September 23 is the 266th day of the year (267th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 99 days remaining until the end of the year.

It is frequently the day of the Autumnal Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere and the day of the Vernal Equinox in the Southern Hemisphere.

[edit] Events

• 1122 – Pope Calixtus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V agree to the Concordat of Worms to put an end to the Investiture Controversy.
• 1338 – The Battle of Arnemuiden was the first naval battle of the Hundred Years' War and the first naval battle using artillery, as the English ship Christofer had three cannon and one hand gun.
• 1409 – Battle of Kherlen, the second significant victory over Ming China by the Mongols since 1368.
• 1459 – Battle of Blore Heath, the first major battle of the English Wars of the Roses, is fought at Blore Heath in Staffordshire.
• 1568 – Spanish naval forces rout an English fleet, under the command of John Hawkins, at the Battle of San Juan de Ulúa near Veracruz.
• 1641 – The Merchant Royal, carrying a treasure worth over a billion US dollars, is lost at sea off Land's End.
• 1642 – First commencement exercises occur at Harvard College.
• 1779 – American Revolution: John Paul Jones on board the USS Bonhomme Richard wins the Battle of Flamborough Head.
• 1780 – American Revolution: British Major John André is arrested as a spy by American soldiers exposing Benedict Arnold's change of sides.
• 1803 – Second Anglo-Maratha War: Battle of Assaye between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India.
• 1806 – Lewis and Clark return to St. Louis after exploring the Pacific Northwest of the United States.
• 1821 – Tripolitsa, Greece, falls and 30,000 Turks are massacred during the Greek War of Independence.
• 1845 – The Knickerbockers Baseball Club, the first baseball team to play under the modern rules, is founded in New York.
• 1846 – Astronomers Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier, John Couch Adams and Johann Gottfried Galle collaborate on the discovery of Neptune.
• 1868 – Grito de Lares ("Lares Revolt") occurs in Puerto Rico against Spanish rule.
• 1889 – Nintendo Koppai (Later Nintendo Company, Limited) is founded by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce and market the playing card game Hanafuda.
• 1899 – American Asiatic Squadron destroyed single Filipino battery at the Battle of Olongapo.
• 1905 – Norway and Sweden sign the "Karlstad treaty", peacefully dissolving the Union between the two countries.
• 1908 – University of Alberta in Alberta, Canada, is founded.
• 1909 – The Phantom of the Opera (original title: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra), a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux, is first published as a serialization in Le Gaulois.
• 1932 – The Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd is renamed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
• 1936 – First ascent of Siniolchu by a German team.
• 1938 – Mobilization of the Czechoslovak army in response to the Munich Crisis.
• 1941 – World War II: The first gas chamber experiments are conducted at Auschwitz.
• 1942 – World War II: The Matanikau action on Guadalcanal begins U.S. Marines attack Japanese unites along the Matanikau River.
• 1943 – World War II: The Nazi puppet state the Italian Social Republic is founded.
• 1952 – Richard Nixon makes his "Checkers speech".
• 1959 – Iowa farmer and corn breeder Roswell Garst hosts Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev.
• 1959 – The MS Princess of Tasmania, Australia’s first passenger roll-on/roll-off diesel ferry, makes her maiden voyage across Bass Strait.
• 1962 – The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts opens in New York City.
• 1969 – The Chicago Eight trial opens in Chicago.
• 1972 – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos announces over television and radio the implementation of martial law.
• 1973 – Juan Perón returns to power in Argentina.
• 1983 – Saint Kitts and Nevis joins the United Nations.
• 1983 – Gerrie Coetzee of South Africa becomes the first African boxing world heavyweight champion.
• 1983 – Gulf Air Flight 771 is bombed, killing all 117 people on board.
• 1986 – Jim Deshaies of the Houston Astros sets the major-league record by striking out the first eight batters of the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
• 1988 – José Canseco of the Oakland Athletics becomes the first member of the 40-40 club.
