HISTORY TODAY: September 23

1806  The Lewis and Clark Expedition arrives back
in St. Louis just over three years after its departure.

1561		Philip II of Spain gives orders to halt colonizing efforts in Florida.
1577		William of Orange makes his triumphant entry into Brussels, Belgium.
1667		Slaves in Virginia are banned from obtaining their freedom by converting to Christianity.
1739		The Austrians sign the Treaty of Belgrade after having lost the city to the Turks.
1779		The American navy under John Paul Jones, commanding from Bonhomme Richard, defeats and captures the British man-of-war Serapis.
1788		Louis XVI of France declares the Parliament restored.
1795		A national plebiscite approves the new French constitution, but so many voters sustain that the results are suspect.
1803		British Major General Sir Arthur Wellesley defeats the Marathas at Assaye, India.
1805		Lieutenant Zebulon Pike pays $2,000 to buy from the Sioux a 9-square-mile tract at the mouth of the Minnesota River that will be used to establish a military post, Fort Snelling.
1806		The Lewis and Clark Expedition arrives back in St. Louis just over three years after its departure.
1864		Confederate and Union forces clash at Mount Jackson, Front Royal and Woodstock in Virginia during the Valley campaign.
1911		The Second International Aviation Meet opens in New York.
1912		Mack Sennett's first "Keystone Cop" film debuts, Cohen Collects a Debt.
1945		The first American dies in Vietnam during the fall of Saigon to French forces.
1952		Richard Nixon responds to charges of a secret slush fund during his 'Checkers Speech.'
1954		East German police arrest 400 citizens as U.S. spies.
1967		Soviets sign a pact to send more aid to Hanoi.
1973		Juan Peron is re-elected president of Argentina after being overthrown in 1955.
1983		Gerrie Coetzee (Gerhardus Coetzee), boxer from South Africa; becomes the first boxer from the African continent to win a world heavyweight tittle (World Boxing Association).
1983		Gulf Air Flight 771 from Karachi, Pakistan, to Abu Dhabi, UAE, bombed; all 117 aboard die.
1992		Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) detonates 3,700-lb. bomb in Belfast, completely destroying the Northern Ireland forensic laboratory, injuring 20 people and damaging 700 houses.
2002		The first public version of Mozilla Firefox browser released; originally called Phoenix 0.1 its name was changed due to trademark issues with Phoenix Technologies.
2004		Hurricane Jeanne causes severe flooding in Haiti; over 1,000 reported dead.
Born on September 23
63 BC		Augustus Caesar, first Roman Emperor, who introduced Pax Romana, the era of peace.
1800		William Holmes McGuffey, educator famous for his book Eclectic Readers.
1838		Victoria Claflin Woodhull, the first woman presidential candidate (1872) in the United States.
1863		Mary Church Terrell, educator and civil rights advocate.
1865		Emmuska Orczy, baroness and author of The Scarlet Pimpernel.
1889		Walter Lippmann, journalist, one of the founders of The New Republic Magazine in 1914.
1889		Louise Nevelson, sculptor.
1915		Clifford G. Shull, physicist, improved techniques for exploring the atomic structure of matter.
1926		John Coltrane, influential jazz saxophonist.
1930		Ray Charles, rhythm 'n' blues piano player and singer.
1934		Ahmad Shah, Crown Prince of Afghanistan and heir apparent to the throne.
1936		Valentin Corazao, Interim President of Peru (2000-01) after Pres. Alberto Fujimori was removed from office by Congress.
1943		Julio Iglesia, singer, songwriter with more than 2,600 certified gold and platinum records ("To All the Girls I've Loved Before," "Summer Wind").
1947		Mary Kay Place, Emmy-winning actress (Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman), singer.
1949		Bruce "The Boss" Springsteen, singer, songwriter, musician ("Born to Run," "Born in the U.S.A"); his multiple awards include 20 Grammys, two Golden Globes, and an Oscar, the latter for "Streets of Philadelphia" (1994).
1961		William "Willie" McCool, American astronaut; among those killed when Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates while reentering Earth's atmosphere (2003).

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