Oct. 23
Today in history
Today is Oct. 23. On this date in:
1707: The first Parliament of Great Britain met after the Acts of Union, which unified the kingdoms of England and Scotland.
1925: Johnny Carson, America’s legendary “King of Late Night,” was born in Corning, Iowa. The award-winning TV host, producer, writer and comedian was best known for hosting NBC’s “The Tonight Show” from 1962 to 1992, a program that launched the careers of many A-list entertainers.
1941: The Senate passed a $5.98 billion supplemental Lend-Lease Bill, granting President Franklin D. Roosevelt additional authority to direct material aid such as ammunition, tanks, airplanes, trucks and food to the war effort in Europe without violating the nation’s official position of neutrality
during World War II.
1941: Disney’s “Dumbo” had its world premiere in New York City, where it was met with critical acclaim.
1947: The NAACP presented a petition titled “An Appeal to the World” to the United Nations. The document, outlining various forms of discrimination experienced by Black citizens and seeking redress, was meant to reveal the hypocrisy of the United States in advocating for human rights abroad while failing to protect the rights of its Black people at home.
1956: Tens of thousands of Hungarians gathered in Budapest to demand an end to Communist rule. Soviet Russians sent in tanks and shut down the revolt after several brutal days of bitter fighting. Thirty-three years later, on this same date, Hungary declared itself a republic.
1958: A violent underground movement at the Springhill coal mine in Nova Scotia, Canada, trapped 174 miners, of whom 100 survived. It was one of the deadliest mining disasters in Canadian history.
1983: Hezbollah militants targeted the barracks of U.S. Marines and French paratroopers in Beirut with a suicide truck bombing that killed 241 U.S. service members and 58 French troops.
2001: Apple introduced the first iPod, which revolutionized the way people listened to music and ushered in a new era of portable digital media.
2002: Chechen rebels took about 850 people hostage during a performance at the Dubrovka Theater in Moscow. The militants, who planted explosives in the auditorium, demanded a total withdrawal of Russian military forces from Chechnya. The crisis ended three days later when Russian forces gassed the building, killing many hostages and all of the attackers.
– USA TODAY Network
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Today in history, October 23
