May 2023
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Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century striking
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
and
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
, leaving up to 62,000 people dead;
Cyclone Freddy Very Intense Tropical Cyclone Freddy, also known as Severe Tropical Cyclone Freddy, was an exceptionally long-lived, powerful, and deadly tropical cyclone that traversed the southern Indian Ocean for more than five weeks in February and March 20 ...
, the longest-lasting recorded tropical cyclone in
history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
in the
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
, which led to over 1,400 deaths in
Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...
and
Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...
;
Storm Daniel Storm Daniel, also known as Cyclone Daniel, was a catastrophic tropical cyclone that became the deadliest Mediterranean tropical-like cyclone in recorded history, as well as one of the costliest tropical cyclones on record outside of the North ...
, which became the deadliest tropical cyclone worldwide since
Typhoon Haiyan Typhoon Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Yolanda, was an extremely powerful and catastrophic tropical cyclone that is among List of the most intense tropical cyclones, the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded. Upon ...
after killing at least 5,300 people in
Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
; a major 6.8 magnitude earthquake striking western
Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
, killing 2,960 people; and a 6.3 magnitude quadruple earthquake striking western
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
, killing over 1,400 people. The year also saw a decline in the severity of the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, with the
WHO The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has 6 regional offices and 15 ...
(World Health Organization) ending its global health emergency status in May. The
Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
and
Myanmar civil war Myanmar has been embroiled in armed conflict since 1948, when the country, then known as Burma, gained independence from the United Kingdom. The conflict has largely been ethnic-based, with ethnic armed organisations fighting Myanmar's arm ...
continued in 2023, and a
series of Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used in ...
coups, several armed conflicts, and political crises broke out in numerous African nations, most notably a
Sudanese civil war The term Sudanese Civil War refers to at least three separate conflicts in Sudan in Northeast Africa: *First Sudanese Civil War (1955–1972) *Second Sudanese Civil War (1983–2005) *Sudanese civil war (2023–present) It could also refer to other ...
. In
Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
and
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
, the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is an ethnic and territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, inhabited mostly by ethnic Armenians until 2023, and seven surrounding districts, inhabited mostly by Azerbai ...
ended after over 100,000
Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...
fled ''Fled'' is a 1996 American Buddy film, buddy action comedy film directed by Kevin Hooks. It stars Laurence Fishburne and Stephen Baldwin as two prisoners chained together who flee during an escape attempt gone bad. Plot An interrogator prepa ...
the region after an Azeri military invasion. In
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, the year marked the beginning of the
ethnic violence An ethnic conflict is a conflict between two or more ethnic groups. While the source of the conflict may be political, social, economic or religious, the individuals in conflict must expressly fight for their ethnic group's position within so ...
in the state of
Manipur Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...
between the Kuki and the Meitei people. A major escalation of the
Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an ongoing military and political conflict about Territory, land and self-determination within the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict include the Israeli occupation ...
occurred in October when
Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...
, the governing body of the
Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...
, led a major attack on
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
, leading the latter to both declare war on Hamas and invade the Gaza Strip; the Israeli aerial bombardment campaign killed 20,000 Palestinians within two months and caused a
humanitarian crisis A humanitarian crisis (or sometimes humanitarian disaster) is defined as a singular event or a series of events that are threatening in terms of health, safety or well-being of a community or large group of people. It may be an internal or exter ...
, leading to allegations of genocide that formed the basis of an ICJ case brought by
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
that December. A
banking crisis A bank run or run on the bank occurs when many clients withdraw their money from a bank, because they believe the bank may fail in the near future. In other words, it is when, in a fractional-reserve banking system (where banks normally only ...
resulted in the collapse of numerous
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...
regional banks as well as the
buyout In finance, a buyout is an investment transaction by which the ownership equity, or a controlling interest of a company, or a majority share of the capital stock of the company is acquired. The acquirer thereby "buys out" the present equity holde ...
of
Credit Suisse Credit Suisse Group AG (, ) was a global Investment banking, investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. According to UBS, eventually Credit Suisse was to be fully integrated into UBS. While the integration ...
by
UBS UBS Group AG (stylized simply as UBS) is a multinational investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland, with headquarters in both Zurich and Basel. It holds a strong foothold in all major financial centres as the ...
in
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
. The two largest American banks to collapse were
Silicon Valley Bank Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) is a commercial bank division of First Citizens BancShares. The bank was previously the primary subsidiary of SVB Financial Group, a Public company, publicly traded bank holding company that had offices in 15 U.S. state ...
and
First Republic Bank First Republic Bank was a commercial bank and provider of wealth management services headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States. It catered to high-net-worth individuals and operated 93 offices in 11 states, primarily in New Yor ...
, two of the three largest banking collapses in US history. The most notable of numerous acquisitions in various industries included October's energy acquisitions with
ExxonMobil Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational List of oil exploration and production companies, oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the Successors of Standard Oil, largest direct s ...
and Chevron buying
Pioneer Natural Resources Pioneer Natural Resources Company, headquartered in Irving, Texas, was a company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration. It operated in the Cline Shale, which is part of the Spraberry Trend of the Permian Basin, where the company was the larges ...
and
Hess High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) is a system of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs) for the investigation of cosmic gamma rays in the photon energy range of 0.03 to 100 TeV. The acronym was chosen in honour of Victor ...
respectively, the luxury fashion holding company
Tapestry Tapestry is a form of Textile arts, textile art which was traditionally Weaving, woven by hand on a loom. Normally it is used to create images rather than patterns. Tapestry is relatively fragile, and difficult to make, so most historical piece ...
(
Coach New York Coach New York, commonly known as Coach, is an American luxury fashion house headquartered in New York City & specialized in handbags, luggage, and accessories, as well as ready-to-wear. Coach licenses its name and branding to Luxottica for eye ...
and
Kate Spade New York Kate Spade New York (stylized as kate spade NEW YORK) is an Culture of the United States, American fashion house founded in January 1993 by Kate Spade, Kate and Andy Spade. In 2017, the company was purchased by Tapestry, Inc., formerly known a ...
) announcing its purchase of
Capri Holdings Capri Holdings Limited (formerly Michael Kors Holdings Limited) is a multinational fashion holding company, incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, with executive offices in London and operational offices in New York. It was founded in 198 ...
(Michael Kors and
Versace Gianni Versace S.r.l. (), usually referred to as Versace ( ), is an Italian luxury elite fashion company founded by Gianni Versace in 1978. The company produces Italian-made ready-to-wear and accessories, as well as '' haute couture'' under it ...
), and the closure of
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
's acquisition of
Activision Blizzard Activision Blizzard, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in Santa Monica, California. Activision Blizzard currently includes three operating units: Activision, Blizzard Entertainment and King (company), King. Founded in July 2 ...
. In the realm of technology, 2023 saw the continued rise of generative AI models, with increasing applications across various industries. These models, leveraging advancements in
machine learning Machine learning (ML) is a field of study in artificial intelligence concerned with the development and study of Computational statistics, statistical algorithms that can learn from data and generalise to unseen data, and thus perform Task ( ...
and
natural language processing Natural language processing (NLP) is a subfield of computer science and especially artificial intelligence. It is primarily concerned with providing computers with the ability to process data encoded in natural language and is thus closely related ...
, had become capable of creating realistic and coherent text, music, and images.


