December 23

December 23 is the 356th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 9 days remaining, 10 in leap years.

Events

• 619 - Boniface V becomes Pope
• 1620 - Construction of Plymouth Colony[?] begins
• 1823 - A Visit From St. Nicholas[?], attributed to Clement Moore[?], is first published
• 1909 - Albert I of Belgium becomes King
• 1913 - The Federal Reserve Act becomes law
• 1979 - Military units of the Soviet Union occupy Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan.
• 1990 - Slovenia votes to secede from Yugoslavia

Births

• 1790 - Jean François Champollion, egyptologist, deciphered the Rosetta Stone (+ 1832)
• 1805 - Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (+ 1844)
• 1822 - Wilhelm Bauer[?], engineer (+ 1875)
• 1862 - Connie Mack[?], baseball executive (+ 1956)
• 1885 - Pierre Brissaud, French artist
• 1891 - Alexandr Rodchenko[?], Russian painter/photographer (+ 1956)
• 1918 - Helmut Schmidt, German Bundeskanzler 1974-1982
• 1918 - José Greco[?], dancer (+ 2000)
• 1922 - Calder Willingham[?], writer (+ 1995)
• 1923 - James Stockdale, United States Navy admiral
• 1933 - Akihito, Emperor of Japan
• 1935 - Paul Hornung[?], American football star
• 1940 - Jorma Kaukonen[?], musician
• 1943 - Silvia, Queen of Sweden
• 1946 - Susan Lucci[?], soap opera actress
• 1948 - Jack Ham[?], American football star
• 1958 - Victoria Williams, singer
• 1964 - Eddie Vedder, musician (Pearl Jam)
• 1971 - Corey Haim, actor
• 1978 - Ken Hidaka[?], character in Weiss Kreuz

Deaths

• 1872 - Theophile Gautier, poet, novelist
• 1939 - Anthony Fokker, aircraft manufacturer
• 1948 - Hideki Tojo (Prime Minister of Japan), hanged for war crimes
• 1970 - Charles Ruggles[?], actor
• 1973 - Charles Atlas[?], bodybuilder
• 1973 - Irna Phillips[?], soap opera writer, director, producer
• 1979 - Peggy Guggenheim, art collector
• 1982 - Jack Webb, actor, producer, director
• 1992 - Eddie Hazel, guitarist, originally with Funkadelic
• 2000 - Victor Borge, Danish/American humorist and pianist
• 2000 - Billy Barty[?], actor

Holidays and Observances

• Sweden - Birthday of Queen Silvia, an official flag day
• Roman Empire - Larentalia[?], a festival in honor of Larenta
• Ancient Latvia - Ziemassvetki held

December 22 - December 24 - November 23 - January 23 -- listing of all days

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December