What Happened in 2023 — Events, Births & Deaths

Croatia officially adopts the Euro, becoming the 20th Eurozone country, and becomes the 27th member of the Schengen Area.

Singapore's Jurong Bird Park permanently closes.

The 2023 Sinaloa unrest begins.

The longest U.S. House of Representatives speaker election since the December 1859 – February 1860 U.S. speaker election concludes and Kevin McCarthy is elected 55th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.

Supporters of former Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro storm the Brazilian Congress.

Yeti Airlines Flight 691 crashes near Pokhara International Airport, killing all 72 people on board.

An avalanche strikes Nyingchi, Tibet, killing 28 people.

A helicopter crash in Ukraine leaves 14 people dead, including the country's Interior Minister, Denys Monastyrsky.

Huu Can Tran, 72, opens fire in a dance studio in Monterey Park, California, killing eleven people and injuring nine others before later committing suicide. It is the worst mass shooting in Los Angeles County since the 2008 Covina massacre.

Protests and public outrage spark across the U.S. after the release of multiple videos by the Memphis Police Department showing officers punching, kicking, and pepper spraying Tyre Nichols as a result of running away from a traffic stop, which resulted him dying in the hospital three days later after the incident.

A shooting at a synagogue in Neve Yaakov, East Jerusalem, kills seven people and injures three others.

An attack on the Azerbaijani embassy in Pasdaran, Tehran, kills one person and injures three others.

Protests begin in the United States after police beat and kill Tyre Nichols.

The last Boeing 747, the first wide-body airliner, is delivered to Atlas Air and operated for ApexLogistics. The aircraft was registered as N863GT and named "Empower".

Ohio train derailment: A freight train containing vinyl chloride and other hazardous materials derails and burns in East Palestine, Ohio, United States, releasing hydrogen chloride and phosgene into the air and contaminating the Ohio River.

Two earthquakes measuring Mww 7.8 and 7.5 struck near the border between Turkey and Syria with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XII (Extreme). The earthquakes resulted in numerous aftershocks and a death toll of 57,658 people.

Two children are killed and six others are injured when a bus crashes into a daycare centre in Laval, Quebec, Canada. The driver is arrested and charged with homicide and dangerous driving.

Two trains collide south of the Vale of Tempe in Greece, leading to the deaths of at least 57 people and leaving 58 missing and 85 injured.

The 2023 Estonian parliamentary election is held, with two centre-right liberal parties gaining an absolute majority for the first time.

A group of four prisoners escape from the Nouakchott Civil Prison, before being caught the next day.

A shooting in the Alsterdorf quarter of Hamburg, Germany, kills eight people and injures another eight.

Silicon Valley Bank collapses due to a run on its deposits, in the second largest bank failure in US history. Its operations are taken over by the FDIC.

The Burmese military kills at least 30 villagers, including 3 Buddhist monks, during the Pinlaung massacre in Shan State, Myanmar.

The Swiss Government brokers a deal for UBS to buy out rival Credit Suisse in an attempt to calm the 2023 banking crisis.

An EF4 tornado strikes the towns of Rolling Fork and Silver City, Mississippi, causing mass destruction.

Seven people, including the perpetrator, are killed in a mass shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee.

Forty people are killed in a fire at a migrant detention facility in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.

Donald Trump becomes the first former United States president to be indicted by a grand jury.

A historic tornado outbreak occurs in the American Midwest and South.

Finland becomes a member of NATO after Turkey accepts its membership request.

A mass shooting occurs at the Old National Bank in Louisville, Kentucky, that leaves five victims dead and eight wounded.

During the Pazigyi massacre, an airstrike conducted by the Myanmar Air Force kills at least 100 villagers in Pazigyi, Sagaing Region.

The house of Jack Teixeira is raided in an investigation into leaked Pentagon documents; he is arrested on the same day.

The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) is launched by the European Space Agency.

SpaceX's Starship rocket, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built, launches for the first time. It explodes four minutes into flight.

Nine students and a security guard are killed in the Belgrade school shooting, the first attack of its kind in Serbia.

Ethnic violence breaks out between the Meitei and the Kuki Zo people in the state of Manipur.

Nine people are killed and thirteen injured in a spree shooting in Mladenovac and Smederevo, Serbia. It is the second mass shooting in the country in two days.

The World Health Organization declares the end of the COVID-19 pandemic as a global health emergency.

The coronation of Charles III and Camilla as King and Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms is held in Westminster Abbey, London.

Eight people are killed and seven injured in a mass shooting in Allen, Texas. The perpetrator is killed by a police officer.