Events


January

*
January 1 January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in the Gregorian Calendar; 364 days remain until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the year. __TOC__ Events ...
Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
adopts the
euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...
and joins the
Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) encompasses European countries that have officially abolished border controls at their common borders. As an element within the wider area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ) policy of the European Union (EU), it ...
, becoming the 20th member state of the
Eurozone The euro area, commonly called the eurozone (EZ), is a Monetary union, currency union of 20 Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro (Euro sign, €) as their primary currency ...
and the 27th member of the Schengen Area. This is the first enlargement of the Eurozone since
Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
's entry in
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
, and the first enlargement of the Schengen Area since
Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...
's entry in
2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
. *
January 5 Events Pre-1600 * 1477 – Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is defeated and killed in a conflict with René II, Duke of Lorraine; Burgundy subsequently becomes part of France. 1601–1900 * 1675 – Battle of Colmar: The French ...
– The
funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...
of
Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...
is held at St. Peter's Square in the
Vatican City Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...
. The funeral was attended by an estimated 50,000 people. *
January 8 Events Pre-1600 * 307 – Emperor Huai of Jin, Sima Chi becomes emperor of the Jin dynasty (266–420), Jin dynasty in succession to his brother, Emperor Hui of Jin, Sima Zhong, despite a challenge from his other brother, Sima Ying. * 871 ...
** The
2023 Beninese parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Benin on 8 January 2023 to elect all 109 members of the National Assembly. The preliminary results of the election were announced on 11 January. The result was a victory for parties supportive of President P ...
is held, with the Progressive Union for Renewal party winning a plurality of seats. ** Following the
2022 Brazilian general election General elections were held in Brazil on 2 October 2022 to elect the President of Brazil, president, Vice President of Brazil, vice president, the National Congress of Brazil, National Congress, the 2022 Brazilian gubernatorial elections, govern ...
and the inauguration of Lula da Silva as
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
of
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
, supporters of former Brazilian president
Jair Bolsonaro Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955) is a Brazilian politician and former military officer who served as the 38th president of Brazil from 2019 to 2023. He previously served as a member of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies (Brazil), Chamb ...
storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstor ...
the Brazilian
National Congress National Congress is a term used in the names of various political parties and legislatures. Political parties *Ethiopia: Oromo National Congress, original name of the Oromo People's Congress *Guyana: People's National Congress Reform *India: **In ...
, the
Supreme Federal Court The Federal Supreme Court (, , abbreviated STF) is the supreme court (court of last resort) of Brazil, serving primarily as the country's Constitutional Court. It is the highest court of law in Brazil for constitutional issues and its rulings ...
and the Presidential Palace of Planalto. *
January 9 Events Pre-1600 * 681 – Twelfth Council of Toledo: King Erwig of the Visigoths initiates a council in which he implements diverse measures against the Jews in Spain. * 1038 – An earthquake in Dingxiang, China kills an estimate ...
Juliaca massacre The Juliaca massacre occurred on January 9, 2023, in the city of Juliaca, located in Peru’s Puno Department, amid widespread protests against President Dina Boluarte's government. The event marked one of the deadliest confrontations during the ...
: At least 18 people are killed and over 100 others are injured when the
Peruvian National Police The National Police of Peru (, PNP) is the national police force of Peru. Its jurisdiction covers the nation's land, sea, and air territories. Formed from the merger of the Investigative Police, the Civil Guard, and the Republican Guard in 1988 ...
fire upon
demonstrations Demonstration may refer to: * Demonstration (acting), part of the Brechtian approach to acting * Demonstration (military), an attack or show of force on a front where a decision is not sought * Protest, a public act of objection, disapproval or d ...
in
Juliaca Juliaca (; Quechua language, Quechua and ) is the capital of San Román Province in the Puno Region of southeastern Peru. It is the region's largest city with a population of 276,110 inhabitants (2017 Peru Census, 2017). On the Altiplano, Juliaca ...
. **
Jair Bolsonaro Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955) is a Brazilian politician and former military officer who served as the 38th president of Brazil from 2019 to 2023. He previously served as a member of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies (Brazil), Chamb ...
was admitted to
AdventHealth Celebration AdventHealth Celebration is a non-profit hospital in Celebration, Florida, United States owned by AdventHealth. The medical facility is a tertiary, teaching hospital, psychiatric hospital and comprehensive stroke center that has multiple specia ...
with abdominal pain. *
January 10 Events Pre-1600 *49 BC – Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signalling the start of civil war. * 9 – The Western Han dynasty ends when Wang Mang claims that the divine Mandate of Heaven called for the end of the dynasty and th ...
17 – A cold snap in Afghanistan kills 166 people and nearly 80,000 livestock. *
January 15 Events Pre-1600 *AD 69, 69 – Otho seizes power in Rome, proclaiming himself Roman emperor, Emperor of Rome, beginning a reign of only three months. *1541 – King Francis I of France gives Jean-François Roberval a commission to set ...
Yeti Airlines Flight 691 Yeti Airlines Flight 691 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight flown by Yeti Airlines from Kathmandu to Pokhara in Nepal. On 15 January 2023, an ATR 72, the aircraft being operated on the route, stalled and crashed while landing at Pokhara ...
crashes during final approach into
Pokhara Pokhara ( ) is a metropolis, metropolitan city located in central Nepal, which serves as the capital of Gandaki Province. Named the country's "capital of tourism" it is the List of cities in Nepal, second largest city after Kathmandu, with 599,5 ...
,
Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
, killing all 72 people on board. *
January 16 Events Pre-1600 * 1458 BC – Hatshepsut dies at the age of 50 and is buried in the Valley of the Kings. * 27 BC – Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus is granted the title Augustus by the Roman Senate, marking the beginning of the R ...
Tigray War: Amharan Special Forces withdraw from the
Tigray Region The Tigray Region (or simply Tigray; officially the Tigray National Regional State) is the northernmost Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob people, Irob and Kunama people. I ...
in line with an
African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union. The b ...
-backed
peace agreement A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice, which is an agreement to stop hostilities; a surr ...
between the
Ethiopian government The government of Ethiopia () is the federal government of Ethiopia. It is structured in a framework of a federal republic, federal parliamentary system, parliamentary republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, prime minister is the hea ...
and the
Tigray People's Liberation Front The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF; ), also known as the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, is a left-wing Ethnic nationalism, ethnic nationalist, paramilitary group, and the former ruling party of Ethiopia. It was classified as a ter ...
. *
January 17 Events Pre-1600 * 38 BC – Octavian divorces his wife Scribonia and marries Livia Drusilla, ending the fragile peace between the Second Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey. * 1362 – Saint Marcellus' flood kills at least 25,000 peopl ...
Nguyễn Xuân Phúc Nguyễn Xuân Phúc (; born 20 July 1954) is a Vietnamese former politician who served as the 11th president of Vietnam from 2021 until his resignation in 2023 amidst a series of corruption scandals. He also was the seventh prime minister from ...
resigns as
President of Vietnam The president of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam () is the head of state of Vietnam, elected by the National Assembly of Vietnam from its delegates. Since Vietnam is a one-party state, candidates for the post are nominated by the Central Commit ...
amid several recent scandals in
the government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
. *
January 18 Events Pre-1600 * 474 – Seven-year-old Leo II succeeds his maternal grandfather Leo I as Byzantine emperor. He dies ten months later. * 532 – Nika riots in Constantinople fail. * 1126 – Emperor Huizong abdicates the C ...
A helicopter crash in
Brovary Brovary (, ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city in Kyiv Oblast, northern Ukraine, situated to the east of the capital Kyiv and part of the Kyiv metropolitan area. It serves as the administrative centre of Brovary Raion. Brovary hosts t ...
near
Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
,
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
kills 14 people including Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs
Denys Monastyrsky Denys Anatoliiovych Monastyrsky (, ; 12 June 1980 – 18 January 2023) was a Ukrainian lawyer and politician who served as Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine from 16 July 2021 until his death in a helicopter crash on 18 January 2023.
. *
January 20 Events Pre-1600 * 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution. *1156 – Finnish peasant Lalli kills English clergyman Henry (bishop of Finland), Henry, the Bishop of Turku, on the ice of Köyliönjärvi, Lake Köyli ...
– The
Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago is the legislative branch of Trinidad and Tobago. The Parliament is bicameral. Besides the President of Trinidad and Tobago, it is composed of the House of Representatives, which is composed of the Speake ...
elects former
senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
president, minister and lawyer
Christine Kangaloo Christine Carla Kangaloo (born 1 December 1961) is a Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidadian politician and lawyer, who has been the 7th president of Trinidad and Tobago since 2023. Biography Christine Kangaloo was born into a Presbyterian Church of ...
as
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
in a 48–22 vote. *
January 21 Events Pre-1600 * 763 – Following the Battle of Bakhamra between Alids and Abbasids near Kufa, the Alid rebellion ends with the death of Ibrahim, brother of Isa ibn Musa. * 1525 – The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is founded wh ...
**
Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...
requests
French forces The French Armed Forces (, ) are the military forces of France. They consist of four military branches – the Army, the Navy, the Air and Space Force, and the National Gendarmerie. The National Guard serves as the French Armed Forces' military ...
to withdraw from its territory after suspending a military accord that allowed the presence of French troops in the country. ** Tigray War: Eritrean forces withdraw from
Shire Shire () is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries. It is generally synonymous with county (such as Cheshire and Worcestershire). British counties are among the oldes ...
and other major towns in the
Tigray Region The Tigray Region (or simply Tigray; officially the Tigray National Regional State) is the northernmost Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob people, Irob and Kunama people. I ...
of
Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
. *
January 25 Events Pre-1600 * 41 – After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman emperor by the Senate. * 750 – In the Battle of the Zab, the Abbasid rebels defeat the Umayyad Caliphate, leading to the overthrow of the dyn ...
Chris Hipkins Christopher John Hipkins (born 5 September 1978) is a New Zealand politician who has served as leader of the New Zealand Labour Party since January 2023 and leader of the Opposition (New Zealand), leader of the Opposition since November 2023. H ...
succeeds
Jacinda Ardern Dame Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern ( ; born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician and activist who was the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, leader of the Labour Party from 2017 to 2023. She was ...
as
Prime Minister of New Zealand The prime minister of New Zealand () is the head of government of New Zealand. The prime minister, Christopher Luxon, leader of the New Zealand National Party, took office on 27 November 2023. The prime minister (informally abbreviated to P ...
, six days after she announced her resignation. *
January 27 Events Pre-1600 * 98 – Trajan succeeds his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor. * 945 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to become monks by Constantine VII, who becomes sole emperor of the ...
– Widespread unrest erupts in
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
following an
Israeli military The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, an ...
raid RAID (; redundant array of inexpensive disks or redundant array of independent disks) is a data storage virtualization technology that combines multiple physical Computer data storage, data storage components into one or more logical units for th ...
in
Jenin Jenin ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and is the capital of the Jenin Governorate. It is a hub for the surrounding towns. Jenin came under Israeli occupied territories, Israeli occupation in 1967, and was put under the administra ...
the previous day, which killed nine Palestinians. Incendiary air balloons are launched into Israeli-populated areas following it. Israel responds with targeted airstrikes. Later the same day, seven Jewish civilians are killed in a synagogue in
Neve Yaakov Neve Yaakov (; also ''Neve Ya'aqov'', lit. Jacob's Oasis) is an Israeli settlement in East Jerusalem, part of the Israeli-occupied territories, north of the settlement of Pisgat Ze'ev and south of the Palestinian locality of al-Ram. Establishe ...
in a terrorist attack. *
January 27 Events Pre-1600 * 98 – Trajan succeeds his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor. * 945 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to become monks by Constantine VII, who becomes sole emperor of the ...
28 – The second round of the
2023 Czech presidential election Presidential elections were held in the Czech Republic in January 2023, resulting in the election of Petr Pavel. Incumbent president Miloš Zeman was not eligible to run due to the two-term limit. The first round took place on 13 and 14 Januar ...
is held, with
Petr Pavel Petr Pavel (; born 1 November 1961) is a Czech politician and retired army general, currently serving as the president of the Czech Republic since March 2023. Prior to this, he held the position of Chairman of the NATO Military Committee from 2 ...
declared winner. *
January 30 Events Pre-1600 * 1018 – Poland and the Holy Roman Empire conclude the Peace of Bautzen. * 1287 – King Wareru founds the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, and proclaims independence from the Pagan Kingdom. 1601–1900 * 1607 – An es ...
** A
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (, "Assembly of the Free," abbreviated as JuA) was a terrorist organization that split away from Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan in August 2014. The group came to prominence after it claimed responsibility for the 2014 Wagah border su ...
suicide bombing A suicide attack (also known by a wide variety of other names, see below) is a deliberate attack in which the perpetrators knowingly sacrifice their own lives as part of the attack. These attacks are a form of murder–suicide that is ofte ...
inside a mosque in
Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...
,
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...
, Pakistan, kills 84 people and injures over 220 others. **
Prime Minister of Fiji The prime minister of Fiji is the head of government of the Republic of Fiji. The prime minister is appointed under the terms of the 2013 Constitution. The prime minister is the head of the Cabinet and appoints and dismisses ministers. Des ...
Sitiveni Rabuka Sitiveni Ligamamada Rabuka (; born 13 September 1948) is a Fijian politician, sportsman, and former soldier who has been serving as Prime Minister of Fiji since 24 December 2022. He was the instigator of two military coups in 1987. He was de ...
confirms that
Kiribati Kiribati, officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the central Pacific Ocean. Its permanent population is over 119,000 as of the 2020 census, and more than half live on Tarawa. The st ...
will rejoin the
Pacific Islands Forum The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) is an inter-governmental organisation that aims to enhance cooperation among countries and territories of Oceania, including formation of a trade bloc and regional peacekeeping operations. It was founded in 197 ...
after leaving the organization the previous year.


