Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/August 23
This is a list of selected August 23 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Please read the selected anniversaries guidelines before making your edit. However, if your addition might be controversial or on a day that is or will soon be on the Main Page, please post your suggestion on the talk page instead.
Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on how important or significant their subjects are. Only four to five events are posted at a time and thus not everything that is "most important and significant" can be listed. In addition, an event is generally not posted this year if it is also the subject of the scheduled featured article or picture of the day.
To report an error when this appears on the Main Page, see Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
Images
Use only ONE image at a time
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William Wallace -
Eight-foot statue of Wallace by Alexander Carrick near the entrance of Edinburgh Castle -
Ion Antonescu
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Sacco and Vanzetti -
Lunar Orbiter 1 -
Aftermath of the 1929 Hebron massacre
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Ineligible
| Blurb | Reason |
|---|---|
| International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition | stubby |
| 1572 – The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre, a wave of Catholic mob violence against the Huguenots, began, lasting for several months and resulting in an estimated tens of thousands deaths across France. | Tagged with {{refimprove}} |
| 1784 – The western part of the Province of North Carolina declared itself an independent state under the name of Franklin. | needs more footnotes |
| 1839 – As it prepared for war against China's Qing Dynasty, an ensuing conflict that became known as the First Opium War, Britain captured the port of Hong Kong. | section needs rewriting |
| 1866 – Prussia defeated Austria in the Austro-Prussian War, and dissolved the German Confederation. | Tagged with {{Refimprove}} |
| 1927 – After a controversial trial, and despite worldwide protests, Italian-born American anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti were executed via electrocution in Massachusetts for the charge of murder and theft. | refimprove section |
| 1958 – The People's Liberation Army began an intense artillery bombardment of Quemoy, sparking the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis. | needs more footnotes |
| 1966 – NASA's Lunar Orbiter 1 took the first photograph of Earth from the distance of the Moon. | stubby |
Eligible
- 1305 – After a show trial, William Wallace, leader of the Scottish resistance against England during the Wars of Scottish Independence, was executed in London's Smithfield Market.
- 1914 – In their first major action of World War I, British Expeditionary Force defeated German troops in Mons, Belgium.
- 1929 – Palestine riots: Arabs began attacking Jews in Hebron in the British Mandate of Palestine, killing over sixty people in two days. (A man reflecting on the aftermath pictured)
- 1939 – Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agreed to the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, a 10-year, mutual non-aggression treaty, which also included a secret protocol dividing Northern and Eastern Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence.
- 1944 – King Michael dismissed the pro-Axis government of General Ion Antonescu, putting Romania on the side of the Allies for the remainder of World War II.
- 1989 – Singing Revolution: Approximately two million people joined hands to form an over 600 km (370 mi) long human chain across the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian Soviet republics to demonstrate their respective desires for independence.
- 1514 – Ottoman forces defeated the Safavids at the Battle of Chaldiran, gaining control of eastern Anatolia and northern Iraq.
- 1873 – The Albert Bridge (pictured), spanning the River Thames in London, opened.
- 1948 – The World Council of Churches, a worldwide Christian ecumenical fellowship, was established.
- 1970 – The United Farm Workers, led by César Chávez, began the Salad Bowl strike, the largest farmworker strike in U.S. history.
- 2006 – Natascha Kampusch, who had been abducted at the age of 10 in Vienna, escaped from her captor Wolfgang Priklopil after eight years in captivity.