November 23rd in History

Michael Dobson | November 23

Caricature of Tammany Hall leader Boss Tweed, by Thomas Nast

On This Day in History

  • Boss Tweed is delivered to the New York City authorities after being captured in Spain (1876)
  • The first jukebox goes into operation (1889)
  • Edwin Hubble’s discovery that Andromeda is another galaxy rather than a nebula in our own galaxy is first published publicly (1924)
  • The first episode of Doctor Who premiers (1963)
  • The first smartphone, the IBM Simon Personal Communicator, debuts at COMDEX (1992)

Births

  • Franklin Pierce, 14th US President (1804)
  • Billy the Kid (William H. Bonney), Wild West outlaw (1859)
  • Boris Karloff, actor (1887)
  • Harpo Marx, silent film star (1888)
  • Erté (Romain de Tirtoff), illustrator (1892)
  • Nelson Bond, science fiction and fantasy author (1908)
  • Wilson “Bob” Tucker, science fiction author and fan (1914)
  • Hal Lindsey, evangelist and author (1929)
  • Robert Towne, screenwriter and director (1934)
  • Franco Nero, actor (1941)
  • Susan Anspach, actress (1942)
  • Joe Eszterhas, screenwriter and producer (1944)
  • Steve Landesberg, actor and comedian (1945)
  • Bruce Hornsby, singer-songwriter (1954)
  • Mary Landrieu, US politician (1955)
  • Snooki (Nicole Polizzi), reality star (1987)
  • Miley Cyrus, singer-songwriter (1992)

Deaths

  • Dr. Crippen, convicted murderer (1910)
  • জগদীশ চন্দ্র বসু (Jagadish Chandra Bose), radio pioneer, physicists, science fiction writer, polymath (1937)
  • Hack Wilson, baseball player (1948)
  • Cornelius Ryan, journalist and author (1974)
  • André Malraux, author (1976)
  • Merle Oberon, actress (1979)
  • Roald Dahl, author (1990)
  • Roy Acuff, country music star (1992)
  • Tommy Boyce, songwriter (1994)
  • Louis Malle, director (1995)
  • Junior Walker, singer and saxophonist (1995)
  • Bo Belinksky, baseball player (2001)
  • Betty Comden, actress and screenwriter (2006)
  • Anita O’Day, jazz singer (2006)
  • Robert Vesco, fugitive financier (2007)
  • Larry Hagman, actor (2012)

Holidays

  • Dan Rudolfa Maistra (Rudolf Maister Day), Slovenia
  • Feast of Qawl, Bahá’í
  • Fibonacci Day (Mathematicians, celebrating the first four numbers of the Fibonacci sequence: 1, 1, 2, 3)
  • Giorgoba (St. George’s Day), Georgia
  • International Image Consultant Day (Association of Image Consultants International)
  • 勤労感謝の日 (Kinrō Kansha no Hi), Labour Thanksgiving Day, Japan
  • National Cashew Day, US food holidays

November 23 is the 327th day of the year (328th in leap years), with 38 days remaining until year’s end.