- August 23, 0079 “Mount Vesuvius begins stirring, on the feast day of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire.”
- August 23, 1305 “William Wallace, Scottish patriot, is executed at for high treason by Edward I of England.”
- August 23, 1328 Battle of Cassel: French troops stop an uprising of Flemish farmers.
- August 23, 1541 French explorer Jacques Cartier lands near Quebec City in his third voyage to Canada.
- August 23, 1541 Jacques Cartier 1491-1557 arrives at Iroquois village of Stadacona on his third trip to Canada; starts to build Charlesbourg-Royale at western tip of Cape Diamond; first French fort in Canada; first French settlement in America.
- August 23, 1555 Calvinists are granted rights in the Netherlands.
- August 23, 1577 “Frobisher Bay NWT, Martin Frobisher c1539-1594 kidnaps three Inuit, then sets sail for England.”
- August 23, 1595 Michael the Brave confronts the Ottoman army in the Battle of Calugareni.
- August 23, 1614 The University of Groningen is established.
- August 23, 1617 First one-way streets established (London)
- August 23, 1617 The first one-way street is opened in London.
- August 23, 1651 Charles II of England enters Worcester and starts a fight.
- August 23, 1708 Meidingnu Pamheiba is crowned King of Manipur.
- August 23, 1784 “Western North Carolina (now eastern Tennessee) declares itself an independent state under the name of Franklin; it wasnt accepted into the United States, and only lasted for four years.”
- August 23, 1793 French Revolution: a leve en masse was decreed by the National Convention.
- August 23, 1797 Emanuel Allen sold at public auction in Montreal; last slave transaction in Canada.
- August 23, 1799 Napoleon leaves Egypt for France en route to seize power.
- August 23, 1813 “At the Battle of Grossbeeren, the Prussians under Von Blow repulse the French army.”
- August 23, 1818 The first steamship trip is taken on Lake Erie.
- August 23, 1833 “Britain abolishes slavery in colonies; 700,000 slaves freed”
- August 23, 1833 Slavery abolished in the British colonies.
- August 23, 1838 “Mt Holyoke Female Seminary (South Hadley, Mass) first graduating class”
- August 23, 1839 Hong Kong is taken by British in war with China.
- August 23, 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.
- August 23, 1850 “In the Lancaster Sound NWT, HMS Assistance and HMS Intrepid find first trace of lost Franklin expedition in Lancaster Sound, at Cape Riley and Beechey Island.”
- August 23, 1864 Fall of Fort Morgan at Mobile
- August 23, 1864 “The Union Navy captures Fort Morgan, Alabama, thus breaking Confederate dominance of all ports on the Gulf of Mexico.”
- August 23, 1866 Austro-Prussian War ends with the Treaty of Prague.
- August 23, 1866 Treaty of Prague ends Austro-Prussian war
- August 23, 1869 “The first carload of freight (boots & shoes) arrives in SF, from Boston”
- August 23, 1872 “The first Japanese commercial ship visits SF, carrying tea”
- August 23, 1889 First wireless message from a ship to the shore received.
- August 23, 1889 The first ship-to-shore wireless message received in US (SF)
- August 23, 1896 “First Cry of the Philippine Revolution is made in Pugad Lawin (Quezon City), in the province of Manila.”
- August 23, 1900 National Negro Business League organizes (Boston)
- August 23, 1904 Automobile tire chain patented
- August 23, 1904 The automobile tire chain is patented.
- August 23, 1914 Japan declares war on Germany during WWI.
- August 23, 1914 “World War I: Japan declares war on Germany and bombs Qingdao, China.”