THIS DAY IN HISTORY ― AUGUST 23

August 23 is the 235th day of the year (236th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 130 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Tuesday, Thursday or Sunday (58 in 400 years each) than on Friday or Saturday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Monday or Wednesday (56). 

NATIONAL SPONGE CAKE DAY 

30 BC – After the successful invasion of Egypt, Octavian (Augustus) executes Marcus Antonius Antyllus, eldest son of Mark Antony, and Caesarion, the last king of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt and only child of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra.

634 – Abu Bakr dies at Medina and is succeeded by Umar I who becomes the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate.

1382 – Siege of Moscow: The Golden Horde led by Khan Tokhtamysh lays siege to the capital of the Grand Duchy of Moscow.

1775 – American Revolutionary War: King George III delivers his Proclamation of Rebellion to the Court of St James's stating that the American colonies have proceeded to a state of open and avowed rebellion. 

1831 – Nat Turner's slave rebellion is suppressed. 

1839 – The United Kingdom captures Hong Kong as a base as it prepares for war with Qing China. The ensuing 3-year conflict will later be known as the First Opium War. 

1927 – Italian anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti are executed after a lengthy, controversial trial. 

1939 – World War II: Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression treaty, the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. In a secret addition to the pact, the Baltic states, Finland, Romania, and Poland are divided between the two nations.

1942 – World War II: Beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad. The siege of Stalingrad by the German army lasted from August 22, 1942 to February 2, 1943.

1966 – Lunar Orbiter 1 takes the first photograph of Earth from orbit around the Moon. 

1990 – West Germany and East Germany announce that they will reunite on October 3. 

1991 – English computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee opens the World Wide Web (WWW) to new users. 

1993 – The Galileo spacecraft discovers a moon, later named Dactyl, around 243 Ida, the first known asteroid moon. 

1996 – Osama bin Laden issues message entitled "A declaration of war against the Americans occupying the land of the two holy places."

2007 – The skeletal remains of Russia's last royal family members Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia, and his sister Grand Duchess Anastasia are discovered near Yekaterinburg, Russia.  

2011 – Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is overthrown after the National Transitional Council forces take control of Bab al-Azizia compound during the Libyan Civil War. He escaped but was captured and killed on October 20, 2011.


TODAY'S BIRTHS

1623 – Stanisław Lubieniecki, Polish astronomer, theologian, and historian (d. 1675)

1754 – Louis XVI of France (d. 1793)

1847 – Sarah Frances Whiting, American physicist and astronomer (d. 1927)

1883 – Jonathan M. Wainwright, American general, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1953)

1921 – Kenneth Arrow, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2017)

1932 – Mark Russell, American comedian and pianist

From Wikipedia and Google (images), ex as noted.