History for August 23

History for August 23 - On-This-Day.com:

Birth anniversary of dancer, director, choreographer, actor Gene Kelly (1912-96).

Happy Birthday! Barbara Eden, Shelley Long, Vera Miles

1839 - Hong Kong was taken by the British in a war with China. 


1904 - Hard D. Weed patented the grip-tread tire chain for cars. 


 In 1927, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed after being found guilty in a fatal armed robbery in Massachusetts.

1939 - Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression treaty. 

1973 -A botched bank robbery began in Stockholm, Sweden, that devolved into a hostage situation (Aug 23-28). The psychological state of the hostages identifying and sympathizing with their captors was later termed the “Stockholm Syndrome.”

1977 - First man-powered flight: Bryan Allen pedaled the 70-pound Gossamer Condor for a mile at a minimal altitude of two pylons at Schafter, CA.

1979 - Soviet dancer Alexander Godunov defected while the Bolshoi Ballet was on tour in New York City. 


1982 - The parliament of Lebanon elected Bashir Bemayel president. He was assassinated three weeks later. 


1998 - Protestors in Sudan carried a sign that bore the resemblance of Monica Lewinsky and the words "No War for Monika." The anti-U.S. demonstration was in Khartoum, Sudan.