On this day...

638 Start of Islamic calendar
1492 "Pentateuch" (Jewish holy book) first printed
1556 Most deadly earthquake kills 830,000 in Shensi Province, China
1570 Earl of Moray, regent of Scotland, assassinated; civil war breaks out
1579 Union of Utrecht signed, forming protestant Dutch Republic
1643 Sir Thomas Fairfax takes Leeds for the Parliamentarians
1719 Principality of Liechtenstein created within Holy Roman Empire
1779 Charles Messier catalogs M56 (globular cluster in Lyra)
1789 Georgetown, first US Catholic college, founded
1793 Humane Society of Philadelphia organized
1845 Uniform US election day for President & Vice President authorized
1849 Mrs. Elizabeth Blackwell becomes first woman physician in US
1849 Patent granted for an envelope-making machine
1856 Steamer Pacific lost
1870 173 Blackfeet (140 women & children) killed in Montana by US Army
1879 National Archery Association formed, Crawfordsville IN
1894 G.W. Bunbury of Dublin sets shorthand record of 250 wpm for 10 minutes
1907 Charles Curtis of Kansas becomes first Native American US senator
1920 Dutch government refuses to turn over ex-Kaiser of Germany to the allies
1924 Ramsey MacDonald forms first Labour government in Britain
1930 George Washington Birthplace National Monument, Virginia established
1933 20th amendment changes date of President Inaugurations to 1/20
1941 Ground breaking for NACA (now NASA) Lewis Research Center
1950 Israeli Knesset resolves Jerusalem is the capital of Israel
1950 NFL rule changes open way for 2-platoon system (offense & defense)
1953 NFL Dallas Texans become Baltimore Colts (now Indianapolis Colts)
1953 NFL's National & American conference become Eastern & Western conference
1964 24th Amendment ratified, barring poll tax in federal elections
1965 "The King Family Show" (musical variety) premiers on ABC TV
1968 Spy ship USS Pueblo & 83-man crew seized in Sea of Japan by N Korea
1971 UCLA loses to Notre Dame, UCLA then wins next 88 games in a row
1972 Bootlegger sells wood alcohol to wedding party-100 die-New Delhi
1973 Helgafell, island of Heimaey Iceland erupts for first time in 7,000 years
1973 Jordan Air crash at Kano, Nigeria kills 176 Moslem pilgrims
1973 President Nixon announces an accord has been reach to end the Vietnam War
1975 "Barney Miller" premiers on ABC TV
1975 Ralph Kiner elected to baseball's Hall of Fame
1977 Miniseries "Roots" premiers on ABC
1981 First Richard Nixon museum opens (San Clemente CA)
1981 Mike Bossy becomes first in NHL to score 50 goals in 50 games
1983 "A-Team" with Mr. T premiers on NBC
1983 Bjorn Borg announces his retirement from tennis
1987 Japan first exceeds military spending cap of 1% of GNP ($23 billion)
1988 Bob Benoit bowls first 300-pt game in a televised title match

Birthdays which occurred on January 23rd:

1832 Edouard Manet, France, Impressionist painter
1840 Ernst Abbe, Germany, physicist (Carl Zeiss Optics Company)
1862 David Hilbert, Konigsberg East Prussia, mathematician
1899 Humphrey Bogart, actor (Casablanca, Caine Mutiny, African Queen)
1899 Joseph Nathan Kane, historian (Famous Firsts)
1903 Randolph Scott, actor (Last of the Mohicans)
1906 Bob Steele, Pendleton Oregon, actor (Duffy-F Troop)
1907 Dan Duryea, White Plains NY, actor (Pride of the Yankees)
1915 Potter Stewart, Michigan, Supreme Court justice (1958-81)
1918 Gertrude Belle Elion, New York NY, biochemist/drug researcher (Nobel 1988)
1919 Ernie Kovacs, Trenton NJ, comedian (Ernie Kovacs' Show)
1923 Florence Halop, Queens, actress (Florence-Night Court, St. Elsewhere)
1923 Horace Ashenfelter, US, 3000m steeplechase (Olympic-gold-1952)
1925 Marty Paich, Oakland CA, orchestra leader (Sonny & Cher, Glenn Campbell)
1928 Jeanne Moreau, Paris France, actress (Going Places, Jules & Jim)
1929 John Polanyi, Berlin, Canadian chemist (Nobel 1986)
1933 Arlene Golonka, actress (Mayberry RFD)
1933 Chita Rivera, Washington DC, actress (West Side Story)
1934 Lou Antonio, Oklahoma City OK, actor (Barney-Snoop Sisters, Makin' It)
1938 Anatoly Marchenko, Siberia, Soviet dissident
1939 Arlene Golonka, Chicago IL, actress (Millie-Mayberry RFD)
1940 Ben F. Gallagher, Jr., Ft. Worth TX, environmental engineer
1943 Gil Gerard, Little Rock Ark, actor (Buck Rogers in 25th Century)
1944 Rutger Hauer, actor (Blade Runner, Ladyhawke, Osterman Weekend)
1944 Sergey Belov, USSR, basketball player (Olympic-gold-1972)
1948 Anita Pointer, rock vocalist (Pointer Sisters-She's So Shy)
1950 Richard Dean Anderson, Minneapolis MN, actor (MacGyver, Emerald Pt NAS)
1950 William Cunningham, rock bassist/pianist (Box Tops-Letter)
1953 Pat Haden, Westbury NY, NFL quarterback (Los Angeles Rams)
1954 Franco De Vita, Caracas Venezuala, Spanish singer
1955 Robin Zander, rocker vocalist/guitarist (Cheap Trick-Dream Police)
1959 Earl Falconer, rocker (UB40-Red Red Wine)
1959 Tyrone Power, Jr., Los Angeles CA, actor (Shag)
1963 Akeem Olajuwon, NBA center (Houston Rockets)
1964 Mariska Hargitay, Los Angeles CA, actress (Jesse Smith-Downtown)

Deaths which occurred on January 23rd:

1622 William Baffin, British explorer
1639 Francisco Maldonado da Silva Solis, Peruvian poet, burned at stake
1913 Nazim Pasha, Turkey's Prime Minister assassinated
1943 Alexander Woollcott, critic, dies of a heart attack on radio, at 56
1950 George Orwell, British novelist, dies in London at 46
1978 Terry Kath, rocker (Chicago), accidentally shoots himself at 32
1981 Bobby Sherwood, orchestra leader (Milton Berle Show), dies at 66
1989 Salvador Dali, Spanish Surrealist painter, dies in Spain at 84