June 23
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Featured Event
© SSPL/Getty Images; Photo Illustration Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
On this day in 1868 American inventors Christopher Latham Sholes, Samuel W. Soulé, and Carlos Glidden were granted a patent for the first typewriter. The concept was revolutionary, and within a few years the typewriter—and its efficient QWERTY keyboard—had become an indispensable office tool and a fixture in the literary world. [Read today’s edition of Today in History > >]
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
Steve Petteway/Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States
Born this day in 1948 was Clarence Thomas, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1991, whose appointment to replace Thurgood Marshall (the court’s first African American justice) gave the court a conservative cast.
Famous Birthdays
More on June 23
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
2016
The United Kingdom voted in a referendum to withdraw from the European Union, with 51.9 percent supporting Britain’s exit (“Brexit”) and 48.1 percent opposing the move; it marked the first time a country had decided to leave the organization. [Test your knowledge of British culture and politics.]
Image: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
2006
American television producer Aaron Spelling—whose credits included a number of hugely successful shows, including The Mod Squad, Family, Charlie’s Angels, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, and Beverly Hills 90210—died in Los Angeles. [Take our pop culture quiz.]
© Jupiterimages—Photos.com/Getty Images
1961
The Antarctic Treaty was enacted, reserving the entire continent for free and nonpolitical scientific investigation. [Sort fact from fiction in our Antarctica quiz.]
AP
1940
Sprinter Wilma Rudolph, the first American woman to win three track-and-field gold medals in a single Olympics, was born. [Take our quiz about the Olympics.]
Gerald Holdsworth/NOAA
1925
An expedition under A.H. MacCarthy and H.F. Lambert became the first to reach the summit of Mount Logan, the second highest mountain in North America. [Sort fact from fiction in our mountains quiz.]
United States Postal Service
1865
The Cherokee chief and Confederate general Stand Watie surrendered at the close of the American Civil War—one of the last Confederate commanders to do so. [How much do you know about the American Civil War?]
Mary Evans Picture Library
1817
Popular English actor John Philip Kemble retired after his last performance, in which he played Coriolanus. [Take our quiz about actors and acting.]
Vishnumukundan
1314
The Battle of Bannockburn, a decisive engagement in Scottish history whereby the Scots defeated the English, regained their independence, took place, establishing Robert the Bruce as Robert I.
Archiv für Kunst und Geschichte, Berlin
1298
German King Adolf of Nassau was deposed in favor of Albert I. [Test your knowledge of German history.]