1868 - Alfred Mond, 1st Baron Melchett, British industrialist, financier and politician (d. 1930)
- 1869 – John Heisman, American football player and coach (d. 1936)
- 1871 - Gjergj Fishta, Albanian poet (d. 1940)
- 1873 - William D. Coolidge, American physicist and inventor (d. 1975)
- 1875 - Gilbert N. Lewis, American chemist (d. 1946)
- 1876 - Franz Schlegelberger, German politician (d. 1970)
- 1880 - Una O'Connor, Irish actress (d. 1959)
- 1885 - Lawren Harris, Canadian painter (d. 1970)
- 1893 – Gummo Marx, American actor (d. 1977)
- 1894 - Rube Bressler, American baseball player (d. 1966)
- 1896 - Roman Jakobson, Russian-born linguist (d. 1982)
- 1896 - Lilyan Tashman, American actress (b. 1934)
1901 – 1950
- 1905 – Felix Bloch, Swiss physicist (d. 1983)
- 1905 – Gertrude Ederle, American swimmer (d. 2003)
- 1905 - Yen Chia-han, President of the Republic of China (d. 1993)
- 1908 – Ilya Frank, Russian physicist (d. 1990)
- 1910 - Richard Mortensen, Danish painter (d. 1993)
- 1910 - Hayden Rorke, American actor (d. 1987)
- 1911 - Jack Keller, American hurdler (d. 1978)
- 1918 - James Daly, American actor (d. 1978)
- 1919 - Manolis Andronikos, Greek archaeologist (d. 1992)
- 1920 - Lygia Clark, Brazilian artist (d. 1988)
- 1920 - Bob Montana, American cartoonist (d. 1975)
- 1922 - Jean Barker, Baroness Trumpington, English politician (d. 2018)
- 1922 - Coleen Gray, American actress (d. 2015)
- 1923 - Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Vice President of India (d. 2010)
- 1925 – Manos Hadjidakis, Greek composer (d. 1994)
- 1925 – Johnny Carson, American television host (d. 2005)
- 1927 - Barron Hilton, American businessman (d. 2019)
- 1927 – Leszek Kolakowski, Polish philosopher (d. 2009)
- 1927 - Dezso Gyarmati, Hungarian water polo player (d. 2013)
- 1928 - Zhu Rongji, Chinese politician
- 1929 - Shamsur Rahman, Bangladeshi poet, columnist and journalist (d. 2006)
- 1931 - Diana Dors, British actress (d. 1984)
- 1931 – Jim Bunning, American baseball player and politician
- 1936 – Philip Kaufman, American director
- 1938 – H. John Heinz III, American politician (d. 1991)
- 1940 – Pelé, Brazilian footballer
- 1940 - Jane Holzer, American model, actress, producer and art collector
- 1941 - Lawrence Foster, American conductor
- 1941 - Igor Smirnov, Moldovan politician
- 1942 - Bernd Erdmann, German footballer
- 1942 – Michael Crichton, American writer (d. 2008)
- 1942 – Anita Roddick, British businesswoman (d. 2007)
- 1945 - Maggi Hambling, British painter and sculptor
- 1945 – Kim Larsen, Danish musician and singer (d. 2018)
- 1945 - Michel Vautrot, French football referee
- 1947 - Kazimierz Deyna, Polish footballer (d. 1989)
- 1947 – Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, leader of Hamas (d. 2004)
- 1948 - Gerry Robinson, Irish businessman and television presenter
- 1949 – Michael Burston (Wurzel), British musician (Motorhead) (d. 2011)
1951 – 1975
- 1951 – Charly García, Argentine singer
- 1951 – Fatmir Sejdiu, former President of Kosovo
- 1951 - Angel de Andres Lopez, Spanish actor (d. 2016)
- 1952 - Ken Tipton, American entrepreneur, actor, director, writer and producer
- 1954 – Ang Lee, Taiwanese movie director
- 1954 - Uli Stein, German footballer
- 1956 - Dianne Reeves, American jazz singer
- 1956 - Dwight Yoakam, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and actor
- 1957 - Martin Luther King III, American activist
