Directory

2023 CE

From left to right, top to bottom:; ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, comes into widespread use; Supporters of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro storm the National Congress following his defeat in the 2022 general election; A makeshift memorial to leaders of the Wagner Group, who died in a plane crash two months after rebelling against the Russian government; An alleged high-altitude observation balloon originating from China is detected in U.S. airspace, increasing tensions between the countries; Remains of Titan, a submersible that imploded during an expedition to view the wreck of the Titanic; Azerbaijani soldiers locked in combat in Nagorno-Karabakh amidst an Azerbaijani offensive; Israel invades the Gaza Strip in retaliation for the October 7 attacks by militant group Hamas and spills over into major parts of the Middle East; 7.8 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes strike Syria and Turkey, leaving up to 62,000 dead and 121,000 injured.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • January 8 – Following the 2022 Brazilian general election and the inauguration of Lula da Silva as president of Brazil, supporters of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro storm the Brazilian National Congress, the Supreme Federal Court and the Presidential Palace of Planalto.source
  • January 25 – Chris Hipkins succeeds Jacinda Ardern as Prime Minister of New Zealand, six days after she announced her resignation.source
  • February 14 – The European Parliament approves a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles in the European Union from 2035, citing the need to combat climate change in Europe and promote electric vehicles.source
  • March 26 – Honduras switches its formal diplomatic recognition of "China" from the Republic of China to the People's Republic of China.source
  • April 2 – The 2023 Bulgarian parliamentary election results in a GERB—SDS–PP–DB coalition government headed by Nikolai Denkov as prime minister.source
  • April 30 – The 2023 Paraguayan general election is held, with the Colorado Party candidate Santiago Peña being the president-elect of Paraguay, winning in a plurality.source
  • May 24 – Canada and Saudi Arabia agree to restore full diplomatic relations after a breakdown in relations in 2018 over the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi.source
  • June 19 – Qatar and the United Arab Emirates announce that they will restore diplomatic relations after relations were suspended during the Qatar diplomatic crisis.source
  • June 25 – The June 2023 Greek legislative election is held; Kyriakos Mitsotakis becomes prime minister after his centre-right party, New Democracy, wins a majority of seats in the Greek parliament.source
  • July 4 – Iran joins the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, becoming the organization's ninth member.source
  • July 13 – Pita Limjaroenrat fails to become Prime Minister of Thailand in a National Assembly vote after forming a coalition with pro-democracy parties following the 2023 Thai general election.source
  • July 23 – The 2023 Spanish general election is held, with the People's Party becoming the largest party in the Congress of Deputies.source
  • August 11 – The Narendra Modi led NDA government wins a no confidence motion in the Lok Sabha moved by the INDIA Alliance after an opposition walkout in response to the ethnic violence in the state of Manipur.source
  • September 1 – 2023 Singaporean presidential election: Economist and former deputy prime minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam is elected president with a vote share of over 70%.source
  • September 30 – 2023 Slovak parliamentary election: Smer, under the leadership of former prime minister Robert Fico, wins a plurality of seats in the National Council.source
  • October 3 – Elected on January 8, Kevin McCarthy is removed as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, with Mike Johnson being elected new Speaker on October 25.source
  • October 14 – 2023 New Zealand general election: The National Party wins a plurality of seats under leader Christopher Luxon, while the Labour Party suffers the worst result for an incumbent ruling party in modern New Zealand history.source
  • October 15 – In the second round of the 2023 Ecuadorian general election, Daniel Noboa of the National Democratic Action is elected as the youngest-ever President of Ecuador.source
  • October 15 – 2023 Polish parliamentary election: The Law and Justice party wins the most seats, but loses its majority, with its incumbent prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki being succeeded by the Civic Platform party's Donald Tusk on 13 December.source
  • November 7 – The Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa announces his pending resignation. The President of Portugal decides to dissolve the parliament and call for early elections to be held on 10 March 2024.source
  • November 10 – In the Falepili Union treaty, Australia grants "special" freedom of movement and defence rights to Tuvaluans for residence and employment for climate reasons.source
  • November 24 – Somalia is admitted as the eighth member of the East African Community, having applied for membership in 2012.source
  • December 10–12 – 2023 Egyptian presidential election: Incumbent President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi wins a third term with 89.6 percent of the vote in the election.source
  • December 31 – Queen Margrethe II of Denmark announces her abdication effective January 14, 2024, after 52 years on the throne.source

