July 23
Subject to Britannica's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
2015: NASA discovers an earthlike planet
On this day in 2015, NASA announced the discovery of Earth’s “bigger, older cousin,” an exoplanet named Kepler-452b. Scientists are excited because it shares similarities with Earth, raising the possibility that it could potentially sustain life. However, with our current technology, the planet is too far away to detect the chemical signs of life. It is so distant that its light takes 1,800 years to reach Earth.
READ MORE
JPL/NASA; Photo Illustration Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Featured Event
© Keystone—Hulton Archive/Getty Images
On this day in 1952, the Free Officers, a nationalistic military group organized by Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser, led a coup that overthrew King Farouk I of Egypt, ending the monarchy and making Major General Muḥammad Naguib the country’s notional leader. [How much do you know about Egyptian history?]
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
AP
In order that the work of evil may not triumph again over this redeemed humanity, all peace-loving peoples must rally together for the definite re-establishment of right and peace.
Haile Selassie, born this day in 1892 and regarded by many Rastas as the messiah, was the emperor of Ethiopia (1930–74) who sought to modernize the country and who steered it into the mainstream of African politics.
Famous Birthdays
More on July 23
National Archives, Washington, D.C. (ARC Identifier: 541940)
2012
U.S. astronaut Sally Ride, the first American woman to travel in space, died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 61. [Take our quiz about famous astronauts and cosmonauts.]
© Kevork Djansezian—AP/Shutterstock.com
2011
British singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse, who won five Grammy Awards for her Motown-inspired Back to Black (2006) but struggled with substance-abuse problems, died from alcohol poisoning at the age of 27. [Why does the myth of the “27 Club” persist?]
NASA
1999
With the launch of NASA’s orbiter Columbia, Eileen Collins became the first woman to command a space shuttle mission. [Take our quiz about famous firsts for women.]
© Keystone Pictures USA/Alamy
1967
Residents of Detroit’s predominately Black neighborhoods began clashing with members of the city’s police department after a police raid on an illegal drinking club. The violent confrontations, which lasted for five days and killed 43 people, helped to catalyze the Black Power movement. [Learn more about notable riots in U.S. history.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1962
The International Agreement on the Neutrality of Laos was signed in Geneva by 14 countries, including the USSR, North and South Vietnam, and the United States. The signatories committed to respect Laos’s territorial integrity and neutrality, in part by not interfering in its internal affairs nor introducing military personnel on its territory.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1945
Marshal Philippe Pétain of France went on trial for treason during World War II; he ultimately was given a life sentence of solitary confinement. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about World War II.]
© peng song—Moment/Getty Images
1921
The Chinese Communist Party was officially established in Shanghai during its First National Congress.
Courtesy of the Ford Motor Company
1903
Ford Motor Company sold its first automobile, a Ford Model A; five years later it introduced the hugely influential Model T. [Test your knowledge of American industry and innovation.]
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
1885
U.S. General Ulysses S. Grant, who commanded the Union armies to victory in the American Civil War and later served as the 18th president of the United States, died at the age of 63. [How much do you know about the American Civil War?]