So you want to have a drink but you aren't sure why? Here are some GREAT reasons to call your friends over and have a party.

August 23rd


- Black Ribbon Day
- Christian Feast Day
- European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism (European Union)
- Flag Day (Ukraine)
- International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition (International)
- Umhlanga Day (Swaziland)
- Vulcanalia (Roman Empire)

August 23rd


- 2010 - Manila hostage crisis, which occurred at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila, where a dismissed police officer took hostage a tour bus full of Chinese nationals.
- 2006 - Natascha Kampusch, who is abducted at the age of 10, managed to escape from her captor Wolfgang Priklopil, after 8 years of captivity.
- 2000 - Gulf Air Flight 072 crashes into the Persian Gulf near Manama, Bahrain, killing 143.
- 1996 - Osama bin Laden issues message entitled 'A declaration of war against the Americans occupying the land of the two holy places.'
- 1994 - Eugene Bullard, The only black pilot in World War I, is posthumously commissioned as Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force.
- 1990 - Saddam Hussein appears on Iraqi state television with a number of Western "guests" (actually hostages) to try to prevent the Gulf War.
- 1990 - Armenia declares its independence from the Soviet Union.
- 1990 - West Germany and East Germany announce that they will unite on October 3.
- 1989 - Hungary: the last communist government opens the Iron curtain and causes the exodus of thousands of Eastern Germans to West Germany via Hungary (September 11).
- 1989 - Singing Revolution: two million people from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania stand on the Vilnius-Tallinn road, holding hands (Baltic Way).
- 1989 - 1,645 Australian domestic airline pilots resign after the airlines threaten to fire them and sue them over a dispute.
- 1985 - Hans Tiedge, top counter-spy of West Germany, defects to East Germany.
- 1982 - Bachir Gemayel is elected Lebanese President amidst the raging civil war.
- 1979 - Soviet dancer Alexander Godunov defects to the United States.
- 1977 - The Gossamer Condor wins the Kremer prize for human powered flight.
- 1975 - Successful Communist coup in Laos.
- 1966 - Lunar Orbiter 1 takes the first photograph of Earth from orbit around the Moon.
- 1958 - Chinese Civil War: The Second Taiwan Strait crisis begins with the People's Liberation Army's bombardment of Quemoy.
- 1954 - First flight of the C-130 Hercules transport aircraft.
- 1948 - World Council of Churches is formed.
- 1946 - Ordinance No. 46 of the British Military Government constitutes the German Land (state) of Schleswig-Holstein.
- 1944 - World War II: Marseille liberated.
- 1944 - World War II King Michael of Romania dismisses the pro-Nazi government of General Antonescu, who is arrested. Romania switches sides from the Axis to the Allies.
- 1944 - Freckleton Air Disaster – A United States Army Air Forces B-24 Liberator bomber crashes into a school in Freckleton, England killing 61 people.
- 1943 - World War II: Kharkov liberated.
- 1942 - World War II: Beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad.
- 1939 - World War II: Germany and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression treaty, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. In a secret addition to the pact, the Baltic states, Finland, Romania, and Poland are divided between the two nations.
- 1938 - English cricketer Len Hutton sets a world record for the highest individual Test innings of 364, during a Test match against Australia.
- 1929 - Hebron Massacre during the 1929 Palestine riots: Arab attack on the Jewish community in Hebron in the British Mandate of Palestine, continuing until the next day, resulted in the death of 65-68 Jews and the remaining Jews being forced to leave the city.
- 1927 - Sacco and Vanzetti are executed.
- 1923 - Capt. Lowell Smith and Lt. John P. Richter performed the first mid-air refueling on De Havilland DH-4B, setting an endurance flight record of 37 hours.
- 1921 - British airship R-38 experiences structural failure over Hull in England and crashes in the Humber estuary. Of her 49 British and American training crew, only 4 survive.
- 1914 - World War I: Japan declares war on Germany and bombs Qingdao, China.
