March 23

1775 – During the Second Virginia Convention held at the St. John’s Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia, delegate Patrick Henry rises to speak on the question of the passage of a resolution, declaring the United Colonies to be independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain. He is quoted as ending with “Give me liberty, or give me death!”.

1806 – After traveling through the Louisiana Purchase and reaching the Pacific Ocean, explorers Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery begin their return journey.

1857 – Elisha Otis’ first elevator is installed at 488 Broadway New York City.

1868 – The University of California is founded in Oakland, California.

1913 – A tornado outbreak kills more than 240 people in the central United States, with flooding in the Ohio River watershed killing 650 more.

1919 – Benito Mussolini founds his Fascist political movement in Milan, Italy.

1933 – The Reichstag passes the Enabling Act of 1933, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany.

1965 – NASA launches Gemini 3, the United States’ first 2 man space flight with astronauts Gus Grissom and John Young aboard.

1983 – President Ronald Reagan makes his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles, the Strategic Defense Initiative, nicknamed the “Star Wars program”.

1989 – At Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri; Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 10th Infantry Regiment ‘caps off’ reception of its final shipment of soldiers, beginning Zero Week of Basic Combat Training cycle 2-89.

1994 – On final approach to landing at Pope Air Force Base on Fort Bragg North Carolina; an Air Force F-16 collides with a C-130 and then crashes into several more aircraft on the Green Ramp of the base, killing 23 soldiers and injuring 100 more.

2001 – The abandoned Russian Mir space station is purposefully deorbited, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji.

2019 – After four years of fighting. the US backed Syrian Democratic Forces declare military victory over the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.