August 23

From Metapedia

[edit] Events

• 1305 - William Wallace, Scottish patriot, is executed for high treason by Edward I of England.
• 1784 - Western North Carolina (now eastern Tennessee) declares itself an independent state under the name of Franklin; it wasn’t accepted into the United States, and only lasted for four years.
• 1833 - Slavery abolished in the British colonies.
• 1839 - The United Kingdom captures Hong Kong as a base as it prepares to war with Qing China. The ensuing 3-year conflict will later be known as the First Opium War.
• 1866 - Austro-Prussian War ends with the Treaty of Prague.
• 1889 - First wireless message from a ship to the shore received.
• 1939 - World War II: Germany and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression treaty, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. In a secret addition to the pact, Baltic states, Finland, Ukraine and Poland are divided between the two nations.
• 1942 - World War II: Beginning of the ]]Battle of Stalingrad]].
• 1944 - World War II King Michael of Romania dismisses the pro-German government of General Antonescu, who is arrested. Romania switches sides from the Axis to the Allies.
• 1948 - World Council of Churches is formed.
• 1952 - The Arab League is formed.
• 1962 - First live television connection between the United States and Europe, via the Telstar satellite.
• 1975 - Successful Communist coup in Laos.
• 1990
  • Armenia declares its independence from the Soviet Union.
  • West Germany and East Germany announce that they will unite on October 3.

[edit] Births

• 686 - Charles Martel, grandfather of Charlemagne (d. 741)
• 1852 - Arnold Toynbee, English economist and social reformer (d. 1883)

[edit] Deaths

• 1305 - William Wallace, Scottish patriot
• 1927
  • Nicola Sacco, Italian anarchist (b. 1891)
  • Bartolomeo Vanzetti, Italian anarchist (b. 1888)