February

*
February 1 Events Pre-1600 * 1327 – The teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer. * 1411 – The First Peace of Thorn is signed in Thorn (Toruń), ...
Lebanese liquidity crisis The Lebanese liquidity crisis is an ongoing financial crisis affecting Lebanon, that became fully apparent in August 2019, and was further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic in Lebanon (which began in February 2020), the 2020 Beirut port ex ...
: The
central bank A central bank, reserve bank, national bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the monetary policy of a country or monetary union. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central bank possesses a monopoly on increasing the mo ...
of
Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
devalues the
Lebanese pound The lira or pound is the currency of Lebanon. It was formerly divided into 100 piastres (or ''qirsh'' in Arabic) but, because of high inflation during the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990), subunits were discontinued. The plural of lira is eithe ...
by 90% amid an ongoing
financial crisis A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with Bank run#Systemic banki ...
. *
February 2 Events Pre-1600 * 506 – Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths, promulgates the Breviary of Alaric (''Breviarium Alaricianum'' or ''Lex Romana Visigothorum''), a collection of " Roman law". * 880 – Battle of Lüneburg Heath: ...
**
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
and
Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
announce the finalization of an
agreement Agreement may refer to: Agreements between people and organizations * Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law * Trade agreement, between countries * Consensus (disambiguation), a decision-making process * Contract, enforceable in a court of ...
to normalize
relations Relation or relations may refer to: General uses * International relations, the study of interconnection of politics, economics, and law on a global level * Interpersonal relationship, association or acquaintance between two or more people * ...
between the two countries. ** The
European Central Bank The European Central Bank (ECB) is the central component of the Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's Big Four (banking)#International ...
and
Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...
raise their interest rates by 0.5 percentage points to combat inflation, one day after the
US Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of ...
raises its
federal funds rate In the United States, the federal funds rate is the interest rate at which depository institutions (banks and credit unions) lend reserve balances to other depository institutions overnight on an collateral (finance), uncollateralized basis ...
by 0.25 percentage points. *
February 3 Events Pre-1600 * 1047 – Drogo of Hauteville is elected as count of the Apulian Normans during the Norman conquest of Southern Italy. * 1112 – Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and Douce I, Countess of Provence, marry, u ...
** The US announces it is tracking alleged Chinese spy balloons over the Americas, later announcing that the balloons did not collect any information. One balloon drifts from Yukon to
South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...
before being shot down the next day, and a second hovers over Colombia and Brazil. This event is followed by subsequent detections and shootdowns of high-altitude objects elsewhere. ** A
Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...
train carrying
hazardous materials Dangerous goods are substances that are a risk to health, safety, property or the Natural environment, environment during transport. Certain dangerous goods that pose risks even when not being transported are known as hazardous materials (syll ...
derails in
East Palestine, Ohio East Palestine ( ) is a village in Columbiana County, Ohio, United States. The population was 4,761 at the 2020 census. Located on the state's border with Pennsylvania, East Palestine is about south of Youngstown and northwest of Pittsburgh ...
. Multiple train cars burn for more than two days, followed by emergency crews conducting a
controlled burn A controlled burn or prescribed burn (Rx burn) is the practice of intentionally setting a fire to change the assemblage of vegetation and decaying material in a landscape. The purpose could be for forest management, ecological restoration, ...
of several additional cars, releasing
hydrogen chloride The Chemical compound, compound hydrogen chloride has the chemical formula and as such is a hydrogen halide. At room temperature, it is a colorless gas, which forms white fumes of hydrochloric acid upon contact with atmospheric water vapor. Hyd ...
and
phosgene Phosgene is an organic chemical compound with the formula . It is a toxic, colorless gas; in low concentrations, its musty odor resembles that of freshly cut hay or grass. It can be thought of chemically as the double acyl chloride analog of ...
into the atmosphere. *
February 4 Events Pre–1600 * 211 – Following the death of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus at Eboracum (modern York, England) while preparing to lead a campaign against the Caledonians, the empire is left in the control of his two quarrellin ...
Cyclone Freddy Very Intense Tropical Cyclone Freddy, also known as Severe Tropical Cyclone Freddy, was an exceptionally long-lived, powerful, and deadly tropical cyclone that traversed the southern Indian Ocean for more than five weeks in February and March 20 ...
forms in the
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
. It would become the longest lasting
tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...
in history and
cause Causality is an influence by which one event, process, state, or object (''a'' ''cause'') contributes to the production of another event, process, state, or object (an ''effect'') where the cause is at least partly responsible for the effect, ...
over 1,400 deaths and countless injuries and property damage across southeastern Africa. *
February 5 Events Pre-1600 * *2 BC – Caesar Augustus is granted the title ''pater patriae'' by the Roman Senate. *AD 62, 62 – AD 62 Pompeii earthquake, Earthquake in Pompeii, Italy. *756 – Chinese New Year; An Lushan proclaims himself E ...
– The
2023 Cypriot presidential election Presidential elections were held in Cyprus on 5 February 2023. No candidate received a majority of the vote in the first round, so a runoff was held on 12 February. Incumbent president Nicos Anastasiades of the Democratic Rally (DISY), who won ...
is held, with
Nikos Christodoulides Nikos Christodoulides (; born 6 December 1973) is a Cypriot politician, diplomat, and academic who has served as the 8th President of Cyprus since 2023. He previously served as Government Spokesman from 2014 to 2018 and List of Ministers of Fore ...
elected
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
. *
February 6 Events Pre-1600 * 590 – Hormizd IV, king of the Sasanian Empire, is overthrown and blinded by his brothers-in-law Vistahm and Vinduyih. * 1579 – The Diocese of Manila is erected by papal bull, with Domingo de Salazar appointe ...
– A 7.8 earthquake strikes southern and central
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
and northern and western
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
followed by a 7.7 aftershock on the same day, causing widespread damage and at more than 59,000 fatalities and 121,000 injured. *
February 13 Events Pre-1600 * 962 – Emperor Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I and Pope Pope John XII, John XII co-sign the ''Diploma Ottonianum'', recognizing John as ruler of Rome. *1258 – Siege of Baghdad (1258), Siege of Baghdad: Hulegu Kh ...
– The 2023 Bangladeshi presidential election scheduled for 19 February is held, with
Shahabuddin Chuppu Mohammed Shahabuddin (born 10 December 1949) is a Bangladeshi jurist, journalist, civil servant and politician who has served as the 16th and current president of Bangladesh since 2023. He was elected unopposed in the 2023 presidential electio ...
of the
Awami League The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...
, the only nominated candidate, elected unopposed. *
February 14 It is observed in most countries as Valentine's Day. Events Pre-1600 * 748 – Abbasid Revolution#Persian phase, Abbasid Revolution: The Kaysanites Shia#History, Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad ...
– The
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
approves a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel
vehicle A vehicle () is a machine designed for self-propulsion, usually to transport people, cargo, or both. The term "vehicle" typically refers to land vehicles such as human-powered land vehicle, human-powered vehicles (e.g. bicycles, tricycles, velo ...
s in the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
from 2035, citing the need to combat
climate change in Europe Climate change has resulted in an increase in temperature of 2.3 °C (4.14 °F) (2022) in Europe compared to pre-industrial levels. Europe is the fastest warming continent in the world. Europe's climate is getting warmer due to anthropo ...
and promote
electric vehicle An electric vehicle (EV) is a motor vehicle whose propulsion is powered fully or mostly by electricity. EVs encompass a wide range of transportation modes, including road vehicle, road and rail vehicles, electric boats and Submersible, submer ...
s. *
February 16 Events Pre-1600 * 1249 – Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khagan of the Mongol Empire. * 1270 – The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Livonian Order in the Battl ...
– Lawmakers in the
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
n
State Duma The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly (Russia), Federal Assembly of Russia, with the upper house being the Federation Council (Russia), Federation Council. It was established by the Constitution of Russia, Constitution of t ...
vote to withdraw Russia from 21 conventions of the
Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...
. *
February 17 Events Pre-1600 * 1370 – Northern Crusades: Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights meet in the Battle of Rudau. * 1411 – Following the successful campaigns during the Ottoman Interregnum, Musa Çelebi, one of the sons ...
– The
South African Navy The South African Navy (SA Navy) is the naval warfare branch of the South African National Defence Force. The Navy is primarily engaged in maintaining a conventional military deterrent, participating in counter-piracy operations, fishery prote ...
hosts a 10-day joint
military exercise A military exercise, training exercise, maneuver (manoeuvre), or war game is the employment of military resources in Military education and training, training for military operations. Military exercises are conducted to explore the effects of ...
in the
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
with
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
and
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. *
February 19 Events Pre-1600 * 197 – Emperor Septimius Severus defeats Roman usurper, usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies. * 356 – The anti-paganism policy of Constantius II forbids the w ...
Libyan Crisis Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. All figures are from the United Nations Demographic Yearbooks ...
: The
African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union. The b ...
announces the organization of a
peace conference A peace conference is a diplomatic meeting where representatives of states, armies, or other warring parties converge to end hostilities by negotiation and signing and ratifying a peace treaty. Significant international peace conferences in ...
to address the instability in
Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
. *
February 21 Events Pre-1600 * 452 or 453 – Severianus, Bishop of Scythopolis, is martyred in Palestine. * 1245 – Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland, is granted resignation after confessing to torture and forgery. * 1440 – The ...
– Vladimir Putin announces that Russia is suspending its participation in
New START New START (Russian language, Russian abbrev.: СНВ-III, ''SNV-III'' from ''сокращение стратегических наступательных вооружений'' "reduction of strategic offensive arms") is a Nuclear disarmament, ...
, a nuclear arms reduction treaty with the US. *
February 23 Events Pre-1600 * 303 – Roman emperor Diocletian orders the destruction of the Christian church in Nicomedia, beginning eight years of Diocletianic Persecution. * 532 – Byzantine emperor Justinian I lays the foundation stone o ...
Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...
opens its
airspace Airspace is the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory, including its territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere. It is not the same as outer space which is t ...
to
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
i
airlines An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in ...
for the first time, in an upgrade of
bilateral relations Bilateralism is the conduct of political, economic, or cultural relations between two sovereign states. It is in contrast to unilateralism or multilateralism, which is activity by a single state or jointly by multiple states, respectively. When ...
. *
February 25 Events Pre-1600 * 138 – Roman emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as his son, effectively making him his successor. * 628 – Khosrow II, the last great Shah of the Sasanian Empire (Iran), is overthrown by his son Kavadh II. * ...
2023 Nigerian general election General elections were held in Nigeria on 25 February 2023 to elect the president and vice president and members of the Senate and House of Representatives. Incumbent president Muhammadu Buhari was term-limited and could not seek re-election fo ...
:
Bola Tinubu Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Adekunle Tinubu (born 29 March 1952) is a Nigerian politician serving as the 16th and current president of Nigeria since 2023. He previously served as the governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007, and senator for Lagos ...
is elected as Nigeria's
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
, defeating former
vice president A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...
Atiku Abubakar Atiku Abubakar (; born 25 November 1946) is a Nigerian politician and businessman who served as the vice president of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007 during the presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo. He ran for the office of governor of Adamawa State i ...
and
Peter Obi Peter Gregory Obi (; born 19 July 1961) is a Nigerian politician and businessman who was the Governor of Anambra State under President Olusegun Obasanjo from 17 March 2006 to 3 November 2006, when he was impeached. He was reinstated on 9 Febru ...
. *
February 27 Events Pre-1600 * 380 – Edict of Thessalonica: Emperor Theodosius I and his co-emperors Gratian and Valentinian II declare their wish that all Roman citizens convert to Nicene Christianity. * 425 – The University of Constantin ...
– The United Kingdom and the European Union reach an
agreement Agreement may refer to: Agreements between people and organizations * Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law * Trade agreement, between countries * Consensus (disambiguation), a decision-making process * Contract, enforceable in a court of ...
surrounding modifications to the
Northern Ireland Protocol The Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, commonly abbreviated to the Northern Ireland Protocol (NIP), is a protocol to the Brexit withdrawal agreement that sets out Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit relationship with both the EU and Great Bri ...
. *
February 28 Events Pre-1600 *202 BC – Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang is enthroned as the Emperor of China, beginning four centuries of rule by the Han dynasty. * 870 – The Fourth Council of Constantinople (Roman Catholic), Fourth Council of Co ...
– A
train crash A train accident or train wreck is a type of disaster involving one or more trains. Train wrecks often occur as a result of miscommunication, as when a moving train meets another train on the same track, when the wheels of train come off the ...
in
Thessaly Thessaly ( ; ; ancient Aeolic Greek#Thessalian, Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic regions of Greece, geographic and modern administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient Thessaly, a ...
,
Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
, kills 57 people and injures dozens. The crash leads to nationwide protests and strikes against the condition of Greek railways and their mismanagement.