• 1992 – A large Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb destroys forensic laboratories in Belfast.
• 1999 – Celebrate Bisexuality Day was first observed in the United States.
• 1999 – NASA announces that it has lost contact with the Mars Climate Orbiter.
• 2002 – The first public version of the web browser Mozilla Firefox ("Phoenix 0.1") is released.
• 2004 – Hurricane Jeanne: At least 1,070 in Haiti are reported to have been killed by floods.
• 2008 – Kauhajoki school shooting: Matti Saari kills 10 people before committing suicide.

[edit] Births

• 480 BC – Euripides, Greek playwright (d. 406 BC)
• 63 BC – Augustus Caesar, Roman Emperor (d. 14)
• 1158 – Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany (d. 1186)
• 1161 – Emperor Takakura of Japan (d. 1181)
• 1215 – Kublai Khan of the Mongol Empire (d. 1294)
• 1434 – Yolande of Valois, Duchess of Savoy (d. 1478)
• 1598 – Eleonore Gonzaga, wife of Ferdinand II (d. 1655)
• 1642 – Giovanni Maria Bononcini, Italian violinist, composer (d. 1678)
• 1647 – Joseph Dudley, American statesman (d. 1720)
• 1650 – Jeremy Collier, English bishop (d. 1726)
• 1713 – King Ferdinand VI of Spain (d. 1759)
• 1740 – Empress Go-Sakuramachi of Japan (d. 1813)
• 1759 – Clothilde of France, Queen of Piedmont-Sardinia (d. 1802)
• 1771 – Emperor Kokaku of Japan (d. 1840)
• 1778 – Mariano Moreno, Primera Junta official (d. 1811)
• 1781 – Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (d. 1860)
• 1791 – Johann Franz Encke, German astronomer (d. 1865)
• 1800 – William Holmes McGuffey, American educator and author (d. 1873)
• 1819 – Hippolyte Fizeau, French physicist (d. 1896)
• 1838 – Victoria Woodhull, American suffragist (d. 1927)
• 1852 – William Stewart Halsted, American surgeon (d. 1922)
• 1853 – Princess Marie Elisabeth of Saxe-Meiningen (d. 1923)
• 1861 – Robert Bosch, German inventor and industrialist (d. 1942)
• 1863 – Mary Eliza Church Terrell, American writer (d. 1954)
• 1864 – Draga Mašin, Queen of Serbia (d. 1903)
• 1865 – Emmuska Orczy, British novelist (d. 1947)
• 1869 – Mary Mallon, Typhoid Mary (d. 1938)
• 1876 – Moshe Zvi Segal, Israeli scholar and Israel Prize recipient (d. 1968)
• 1877 – Léon Sée, French fencer (d. 1960)
• 1880 – John Boyd Orr, Scottish physician, Nobel Laureate (d. 1971)
• 1889 – Walter Lippmann, American journalist (d. 1974)
• 1890 – Friedrich Paulus, German general (d. 1957)
• 1893 – Cläre Lotto, German actress (d. 1952)
• 1895 – Miron Merzhanov, Soviet architect (d. 1975)
• 1895 – Johnny Mokan, American baseball player (d. 1985)
• 1897 – Walter Pidgeon, Canadian actor (d. 1984)
• 1898 – Les Haylen, Australian politician and novelist (d. 1977)
• 1899 – Tom C. Clark, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (d. 1977)
• 1899 – Louise Nevelson, American sculptor (d. 1988)
• 1900 – William Frederick "Bill" Stone, English serviceman (d. 2009)
• 1901 – Jaroslav Seifert, Czech writer, Nobel Laureate (d. 1986)
• 1902 – Su Buqing, Chinese mathematician and educator (d. 2003)
• 1905 – Tiny Bradshaw, American bandleader and musician (d. 1958)
• 1906 – Charles Ritchie, Canadian diplomat (d. 1995)
• 1906 – Bardu Ali, American singer, musician and promoter(d. 1995)
• 1907 – Albert Ammons, American pianist (d. 1949)