Tanur boat disaster: At least 22 people are killed when a boat carrying tourists capsizes in Tanur, Malappuram, Kerala, India.

The May 9 riots following the arrest of Imran Khan in Pakistan.

A collision between two passenger trains and a parked freight train near the city of Balasor, Odisha in eastern India, results in 296 deaths and more than 1,200 people injured.

Protests begin in Poland against the PiS government.

Four people are killed when a Cessna Citation V crashes into Mine Bank Mountain in Augusta County, Virginia.

Russo-Ukrainian war: The Kakhovka Dam is destroyed.

Former US President Donald Trump is indicted on federal charges of misusing classified information.

At least 100 people are killed when a wedding boat capsizes on the Niger River in Kwara State, Nigeria.

Three people are killed and another three injured in an early morning stabbing and van ramming attack in Nottingham, England.

Titan, a submersible operated by OceanGate Expeditions, implodes in the North Atlantic Ocean while attempting to view the wreck of the Titanic, killing all five people on board, including OceanGate co-founder and CEO Stockton Rush.

The Wagner Group led by Yevgeny Prigozhin launches an insurrection against the Russian government.

A Tajik citizen with ISIS connections, wanted in Tajikistan for murder and kidnapping, kills two people at Chișinău International Airport in Moldova, after being denied entry to the country.

The last Ariane 5 rocket is launched, carrying the Heinrich Hertz and Syracuse 4B satellites.

The Barbenheimer phenomenon begins as two major motion pictures, Greta Gerwig's fantasy comedy Barbie and Christopher Nolan's epic biographical thriller Oppenheimer, are released in theaters on the same day and audiences, instead of creating a rivalry between the extremely dissimilar films, instead attend and praise both as an informal, surreal double feature.

Former US President Donald Trump is indicted for his role in the January 6 United States Capitol attack, his third indictment in 2023.

Major floods hit parts of Slovenia.

Hawaii wildfires: Seventeen thousand acres of land are burned and at least 101 people are killed, with two others missing, when a series of wildfires break out on the island of Maui in Hawaii.

Luna 25 launches from the Vostochny Cosmodrome.

Former U.S. president Donald Trump is charged in Georgia along with 18 others in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election in that state, his fourth indictment of 2023.

Chandrayaan-3 mission initiates first Moon landing in Indian history.

A business jet carrying key leadership members of the Russian private military company Wagner Group crashes, killing all ten people on board.

Japan officially begins discharging treated radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean, sparking international concerns and condemnation.

Exactly five years after the 2018 Jacksonville Landing shooting, there is another shooting in Jacksonville, Florida, leaving three people dead.

Gabonese coup d'état: After Ali Bongo Ondimba's reelection, a military coup ousts him, ending 56 years of Bongo family rule in Gabon.

India's first solar observation mission: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launches Aditya-L1 from Satish Dhawan space centre.

A magnitude 6.9 earthquake strikes Morocco, killing nearly 3,000 people and damaging historic sites in Marrakesh.

The 2023 Rugby World Cup, the tenth men's Rugby World Cup is held in France. The opening ceremony, directed and written by Jean Dujardin, Olivier Ferracci and Nora Matthey, took place at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, before the opening match between France and New Zealand, which saw the host nation winning 27 to 13.

The Libyan city of Derna experiences catastrophic floods after Storm Daniel causes two dams to collapse, killing thousands of people.

Azerbaijan launches a military offensive against the Republic of Artsakh in the Nagorno-Karabakh region; this leads to the flight of the Armenian population.

NASA's OSIRIS-REx capsule containing samples from the asteroid 101955 Bennu successfully lands back on Earth.

The 2023 Rotterdam shootings occurred, during which two people were killed in a shooting and arson incident at a residence in Delfshaven, Rotterdam. Additionally, one person lost their life in a classroom at the Erasmus University Medical Center.

Wab Kinew is elected to be the first First Nations Premier of a Canadian province in the 2023 Manitoba general election

Hamas and several other Palestinian militant groups launch an attack into Israel, which results in the deaths of around 1,200, mostly civilians, and the taking of 251 hostages, including civilians and soldiers.

Australians vote to reject a constitutional amendment that would have established an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.

An explosion at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza kills hundreds of Palestinians during the Gaza war.

A mass shooting occurs in two locations in Lewiston, Maine. 18 people are killed and 13 more injured.

The 2023 Rugby World Cup final is held at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, France. It saw South Africa defeat New Zealand 12 to 11, claiming their fourth Webb Ellis Cup, becoming the first nation to do so.

First rescue of a prisoner during the Israeli invasion of Gaza.

António Costa resigns as Prime Minister of Portugal following news of an investigation in a corruption scandal implicating members of his cabinet.