March

*
March 2 Events Pre-1600 * 537 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under king Vitiges begins the siege of the capital. Belisarius conducts a delaying action outside the Flaminian Gate; he and a detachment of his '' bucellarii'' are almost ...
– The
National Assembly of Vietnam The National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (N.A.; ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral parliament and the highest body of state power of Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Vietnam. The National Assembly is the only branch of governmen ...
declares
Võ Văn Thưởng Võ Văn Thưởng (; born 13 December 1970) is a Vietnamese politician who served as the 12th president of Vietnam from March 2023 to March 2024, being the youngest person to serve in this position since the country's Reunification Day, reunifi ...
as the country's new president after receiving 98.38% votes from the Vietnamese parliament. *
March 4 Events Pre-1600 * AD 51 – Nero, later to become Roman emperor, is given the title '' princeps iuventutis'' (head of the youth). * 306 – Martyrdom of Saint Adrian of Nicomedia. * 581 – Yang Jian declares himself Emperor ...
** UN member states agree on a legal framework for the
High Seas Treaty The Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction or BBNJ Agreement, also referred to by some stakeholders as t ...
, which aims to protect 30% of the world's
ocean The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. The ocean is conventionally divided into large bodies of water, which are also referred to as ''oceans'' (the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Indian, Southern Ocean ...
s by 2030. **
Kivu conflict The Kivu conflict is an umbrella term for a series of protracted armed conflicts in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo which have occurred since the end of the Second Congo War. Including ...
:
Burundi Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is located in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa, with a population of over 14 million peop ...
deploys 100
troops A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a Squadron (cavalry), squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section (military unit), section or platoon. Exception ...
to the
Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...
to help fight
insurgencies An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare against a larger authority. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregular forces face a large, well ...
by
militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...
s, including M23. *
March 5 Events Pre-1600 * 363 – Roman emperor Julian leaves Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sasanian Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death. * 1046 – Nasir Khusraw begins the seven-year Middle Easte ...
– The
2023 Estonian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Estonia on 5 March 2023 to elect all 101 members of the Riigikogu. The officially published election data indicate the victory of the Estonian Reform Party, Reform Party, which won 37 seats in total, while t ...
is held, with two centre-right liberal parties gaining an absolute majority for the first time. *
March 8 Events Pre-1600 * 1010 – Ferdowsi completes his epic poem '' Shahnameh''. * 1126 – Following the death of his mother, queen Urraca of León, Alfonso VII is proclaimed king of León. * 1262 – Battle of Hausbergen between ...
21 – The
2023 World Baseball Classic The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball tournament and the fifth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. It began on March 8, 2023, and ran until March 21. It was originally scheduled to take place in ...
is held in, and won by,
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. *
March 8 Events Pre-1600 * 1010 – Ferdowsi completes his epic poem '' Shahnameh''. * 1126 – Following the death of his mother, queen Urraca of León, Alfonso VII is proclaimed king of León. * 1262 – Battle of Hausbergen between ...
Allied Democratic Forces The Allied Democratic Forces (; abbreviated ADF) is a Ugandan Islamist rebel group based in western Uganda and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is considered a terrorist organisation by the Ugandan government and the United States. ...
jihadist insurgents use machetes to
kill Kill often refers to: *Homicide, one human killing another *cause death, to kill a living organism, to cause its death Other common uses include: *Kill (body of water), a body of water, most commonly a creek *Kill (command), a computing command *K ...
about 35 people in the village of Mukondi,
North Kivu North Kivu () is a Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, province bordering Lake Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital city is Goma. Spanning approximately 59,483 square kilometers with a population esti ...
,
Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...
. *
March 10 Events Pre-1600 * 241 BC – First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates: The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing the First Punic War to an end. * 298 – Roman Emperor Maximian concludes his campaign in North Africa and makes ...
**The
2023 Chinese presidential election The first session of the 14th National People's Congress () was held in March 2023 at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China. The session opened on 5 March and concluded on 13 March. Major List of national leaders of the People's Republic ...
is held with the
National People's Congress The National People's Congress (NPC) is the highest organ of state power of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The NPC is the only branch of government in China, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs from the Sta ...
unanimously re-electing
Xi Jinping Xi Jinping, pronounced (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China), chairman of the Central Military Commission ...
as the
President of the People's Republic of China The president of China, officially the president of the People's Republic of China, is the List of state representatives of the People's Republic of China, state representative of the China, People's Republic of China. On its own, it is a Fig ...
to an unprecedented third term. **
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
and
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
agree to resume diplomatic relations which were severed in 2016, at talks mediated by
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. **
Silicon Valley Bank Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) is a commercial bank division of First Citizens BancShares. The bank was previously the primary subsidiary of SVB Financial Group, a Public company, publicly traded bank holding company that had offices in 15 U.S. state ...
, the 16th largest bank in the United States, fails, creating then the largest bank failure since the
2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...
, affecting companies around the world. **
Kivu conflict The Kivu conflict is an umbrella term for a series of protracted armed conflicts in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo which have occurred since the end of the Second Congo War. Including ...
:
Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...
announces the deployment of
troops A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a Squadron (cavalry), squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section (military unit), section or platoon. Exception ...
to the
Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...
, following the failure of a
ceasefire A ceasefire (also known as a truce), also spelled cease-fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions often due to mediation by a third party. Ceasefires may b ...
between government forces and
M23 rebels The March 23 Movement (), often abbreviated as M23 and also known as the Congolese Revolutionary Army (), is a Congolese Rwandan-backed rebel paramilitary group. Based in the eastern regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it operates ...
in
North Kivu North Kivu () is a Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, province bordering Lake Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital city is Goma. Spanning approximately 59,483 square kilometers with a population esti ...
. *
March 14 Events Pre-1600 * 1074 – Battle of Mogyoród: Dukes Géza and Ladislaus defeat their cousin Solomon, King of Hungary, forcing him to flee to Hungary's western borderland. * 1590 – Battle of Ivry: Henry of Navarre and the H ...
OpenAI OpenAI, Inc. is an American artificial intelligence (AI) organization founded in December 2015 and headquartered in San Francisco, California. It aims to develop "safe and beneficial" artificial general intelligence (AGI), which it defines ...
launches
GPT-4 Generative Pre-trained Transformer 4 (GPT-4) is a multimodal large language model trained and created by OpenAI and the fourth in its series of GPT foundation models. It was launched on March 14, 2023, and made publicly available via the p ...
, a large language model for
ChatGPT ChatGPT is a generative artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI and released on November 30, 2022. It uses large language models (LLMs) such as GPT-4o as well as other Multimodal learning, multimodal models to create human-like re ...
, which can respond to images and can process up to 25,000 words. *
March 17 Events Pre-1600 * 45 BC – In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda. * 180 – Commodus becomes sole emperor of the Roman Empire at the age of ...
– The
International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...
