#TodayInHistory – May 23

May 23 – Some important events on this day

1568 👉🏼 The Netherlands declares independence from Spain
1618 👉🏼 Second Defenestration of Prague: Two Catholic Lords Regent and their secretary are thrown out of a window and amazingly are not seriously injured by the 21m fall. Triggers the Thirty Years’ War.

1701 👉🏼 Captain William Kidd is hanged in London after being convicted of piracy and the murder of William Moore. Pirate legend William Kidd is the only pirate known to have buried a treasure.

1785 👉🏼 Benjamin Franklin announces his invention of bifocals.
1813 👉🏼 South American independence leader Simón Bolívar enters Mérida, leading the invasion of Venezuela, and is proclaimed El Libertador (“The Liberator”)
1873 👉🏼 Canada’s North West Mounted Police Force forms (it didn’t get the “Royal” until 1904).
1883 👉🏼 Baseball game between one-armed and one-legged players at Recreation Park, Philadelphia, Snorkeys defeat the Hoppers 33-17.
1934 👉🏼 Police kill famous outlaws Bonnie and Clyde.
1949 👉🏼 Federal Republic of (West) Germany created out of the American, British and French occupation zones.
1958 👉🏼 Mao Zedong starts the “Great Leap Forward” movement in China 🇨🇳
1980 👉🏼 Horror film “The Shining” released directed by Stanley Kubrick, starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall, based on book by Stephen King.
1998 👉🏼 The Good Friday Agreement is accepted in a referendum in Northern Ireland with 75% voting yes.

2015 👉🏼 Ireland legalizes same-sex marriage.
On this day thousands of LGBTQ activists celebrated as Ireland became the first country to legalize same-sex marriage through referendum. The referendum passed with 62% of voters (1.2 million people) voting yes. The vote attracted a large turnout, with 60.5% of eligible voters, and an unprecedented amount of young people, making their way to the polls. Many politicians welcomed the result, and Minister for Health Leo Varadkar publicly revealed he was gay for the first time during the campaign and called the win a “historical day.” The Minister for Equality Aodhán Ó Ríordáin said the win made him proud to be Irish. The Catholic Church, however, was not as happy with the decision. Archbishop Eamon Martin said the church felt a sense of “bereavement” after the referendum passed, and Cardinal Pietro Parolin called it a “defeat for humanity.” Ireland’s first same-sex marriage happened on November 17, 2015, almost six months after the vote. The couple, Richard Dowling and Cormac Gollogly, both 35, had been together for 12 years when they were finally allowed to be legally married. Same-sex marriage is now legal in more than 20 nations and all 50 American states.

2019 👉🏼 Prototype of new high-speed train that will float above the track, capable of travelling 600km an hour (370 mph), unveiled by Chinese Railway Rolling Stock Corporation in Qingdao 🚆