U.S. surgeons at NYU Langone Health announce the world's first whole eye transplant.

The 2023 Cricket World Cup final takes place at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India, played between host nation India and Australia.

Hibiscus Rising, commemorating David Oluwale, is unveiled in Leeds.

Mount Marapi located in West Sumatra, Indonesia begins a sporadic series of eruptions. 23 people were killed, and 12 were injured.

Fourteen people are killed and 25 others injured during a mass shooting at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic.

A series of massacres targeting Berom civilians unfold in the Plateau State in Nigeria, killing over 200 people and further injuring over 500. No group claims responsibility.

South Africa files a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice over Israeli conducts in the Gaza Strip.

Fred White, American musician and songwriter (born 1955)

Elena Huelva, Spanish cancer activist and influencer (born 2002)

Rosi Mittermaier, German alpine skier and Olympic champion (born 1950)

Mary Lou Kownacki, American Roman Catholic nun, peace activist, and writer (born 1941)

Séamus Begley, Irish accordion player, fiddler and Irish traditional musician (born 1949)

Jeff Beck, English guitarist and songwriter (born 1944)

Constantine II of Greece, King of Greece (1964-1973) (born 1940)

Carole Cook, American actress and singer (born 1924)

Lisa Marie Presley, American singer-songwriter (born 1968)

Sharad Yadav, Indian politician, 30th Minister of Civil Aviation, 29th Labour Minister (born 1947)

Mukarram Jah, 8th Nizam of Hyderabad (born 1933)

Lucile Randon, French supercentenarian (born 1904)

David Crosby, American singer-songwriter (born 1941)

Lin Brehmer, American disc jockey (born 1954)

Hazel McCallion, Canadian businesswoman and politician, 5th Mayor of Mississauga (born 1921)

Will Steffen, American-Australian chemist (born 1947)

Gero Storjohann, German politician (born 1958)

Bobby Beathard, American Pro Football Hall of Fame executive (born 1937)

Bobby Hull, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1939)

K. Viswanath, Indian actor, director and screenwriter (born 1930)

Butch Miles, American jazz drummer (born 1944)

Vani Jairam, Indian playback singer (born 1945)

Sherif Ismail, 53rd Prime Minister of Egypt (born 1955)

Pervez Musharraf, Pakistani military officer and politician, 10th President of Pakistan (born 1943)

Greta Andersen, Danish swimmer (born 1927)

Arto Heiskanen, Finnish professional hockey player (born 1963)

AKA, South African rapper (born 1988)

Donald Spoto, American biographer (born 1941)

Raquel Welch, American actress and singer (born 1940)

Tony Earl, American politician, 40th Governor of Wisconsin (born 1936)

John Motson, English football commentator (born 1945)

Edith Roger, Norwegian dancer and choreographer (born 1922)

Gordon Pinsent, Canadian actor, director and screenwriter (born 1930)

Gérard Latortue, Haitian prime minister (born 1934)

Just Fontaine, French footballer (born 1933)

Kenzaburō Ōe, Japanese novelist, 1994 Nobel Prize laureate in Literature (born 1935)

Tom Sizemore, American actor (born 1961)

Phil Batt, American soldier and politician, 29th Governor of Idaho (born 1927)

Chaim Topol, Israeli actor (born 1935)

Napoleon XIV, American singer (born 1938)

Lance Reddick, American actor (born 1962)

John Sattler, Australian rugby league player (born 1942)

Kyle White, Australian rugby league player (born 1970)

Willis Reed, American basketball player (born 1942)

Gordon Moore, American businessman, engineer and co-founder of Intel Corporation (born 1929)

Pradeep Sarkar, Indian writer and director (born 1955)

María Kodama, Argentine writer and translator (born 1937)

Innocent Vareed Thekkethala, Indian actor and politician (born 1948)

Jacob Ziv, Israeli electrical engineer, developed the LZ family of compression algorithms (born 1931)

Paul O'Grady, English comedian, actor and drag queen (born 1955)

Ryuichi Sakamoto, Japanese composer, record producer, and actor (born 1952)

John Kerin, Australian politician (born 1937)

Vivan Sundaram, Indian contemporary artist (born 1943)

Doug Mulray, Australian radio and television host (born 1951)

Ben Ferencz, American lawyer (born 1920)

Philippe Bouvatier, French cyclist (born 1964)

Karl Berger, German-American jazz pianist (born 1935)

Al Jaffee, American cartoonist (born 1921)

Mark Sheehan, Irish guitarist (The Script) (born 1976)

Moonbin, South Korean singer and actor (born 1998)

Ron Hamilton, American musician (born 1950)

