August 23 in History

79 – Mount Vesuvius began stirring, on the feast day of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire.

1305 – Sir William Wallace was executed for high treason at Smithfield in London.

1775 – King George III delivered his ‘Proclamation of Rebellion to the Court of St. James’s’ stating that the American colonies have proceeded to a state of open and avowed rebellion.

1913 – The Little Mermaid statue was dedicated in the harbor of Copenhagen, Denmark

1948 – The World Council of Churches was formed.

1965 – The Sound of Music was released, starring Julie Andrews

1966 – Lunar Orbiter 1 took the first photograph of Earth from orbit around the Moon.

#1 Hit August 23, 1969 – September 19, 1969: The Rolling Stones – Honky Tonk Women

1973 – A bank robbery gone wrong in Stockholm, Sweden, turns into a hostage crisis; over the next five days the hostages begin to sympathize with their captors, leading to the term “Stockholm syndrome”.

#1 Hit August 23, 1975 – August 29, 1975: Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds – Fallin’ in Love

1991 – Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web opened the WWW to new users.

1996- The Price Is Right celebrated its 25th anniversary special on CBS

1998 – That 70’s Show premiered on FOX

2007 – The skeletal remains of Russia’s last royal family members Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia, and his sister Grand Duchess Anastasia were discovered near Yekaterinburg, Russia.

#1 Hit August 23, 2008 – September 5, 2008: Rihanna – Disturbia

2011 (Earthquake) Virginia/East Coast, USA