On This Day in History: March 23

Crusaders led by Raymond IV of Toulouse (Raymond de Saint-Gilles), started a long term siege to the city of Tripoli in modern-day Lebanon in 1102, which was launched in the aftermath of the failed First Crusade, to reinforce the newly established Kingdom of Jerusalem and to rescue the famous Bohemond of Taranto from Muslim captivity. Expand +

Pope Innocent III places England under an interdict on March 23, 1208, as part of the dispute with King John regarding the placement of Stephen Langton as Archbishop of Canterbury. Expand +

King Henry of Trastámara becomes King Henry II (Enrique II) of Castile and Leon on March 23, 1369, after defeating and murdering his half-brother, King Peter, at the Battle of Campo de Montiel earlier that month on March 14. Expand +

The Medici family is expelled from Florence Italy, c. March, 1412, due to political and economic conflicts and their accommodating actions during the French invasion which was viewed by the Florentine peoples as a betrayal and a sign of weakness, leading to a revolt. The exile lasted for 18 years.

A Siege of Domrémy in France starts on March 23, 1421, during the Lancastrian phase of the Hundred Years's War between France and England. Expand +

The Peace of Longjumeau was signed on March 23, 1568 by Charles IX of France and Catherine de' Medici, ending the second war of the French Wars of Religion. The agreement was overturned later in the year by the Edict of Saint-Maur which outlawed Protestantism at the beginning of the third war of religion.

The Battle of Chandannagar takes place on March 23, 1757, leading to the capture of the French fort by the British during the Seven Years' War, effectively ended the French influence in Bengal, preceding the Battle of Plassey.

During a speech before the second Virginia Convention on March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry responds to the increasingly oppressive British rule over the American Colonies by declaring, “I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!. Expand +

The Lewis and Clark Expedition starts their return trip to St. Lewis on March 23, 1806 after spending the 1805–1806 winter at "Fort Clatsop" near the mouth of the Columbia River, in today's Oregon State, close to the city of Astoria; where the Expedition built the fort, which served as their encampment until their return.  Expand +

The initials OK came into the lime light when they were published by the Boston Morning Post on March 23, 1839, as part of a joke. The initials stood for "oll korrect." Just as todays teenagers, younger, educated circles during the late 1830s intentionally misspelled words and then abbreviate them to use them as slang. Expand +

Elisha Otis installed the first commercial passenger elevator at the E.V. Haughwout Department Store in New York City, on March 23, 1857. The steam-powered lift, traveling five stories, featured his revolutionary safety brake. The invention made vertical urban expansion possible leading to the skyscraper era. More