December 23 is the 357th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar.
There are eight days remaining until the end of the year.
Dec 23
Sunrise will be at 7:22 AM
Sunset will be at 4:55 PM
We'll have 9 hours, 33 minutes, and 1 second of daylight
4 minutes more than yesterday
...COASTAL FLOOD ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 3 PM PST TUESDAY...
.TUESDAY...PARTLY CLOUDY IN THE MORNING THEN BECOMING SUNNY.
HIGHS IN THE LOWER 60S. SOUTHEAST WINDS AROUND 5 MPH...BECOMING
NORTHWEST IN THE AFTERNOON.
.TUESDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY IN THE EVENING THEN BECOMING
MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOWS IN THE LOWER 50S. WEST WINDS AROUND 5 MPH...
BECOMING NORTH AFTER MIDNIGHT.
.WEDNESDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN. HIGHS IN THE
LOWER 60S. NORTHWEST WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH. CHANCE OF RAIN
20 PERCENT.
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT...CLOUDY IN THE EVENING THEN BECOMING PARTLY
CLOUDY. A CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE EVENING...THEN A SLIGHT CHANCE OF
RAIN AFTER MIDNIGHT. LOWS IN THE UPPER 40S. NORTHWEST WINDS 10 TO
20 MPH. CHANCE OF RAIN 30 PERCENT.
.CHRISTMAS DAY...SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 50S.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...CLEAR. LOWS IN THE MID 40S.
.FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 50S.
LOWS IN THE UPPER 40S.
.SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...PARTLY CLOUDY. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 50S.
LOWS IN THE UPPER 40S.
.SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY...MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS IN THE UPPER 40S.
HIGHS IN THE UPPER 50S.
&&
1783 – George Washington resigns as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army at the Maryland State House in Annapolis, Maryland and retired to his home at Mount Vernon, Va.
1788Maryland passed an act to cede a parcel of land for the seat of the national government, part of which later became the District of Columbia.
1823 – A Visit from St. Nicholas, also known as The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore was first published, in the Troy (N.Y.) Sentinel.
1893 – The opera Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck is first performed.
1913 – The Federal Reserve Act is signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson, creating the Federal Reserve System.
1941American forces on Wake Island surrendered to the Japanese during World War II.
1947 – The transistor is first demonstrated at Bell Laboratories.
1948Former Japanese premier Hideki Tojo and six other Japanese war leaders were executed in Tokyo.
1954 – First successful kidney transplant is performed by J. Hartwell Harrison and Joseph Murray.
1956: Jubilation as allied troops leave Suez
Crowds of Egyptians have poured onto the streets of Port Said to celebrate the withdrawal of British and French forces from Egyptian soil.
1958 – Dedication of Tokyo Tower, the world's highest self-supporting iron tower.
1968 – The 82 sailors from the USS Pueblo are released after eleven months of internment in North Korea.
1970 – The North Tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York, New York is topped out at 1,368 feet (417 m), making it the tallest building in the world.
1972 – A 6.5 magnitude earthquake strikes the Nicaraguan capital of Managua killing more than 10,000.
1972 – The 16 survivors of the Andes flight disaster are rescued after 73 days, having survived by cannibalism.
1972The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Oakland Raiders 13-7 in an NFL playoff game on a last-second touchdown catch by Franco Harris that was dubbed the "immaculate reception."
1979 – Soviet war in Afghanistan: Soviet Union forces occupy Kabul, the Afghan capital.
1982 – The United States Environmental Protection Agency announces it has identified dangerous levels of dioxin in the soil of Times Beach, Missouri.
1986: Sakharov comes in from the cold
The Soviet Union's most prominent dissident, Andrei Sakharov, has returned to Moscow after almost seven years of internal exile.
1986 – Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, lands at Edwards Air Force Base in California becoming the first aircraft to fly non-stop around the world without aerial or ground refueling.
1995A fire in Dabwali, India, killed 540 people, including 170 children, during a year-end party being held near the children's school.
1997A federal jury in Denver convicted Terry Nichols of involuntary manslaughter and conspiracy for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.
2003The government announced the first suspected case of mad cow disease in United States.
2003A jury in Chesapeake, Va., sentenced teen sniper Lee Boyd Malvo to life in prison, sparing him the death penalty.
2004Former Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland pleaded guilty to a corruption charge. (He served 10 months in prison.)
2007 – An agreement is made for the Kingdom of Nepal to be abolished and the country to become a federal republic with the Prime Minister becoming head of state.
2009The parents who pulled the "balloon boy" hoax in hopes of landing a reality TV show, were sentenced to jail by a judge in Fort Collins, Colo.
Births
1805 – Joseph Smith, American religious leader, 1st President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1844)
On Dec. 23, 1867, Sarah Breedlove Walker, the American businesswoman and philanthropist considered to be the first black female millionaire , was born. Following her death on May 25, 1919, her obituary appeared in The Times.
1896 – Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, Italian lieutenant and author (d. 1957)
1900 – Otto Soglow, American cartoonist (d. 1975)
1918 – Helmut Schmidt, German economist, pilot, and politician, 5th Chancellor of Germany
1926 – Robert Bly, American poet and author
1933 – Akihito, Japanese emperor
1935 – Esther Phillips, American singer (d. 1984)
1936 – Frederic Forrest, American actor
1937 – Avi, American author
1940 – Jorma Kaukonen, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna)
1941 – Tim Hardin, American singer-songwriter (d. 1980)
1943 – Harry Shearer, American actor, singer, producer, and screenwriter
1949 – Adrian Belew, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (King Crimson, Tom Tom Club, and The Bears)
1964 – Eddie Vedder, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Pearl Jam, Temple of the Dog, Bad Radio, and Hovercraft)
1966 – Badi Assad, Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1967 – Carla Bruni, Italian-French singer-songwriter and model
Holidays and observances
December is National Fruit Cake Month
it's also National Egg Nog Month
23… Roots Day
December 23, 2014 is also National Pfeffernuesse Day
Birthday of the Queen Silvia, an official flag day (Sweden)
Children's Day (South Sudan)
Festivus, a holiday made popular by the sitcom Seinfeld
HumanLight (Secular humanism in United States)
Larentalia, in honor of Larenta. (Roman Empire)
Night of the Radishes (Oaxaca, Mexico)
The Emperor's Birthday, birthday of Akihito, the current Emperor of Japan. (Japan)
Tibb's Eve (Newfoundland and Labrador)
Victory Day (Egypt)
Foundation Day Pakistan 1947