• 1907 – Dominique Aury, French novelist (d. 1998)
• 1907 – Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza, heir to the Portugal throne (d. 1976)
• 1909 – Lorenc Antoni, Kosovo Albanian composer (d. 1991)
• 1911 – Frank Moss, American politician (d. 2003)
• 1912 – Ghulam Mustafa Khan, Pakistani critic and linguist (d. 2005)
• 1912 – Tony Smith, American sculptor (d. 1980)
• 1913 – Carl-Henning Pedersen, Danish artist (d. 2007)
• 1914 – Omar Ali Saifuddin III, Sultan of Brunei (d. 1986)
• 1915 – Clifford Shull, American physicist, Nobel Laureate (d. 2001)
• 1916 – Aldo Moro, Italian politician (d. 1978)
• 1920 – Mickey Rooney, American actor
• 1924 – Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal, Nicaraguan editor (d. 1978)
• 1924 – Heinrich Schultz, Estonian cultural functionary
• 1924 – Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal, Nicaraguan journalist (d. 1978)
• 1925 – Eleonora Rossi Drago, Italian actress (d. 2007)
• 1925 – Denis Twitchett, English scholar and historian (d. 2006)
• 1926 – John Coltrane, American saxophonist (d. 1967)
• 1926 – Jimmy Woode, American jazz bassist (d. 2005)
• 1927 – Mighty Joe Young, American guitarist (d. 1992)
• 1928 – Frank Foster, American musician and composer (d. 2011)
• 1929 – Wally Whyton, English musician (d. 1997)
• 1930 – Sehba Akhtar, Pakistani poet (d. 1996)
• 1930 – Colin Blakely, British actor (d. 1987)
• 1930 – Ray Charles, American musician (d. 2004)
• 1931 – Hilly Kristal, American club owner and musician (d. 2007)
• 1931 – Gerald Stairs Merrithew, Canadian educator (d. 2004)
• 1932 – Georg Keßler, German football manager
• 1934 – Ahmad Shah Khan, Crown Prince of Afghanistan
• 1935 – Prem Chopra, Indian actor
• 1935 – Les McCann, American pianist and singer
• 1935 – Ron Tindall, English footballer (d. 2012)
• 1935 – Arland D. Williams, Jr., hero of Air Florida Flight 90 (d. 1982)
• 1936 – Valentín Paniagua Corazao, Peruvian politician
• 1936 – Sylvain Saudan, Swiss extreme skier
• 1936 – Tareq Suheimat, Jordanian physician, nephrologist
• 1937 – Jacques Poulin, Canadian novelist
• 1938 – Tom Lester, American actor
• 1938 – Romy Schneider, French actress (d. 1982)
• 1939 – Henry Blofeld, English cricket commentator
• 1939 – Roy Buchanan, American guitarist (d. 1988)
• 1939 – Janusz Gajos, Polish actor
• 1939 – Sonny Vaccaro, American sports executive
• 1940 – Tim Rose, American singer-songwriter (d. 2002)
• 1940 – Mohammad-Reza Shajarian, Iranian musician and songwriter
• 1941 – George Jackson, American activist (d. 1971)
• 1941 – Simon Nolet, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1941 – Norma Winstone, English singer and lyricist
• 1942 – Sila María Calderón, Puerto Rican politician
• 1943 – Julio Iglesias, Spanish singer
• 1943 – Marty Schottenheimer, American football coach
• 1943 – Tanuja, Indian actress
• 1944 – Eric Bogle, British-Australian singer and songwriter
• 1944 – Norbert Walter, German economist (d. 2012)
• 1945 – Igor Ivanov, Russian politician
• 1945 – Paul Petersen, American actor
• 1946 – Franz Fischler, Austrian politician
• 1947 – Christian Bordeleau, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1947 – Mary Kay Place, American actress
• 1947 – Neal Smith, American musician