- 1957 - Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda
- 1959 - Sam Raimi, American movie director
- 1959 – "Weird Al" Yankovic, American musical parodist
- 1960 – Randy Pausch, American computer scientist and writer (d. 2008)
- 1961 – Andoni Zubizarreta, Spanish footballer
- 1962 - Stefano Colantuono, Italian footballer and coach
- 1963 - Rashidi Yekini, Nigerian footballer (d. 2012)
- 1964 – Robert Trujillo, American musician (Metallica)
- 1967 - Omar Linares, Cuban baseball player
- 1968 - Maria Darling, English voice actress
- 1969 - Trudi Canavan, Australian writer
- 1969 - Dolly Buster, Czech-German pornographic actress
- 1970 - Matthew Barzun, American diplomat
- 1971 - Bohuslav Sobotka, Czech politician, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
- 1973 – Christian Dailly, Scottish footballer
- 1975 - Yoon Sun-ha, South Korean actress and singer
From 1976
- 1976 - Cat Deeley, British television personality
- 1976 – Ryan Reynolds, Canadian actor
- 1978 – Jimmy Bullard, English footballer
- 1978 – Archie Thompson, Australian footballer
- 1978 - Steve Harmison, English cricketer
- 1978 - John Lackey, American baseball player
- 1979 – Simon Davies, Welsh footballer
- 1984 – Izabel Goulart, Brazilian model
- 1984 - Meghan McCain, American columnist and author
- 1985 - Masiela Lusha, Albanian-born American writer and actress
- 1985 - Lachlan Gillespie, Australian musician (The Wiggles)
- 1985 - Mohammed Abdellaoue, Norwegian footballer
- 1986 - Briana Evigan, American actress
- 1986 - Jessica Stroup, American actress
- 1986 - Emilia Clarke, English actress
- 1987 - Faye Hamlin, Swedish singer
- 1988 - Jordan Crawford, American basketball player
- 1989 - Andriy Yarmolenko, Ukrainian footballer
- 1990 – Paradise Oskar, Finnish singer
- 1991 – Princess Mako of Akishino of Japan
- 1992 - Alvaro Morata, Spanish footballer
- 1993 - Taylor Spreitler, American actress
- 1994 - Georgia Toffolo, English television personality
- 1997 - Daphne Blunt, American actress and singer
- 1998 - Amandla Stenberg, American actress
Up to 1900
- 42 BC – Marcus Junius Brutus (suicide) (b. 85 BC)
- 877 - Ignatius, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople (b. 797)
- 891 - Yazaman al-Khadim, Arab military leader
- 930 – Emperor Daigo of Japan (b. 885)
- 1157 - Sweyn III of Denmark (b. 1120)
- 1456 - Giovanni da Capistrano, Italian saint (b. 1381)
- 1581 – Michael Neander, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1529)
- 1616 - Leonhard Hutter, German theologian (b. 1563)
- 1774 - Michel Benoist, French Jesuit missionary and scientist (b. 1715)
- 1869 – Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1799)
- 1872 – Théophile Gautier, French writer (b. 1811)
- 1885 - Charles S. West, Texan jurist and politician (b. 1829)
- 1893 - Alexander Battenberg, Prince of Bulgaria (b. 1857)
- 1896 - Columbus Delano, American politician (b. 1809)
1901 – 2000
- 1910 – Chulalongkorn (Rama V), King of Siam (now Thailand) (b. 1853)
- 1915 – W. G. Grace, English cricketer (b. 1848)
- 1921 – John Boyd Dunlop, Scottish inventor (b. 1840)
- 1930 - Vicente Casanova y Marzol, Archbishop of Granada (b. 1854)
- 1938 - Jean-Guy Gautier, French rugby[disambiguation needed] player (b. 1875)
- 1939 – Zane Grey, American writer (b. 1872)
- 1940 - George R. Cortelyou, American politician (b. 1862)
- 1944 – Charles Glover Barkla, English physicist (b. 1877)
- 1944 - Hana Brady, Czech Holocaust victim (b. 1931)
