March 23 is National Chips and Dip Day
George Frideric Handel’s oratorio “Messiah” premiered in London on March 23, 1743.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: Patrick Henry delivered his speech – “Give me Liberty, or give me Death!” – at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia.
“It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace – but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”
In 1801, Tsar Paul I of Russia was struck with a sword, then strangled, and finally trampled to death inside his bedroom at St. Michael’s Castle. He had been Tsar for only five years. Court physician, James Wylie, declared apoplexy the official cause of death.
Lewis and Clark reached Pacific coast on March 23, 1806. They had left St. Louis in May, 1804.
Elisha Otis’s first elevator was installed at 488 Broadway, New York City in 1857.
Dixie Cup invented by Lawrence Luellen in 1912 when he became concerned about germs being spread by people sharing glasses or dippers at public supplies of drinking water.
The Reichstag passed the Enabling Act of 1933, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany.
Pakistan became the first Islamic republic in the world in 1956. (Republic Day in Pakistan)
1965 – NASA launches Gemini 3, the United States’ first two-man space flight (crew: Gus Grissom and John Young).
March 23, 2013 – By a margin of 50-49, the U.S. Senate passed its first budget in four years.