Conflict & Security

  • January 9 – Juliaca massacre: At least 18 people are killed and over 100 others are injured when the Peruvian National Police fire upon demonstrations in Juliaca.source
  • January 21 – Tigray War: Eritrean forces withdraw from Shire and other major towns in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia.source
  • February 17 – The South African Navy hosts a 10-day joint military exercise in the Indian Ocean with Russia and China.source
  • March 4 – Kivu conflict: Burundi deploys 100 troops to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to help fight insurgencies by militias, including M23.source
  • March 8 – Allied Democratic Forces jihadist insurgents use machetes to kill about 35 people in the village of Mukondi, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo.source
  • March 10 – Kivu conflict: Angola announces the deployment of troops to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, following the failure of a ceasefire between government forces and M23 rebels in North Kivu.source
  • March 26 – 2023 Israeli judicial reform protests: Large-scale spontaneous protests erupt across Israel in the wake of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu firing his defense minister who criticized the government's judicial overhaul plan.source
  • April 5 – Clashes between Palestinians and the Israeli police happen at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.source
  • April 10 – Two document leaks from the Pentagon detailing foreign military aid relating to the Russo-Ukrainian war are leaked onto the Internet.source
  • April 15 – Fighting breaks out across Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The RSF captures Khartoum International Airport, and the presidential palace in Khartoum.source
  • April 19 – At least 90 people are killed and another 322 injured in a crowd crush during a Ramadan charity event in Sanaa, Yemen.source
  • June 20 – At least 46 people are killed after a riot between MS-13 and Barrio 18 gang members at a women's prison near Tegucigalpa, Honduras.source
  • September 19 – Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: Azerbaijan launches a military offensive against the Armenia-backed Republic of Artsakh, which ends with a swift Azerbaijani victory. Protests erupt in Armenia, Artsakh announces the dissolution of government institutions, and over 100,000 ethnic Armenians flee Nagorno-Karabakh.source
  • September 24 – 2023 Nigerien crisis: French President Emmanuel Macron announces that France will end its military presence in Niger and will recall its ambassador from the country.source
  • October 7 – Gaza war: Hamas launches an incursion into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing more than 1,100 Israelis and taking about 240 hostages, prompting a military response from the Israel Defense Forces. Israel launches numerous air strikes on Lebanon after rockets are fired by Hezbollah and further attempts are made to penetrate Israel.source
  • October 8 – Israel's Security Cabinet formally declares war for the first time since the Yom Kippur War in 1973.source
  • October 31 – Israel intercepted a 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 combat in history.source
  • November 2 – The Beatles release "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).source
  • November 6 – Gaza war: The death toll in Gaza is reported to have passed 10,000. United Nations Secretary General António Guterres calls for a humanitarian ceasefire to increase the flow of aid to civilians.source
  • November 23 – Riots broke out in Dublin, Ireland after a mass stabbing on Parnell Square East which injured 4 people.source
  • December 18 – A number of shipping companies announce a temporary suspension of their operations in the Red Sea due to continued attacks on vessels by Houthi rebels.source
  • 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.source
  • December 29 – A genocide case against Israel is brought towards the International Court of Justice by South Africa for Israel's invasion and subsequent bombardment of the Gaza Strip, and its role in the subsequent humanitarian crisis.source
  • December 29 – Russo-Ukrainian war: Russia launches the largest wave of drones and missiles on Ukrainian cities since the start of the war in an overnight assault, killing at least 39 people and injuring at least 160 others. Ukraine launches a drone assault the following day, killing at least 21 people, including three children, and injuring 110 others, including 17 children.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • April 14 – Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) is launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) to search for life in the Jovian system, with an expected arrival year of 2031.source
  • August 22 – Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra returns to Thailand after 15 years of political exile.source

Religion & Belief

  • January 5 – The funeral of Pope Benedict XVI is held at St. Peter's Square in the Vatican City. The funeral was attended by an estimated 50,000 people.source
  • February 16 – Lawmakers in the Russian State Duma vote to withdraw Russia from 21 conventions of the Council of Europe.source
  • 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.source
  • May 6 – The coronation of Charles III and Camilla as King and Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms is held in Westminster Abbey, London.source