issues an arrest warrant for Russian president
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
and
Maria Lvova-Belova Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova (born 25 October 1984) is a Russian politician. She has been the Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights since October 2021, when she was appointed to the position by Russian president Vladimir Putin. O ...
, Russian Commissioner for Children's Rights, marking the first arrest warrant against a leader of a permanent member of the
United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...
. *
March 19 Events Pre-1600 * 1277 – The Byzantine–Venetian treaty of 1277 is concluded, stipulating a two-year truce and renewing Venetian commercial privileges in the Byzantine Empire. * 1279 – A Mongol victory at the Battle of Yamen en ...
– In a deal brokered by the
Swiss government The Federal Council is the federal cabinet of the Swiss Confederation Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west ...
, investment bank
UBS UBS Group AG (stylized simply as UBS) is a multinational investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland, with headquarters in both Zurich and Basel. It holds a strong foothold in all major financial centres as the ...
agrees to buy
Credit Suisse Credit Suisse Group AG (, ) was a global Investment banking, investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. According to UBS, eventually Credit Suisse was to be fully integrated into UBS. While the integration ...
for 3 billion () in an all-stock deal. *
March 20 Events Pre-1600 *1206 – Michael IV of Constantinople, Michael IV Autoreianos is appointed Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. *1600 – The Linköping Bloodbath takes place on Maundy Thursday in Linköping, Sweden: five Swedish n ...
– The
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations. Its job is to "provide governments at all levels with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies". The World Met ...
(IPCC) releases the synthesis report of its
Sixth Assessment Report The Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) of the United Nations (UN) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the sixth in a series of reports which assess the available scientific information on climate change. Three Working Groups (WGI, II, ...
on
climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
. *
March 23 Events Pre-1600 * 1400 – The Trần dynasty of Vietnam is deposed, after one hundred and seventy-five years of rule, by Hồ Quý Ly, a court official. * 1540 – Waltham Abbey is surrendered to King Henry VIII of England; the las ...
World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...
, the global governing body for athletics, bans
trans women A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...
who have gone through male
puberty Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a female, the testicles i ...
from competing in female events. *
March 24 Events Pre-1600 *1199 – King Richard I of England is wounded by a crossbow bolt while fighting in France, leading to his death on April 6. * 1387 – English victory over a Franco- Castilian- Flemish fleet in the Battle of Margat ...
27 – A
tornado outbreak A tornado outbreak is the occurrence of multiple tornadoes spawned by the same Synoptic scale meteorology, synoptic scale weather system. The number of tornadoes required to qualify as an outbreak typically are at least six to ten, with at least ...
kills at least 26 people in Mississippi and Alabama. This includes a violent tornado which devastated the city of Rolling Fork and the town of Silver City in Mississippi, killing 16 people and injuring 165 others. *
March 26 Events Pre-1600 * 590 – Emperor Maurice proclaims his son Theodosius as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire. * 624 – First Eid al-Fitr celebration. * 1021 – The death of the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, kept secret ...
**
Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...
switches its formal diplomatic recognition of "China" from the
Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
to the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. **
2023 Israeli judicial reform protests From January to October 2023, large-scale protests took place across Israel in response to the government's push for a 2023 Israeli judicial reform, wide-ranging judicial reform. The proposed reform aimed to give the government full control of ...
: Large-scale spontaneous protests erupt across Israel in the wake of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu firing his defense minister who criticized the government's 2023 Israeli judicial reform, judicial overhaul plan. * March 29 **
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
and
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
sign an agreement to trade in their own currencies, ceasing the usage of the United States dollar as an intermediary. **
Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...
formally resumes Burkina Faso–North Korea relations, diplomatic relations with North Korea after suspending them in 2017. * March 30 – The International Court of Justice rules that the United States violated its Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations and Consular Rights, Treaty of Amity with
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
when it allowed its domestic courts to freeze assets held by Iranian companies. * March 31 – April 1 – A Tornado outbreak of March 31 – April 1, 2023, historic and widespread tornado outbreak occurs in the United States, killing 33 people, injuring more than 218 others, and caused over $5.4 billion in damage. This tornado outbreak produced 147 tornadoes, making it the third-largest tornado outbreak in history.


April

* April 2 **The 2023 Bulgarian parliamentary election results in a GERB—SDS–PP–DB coalition Denkov Government, government headed by Nikolai Denkov as Prime Minister of Bulgaria, prime minister, and ends 2021–2023 Bulgarian political crisis, two years of political deadlock. **The 2023 Montenegrin presidential election is held, with Jakov Milatović of the Europe Now! movement winning in the second round, becoming the first President of Montenegro, president not from the Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro, DPS party since the introduction of a multi-party system in 1990. **The 2023 Finnish parliamentary election is held, with the centre-right National Coalition Party, National Coalition led by Petteri Orpo receiving the most votes. **The 2023 Andorran parliamentary election is held, with the ruling Democrats for Andorra led by Prime Minister Xavier Espot winning the majority of the seats. * April 4 – Finland becomes the 31st member of NATO, doubling the alliance's border with Russia. * April 5 – 2023 Al-Aqsa clashes, Clashes between Palestinians and the Israel Police, Israeli police happen at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. * April 10 – 2022–2023 Pentagon document leaks, Two document leaks from the The Pentagon, Pentagon detailing foreign military aid relating to the
Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
are leaked onto the Internet. * April 11 –
Myanmar civil war Myanmar has been embroiled in armed conflict since 1948, when the country, then known as Burma, gained independence from the United Kingdom. The conflict has largely been ethnic-based, with ethnic armed organisations fighting Myanmar's arm ...
: In the village of Pazigyi, Pazigyi massacre, at least 165 people are killed by the Myanmar Air Force during the opening celebrations of a People's Defence Force (Myanmar), People's Defence Force administration office. * April 14 – Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) is launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) to search for life in the Moons of Jupiter, Jovian system, with an expected arrival year of 2031. * April 15 ** Nuclear power in Germany ends after 50 years, with the closure of the final power plants. ** 2023 Sudan conflict, Fighting breaks out across
Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The RSF captures Khartoum International Airport, and the Presidential Palace, Khartoum, presidential palace in Khartoum. * April 19 – At least 90 people are killed and another 322 injured in a Sanaa stampede, crowd crush during a Ramadan charity event in Sanaa, Yemen. * April 20 – SpaceX Starship, SpaceX's Starship rocket, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built, SpaceX Starship integrated flight test 1, launches for the first time in a test flight from Texas. It explodes four minutes after launch. * April 21 – The Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, representing a majority of the global Anglican population, reject the leadership of Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby as the head of global Anglicanism over his support for same-sex marriage. * April 25 – A Shakahola Forest incident, mass cult suicide is uncovered in Shakahola forest in Kenya. 429 followers of the Good News International Ministries are found in shallow graves throughout the forest, with over 613 people missing. * April 29 – The 2023 Niuean general election is held and incumbent Dalton Tagelagi is re-elected as Premier of Niue. * April 30 ** The 2023 Paraguayan general election is held, with the Colorado Party (Paraguay), Colorado Party candidate Santiago Peña being the President of Paraguay, president-elect of Paraguay, winning in a plurality. ** The second round of the 2023 French Polynesian legislative election is held; the Tāvini Huiraʻatira party wins a majority of seats. Moetai Brotherson, Tāvini Huiraʻatira's deputy leader, is elected President of French Polynesia.


