more events on September 23
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2004
Hurricane Jeanne causes severe flooding in Haiti; over 1,000 reported dead.
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2002
The first public version of Mozilla Firefox browser released; originally called Phoenix 0.1 its name was changed due to trademark issues with Phoenix Technologies.
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1992
Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) detonates 3,700-lb. bomb in Belfast, completely destroying the Northern Ireland forensic laboratory, injuring 20 people and damaging 700 houses.
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1983
Gulf Air Flight 771 from Karachi, Pakistan, to Abu Dhabi, UAE, bombed; all 117 aboard die.
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Gerrie Coetzee (Gerhardus Coetzee), boxer from South Africa; becomes the first boxer from the African continent to win a world heavyweight tittle (World Boxing Association).
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1973
Juan Peron is re-elected president of Argentina after being overthrown in 1955.
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1967
Soviets sign a pact to send more aid to Hanoi.
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1961
William “Willie” McCool, American astronaut; among those killed when Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates while reentering Earth’s atmosphere (2003).
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1954
East German police arrest 400 citizens as U.S. spies.
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1952
Richard Nixon responds to charges of a secret slush fund during his ‘Checkers Speech.’
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1949
Bruce “The Boss” Springsteen, singer, songwriter, musician (“Born to Run,” “Born in the U.S.A”); his multiple awards include 20 Grammys, two Golden Globes, and an Oscar, the latter for “Streets of Philadelphia” (1994).
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1947
Mary Kay Place, Emmy-winning actress (Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman), singer.
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1945
The first American dies in Vietnam during the fall of Saigon to French forces.
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1943
Julio Iglesia, singer, songwriter with more than 2,600 certified gold and platinum records (“To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before,” “Summer Wind”).
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1936
Valentin Corazao, Interim President of Peru (2000-01) after Pres. Alberto Fujimori was removed from office by Congress.
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1934
Ahmad Shah, Crown Prince of Afghanistan and heir apparent to the throne.
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1930
Ray Charles, rhythm ‘n’ blues piano player and singer.
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1926
John Coltrane, influential jazz saxophonist.
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1915
Clifford G. Shull, physicist, improved techniques for exploring the atomic structure of matter.
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1912
Mack Sennett’s first “Keystone Cop” film debuts, Cohen Collects a Debt.
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1911
The Second International Aviation Meet opens in New York.
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1889
Louise Nevelson, sculptor.
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Walter Lippmann, journalist, one of the founders of The New Republic Magazine in 1914.
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1865
Emmuska Orczy, baroness and author of The Scarlet Pimpernel.
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1864
Confederate and Union forces clash at Mount Jackson, Front Royal and Woodstock in Virginia during the Valley campaign.
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1863
Mary Church Terrell, educator and civil rights advocate.
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1838
Victoria Claflin Woodhull, the first woman presidential candidate (1872) in the United States.
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1806
The Lewis and Clark Expedition arrives back in St. Louis just over three years after its departure.
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1805
Lieutenant Zebulon Pike pays $2,000 to buy from the Sioux a 9-square-mile tract at the mouth of the Minnesota River that will be used to establish a military post, Fort Snelling.
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1803
British Major General Sir Arthur Wellesley defeats the Marathas at Assaye, India.
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1800
William Holmes McGuffey, educator famous for his book Eclectic Readers.
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1795
A national plebiscite approves the new French constitution, but so many voters sustain that the results are suspect.
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1788
Louis XVI of France declares the Parliament restored.
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1779
The American navy under John Paul Jones, commanding from Bonhomme Richard, defeats and captures the British man-of-war Serapis.
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1739
The Austrians sign the Treaty of Belgrade after having lost the city to the Turks.
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1667
Slaves in Virginia are banned from obtaining their freedom by converting to Christianity.
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1577
William of Orange makes his triumphant entry into Brussels, Belgium.
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1561
Philip II of Spain gives orders to halt colonizing efforts in Florida.
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1553
The Sadians defeat the last of their enemies and establish themselves as rulers of Morocco.
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63
Augustus Caesar, first Roman Emperor, who introduced Pax Romana, the era of peace.