Summary of the Day ✨ 23 July (23/07)
A devastating wildfire in Greece became the country’s deadliest, claiming 102 lives, while NASA announced the discovery of Kepler-452b, a potentially Earth-like exoplanet. Meanwhile, a plane crash in Taiwan killed 48 people, and a solar storm narrowly missed Earth by nine days, which would have caused catastrophic damage had it collided with our planet.
Historical Events 📜
- 2018: A wildfire in East Attica kills at least 102 people. It is the deadliest wildfire in the history of Greece.
- 2015: NASA announces discovery of Kepler-452b by the Kepler space telescope.
- 2014: TransAsia Airways Flight 222 crashes in Xixi village near Huxi, Penghu, during approach to Penghu Airport. Forty-eight of the 58 people on board are killed and five more people on the ground are injured.
- 2012: The Solar storm of 2012 was an unusually large coronal mass ejection that was emitted by the Sun which barely missed the Earth by nine days. If it hit, it would have caused up to US$2.6 trillion in damages to electrical equipment worldwide.
- 2011: A high-speed train rear-ends another on a viaduct on the Yongtaiwen railway line in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, China, resulting in 40 deaths.
- 2010: The English-Irish boy band One Direction were formed while auditioning for the 2010 series of the British singing competition The X Factor.
- 2005: Three bombs explode in the Naama Bay area of Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, killing 88 people.
- 2001: Megawati Sukarnoputri was sworn in as the first female president of Indonesia following her predecessor’s impeachment.
- 1999: ANA Flight 61 is hijacked in Tokyo, Japan by Yuji Nishizawa.
- 1999: Space Shuttle Columbia launches on STS-93, with Eileen Collins becoming the first female space shuttle commander. The shuttle also carried and deployed the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
- 1997: Digital Equipment Corporation files antitrust charges against chipmaker Intel.
- 1995: Comet Hale–Bopp is discovered; it becomes visible to the naked eye on Earth nearly a year later.
- 1993: China Northwest Airlines Flight 2119 crashes during takeoff from Yinchuan Xihuayuan Airport in Yinchuan, Ningxia, China, killing 55 people.
- 1992: A Vatican commission, led by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, establishes that limiting certain rights of homosexual people and non-married couples is not equivalent to discrimination on grounds of race or gender.
- 1992: Abkhazia declares independence from Georgia.
Famous Births 👶
- 2003: Alex Consani, Model and Influencer
- 2002: Séléna Janicijevic, French tennis player
- 2001: Lily Phillips, British pornographic actress
- 1998: Deandre Ayton, Bahamian basketball player
- 1996: Alexandra Andresen, Norwegian heiress and equestrian
- 1996: David Dobrik, Slovak YouTube personality
- 1996: Kasperi Kapanen, Finnish ice hockey player
- 1992: Danny Ings, English footballer
- 1991: Lauren Mitchell, Australian gymnast
- 1991: Jarrod Wallace, Australian rugby league footballer
- 1990: Kevin Reynolds, Canadian figure skater
- 1989: Daniel Radcliffe, English actor
- 1989: Donald Young, American tennis player
- 1989: Harris English, American professional golfer
- 1987: Alessio Cerci, Italian footballer
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2024: Robin Warren, Australian pathologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1937)
- 2022: Zayar Thaw, Burmese politician and rapper (born 1981)
- 2022: Kyaw Min Yu, Burmese political activist (born 1969)
- 2017: John Kundla, American basketball coach (born 1916)
- 2015: Shigeko Kubota, Japanese-American sculptor and director (born 1937)
- 2015: Don Oberdorfer, American journalist, author, and academic (born 1931)
- 2015: William Wakefield Baum, American cardinal (born 1926)
- 2014: Dora Bryan, English actress and restaurateur (born 1923)
- 2014: Norman Leyden, American composer and conductor (born 1917)
- 2014: Ariano Suassuna, Brazilian author and playwright (born 1927)
- 2014: Jordan Tabor, English footballer (born 1990)
- 2013: Rona Anderson, Scottish actress (born 1926)
- 2013: Pauline Clarke, English author (born 1921)
- 2013: Arthur J. Collingsworth, American diplomat (born 1944)
- 2013: Dominguinhos, Brazilian singer-songwriter and accordion player (born 1941)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Birthday of Haile Selassie (Rastafari)
- Children’s Day (Indonesia)
- Christian feast day:
Bridget of Sweden - Christian feast day:
Heiromartyr Phocas (Eastern Orthodox) - Christian feast day:
John Cassian (Western Christianity) - Christian feast day:
Liborius of Le Mans - Christian feast day:
Margarita María - Christian feast day:
Mercè Prat i Prat - Christian feast day:
Rasyphus and Ravennus - Christian feast day:
July 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) - National Remembrance Day (Papua New Guinea)
- Renaissance Day (Oman)
- Revolution Day (Egypt)