On This Day June 23

1993
John Wayne Bobbitt: His wife cuts off his penis and discards it along the roadside. It was retrieved and reattached.

1938
Civil Aeronautics Authority is established by Congress, to promote safety and development and to regulate civil aeronautics.

1891
Rain making experiments are conducted in Texas by the Department of Agriculture.

1888
First black to receive a nominating vote for presidential candidate at a political convention, Frederick Douglass for the Republican party, although they nominated Benjamin Harrison.

1887
First baby hospital exclusively for infants is chartered, Babies Hospital of the City of New York.

1868
First practical typewriter is patented. Only able to type capital letters, it was first built in 1873.

1812
First naval battle after declaring war on Great Britain (War of 1812). A gun explodes on the USS President killing 22 and allowing the HMS Belvidera to escape.

1683
English Quaker William Penn signs a treaty purchasing land from the Pennsylvania Indians. (Source: An Almanac of the Christian Church)

1946
Ted Shackelford, American actor. TV: Dallas (Gary Ewing) and Knots Landing (Gary Ewing).

1940 d. 1962
Stuart Sutcliffe, English musician, bass guitarist for the Beatles before they became famous. He is partially credited with coming up with the name of the group, when he jokingly suggesting "Beetles" as a play on Buddy Holly's Crickets.

1939 d. 1991
Bert Convy, American Emmy-winning game show host, actor. TV: Super Password.

1936
Richard David Bach, American author. Writings: Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1970), which in five years sold over 7,000,000 copies in the U.S. It had been turned down by 18 publishers.

1929 d. 2003
June Carter Cash, American Grammy-winning singer, wife of Johnny Cash. TV: Grand Ole Opry.

1927 d. 1987
Bob Fosse (Robert Louis Fosse), American dancer, choreographer, director. He was the first director to win an Oscar (Cabaret, 1972), a Tony (Pajama Game, 1954), and an Emmy (Liza with a Z, 1973). He also directed his semi-autobiographical All That Jazz (1979).

1912 d. 1954
Alan Mathison Turing, British mathematician, computer expert, developed the first all electronic calculating device (1943). Called Colossus, it was capable of cracking Germany's "unbreakable" war code Enigma.

1894 d. 1972
Edward VIII (Duke of Windsor), King of England (1936). He gave up the Throne in 1937 to marry American divorcee Mrs. Wallis Warfield Simpson.

1894 d. 1956
Alfred Charles Kinsey, American zoologist. His book Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) shocked the public by pointing out how many "perverted acts" were common place in American homes.

1763 d. 1814
Josephine, French Empress, first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte. Their marriage was dissolved (1809) when she failed to produce an heir.

2006 b. 1923
Aaron Spelling, American TV and film producer. TV: Charlie's Angels, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Dynasty, Beverly Hills 90210, and Melrose Place,

1995 b. 1914
Jonas Edward Salk, American physician, scientist. He discovered a polio vaccine in 1953, saving thousands from the crippling disease. In 1952 alone, polio paralyzed 21,000 people and killed 3,100.

1945 b. 1866
Simon Lake, American engineer, father of the modern submarine. He built his first sub in 1894.

1611 b. 1575
Henry Hudson, English explorer. He was the first white man to go up the Hudson River (1609).

79 A.D. b. 9 A.D.
Vespasian, Roman Emperor (69-79 A.D.), responsible for the building of the Colosseum.

June 23

Events

Birthdays

Deaths