- 1948 - Carl Edward Bailey, Governor of Arkansas (b. 1894)
- 1950 – Al Jolson, American singer and actor (b. 1886)
- 1957 – Christian Dior, French fashion designer (b. 1905)
- 1959 - Gerda Lundequist, Swedish actress (b. 1871)
- 1979 - Antonio Caggiano, Argentine cardinal (b. 1889)
- 1983 – Jessica Savitch, journalist (b. 1947)
- 1984 - Oskar Werner, Austrian actor (b. 1922)
- 1986 – Edward Adelbert Doisy, American biochemist, won the 1843 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1893)
- 1988 - Asashio Taro III, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1929)
- 1989 - Armida, Mexican-American actress, singer and dancer (b. 1911)
- 1990 – Louis Althusser, French Marxist philosopher (b. 1918)
- 1994 - Robert Lansing, American actor (b. 1928)
- 1997 - Bert Haanstra, Dutch director, producer and screenwriter (b. 1916)
- 2000 - Rodney Adnoa'i, Samoan-American professional wrestler (b. 1966)
From 2001
- 2003 – Tony Capstick, British actor, comedian, musician and broadcaster (b. 1944)
- 2003 – Soong May-ling, widow of Chiang Kai-shek (b. 1898)
- 2004 - George Silk, New Zealand-American photographer (b. 1916)
- 2005 - John Muth, American economist (b. 1930)
- 2009 – Lou Jacobi, Canadian actor (b. 1913)
- 2010 – David Thompson, Prime Minister of Barbados (b. 1961)
- 2011 - Nusrat Bhutto, former First Lady of Pakistan (b. 1929)
- 2011 – Marco Simoncelli, Italian motorcycle racer (b. 1987)
- 2011 – Herbert A. Hauptman, American mathematician and Nobel Prize-winning chemist (b. 1917)
- 2011 – John McCarthy, American computer scientist (b. 1927)
- 2011 - Bronislovas Lubys, former Prime Minister of Lithuania (b. 1938)
- 2012 - Sunil Gangopadhyay, Indian novelist and poet (b. 1934)
- 2012 - Wilhelm Brasse, Polish photographer (b. 1917)
- 2013 - Bill Mazer, American TV and radio presenter (b. 1920)
- 2013 - Anthony Caro, British sculptor (b. 1924)
- 2014 - Alvin Stardust, British singer (b. 1942)
- 2014 - Ghulam Azam, Bangladeshi politician (b. 1922)
- 2014 - John Bramlett, American football player (b. 1941)
- 2014 - Bernard Mayes, British author and broadcaster (b. 1929)
- 2014 - André Piters, Belgian footballer (b. 1931)
- 2014 - Tullio Regge, Italian physicist (b. 1931)
- 2015 - Krunoslav Hulak, Croatian chess player (b. 1951)
- 2015 - Leon Bibb, American folk singer (b. 1922)
- 2015 - Paride Tumburus, Italian footballer (b. 1939)
- 2015 - Jimmy Roberts, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1946)
- 2016 - Jimmy Perry, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1923)
- 2016 - Pete Burns, English singer-songwriter (b. 1959)
- 2016 - Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, former Emir of Qatar (b. 1932)
- 2017 - Walter Lassally, German-born British-Greek cinematographer (b. 1926)
- 2017 - Paul J. Weitz, American pilot and astronaut (b. 1932)
- 2018 - Skip Campbell, American politician (b. 1948)
- 2018 - James Karen, American actor (b. 1923)
- 2018 - Alojz Rebula, Italian-Slovenian writer, playwright and essayist (b. 1924)
- 2018 - Laurens van Ravens, Belgian football referee (b. 1922)
- 2019 - Santos Juliá, Spanish historian and sociologist (b. 1940)
- 2019 - James W. Montgomery, American Episcopalian prelate (b. 1921)
- 2019 - Alfred Znamierowski, Polish vexillologist (b. 1940)
- Mole Day (Chemists)
- Chulalongkorn Day (Thailand)
- National Day of Hungary
- Day of the Macedonian Revolutionary Struggle
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