- 1914 - World War I: the Battle of Mons; the British Army begins withdrawal.
- 1904 - The automobile tire chain is patented.
- 1896 - First Cry of the Philippine Revolution is made in Pugad Lawin (Quezon City), in the province of Manila.
- 1873 - Albert Bridge in Chelsea, London opened.
- 1866 - Austro-Prussian War ends with the Treaty of Prague.
- 1864 - The Union Navy captures Fort Morgan, Alabama, thus breaking Confederate dominance of all ports on the Gulf of Mexico.
- 1858 - The Round Oak rail accident occurs in Brierley Hill in the Black Country, England. It is 'Arguably the worst disaster ever to occur on British railways'.
- 1839 - The United Kingdom captures Hong Kong as a base as it prepares for war with Qing China. The ensuing 3-year conflict will later be known as the First Opium War.
- 1813 - At the Battle of Grossbeeren, the Prussians under Von Bülow repulse the French army.
- 1799 - Napoleon leaves Egypt for France en route to seize power.
- 1793 - French Revolution: a levée en masse is decreed by the National Convention.
- 1784 - Western North Carolina (now eastern Tennessee) declares itself an independent state under the name of Franklin; it wasn’t accepted into the United States, and only lasted for four years.
- 1775 - King George III declares that the American colonies exist in a state of open and avowed rebellion.
- 1708 - Meidingnu Pamheiba is crowned King of Manipur.
- 1595 - Michael the Brave confronts the Ottoman army in the Battle of Calugareni.
- 1572 - Mob violence against Huguenots in Paris – St. Bartholomew's Day massacre.
- 1555 - Calvinists are granted rights in the Netherlands.
- 1541 - French explorer Jacques Cartier lands near Quebec City in his third voyage to Canada.
- 1514 - Battle of Chaldiran ended with a decisive victory for the Sultan Selim I, Ottoman Empire, over the Shah Ismail I, Safavids founder.
- 1328 - Battle of Cassel: French troops stop an uprising of Flemish farmers.
- 1305 - William Wallace, Scottish patriot, is executed for high treason by Edward I of England.
- 79 - Mount Vesuvius begins stirring, on the feast day of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire.

August 23rd


- 2001 - Zaijian Jaranilla, Filipino actor
- 1988 - Jeremy Lin, American basketball player
- 1987 - Nikki Gil, Filipina actress and host
- 1986 - Neil Cicierega, American cartoonist and musician
- 1984 - Glen Johnson, English footballer
- 1983 - Sun Ming Ming, Chinese basketball player
- 1983 - Tony Moll, American football player
- 1982 - Natalie Coughlin, American swimmer
- 1982 - Scott Palguta, American soccer player
- 1982 - YTCracker, American musician and computer hacker
- 1981 - Stephan Loboué, Ivorian footballer
- 1981 - Carmen Luvana, American pornographic actress.
