12 History Lessons + 3 Births & 6 Deaths for August 23, 2025
Today’s History:
- 1305 – William Wallace, Scottish patriot, is executed in London for treason against England.
- 1572 – St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre begins in Paris; thousands of Huguenots are killed in religious violence.
- 1784 – Western North Carolina declares independence as the State of Franklin (never recognized).
- 1839 – The United Kingdom captures Hong Kong as part of the First Opium War.
- 1927 – Italian anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti are executed in Massachusetts after a controversial trial.
- 1939 – Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union sign the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, a non-aggression treaty with secret terms to divide Eastern Europe.
- 1942 – The Battle of Stalingrad begins, marking a turning point in WWII on the Eastern Front.
- 1958 – The Cobb–Douglas production function is used for the first time in economic modeling of labor and capital.
- 1966 – Lunar Orbiter 1 takes the first photograph of Earth from orbit around the Moon.
- 1973 – A bank robbery in Stockholm turns into a hostage crisis; the term “Stockholm Syndrome” is later coined from this event.
- 1990 – Armenia declares independence from the Soviet Union.
- 2000 – The first season of Dora the Explorer premieres on Nickelodeon, becoming a major educational show for children.
Today’s Birthdays:
- 1931 – Barbara Eden, actress (I Dream of Jeannie) (94)
- 1988 – Jeremy Lin, professional basketball player and NBA champion (37)
- 1993 – Nico Hülkenberg, German Formula One driver (32)
Today’s Deaths:
- 1305 – William Wallace, Scottish military leader and folk hero (~35)
- 1927 – Nicola Sacco, Italian anarchist executed in the U.S. (36)
- 1927 – Bartolomeo Vanzetti, Italian anarchist executed in the U.S. (39)
- 1982 – Stanford Moore, American biochemist and Nobel laureate (68)
- 2019 – David Koch, American billionaire businessman and political donor (79)
- 2021 – Charlie Watts, drummer for The Rolling Stones (80)
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