• 1948 – Don Grolnick, American pianist and composer
• 1949 – Floella Benjamin, British actress and politician
• 1949 – Jerry Jenkins, American author
• 1949 – Bruce Springsteen, American singer-songwriter
• 1950 – George Garzone, saxophonist and jazz educator
• 1951 – Steven Springer, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2012)
• 1952 – Mark Bego, American biographer
• 1952 – Dennis Lamp, American baseball player
• 1952 – Jim Morrison, American baseball player
• 1952 – Peter Schrank, Political cartoonist
• 1954 – Charlie Barnett, American actor (d. 1996)
• 1954 – Cherie Blair, British lawyer and spouse of Tony Blair
• 1955 – Paolo Rossi, Italian footballer
• 1956 – Peter David, American writer
• 1957 – Rosalind Chao, American actress
• 1957 – Tony Fossas, Cuban baseball player
• 1957 – Kumar Sanu, Indian playback singer
• 1958 – Danielle Dax, British musician
• 1958 – Marvin Lewis, American football coach
• 1958 – Larry Mize, American golfer
• 1958 – Khaled El Sheikh, Bahraini singer, songwriter and composer
• 1959 – Jason Alexander, American actor
• 1959 – Martin Page, English singer and songwriter
• 1961 – Chi McBride, American actor
• 1961 – Willie McCool, American astronaut (d. 2003)
• 1961 – Elizabeth Peña, American actress
• 1963 – Anne-Marie Cadieux, Canadian actress
• 1964 – Clayton Blackmore, Welsh footballer
• 1964 – Koshi Inaba, Japanese singer (B'z)
• 1964 – Larry Krystkowiak, American basketball player
• 1964 – Bill Phillips, American author
• 1966 – Pete Harnisch, American baseball player
• 1966 – LisaRaye, American actress
• 1968 – Yvette Fielding, English television presenter
• 1969 – Donald Audette, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1969 – Patrick Fiori, French singer
• 1969 – Tapio Laukkanen, Finnish rally driver
• 1969 – Jan Suchopárek, Czech footballer
• 1970 – Lucia Cifarelli, American musician
• 1970 – Ani DiFranco, American musician
• 1970 – Georgios Koltsidas, Greek footballer
• 1971 – Moin Khan, Pakistani cricketer
• 1971 – Lee Mi-yeon, South Korean actress
• 1971 – Eric Montross, American basketball player
• 1972 – Sarah Bettens, Belgian singer (K's Choice)
• 1972 – Ana Marie Cox, American blogger and author
• 1972 – Jermaine Dupri, American music producer and rapper
• 1972 – Karl Pilkington, British radio personality
• 1972 – Shim Eun-ha, South Korean actress
• 1973 – Ingrid Fliter, Argentinian pianist
• 1973 – Vangelis Krios, Greek footballer
• 1973 – Artim Šakiri, Macedonian football player
• 1974 – Matt Hardy, American professional wrestler
• 1974 – Harumi Inoue, Japanese actress and model
• 1975 – Jaime Bergman, American model and actress
• 1975 – Layzie Bone, American rapper (Bone Thugs-N-Harmony)
• 1975 – Chris Hawkins, British radio personality
• 1975 – Kim Dong-moon, South Korean badminton player
• 1975 – Eric Miller, Irish rugby player
• 1976 – Sarah Blasko, Australian singer-songwriter and musician
• 1976 – Faune A. Chambers, American actress
• 1976 – Kip Pardue, American actor and model
• 1976 – Rob James-Collier, British actor and model
• 1976 – Wladimir Sidorenko, Ukrainian boxer
• 1977 – Matthieu Descoteaux, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1977 – Fabio Ongaro, Italian rugby player
• 1977 – Suzanne Tamim, Lebanese singer and actress (d. 2008)