- 1981 - Carlos Cuéllar, Spanish footballer
- 1980 - Denny Bautista, Dominican baseball player
- 1980 - Rex Grossman, American football player
- 1980 - Diamondog, Angolan Rapper
- 1979 - Edgar Sosa, Mexican boxer
- 1979 - Ritchie Neville, British musician
- 1978 - Kobe Bryant, American basketball player
- 1978 - Julian Casablancas, American singer (The Strokes)
- 1977 - Douglas Sequeira, Costa Rican footballer
- 1976 - Scott Caan, American actor
- 1976 - Pat Garrity, American basketball player
- 1975 - Eliza Carthy, English singer and fiddler
- 1975 - Sean Marks, New Zealander-born basketball player
- 1974 - Ray Park, Scottish actor
- 1974 - Seth Binzer, aka Shifty Shellshock, American musician (Crazy Town)
- 1974 - Benjamin Limo, Kenyan runner
- 1974 - Christian Beranek, American graphic novelist and actor
- 1973 - Casey Blake, American baseball player
- 1973 - Kerry Walmsley, New Zealand cricketer
- 1973 - Malaika Arora Khan, Indian actress and model
- 1972 - Martin Grainger, English footballer
- 1972 - Raul Casanova, Puerto Rican baseball player
- 1972 - Mark Butcher, England cricketer
- 1971 - Demetrio Albertini, Italian footballer
- 1971 - BoneCrusher, American rapper
- 1970 - Lawrence Frank, American basketball coach
- 1970 - "KK" Krishnakumar Kunnath, Indian Singer
- 1970 - Brad Mehldau, American pianist
- 1970 - Jay Mohr, American actor and comedian
- 1970 - River Phoenix, American actor (d. 1993)
- 1969 - Keith Tyson, English artist
- 1969 - Jeremy Schaap, American sportswriter
- 1969 - Geneviève Brouillette, Quebec television and film actress
- 1968 - Chris DiMarco, American golfer
- 1968 - Laura Claycomb, American operatic soprano
- 1967 - Richard Petrie, New Zealand cricketer
- 1966 - Rik Smits, Dutch-American basketball player
- 1965 - Roger Avary, Canadian screenwriter, director, and producer
- 1964 - Johan Bruyneel, Belgian cyclist
- 1964 - Kong Hee, Singaporean pastor
- 1964 - Yoshikazu Taru, Japanese professional wrestler
- 1964 - Wendy Pepper, American designer
- 1963 - Hans-Henning Fastrich, German field hockey player
- 1963 - Kenny Wallace, American race car driver
- 1963 - Park Chan-wook, Korean director and screenwriter
- 1963 - Richard Illingworth, England cricketer
- 1962 - Martin Cauchon, Canadian politician
- 1962 - Shaun Ryder, English musician
- 1961 - Gary Mabbutt, English footballer
- 1961 - Dean DeLeo, American musician (Stone Temple Pilots)
- 1960 - Rodney Alan Greenblat, American graphic artist
- 1960 - Chris Potter, Canadian actor
- 1960 - Gary Hoey, American Guitarist
- 1959 - George Kalovelonis, Greek tennis player
- 1958 - Julio Franco, Dominican baseball player
- 1957 - Tasos Mitropoulos, Greek footballer and politician
- 1956 - Andreas Floer, German mathematician (d. 1991)
- 1956 - Valgerd Svarstad Haugland, Norwegian politician
- 1956 - Skipp Sudduth, American actor
- 1954 - Charles Busch, American director, writer, actor and drag queen
- 1953 - Bobby G, British singer (Bucks Fizz)
- 1952 - Vicky Leandros, Greek singer and politician
- 1951 - Akhmad Kadyrov, President of Chechnya (d. 2004)
- 1951 - Allan Bristow, American basketball head coach
- 1951 - Queen Noor of Jordan
- 1951 - Jimi Jamison, American singer (Survivor)
- 1949 - Katiana Balanika, Greek actress and singer
- 1949 - Geoff Capes, English strongman
- 1949 - Shelley Long, American actress
- 1949 - Rick Springfield, Australian singer and actor
- 1948 - Andrei Ple?u, Romanian writer, essayist
- 1948 - Daniel Ruettiger, American motivational speaker
- 1947 - Willy Russell, British playwright
- 1947 - David Robb, British actor
- 1946 - Keith Moon, English musician (The Who) (d. 1978)
- 1945 - Rayfield Wright, American football player
- 1944 - Antonia Novello, former United States Surgeon General
- 1943 - Nelson DeMille, American novelist
- 1936 - Henry Lee Lucas, American serial killer (d. 2001)
- 1934 - Barbara Eden, American actress and singer
