23 SEPTEMBER

1122 Concordat of Worms agreed between Pope Calixtus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V

1338 The first naval battle of the Hundred Years' War between England and France took place On This Day. It was the first naval battle using artillery, as the English ship Christofer had three cannons and one hand gun.

1459 In the first major 'Wars of the Roses' battle, the Yorkists, in spite of being heavily outnumbered by 2 to 1, defeated the Lancastrians at the Battle of Blore Heath, Staffordshire.

1641 The Merchant Royal, a 17th century English merchant ship was lost at sea off Land's End. On board were at least 100,000 pounds of gold (nearly one billion pounds in today's money), 400 bars of Mexican silver and nearly 500,000 pieces of eight and other coins, making it one of the most valuable wrecks of all times. The wreck remains undiscovered.

1779 During the American Revolution, John Paul Jones on board the USS Bonhomme Richard beat British forces at the Battle of Flamborough Head (Yorkshire). It became one of the most celebrated naval actions of the American War of Independence.

1817 Spain signed a treaty with Britain to end slave trade.

1821 Fall of Tripolitsa, Greek forces massacre 30,000 Turks during Greek War of Independence

1884 American Herman Hollerith patents his mechanical tabulating machine, the beginning of data processing

1889 Nintendo Koppai (Later Nintendo Company, Limited) founded by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce and market the playing card game Hanafuda.


1940 The George Cross and the George Medal for civilian acts of courage were instituted.

1942 The 'Manhattan Project' commences, under the direction of US General Leslie Groves: its aim - to deliver an atomic bomb

1951 Crowds gathered outside Buckingham Palace for news of King George VI following an operation to remove part of his lung.

1952 The star of the silent movies, Charlie Chaplin, returned to his native England after 21 years in the US.

1955 Quizmaster Michael Miles first invited contestants to 'Open the box' in the long running show Take Your Pick.

1961 The Shadows debut album 'Shadows' started a four week run at No.1 on the UK charts.

1974 The world's first Ceefax teletext service was begun by the BBC.

1976 A fire on one of the Royal Navy's latest guided missile destroyers (HMS Glasgow) killed eight men.

1986 England and Yorkshire batsman Geoff Boycott was controversially sacked from Yorkshire Cricket Club after playing for the county side for 24 years.

1987 An Australian court lifted the ban on the publication of Peter Wright's autobiography, Spycatcher.

1987 Britain ended arms sales to Iran.

1996 London police raided several suspected IRA hideouts across the city, seizing around 10 tons of homemade explosives and killing one suspected IRA member.

2000 British rower Steve Redgrave won his fifth consecutive gold medal at the Sydney Olympic Games, a feat surpassed only by Sir Chris Hoy at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Redgrave is the third most decorated British Olympian with six medals, after the seven of Hoy and the seven of cyclist Bradley Wiggins.

Famous Birthday's

Augustus Caesar
(63 BC - 14)

Typhoid Mary
(1869 - 1938)

Aldo Moro
(1916 - 1978)

Famous Deaths

Sigmund Freud
(1856 - 1939)

Pablo Neruda
(1904 - 1973)

Famous Weddings

1666 Princess Maria of Orange-Nassau marries Mauritius earl of Simmeren

1862 Russian novelist and author of "War and Peace" Leo Tolstoy (34) marries Sophia Andreevna Behrs (18) daughter of a physician

1933 Gangster Sam Giancana (25) weds Angeline De Tolve

1989 Tennis Ace Zina Garrison (25) weds businessman Willard Jackson (25) at the Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston

1996 Actor-comedian Jim Carrey (35) weds "Dumb and Dumber" actress Lauren Holly (33) in Malibu

Famous Divorces

1915 Film producer Samuel Goldwyn (33) divorces first wife Blanche Lasky after 5 years of marriage

2011 Actress Lisa Linde (39) divorces "Xmen" actor James Marsden (38) due to irreconcilable differences after 11 years of marriage