• 1977 – Rachael Yamagata, American singer and songwriter
• 1978 – Worm Miller, American filmmaker
• 1978 – Keri Lynn Pratt, American actress
• 1979 – Ricky Davis, American basketball player
• 1979 – Anthony Mackie, American actor
• 1979 – Fábio Simplício, Brazilian footballer
• 1979 – Lote Tuqiri, Fijian/Australian rugby player
• 1980 – Cameron Litvack, American television producer
• 1980 – Matt White, American singer
• 1981 – Robert Doornbos, Dutch racing driver
• 1981 – Natalie Horler, German singer (Cascada)
• 1981 – Misti Traya, American actress
• 1982 – Mait Künnap, Estonian tennis player
• 1982 – Shyla Stylez, Canadian pornographic actress
• 1983 – Märt Israel, Estonian discus thrower
• 1983 – Joffery Lupul, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1984 – Patrick Ehelechner, German ice hockey player
• 1984 – Matt Kemp, American baseball player
• 1984 – Anneliese van der Pol, American actress
• 1984 – Kate French, American actress
• 1985 – Brian Brohm, American football player
• 1985 – Joba Chamberlain, American baseball player
• 1985 – Maki Goto, Japanese pop singer
• 1985 – Hossein Ka'abi, Iranian footballer
• 1985 – Lukáš Kašpar, Czech ice hockey player
• 1986 – Martin Cranie, English footballer
• 1988 – Juan Martín del Potro, Argentinian tennis player
• 1988 – Yannick Weber, Swiss ice hockey player
• 1989 – Brandon Jennings, American basketball player
• 1989 – Mara Scherzinger, German actress
• 1990 – Agustin Sierra, Argentine actor
• 1991 – Key, Korean pop singer (Shinee)
• 1991 – Melanie Oudin, American tennis player
• 1993 – Sophie Borja, Welsh actress

[edit] Deaths

• 79 – Pope Linus
• 1193 – Robert de Sablé, Grand Master of the Knights Templar
• 1241 – Snorri Sturluson, Icelandic historian, poet, and politician (b. 1178)
• 1386 – Voivode Dan I of Wallachia
• 1390 – John I, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1346)
• 1535 – Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg (b. 1513)
• 1571 – John Jewel, English bishop (b. 1522)
• 1573 – Azai Hisamasa, Japanese warlord (b. 1524)
• 1605 – Pontus de Tyard, French poet
• 1675 – Valentin Conrart, Académie française founder (b. 1603)
• 1728 – Christian Thomasius, German jurist (b. 1655)
• 1738 – Herman Boerhaave, Dutch humanist and physician (b. 1668)
• 1764 – Robert Dodsley, English writer (b. 1703)
• 1773 – Johann Ernst Gunnerus, Norwegian bishop and botanist (b. 1718)
• 1789 – John Rogers, American Congressman (b. 1723)
• 1830 – Elizabeth Kortright Monroe, American First Lady (b. 1768)
• 1835 – Vincenzo Bellini, Italian composer (b. 1801)
• 1851 – Émilie Gamelin, Canadian nun, Sisters of Providence founder (b. 1800)
• 1844 – Alexander von Benckendorff, Russian general and statesman (b. 1783)
• 1846 – John Ainsworth Horrocks, English-born explorer of South Australia (b. 1818)
• 1850 – José Gervasio Artigas, Uruguayan soldier and statesman (b. 1764)
• 1867 – Michael O'Laughlen, American conspirator (b. 1840)
• 1870 – Prosper Mérimée, French author (b. 1803)
• 1871 – Louis-Joseph Papineau, Canadian politician (b. 1786)
• 1873 – Jean Chacornac, French astronomer (b. 1823)
• 1877 – Urbain Le Verrier, French mathematician (b. 1811)
• 1889 – Wilkie Collins, British author (b. 1824)
• 1900 – William Marsh Rice, American philanthropist (b. 1816)
