Browse Historical Events by Day: What Happened on March 23rd?

Romulus Augustulus, the last Roman Emperor, is deposed by Odoacer, marking the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

King Æthelred I of Wessex dies, and his brother Alfred the Great becomes King of Wessex.

Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, wins the Battle of Clontarf against the Vikings but dies in the battle.

Edward the Confessor becomes the King of England.

Pope Leo IX issues a papal bull excommunicating Michael I Cerularius, leading to the Great Schism between the Eastern and Western Christian churches.

Crusaders lay siege to the city of Tripoli in modern-day Lebanon during the Crusade of 1101.

Vladislaus II becomes the King of Bohemia.

Battle of Benevento: Charles of Anjou defeats Manfred, King of Sicily.

Battle of Roslin: Scots under Sir Simon Fraser ambush and defeat an English force.

Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton: England recognizes Scottish independence and Robert the Bruce as King.

The Battle of Shrewsbury in England takes place between King Henry IV and rebellious forces led by Henry Percy, known as Hotspur.

The Medici family is expelled from Florence, Italy, due to political conflicts.

The Siege of Domrémy in France occurs during the Hundred Years' War.

Joan of Arc arrives at the court of Charles VII of France, seeking support for her mission.

The first English-language Bible, translated by William Tyndale, is printed in Antwerp.

Peace of Longjumeau ends the Second War of Religion in France.

During a speech before the second Virginia Convention, 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!. Patrick Henry served as the first and sixth post-colonial Governor of Virginia. More

The initials OK came into the lime light when they were published by the Boston Morning Post 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. However ,the term has also been attributed to the Native American Indian tribe known as the Choctaw. The Choctaw word okeh means the same as the American word okay. Experts say early explorers in the American West spoke the Choctaw language and spread the term. More