Important Events From This day in History – 23rd November

Today in History

• 2009 Maguindanao massacre in the Philippines

  The massacre in the southern Philippines, considered the worst attack on journalists in recorded history, occurred when 57 citizens and journalists en route to register voters in Esmael Mangudadatu for the upcoming gubernatorial elections were killed and buried by gunmen. On that day, 34 journalists were killed.

• 2005 Ellen Johnson Sirleaf elected as President of Liberia

  The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner is also the first woman to be elected as head of state in an African country.

• 1976 First person to dive 100 meters in the sea without breathing equipment

  Frenchman Jacques Mayol, also known as Dolphin Man, was 49 years old at the time. Seven years later, he broke his own record by diving 105 meters.

• 1963 Doctor Who debuts on TV

  On the British Broadcasting Channel, the longest-running science fiction TV show premiered with an episode titled An Earthly Child. The show, which has had 11 different actors play the lead role, follows Doctor Who’s time-travelling adventures as he uses the Time and Relative Dimension in Space, or TARDIS, to travel through time and space.

• 1910 Last person to be executed in Sweden

  Johan Alfred Ander was found guilty of murdering Victoria Hellsten during a currency exchange robbery. He was the only person ever executed by guillotine in Swedish history. Capital punishment was abolished in the country for all peacetime crimes in 1921 and for all crimes in 1973.