Today in History
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2001 The Russian space station Mir plunges into the sea
After 15 years in space, the legendary station was destroyed in a controlled crash.
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1980 Archbishop Óscar Romero calls on members of the El Salvador armed forces to stop killing their fellow Salvadorians
Only one day after delivering his famous sermon, the archbishop was assassinated by a death squad.
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1956 Pakistan becomes the world’s first Islamic republic
The Dominion of Pakistan also included modern-day Bangladesh or East Pakistan, which declared independence in 1971.
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1933 The Enabling Act of 1933 grants Adolf Hitler dictatorial powers in Germany
Hitler was granted the legal right to issue laws, even if they violated the German constitution, with the Ermächtigungsgesetz.
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1888 The Football League meets for the first time
The English and Welsh teams competed in the world’s oldest Association Football league. Its top 22 teams formed the Premier League in 1992.
Births On This Day, March 23
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1968 Damon Albarn
English singer-songwriter, producer, actor
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1912 Wernher von Braun
German physicist, engineer
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1910 Akira Kurosawa
Japanese director, screenwriter, producer
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1882 Amalie Emmy Noether
German mathematician
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1749 Pierre-Simon Laplace
French mathematician, astronomer
Deaths On This Day, March 23
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2015 Lee Kuan Yew
Chinese/Singaporean politician, 1st Prime Minister of Singapore
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2011 Elizabeth Taylor
English/American actress
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1992 Friedrich Hayek
Austrian/English economist, philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate
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1931 Bhagat Singh
Indian activist
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1801 Paul I of Russia