• 1913 – Donato Álvarez, Argentine general (b. 1825)
• 1917 – Werner Voss, German World War I pilot (b. 1897)
• 1929 – Richard Adolf Zsigmondy, Austrian-born chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1865)
• 1939 – Sigmund Freud, Austrian psychiatrist (b. 1856)
• 1940 – Marcel Van Crombrugge, Belgian rower (b. 1880)
• 1943 – Salvo D'Acquisto, Italian Carabiniere (b. 1920)
• 1943 – Elinor Glyn, English author (b. 1864)
• 1944 – Jakob Schaffner, Swiss novelist (b. 1875)
• 1950 – Sam Barry, American basketball player and coach (b. 1892)
• 1958 – Jacob Nicol, Canadian publisher and politician (b. 1876)
• 1968 – Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, Italian Catholic saint (b. 1887)
• 1970 – Bourvil, French actor and singer (b. 1917)
• 1971 – J. W. Alexander, American mathematician (b. 1888)
• 1971 – Billy Gilbert, American actor (b. 1894)
• 1973 – Pablo Neruda, Chilean poet, Nobel laureate (b. 1904)
• 1974 – Cliff Arquette, American comedian and actor (b. 1905)
• 1974 – Robbie McIntosh, Scottish musician (Average White Band) (b. 1950)
• 1978 – Lyman Bostock, American baseball player (b. 1950)
• 1981 – Chief Dan George, Canadian actor (b. 1899)
• 1987 – Bob Fosse, American dancer, choreographer, and actor (b. 1927)
• 1988 – Tibor Sekelj, Yugoslavian explorer (b. 1912)
• 1992 – James Van Fleet, U.S. Army general (b. 1892)
• 1994 – Jerry Barber, American golfer (b. 1916)
• 1994 – Robert Bloch, American author (b. 1917)
• 1994 – Jürgen Ohlsen, German actor (b. 1917)
• 1994 – Madeleine Renaud, French theater and film actress (b. 1900)
• 1996 – Fujiko F. Fujio, Japanese cartoonist (b. 1933)
• 1998 – Mary Frann, American actress (b. 1943)
• 1998 – Ray Bowden, English footballer (b. 1909)
• 1999 – Ivan Goff, Australian screenwriter (b. 1910)
• 2000 – Aurelio Rodríguez, Mexican baseball player (b. 1947)
• 2000 – Carl Rowan, American journalist (b. 1925)
• 2001 – Ron Hewitt, Welsh footballer (b. 1928)
• 2002 – Vernon Corea, Sri Lankan broadcaster (b. 1927)
• 2003 – Ronnie Dawson, American musician (b. 1939)
• 2003 – Yuri Senkevich, Russian TV anchorman (b. 1937)
• 2004 – André Hazes, Dutch singer (b. 1951)
• 2004 – Billy Reay, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1918)
• 2005 – Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, Puerto Rican revolutionary (b. 1933)
• 2005 – Roger Brierley, English actor (b. 1935)
• 2006 – Sir Malcolm Arnold, English composer and trumpeter (b. 1921)
• 2006 – Etta Baker, American guitarist (b. 1913)
• 2008 – Peter Leonard, Australian journalist (b. 1942)
• 2008 – Loren Pope, American writer (b. 1910)
• 2009 – Paul B. Fay, American businessman and politician (b. 1918
• 2010 – Malcolm Douglas, Australian conservationist (b. 1941)
• 2010 – Teresa Lewis, American murderer (b. 1969)

[edit] Holidays and observances

• Autumnal equinox related observances (see September 22):
  • Shūbun no Hi (Japan)
• Celebrate Bisexuality Day (Bisexual community)
• Christian Feast Day:
  • Adomnán
  • Padre Pio
  • Pope Linus
  • Sossius
  • Thecla (Roman Catholic Church)
  • September 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics).
• Teacher's Day (Brunei Darussalam)
• Holocaust Memorial Day (Lithuania)
• National Day (Saudi Arabia)