23 November in history
8 events that happened on 23 November, from 1248 to 1963.
✦ Anniversary of the day
1248 CE 778 years ago
Seville surrenders to Ferdinand III of Castile
After a siege of more than a year, the Muslim city of Seville surrendered to Ferdinand III of Castile. Its fall left the Nasrid kingdom of Granada as the main surviving Muslim state in Iberia.
1700 CE 326 years ago
The papal conclave elects Giovanni Albani as Pope Clement XI
A papal conclave elected Cardinal Giovanni Albani as Clement XI after a month's deadlock that ended with the death of the childless Charles II of Spain. Expecting a political crisis, the cardinals chose a pope who would be seen as non-partisan.
1889 CE 137 years ago
The first coin-operated phonograph plays in San Francisco
Louis Glass installed a coin-in-the-slot phonograph at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco. Listening through tubes, customers paid a nickel a song, the ancestor of the jukebox.
1914 CE 112 years ago
The last US forces withdraw from Veracruz
The last United States forces left the Mexican port city of Veracruz, which they had occupied since April in response to the Tampico Affair. The occupation contributed to the fall of General Victoriano Huerta, who resigned in July.
1940 CE 86 years ago
Romania joins the Tripartite Pact
Romania signed the Tripartite Pact, the alliance concluded by Germany, Italy and Japan in Berlin on 27 September, and so formally joined the Axis powers. Hungary had joined on 20 November; Slovakia followed on 24 November.
1963 CE 63 years ago
Doctor Who is first broadcast
The BBC broadcast the first episode of Doctor Who, about a time-travelling alien in a police box. It became the longest-running science fiction television series in the world.
Born on 23 November 6
Died on 23 November 9
Dates as the sources give them: in the Julian calendar before 1582, and in some countries for longer (Britain until 1752, Russia until 1918). Only people whose day of birth or death the records agree on are listed.