May

* May 1 – 2023 banking crisis: San Francisco-based
First Republic Bank First Republic Bank was a commercial bank and provider of wealth management services headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States. It catered to high-net-worth individuals and operated 93 offices in 11 states, primarily in New Yor ...
fails and is auctioned off by the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, FDIC to JPMorgan Chase for $10.7 billion. The collapse surpasses March's collapse of Silicon Valley Bank to become the second largest in US history. * May 3 – ** A Belgrade school shooting, school shooting occurs in Belgrade, Serbia. A Mladenovac and Smederevo shootings, second mass murder occurs the next day near Mladenovac and Smederevo. These events leave 19 people dead, causing the government to increase regulations on gun ownership and 2023 Serbian protests, mass anti-government protests to begin. ** 2023–2025 Manipur violence: Ethnic violence erupts in the state of
Manipur Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...
between the Kuki and Meitei people. * May 4 – A 2023 African Great Lakes floods#Democratic Republic of the Congo, series of floods and landslides strikes villages in the eastern
Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...
, resulting in over 400 deaths. * May 5 – The World Health Organization ends its declaration of COVID-19 being a global health emergency, but continues to refer to it as a pandemic. * May 6 – The coronation of Charles III and Camilla as Monarchy of the United Kingdom, King and List of British royal consorts, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms is held in Westminster Abbey, London. * May 7 –
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
is readmitted into the Arab League after being suspended since
2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
. * May 9 – Cyclone Mocha forms in the
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
, killing over 400 people and injuring over 700 as it strikes Myanmar and Bangladesh. * May 9–May 13, 13 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 is held in Liverpool, United Kingdom, UK. Swedish contestant Loreen wins with the song "Tattoo (Loreen song), Tattoo". * May 11 – The World Health Organization ends its declaration of mpox being a global health emergency. * May 14 ** The 2023 Thai general election is held, with pro-democratic parties such as the Move Forward Party, Move Forward and Pheu Thai Party, Pheu Thai parties gaining a majority of seats in the House of Representatives of Thailand, House of Representatives while pro-military parties such as Palang Pracharath Party, Palang Pracharat lost seats. ** The 49th G7 summit takes place in Hiroshima Prefecture, Hiroshima, Japan. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives in Japan on the second day of the summit. * May 21 ** The May 2023 Greek legislative election is held; the ruling New Democracy (Greece), New Democracy wins a plurality of seats in the Hellenic Parliament. Just days later, incumbent prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called for another snap election to be held in June. ** The 2023 East Timorese parliamentary election is held, with the National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction and Fretilin parties receiving the most votes. Xanana Gusmão is elected Prime Minister of East Timor. * May 24 – Canada and
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
agree to restore full Canada–Saudi Arabia relations, diplomatic relations after a breakdown in relations in 2018 over the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi. * May 25 –
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
and Belarus sign an agreement in Minsk allowing the stationing of Russian tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory. * May 27 – The second round of the 2023 Mauritanian parliamentary election is held, with the ruling Equity Party (Mauritania), El Insaf Party receiving the most votes. * May 28 – The second round of the 2023 Turkish presidential election is held; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan defeats Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu with 52.18% of the vote to win a third term as president. * May 31 – The 2023 Latvian presidential election is held; Edgars Rinkēvičs is elected the President of Latvia.


June

* June 2 – A 2023 Odisha train collision, train collision in Odisha,
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
results in at least 296 deaths and more than 1,200 others injured. * June 6 ** The 2023 Guinea-Bissau legislative election is held; the coalition Inclusive Alliance Platform – Terra Ranka led by the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, wins a majority of seats. ** The 2023 Kuwaiti general election is held; following the annulment of the results of the 2022 Kuwaiti general election, 2022 snap elections by the Constitutional Court. 38 members retained their seats from the annulled 2022 session, while two returned from the dissolved 2020 session. Ten new MPs were elected for the first time. **
Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
: The Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, Nova Kakhovka dam in the Russian occupation of Kherson Oblast, Russian-controlled Oblasts of Ukraine, region of Kherson Oblast, Kherson is Destruction of the Kakhovka Dam, destroyed, threatening the region with devastating floodwaters. ** Due to smoke from 2023 Canadian wildfires, wildfires in Canada, New York City in the United States is declared to have the worst air quality out of any city in the world. * June 11 –
Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...
opens its first embassy in Beijing,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
, after breaking off relations with Taiwan in March. * June 12 – Eritrea rejoins the Intergovernmental Authority on Development trade bloc after suspending its membership in 2007. * June 13 – At least 106 people are killed when a wedding boat Kwara boat disaster, capsizes on the Niger River in Kwara State, Nigeria. * June 14 ** Scientists report the creation of the first synthetic Human embryonic development, human embryo from stem cells, without the need for sperm or egg cells. ** At least 82 people die and 500 are reported missing after a 2023 Messenia migrant boat disaster, boat carrying migrants capsizes off the coast of the Peloponnese. * June 18 – Titan submersible implosion, ''Titan'' submersible implosion: All five crew members of Titan (submersible), ''Titan'', a deep-sea submersible exploring the Wreck of the Titanic, wreck of the ''Titanic'', are killed following a catastrophic implosion of the vessel. * June 19 ** The United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopts the
High Seas Treaty The Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction or BBNJ Agreement, also referred to by some stakeholders as t ...
, the first treaty aimed towards marine conservation in international waters. ** Qatar and the United Arab Emirates announce that they will restore Qatar–United Arab Emirates relations, diplomatic relations after relations were suspended during the Qatar diplomatic crisis. * June 20 – At least 46 people are killed after Támara prison riot, a riot between MS-13 and 18th Street gang, Barrio 18 gang members at a women's prison near Tegucigalpa,
Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...
. *June 23 –
Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
: The Wagner Group, led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner Group rebellion, begins an armed conflict with the Russian military, seizing the city of Rostov-on-Don and portions of the Voronezh Oblast before withdrawing the next day, after a peace agreement brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. *June 25 – The June 2023 Greek legislative election is held; Kyriakos Mitsotakis becomes Prime Minister of Greece, prime minister after his Centre-right politics, centre-right Political party, party, New Democracy (Greece), New Democracy, wins a majority of seats in the Hellenic Parliament, Greek parliament. *June 28 – The 2023 Sierra Leonean general election is held; Julius Maada Bio of the Sierra Leone People's Party is re-elected President of Sierra Leone, president. * June 30 – The
United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...
votes unanimously to end United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, MINUSMA, its peacekeeping mission in Mali.


July

*July 3 **
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
n Oil refinery, oil refiners start payments for Russian oil imports in Renminbi, Chinese yuan as an alternative to the United States dollar, US dollar due to increasing International sanctions during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, sanctions against Russia. **In the largest incursion by Israel into the West Bank since the Second Intifada, Israel Defense Forces, the Israeli military July 2023 Jenin incursion, deploys ground forces and armed drones into the Jenin refugee camp, Jenin camp, killing 13 people and injuring more than 100. July 2023 Tel Aviv attack, An attack claimed by Hamas as retaliation for the incursion, occurs in Tel Aviv the following day, injuring nine. *July 4 –
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
joins the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, becoming the organization's ninth member. *July 8 – In the Netherlands, Fourth Rutte cabinet, the governing coalition collapses and Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Prime Minister Mark Rutte announces his upcoming resignation. *July 9 **The 2023 Uzbek presidential election is held; Shavkat Mirziyoyev is re-elected president of Uzbekistan. ** New Zealand signs a free trade agreement with the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
, increasing New Zealand–European Union relations, bilateral trade. *July 10 **
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
and the Solomon Islands sign a cooperation agreement between the People's Police (China), People's Police and the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force in an upgrade of China–Solomon Islands relations, bilateral relations. **The European Commission and the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government sign a new data communication Multilateral treaty, agreement aimed at resolving Legal certainty, legal uncertainties that European and American companies face when transferring personal data. *July 13 – Pita Limjaroenrat fails to become Prime Minister of Thailand in a National Assembly (Thailand), National Assembly vote after forming a coalition with pro-democracy parties following the 2023 Thai general election. *July 14 – SAG-AFTRA announces it will begin 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, a strike against the major film and TV studios in protest of low compensation, ownership of work, and generative AI. *July 19 – Typhoon Doksuri (2023), Typhoon Doksuri forms in the eastern Pacific Ocean, going on to kill 137 people in Southeast Asia. *July 20–August 20 – The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup is held in Australia and New Zealand. In the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup final, final, Spain women's national football team, Spain wins 1–0 against England women's national football team, England. *July 20 – Bolivia and
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
sign a memorandum of understanding, in an upgrade of Bolivia–Iran relations, bilateral relations, expanding cooperation in the security and defense sectors. * July 21 – The films ''Barbie (film), Barbie'' and ''Oppenheimer (film), Oppenheimer'' open, while being paired as a major internet and cultural event, Barbenheimer. *July 23 **2023 Greece wildfires: Tens of thousands of tourists flee Rhodes (city), Rhodes,
Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
, amid wildfires and a major heatwave, in what officials say is the largest evacuation in the country's history. **Danes, Danish cyclist Jonas Vingegaard wins the Tour de France for 2022 Tour de France, the second consecutive time. **The 2023 Cambodian general election is held, with the dominant Cambodian People's Party retaining control of every seat in the National Assembly (Cambodia), National Assembly. **The 2023 Spanish general election is held, with the People's Party (Spain), People's Party becoming the largest party in the Congress of Deputies. *July 26 – President Mohamed Bazoum of Niger is toppled in a 2023 Nigerien coup d'état, coup d'état after members of his presidential guard and Niger Armed Forces, the armed forces seize control of the country and install General Abdourahamane Tchiani as leader of a National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland, military junta. *July 30 – 63 people are killed and over 200 are injured after a 2023 Khar bombing, suicide bombing occurs in Khar, Bajaur, Khar, Pakistan; the Islamic State – Khorasan Province claims responsibility for the attack.