Len Goodman, English ballroom dancer and television personality (born 1944)

Wang Xiaolong, Chinese Coast guardsman (born 1995)

Harry Belafonte, American singer, activist, and actor (born 1927)

Jerry Apodaca, American politician, 24th Governor of New Mexico (born 1934)

Jerry Springer, American politician and actor (born 1944)

Padma Desai, Indian-American development economist (born 1931)

Jock Zonfrillo, Scottish television presenter and chef (born 1976)

Gordon Lightfoot, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1938)

Aase Foss Abrahamsen, Norwegian writer (born 1930)

Rita Lee, Brazilian musician and author (born 1947)

Doyle Brunson, American poker player (born 1933)

Samantha Weinstein, Canadian actress (born 1995)

Norm Green, American long-distance runner (born 1932)

Jim Brown, American football player, civil rights activist, and actor (born 1936)

Andy Rourke, English bassist (born 1964)

Tina Turner, American-Swiss rock and pop singer, dancer, actress and author (born 1939)

Joy McKean, Australian country music singer-songwriter (born 1930)

David Breaer, English politician, Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London (born 1940)

Sulochana Latkar, Indian actress (born 1928)

Astrud Gilberto, Brazilian singer (born 1940)

The Iron Sheik, Iranian-American wrestler and actor (born 1942)

Pat Robertson, American televangelist (born 1930)

Alain Touraine, French sociologist (born 1925)

Ted Kaczynski, American mathematician and domestic terrorist (born 1942)

Silvio Berlusconi, Italian businessman and politician, Prime Minister of Italy (born 1936)

Francesco Nuti, Italian actor and director, (born 1955)

John Romita Sr., comic book artist and author (born 1930)

Treat Williams, American actor (born 1951)

Cormac McCarthy, American author (born 1933)

Glenda Jackson, English actress and politician (born 1936)

Gino Mäder, Swiss cyclist (born 1997)

Notable victims of the Titan submersible implosion:

Winnie Ewing, Scottish politician (born 1929)

Harry Markowitz, American Nobel economist (born 1927)

Simon Crean, Australian trade union leader and politician (born 1949)

Lowell Weicker, French-American politician, 85th Governor of Connecticut (born 1931)

Alan Arkin, American actor (born 1934)

Dilano van 't Hoff, Dutch race car driver (born 2004)

Milan Kundera, Czech-French writer (born 1929)

Kevin Mitnick, American hacker (born 1963)

Jane Birkin, British model, actress, singer, and songwriter (born 1944)

Oommen Chandy, Indian politician, former Chief Minister of Kerala (born 1943)

Tony Bennett, American singer (born 1926)

George Alagiah, BBC News journalist and broadcaster (born 1955)

Trevor Francis, Britain's first "£1 million football player" (born 1954)

Sinéad O'Connor, Irish singer and musician (born 1966)

Paul Reubens, American actor and comedian (born 1952)

Angus Cloud, American actor (born 1998)

Nitin Chandrakant Desai, Indian art director, production designer, and film and television producer (born 1965)

Mark Margolis, American actor (born 1939)

Bram Moolenaar, Dutch software engineer (born 1961)

Dalia Fadila, Israeli educator (born 1971/1972)

William Friedkin, American film director (born 1935)

Rodriguez, American singer and songwriter (born 1942)

Robbie Robertson, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (born 1943)

Mike Ahern, Australian politician, 32nd Premier of Queensland (born 1942)

Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, Bangladeshi Islamic lecturer, politician (born 1940)

Howard S. Becker, American sociologist (born 1928)

Lolita, the second-oldest orca in captivity (born ca. 1966)

Al Quie, American politician, 35th Governor of Minnesota (born 1923)

Václav Patejdl, Slovak musician (born 1954)

Toto Cutugno, Italian singer-songwriter (born 1943)

Alexandra Paul, Canadian ice dancer (born 1991)

Dmitry Utkin, Russian army officer, founder of Wagner Group (born 1970)

Yevgeny Prigozhin, Russian businessman, chief of Wagner Group (born 1961)

Terry Funk, American professional wrestler (born 1944)

Bray Wyatt, American wrestler (born 1987)

Bob Barker, American television game show host (born 1923)

Mike Enriquez, Filipino broadcaster (born 1951)

Silvina Luna, Argentine model and actress (born 1980)

Jimmy Buffett, American singer-songwriter, musician, author and businessman (born 1946)

Steve Harwell, American singer (born 1967)

Wanda Janicka, Polish architect, participant in the Warsaw Uprising (born 1923)

Ian Wilmut, British embryologist (born 1944)

