August 23rd 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.

Events

1514 – Ottoman forces defeated the Safavids at the Battle of Chaldiran, gaining control of eastern Anatolia and northern Iraq.

1898 – The Southern Cross Expedition, the first British venture of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, departed from London.

1921 – The Royal Navy’s R-38, the world’s largest airship at the time, was destroyed by a structural failure while in flight over Hull, killing 44 of the 49 crew aboard.

1943 – Second World War: The decisive Soviet victory in the Battle of Kursk gave the Red Army the strategic initiative for the rest of the war.

2011 – A 5.8 MW earthquake struck the Piedmont region of Virginia, and was felt by more people than any other quake in U.S. history.

Celebrity Birthdays

Gene Kelly was born in 1912

Barbara Eden turns 87

Rick Springfield turns 69

River Phoenix is born in 1970

Jay Mohr turns 48

Kobe Bryant turns 40