August

*August 1 – Global warming: The world's Ocean temperature, oceans reach a new record high temperature of , exceeding the previous record in 2016. July is also the hottest month on record for globally averaged Temperature measurement#Surface air temperature, surface air temperatures by a considerable margin (). ** The joint venture Centura Health split up as AdventHealth and CommonSpirit Health parted ways. *August 8 – 2023 Hawaii wildfires: 17,000 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. * August 10 –
Tapestry Tapestry is a form of Textile arts, textile art which was traditionally Weaving, woven by hand on a loom. Normally it is used to create images rather than patterns. Tapestry is relatively fragile, and difficult to make, so most historical piece ...
, the holding company of
Coach New York Coach New York, commonly known as Coach, is an American luxury fashion house headquartered in New York City & specialized in handbags, luggage, and accessories, as well as ready-to-wear. Coach licenses its name and branding to Luxottica for eye ...
and Kate Spade New York, Kate Spade, announces it will acquire Michael Kors'
Capri Holdings Capri Holdings Limited (formerly Michael Kors Holdings Limited) is a multinational fashion holding company, incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, with executive offices in London and operational offices in New York. It was founded in 198 ...
, which also owns
Versace Gianni Versace S.r.l. (), usually referred to as Versace ( ), is an Italian luxury elite fashion company founded by Gianni Versace in 1978. The company produces Italian-made ready-to-wear and accessories, as well as '' haute couture'' under it ...
and Jimmy Choo (fashion house), Jimmy Choo. *August 16–August 21, 21 – Hurricane Hilary, a Category 4 Pacific Hurricane, strikes the Baja California peninsula and later causes record flooding in Southern California. *August 18 – American–Japanese–Korean trilateral pact: The United States, Japan, and South Korea agree to sign a trilateral pact. *August 20 – 2023 Guatemalan general election, 2023 Guatemalan presidential election: After two rounds of voting, Bernardo Arévalo of Semilla (political party), Semilla is elected with 58% of the vote. *August 21 **2023 Canadian wildfires: 68% of the Northwest Territories are forced to evacuate to other parts of the country due to wildfires. **
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
is Saudi Arabia-Yemen border killings, accused of mass killing hundreds of African migrants attempting to cross its border with Yemen. *August 22 – Former Prime Minister of Thailand, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra returns to Thailand after 15 years of political exile. *August 23 **India's Chandrayaan-3 becomes the first spacecraft to land near the Lunar south pole, south pole of the Moon, carrying a lunar lander named Chandrayaan-2#Vikram lander, ''Vikram'' and a lunar rover named Pragyan (Chandrayaan-3), ''Pragyan''. **Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder Dmitry Utkin and eight others are killed when their plane 2023 Wagner Group plane crash, crashes in Russia. *August 30 – Following the announcement of incumbent president Ali Bongo Ondimba, Ali Bongo Ondimba's reelection as President of Gabon, President of Gabon after the 2023 Gabonese general election, 2023 presidential election, the Armed Forces of Gabon, military launches 2023 Gabonese coup d'état, a successful coup d'état and creates the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions to govern the country, ending the rule of the Bongo family after 56 years in power. *August 31 – 2023 Johannesburg building fire: 77 people are killed and more than 85 are injured in a fire in a building that had been taken over by gangs who rented it out to squatters.


September

* September 1 – 2023 Singaporean presidential election: Economist and former Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore, deputy prime minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam is elected President of Singapore, president with a vote share of over 70%. * September 2 – The ISRO, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launches Aditya-L1, India's first solar observation mission. * September 8 – October 28 – The 2023 Rugby World Cup is held in France and is won by South Africa national rugby union team, South Africa who beat New Zealand national rugby union team, New Zealand in the 2023 Rugby World Cup final, final at the Stade de France, claiming a record fourth Webb Ellis Cup, Rugby World Cup title. * September 8 – 2023 Marrakesh–Safi earthquake: A 6.9 magnitude earthquake strikes Marrakesh–Safi province in western
Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
, killing at least 2,960 people and damaging historic buildings. * September 9 – At the 2023 G20 New Delhi summit, 18th G20 summit in New Delhi, the
African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union. The b ...
is announced as the 21st permanent member of the G20. * September 10 –
Storm Daniel Storm Daniel, also known as Cyclone Daniel, was a catastrophic tropical cyclone that became the deadliest Mediterranean tropical-like cyclone in recorded history, as well as one of the costliest tropical cyclones on record outside of the North ...
, a Mediterranean tropical-like cyclone, kills at least 5,000 people, with a further 10,000 to 100,000 reported missing. In the city of Derna, Libya, Derna in
Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
, two dams Derna dam collapses, collapse, resulting in a quarter of the city being destroyed. * September 14 – The
European Central Bank The European Central Bank (ECB) is the central component of the Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's Big Four (banking)#International ...
(ECB) raises eurozone interest rates to an all-time high of 4%, amid ongoing inflationary pressures across the continent. * September 19 –
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is an ethnic and territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, inhabited mostly by ethnic Armenians until 2023, and seven surrounding districts, inhabited mostly by Azerbai ...
:
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
launches 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh, a military offensive against the
Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
-backed Republic of Artsakh, which ends with a swift
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
i victory. 2023 Armenian protests, Protests erupt in Armenia, Artsakh announces the dissolution of Government of Artsakh, government institutions, and over 100,000 ethnic
Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...
Flight of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians, flee Nagorno-Karabakh. * September 20 – Archaeologists in Zambia find the world's Kalambo structure, oldest wooden structure, dating back 476,000 years, consisting of two interlocking wooden logs connected by a notch securing one perpendicular to the other. * September 21 – Rupert Murdoch announces his retirement and passes his businesses on to his son Lachlan Murdoch, Lachlan. Murdoch led News Corp and Fox Corporation, Fox, and formerly Sky Group. * September 24 – 2023 Nigerien crisis: President of France, French President Emmanuel Macron announces that France will end its military presence in Niger and will recall its Sylvain Itté, ambassador from the country. * September 25 – An estimated 170 people are killed and over 300 are injured during an Nagorno-Karabakh fuel depot explosion, explosion at a gas station in Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh. * September 30 – 2023 Slovak parliamentary election: Direction – Social Democracy, Smer, under the leadership of former prime minister Robert Fico, wins a plurality of seats in the National Council (Slovakia), National Council.


October

* October 3 **January 2023 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election, Elected on January 8, Kevin McCarthy Removal of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House, is removed as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, with Mike Johnson October 2023 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election, being elected new Speaker on October 25. **Sam Bankman-Fried, an American entrepreneur and founder of cryptocurrency exchange company FTX, is United States v. Bankman-Fried, put on trial and later convicted on 7 charges of fraud and conspiracy. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison on March 28, 2024. * October 5 – November 19 – The 2023 Cricket World Cup is held in India, with Australia national cricket team, Australia defeating India national cricket team, India in the 2023 Cricket World Cup final, final. *October 7 **Gaza war:
Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...
launches 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, an incursion into southern
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
from the
Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...
, killing more than 1,100 Israelis and taking about 240 hostages, prompting a military response from the Israel Defense Forces. Israel launches Israel–Hezbollah conflict (2023–present), numerous air strikes on October 2023 Hezbollah strike, Lebanon after rockets are fired by Hezbollah and further attempts are made to penetrate Israel. ** 2023 Herat earthquakes, A series of earthquakes occur in Herat Province in
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
, killing over 1,000 people and injuring nearly 2,000, with tremors felt in
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
and Turkmenistan. The earthquakes are the deadliest in the country since May 1998 Afghanistan earthquake, 1998. *October 8 – Israel's Security Cabinet of Israel, Security Cabinet formally declaration of war, declares war for the first time since the Yom Kippur War in 1973. *October 11 –
ExxonMobil Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational List of oil exploration and production companies, oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the Successors of Standard Oil, largest direct s ...
announces it will acquire
Pioneer Natural Resources Pioneer Natural Resources Company, headquartered in Irving, Texas, was a company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration. It operated in the Cline Shale, which is part of the Spraberry Trend of the Permian Basin, where the company was the larges ...
for $65 billion USD, the first of two major energy industry acquisitions of the month. The second occurs less than two weeks later on 23 October, where
Hess High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) is a system of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs) for the investigation of cosmic gamma rays in the photon energy range of 0.03 to 100 TeV. The acronym was chosen in honour of Victor ...
announces it will be acquired by Chevron for $50 billion. *October 13 – After British regulators' approval,
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
closes its $68.7 billion USD acquisition of
Activision Blizzard Activision Blizzard, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in Santa Monica, California. Activision Blizzard currently includes three operating units: Activision, Blizzard Entertainment and King (company), King. Founded in July 2 ...
. *October 14 ** 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum: A majority of Australians vote against establishing an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice in the constitution. ** 2023 New Zealand general election: The New Zealand National Party, National Party wins a plurality of seats under leader Christopher Luxon, while the New Zealand Labour Party, Labour Party suffers the worst result for an incumbent ruling party in modern New Zealand history. * October 15 ** In the second round of the 2023 Ecuadorian general election, Daniel Noboa of the National Democratic Action (Ecuador), National Democratic Action is elected as the youngest-ever President of Ecuador. ** 2023 Polish parliamentary election: The Law and Justice party wins the most seats, but loses its majority, with its incumbent president Mateusz Morawiecki being succeeded by the Civic Platform party's Donald Tusk on 13 December. * October 17 – Al-Ahli Arab Hospital explosion, An explosion occurs at the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, where displaced Palestinians are taking refuge. Many fatalities are reported, but estimates vary significantly, from 100 to as many as 471, depending on the source. * October 22 – 2023 Swiss federal election: The Swiss People's Party retains its majority in the National Council (Switzerland), National Council. *October 25 **Hurricane Otis, an Pacific hurricane, eastern Pacific tropical cyclone, makes landfall in Mexico near Acapulco, leaving at least 80 dead. It is the most powerful Eastern Pacific hurricane to make landfall in Mexico, with the highest winds reaching 165 mph, surpassing Hurricane Patricia's Meteorological history of Hurricane Patricia, landfall in 2015. **40-year-old Robert Card (mass shooter), Robert Card 2023 Lewiston shootings, shoots and kills 18 people at two locations in Lewiston, Maine, Lewiston, Maine, making it one of the deadliest Spree killer, spree shootings in U.S. history. *October 31 –
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
Red Sea crisis, intercepted a Houthi movement, Yemeni Houthi ballistic missile with its Arrow 2 missile defense system. The interception occurred above Earth's atmosphere above the Negev Desert, making it the first instance of Space warfare, space combat in history.