- 1934 - Sonny Jurgensen, American football player
- 1933 - Robert Curl, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1933 - Pete Wilson, American politician
- 1932 - Houari Boumedienne, President of Algeria (d. 1978)
- 1932 - Mark Russell, American comedian and political commentator
- 1931 - Hamilton O. Smith, American microbiologist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- 1930 - Michel Rocard, French politician
- 1929 - Vera Miles, American actress
- 1928 - Marian Seldes, American actress
- 1927 - Dick Bruna, Dutch illustrator
- 1927 - Martial Solal, French jazz pianist and composer
- 1926 - Clifford Geertz, American anthropologist, (d. 2006)
- 1925 - Robert Mulligan, American film director (d. 2008)
- 1924 - Ephraim Kishon, Israeli writer (d. 2005)
- 1924 - Robert Solow, American economist, Nobel laureate
- 1923 - Edgar F. Codd, English computer scientist (d. 2003)
- 1922 - Jean Darling, American child actress
- 1922 - Pierre Gauvreau, French Canadian painter, television writer and producer
- 1922 - George Kell, American baseball player (d. 2009)
- 1921 - Kenneth Arrow, American economist, Bank of Sweden Prize winner
- 1921 - Sam Cook, England cricketer (d. 1996)
- 1919 - Vladimir Rokhlin, Soviet mathematician (d. 1984)
- 1917 - Tex Williams, American singer (d. 1985)
- 1912 - Gene Kelly, American dancer and actor (d. 1996)
- 1911 - Birger Ruud, Norwegian ski-jumper (d. 1998)
- 1910 - Giuseppe Meazza, Italian footballer (d. 1979)
- 1910 - Lonny Frey, American baseball player (d. 2009)
- 1909 - Syd Buller, English cricketer (d. 1970)
- 1908 - Hannah Frank, Scottish artist (d. 2008)
- 1905 - Constant Lambert, British composer (d. 1951)
- 1903 - William Primrose, Scottish violist (d. 1982)
- 1901 - Guy Bush, Major League Baseball pitcher (d. 1985)
- 1901 - John Sherman Cooper, American politician (d. 1991)
- 1900 - Ernst Krenek, Austrian-born composer (d. 1991)
- 1900 - Malvina Reynolds, American folk singer/songwriter (d. 1978)
- 1884 - Will Cuppy, American humorist (d. 1949)
- 1884 - Ogden L. Mills, American Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1937)
- 1883 - Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright IV, American general (d. 1953)
- 1880 - Alexander Grin, Russian writer (d. 1932)
- 1875 - William Eccles, English radio pioneer (d. 1966)
- 1875 - Eugene Lanceray, Russian artist (d. 1946)
- 1868 - Edgar Lee Masters, American author (d. 1950)
- 1864 - Eleftherios Venizelos, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1936)
- 1854 - Moritz Moszkowski, Polish/German composer (d. 1925)
- 1852 - Arnold Toynbee, English economist and social reformer (d. 1883)
- 1852 - Clímaco Calderón, President of Colombia. (d. 1913)
- 1849 - William Ernest Henley, British poet, critic, and editor (d. 1903)
- 1847 - Sarah Frances Whiting, American physicist and astronomer (d. 1927)
- 1846 - Alexander Milne Calder, American sculptor (d. 1923)
- 1843 - William Southam, Canadian newspaper publisher (d. 1932)
- 1836 - Marie Henriette of Austria, Queen of the Belgians (d. 1902)
- 1829 - Moritz Cantor, German mathematician (d. 1920)
- 1814 - James Roosevelt Bayley, American religious leader (d. 1877)
- 1805 - Anton von Schmerling, Austrian statesman (d. 1893)
- 1785 - Oliver Hazard Perry, American naval officer (d. 1819)
- 1783 - William Tierney Clark, English civil engineer (d. 1852)
- 1769 - Georges Cuvier, French biologist and statesman (d. 1832)
- 1757 - Marie Magdalene Charlotte Ackermann, German actress (d. 1775)
- 1754 - King Louis XVI of France (d. 1793)
- 1741 - Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse, French explorer (d. 1788)
- 1724 - Abraham Yates, American Continental Congressman (d. 1796)
- 1623 - Stanis?aw Lubieniecki, Polish Socinian theologist (d. 1675)
- 1524 - François Hotman, French lawyer and writer (d. 1590)
- 1486 - Sigismund von Herberstein, Austrian diplomat and historian (d. 1566)