Fernando Botero, Colombian painter and sculptor (born 1932)

Brereton C. Jones, American politician, 58th Governor of Kentucky (born 1939)

Maddy Cusack, English football player (born 1995)

Walewska Oliveira, Brazilian volleyball player and Olympic champion (born 1979)

Altemio Sanchez, Puerto Rican serial killer and rapist (born 1958)

David McCallum, Scottish actor (born 1933)

Michael Gambon, Irish-English actor (born 1940)

Tim Wakefield, American professional baseball player (born 1966)

Francis Lee, English footballer (born 1944)

Thomas Gambino, American mobster, Gambino crime family (born 1929)

Israelis murdered or fell in the line of duty during the October 7 attacks

Terence Davies, English filmmaker

Luis Garavito, Colombian serial killer (born 1957)

Louise Glück, American poet and essayist (born 1943)

Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland and Nobel Prize laureate (born 1937)

Atsushi Sakurai, singer from Japanese rock band Buck-Tick (born 1966)

Bobby Charlton, English footballer and manager (born 1937)

Bobi, Portuguese dog (born 1992)

Bill Hayden, Australian politician, 21st Governor General of Australia (born 1933)

Aira Samulin, Finnish entrepreneur and dance teacher (born 1927)

Bishan Singh Bedi, Indian cricketer (born 1946)

Li Keqiang, premier of China (born 1955)

Matthew Perry, American-Canadian actor (born 1969)

Adam Johnson, American ice hockey player (born 1994)

Hiroshi Morie, Japanese musician and singer-songwriter (born 1968)

Ken Mattingly, American astronaut (born 1936)

Brian Brain, English cricketer (born 1940)

Humaira Himu, Bangladeshi actress (born 1985)

Akbar Golpayegani, Iranian vocalist (born 1934)

Pat E. Johnson, American martial artist and actor (born 1939)

Antoni Martí, Andorran politician, former Prime Minister of Andorra (born 1963)

Frank Borman, American astronaut (born 1928)

Junko Ohashi, Japanese singer (born 1950)

Don Walsh, American oceanographer (born 1931)

Žarko Laušević, Serbian actor (born 1960)

Rosalynn Carter, American mental health activist, First Lady of the United States (1977–1981), and of Georgia (1971–1975) (born 1927)

Eddie Linden, Scottish poet and publisher (born 1935)

Terry Venables, English football player and manager (born1943)

Charlie Munger, American businessman and vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (born 1924)

Henry Kissinger, former US secretary of state (born 1923)

Taichi Yamada, Japanese screenwriter and novelist (born 1934)

Alistair Darling, British Politician and Chancellor of the Exchequer (born 1953)

Shane MacGowan, Irish singer-songwriter and frontman of The Pogues (born 1957)

Sandra Day O'Connor, first female U.S. Supreme Court Justice (1981–2006) (born 1930)

Norman Lear, American screenwriter and producer (born 1922)

Benjamin Zephaniah, British writer and dub poet (born1958)

Refaat Alareer, Palestinian professor and writer (born1979)

Emiko Miyamoto, Japanese volleyball player (born 1937)

Ryan O'Neal, American actor (born 1941)

Julian Carroll, American politician, 54th Governor of Kentucky (born 1931)

Andre Braugher, American actor (born 1962)

Tomáš Janovic, Slovak writer (born 1937)

Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (born 1937)

Ronaldo Valdez, Filipino actor (born 1947)

James McCaffrey, American actor (born 1958)

Leon Coates, English composer (born 1937)

William Pope.L, American performance artist (born 1955)

Cheri Barry, American politician and mayor of Meridian, Mississippi (born 1955)

Richard Bowes, American science fiction author (born 1944)

Troy Dargan, Cook Islands rugby league footballer (born 1997)

Jim Breaks, British wrestler (born 1940)

Lukas Enembe, Indonesian politician, Governor of Papua from 2013 to 2023 (born1967)

Tom Smothers, American comedian, actor, and activist (born 1937)

Lee Sun-kyun, South Korean actor (born 1975)

Gaston Glock, Austrian firearm engineer and founder of Glock (born 1929)

Vijayakanth, Indian actor and politician (born 1952)

Gil de Ferran, French-born Brazilian racing driver, CART champion (2000, 2001), 2003 Indianapolis 500 winner (born 1967)

Bryan Ansell, British role-playing and wargame designer (born 1955)

Tom Wilkinson, English actor (born 1948)

Aki Yashiro, Japanese singer (born 1950)

Cale Yarborough, American Hall of Fame racing driver and founder of Cale Yarborough Motorsports, NASCAR Cup Series champion (1976, 1977, 1978) (born 1939)