November

*November 1 – The first 2023 AI Safety Summit, AI Safety Summit takes place in the United Kingdom, with 28 countries signing a "world first agreement" on how to manage the riskiest forms of artificial intelligence. *November 2 – The Beatles release "Now and Then (Beatles song), Now and Then", the band's last ever song, featuring restored vocals by John Lennon (1940–1980), as well as guitar tracks by George Harrison (1943–2001). *November 6 – Gaza war: The death toll in Gaza is reported to have passed 10,000. United Nations Secretary-General of the United Nations, Secretary General António Guterres calls for a humanitarian
ceasefire A ceasefire (also known as a truce), also spelled cease-fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions often due to mediation by a third party. Ceasefires may b ...
to increase the flow of aid to civilians. *November 7 – The Portuguese Prime Minister of Portugal, Prime Minister António Costa announces his pending resignation. The President of Portugal decides to dissolve the parliament and call for 2024 Portuguese legislative election, early elections to be held on 10 March 2024. *November 9 – U.S. surgeons at NYU Langone Health announce the Eye transplantation#History, world's first whole eye transplant. *November 10 – In the Falepili Union treaty, Australia grants "special" freedom of movement and Civil defense, defence rights to Tuvaluan people, Tuvaluans for Immigration to Australia, residence and employment for Climate migration, climate reasons. *November 14–November 17, 17 – President Biden hosts the APEC United States 2023, APEC summit in San Francisco, which Chinese president
Xi Jinping Xi Jinping, pronounced (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China), chairman of the Central Military Commission ...
attends. Both countries, at the conclusion of the summit, agree to re-open suspended channels of military communications and to cooperate in their fight against
climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
. *November 17 – The global temperature record, global average temperature temporarily exceeds 2 °C above the pre-industrial average for the first time in recorded history. * November 19 – 2023 Argentine general election, 2023 Argentine presidential election: Following the first round on 22 October 2023, Javier Milei wins in the second round of the election, Inauguration of Javier Milei, assuming office on December 10, 10 December with Victoria Villarruel as his List of vice presidents of Argentina, vice president. * November 20 – A Boeing P-8 Poseidon, Boeing P-8A Poseidon operated by the United States Navy 2023 Boeing P-8 Poseidon runway overrun, overshot the runway at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Kaneohe, Hawaii. No one died. * November 22 ** Israel and Hamas agree to a four-day ceasefire, the first pause in fighting since 7 October, during which many Israeli hostages will be released, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. ** 2023 Dutch general election: Far-right Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom (PVV) wins the most seats. *November 23 – 2023 Dublin riot, Riots broke out in Dublin, Dublin, Ireland after a mass stabbing on Parnell Square, Parnell Square East which injured 4 people. * November 24 – Somalia is admitted as the eighth member of the East African Community, having applied for membership in 2012. * November 27 – After forming a Sixth National Government of New Zealand, coalition Government with the right-wing ACT New Zealand, ACT and New Zealand First parties, Christopher Luxon is sworn in as the 42nd
Prime Minister of New Zealand The prime minister of New Zealand () is the head of government of New Zealand. The prime minister, Christopher Luxon, leader of the New Zealand National Party, took office on 27 November 2023. The prime minister (informally abbreviated to P ...
. The new administration opposes policies promoting Māori culture and addressing inequity between Māori and non-Māori, which leads to Sixth National Government of New Zealand#Issues and controversies, allegations of inflaming racial tensions. * November 30 – Brazil announces it will join OPEC, OPEC+ at a meeting of the organization to discuss oil output strategy in 2024. Brazil is the largest oil producer in South America, producing 4.6 million barrels per day of oil and gas.


December

*December 3 – 2023 Guyana–Venezuela crisis: Venezuela 2023 Venezuelan referendum, votes in a symbolic referendum on whether voters agreed with creating a subdivision in the disputed territory of Guyana–Venezuela territorial dispute, Guayana Esequiba currently under the control of neighboring Guyana. Analysts say the referendum's practical implications are likely to be minimal. *December 6 – Google DeepMind releases the Gemini (language model), Gemini Language Model. Gemini will act as a Foundation models, foundational model integrated into Google's existing tools, including Google Search, Search and Bard (chatbot), Bard. *December 10–December 12, 12 – 2023 Egyptian presidential election: Incumbent President of Egypt, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi wins a third term with 89.6 percent of the vote in the election. *December 12 – At the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP28 climate summit in Dubai, a consensus is reached for countries to "transition away" from fossil fuels, the first such agreement in the conference's 30-year history. The transition is specifically for energy systems, excluding plastics, transport or agriculture. *December 16 – Emir of Kuwait Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah dies at the age of 86 and is succeeded by his half-brother Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. * December 17 – The 2023 Serbian parliamentary election is held, with the Serbia Must Not Stop, SNS coalition, led by Miloš Vučević, winning 128 of 250 seats in the Serbian National Assembly. * December 18 – A number of shipping companies announce a temporary suspension of their operations in the Red Sea due to continued Houthi involvement in the Israel–Hamas war, attacks on vessels by Houthi movement, Houthi rebels. * December 20 – 2023 Democratic Republic of the Congo general election: Incumbent President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, President Félix Tshisekedi wins re-election, defeating two major challengers. * December 21 ** The European Court of Justice rules that threats by FIFA and UEFA to sanction football clubs that wish to join the European Super League are unlawful. ** The 2023 Prague shootings, deadliest mass shooting in the Czech Republic's history occurs at a Prague university, with 15 killed, including the perpetrator, and 25 others wounded. * December 22 – Gaza war: The death toll in Gaza is reported to have passed 20,000, almost 1% of its population and surpassing the casualties in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. * December 29 **
Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
: Russian Armed Forces, Russia 29 December 2023 Russian strikes on Ukraine, launches the largest wave of drone warfare, drones and missiles on Ukraine, Ukrainian cities since the start of the war in a overnight assault, killing at least 39 people and injuring at least 160 others. Armed Forces of Ukraine, Ukraine 30 December 2023 Belgorod shelling, launches a drone assault the following day, killing at least 21 people, including three children, and injuring 110 others, including 17 children. ** A South Africa's genocide case against Israel, genocide case against Israel is brought towards the International Court of Justice by
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
for Israel's Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, invasion and subsequent Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip, bombardment of the
Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...
, and its role in the subsequent
humanitarian crisis A humanitarian crisis (or sometimes humanitarian disaster) is defined as a singular event or a series of events that are threatening in terms of health, safety or well-being of a community or large group of people. It may be an internal or exter ...
. * December 31 – Queen Margrethe II of Denmark announces Abdication of Margrethe II, her abdication effective January 14, 2024, after 52 years on the throne.


Demographics

The world population on January 1, 2023 was estimated at 7.943 billion people, and was expected to increase to 8.119 billion on January 1, 2024. An estimated 134.3 million births and 60.8 million deaths were expected to take place in 2023. The average global life expectancy was 73.16 years, an increase of 0.18 years from 2022. The rate of child mortality was 36.7 per 1000 live births, a decrease from 38.2 in 2022. Less than 23% of people were living in extreme poverty (on or below the Poverty threshold, international poverty line), a decrease from 2022. In April,
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
surpassed
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
as the most populated country in the world.


Best-selling media

* The best-selling video game in 2023 was ''Hogwarts Legacy''. * The highest-grossing movie in 2023 was ''Barbie (film), Barbie.'' * The best-selling book in the United States in 2023 was ''It Ends with Us'', which was published in 2016. Of the books to be published in 2023, ''Spare (memoir), Spare'' was the best-selling in America.


Births


Deaths


Nobel Prizes

* Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemistry – Moungi Bawendi, Louis E. Brus & Alexey Ekimov, for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots. * Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, Economics – Claudia Goldin, for her empirical research into female income and employment. * Nobel Prize in Literature, Literature – Jon Fosse, for his innovative plays, prose and style, which has come to be known as Fosse minimalism. * Nobel Peace Prize, Peace – Narges Mohammadi, for her works on the promotion of feminism. * Nobel Prize in Physics, Physics – Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz & Anne L'Huillier, for experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light for the study of electron dynamics in matter. * Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Physiology or Medicine – Katalin Karikó & Drew Weissman, for their discoveries concerning nucleoside Nucleoside-modified messenger RNA, base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.


References

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