Economy & Finance

  • January 1 – Croatia adopts the euro and joins the Schengen Area, becoming the 20th member state of the Eurozone and the 27th member of the Schengen Area. This is the first enlargement of the Eurozone since Lithuania's entry in 2015, and the first enlargement of the Schengen Area since Liechtenstein's entry in 2011.source
  • February 1 – Lebanese liquidity crisis: The central bank of Lebanon devalues the Lebanese pound by 90% amid an ongoing financial crisis.source
  • February 2 – The European Central Bank and Bank of England raise their interest rates by 0.5 percentage points to combat inflation, one day after the US Federal Reserve raises its federal funds rate by 0.25 percentage points.source
  • March 10 – Silicon Valley Bank, the 16th largest bank in the United States, fails, creating then the largest bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis, affecting companies around the world.source
  • March 24 – Rahul Gandhi, the official opposition leader of India is disqualified from the Lok Sabha after he was convicted in a defamation case filed by BJP MLA, Purnesh Modi.source
  • March 29 – Brazil and China sign an agreement to trade in their own currencies, ceasing the usage of the United States dollar as an intermediary.source
  • May 1 – 2023 banking crisis: San Francisco-based First Republic Bank fails and is auctioned off by the US 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.source
  • July 3 – Indian oil refiners start payments for Russian oil imports in Chinese yuan as an alternative to the US dollar due to increasing sanctions against Russia.source
  • July 8 – In the Netherlands, the governing coalition collapses and Prime Minister Mark Rutte announces his upcoming resignation.source
  • July 9 – New Zealand signs a free trade agreement with the European Union, increasing bilateral trade.source
  • September 14 – The European Central Bank (ECB) raises eurozone interest rates to an all-time high of 4%, amid ongoing inflationary pressures across the continent.source

Technology & Infrastructure

  • February 28 – A train crash in Thessaly, Greece, kills 57 people and injures dozens. The crash leads to nationwide protests and strikes against the condition of Greek railways and their mismanagement.source
  • March 14 – OpenAI launches GPT-4, a large language model for ChatGPT, which can respond to images and can process up to 25,000 words.source
  • June 6 – Russo-Ukrainian war: The Nova Kakhovka dam in the Russian-controlled region of Kherson is destroyed, threatening the region with devastating floodwaters.source
  • June 14 – Scientists report the creation of the first synthetic human embryo from stem cells, without the need for sperm or egg cells.source
  • July 14 – SAG-AFTRA announces it will begin a strike against the major film and TV studios in protest of low compensation, ownership of work, and generative AI.source
  • September 20 – Archaeologists in Zambia find the world's oldest wooden structure, dating back 476,000 years, consisting of two interlocking wooden logs connected by a notch securing one perpendicular to the other.source
  • September 21 – Rupert Murdoch announces his retirement and passes his businesses on to his son Lachlan. Murdoch led News Corp and Fox, and formerly Sky Group.source
  • October 17 – Whoosh, the first high speed rail in Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and the Southern Hemisphere, opens.source
  • November 1 – The first 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.source

Science & Discovery

  • March 20 – The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) releases the synthesis report of its Sixth Assessment Report on climate change.source
  • April 20 – SpaceX's Starship rocket, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built, launches for the first time in a test flight from Texas. It explodes four minutes after launch.source
  • May 14 – The 49th G7 summit takes place in Hiroshima, Japan. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives in Japan on the second day of the summit.source
  • August 23 – India's Chandrayaan-3 becomes the first spacecraft to land near the south pole of the Moon, carrying a lunar lander named Vikram and a lunar rover named Pragyan.source
  • September 2 – The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launches Aditya-L1, India's first solar observation mission.source
  • October 11 – ExxonMobil announces it will acquire Pioneer Natural Resources for US$65 billion, the first of two major energy industry acquisitions of the month. The second occurs less than two weeks later on 23 October, where Hess announces it will be acquired by Chevron for $50 billion.source
  • November 17 – The global average temperature temporarily exceeds 2 °C above the pre-industrial average for the first time in recorded history.source
  • December 6 – Google DeepMind releases the Gemini Language Model. Gemini will act as a foundational model integrated into Google's existing tools, including Search and Bard.source

Health & Medicine

  • March 23 – World Athletics, the global governing body for athletics, bans trans women who have gone through male puberty from competing in female events.source
  • March 24–27 – A tornado outbreak 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.source
  • March 31 – April 1 – A 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.source
  • April 24 – India surpasses China as most populous country.source
  • April 25 – A 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.source
  • 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.source
  • May 11 – The World Health Organization ends its declaration of mpox being a global health emergency.source
  • August 21 – Saudi Arabia is accused of mass killing hundreds of African migrants attempting to cross its border with Yemen.source
  • October 17 – 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.source
  • November 9 – U.S. surgeons at NYU Langone Health announce the world's first whole eye transplant.source

Crime & Justice

  • March 17 – The International Criminal Court issues an arrest warrant for Russian president Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russian Commissioner for Children's Rights, marking the first arrest warrant against a leader of a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.source
  • April 11 – Myanmar civil war: In the village of Pazigyi, at least 165 people are killed by the Myanmar Air Force during the opening celebrations of a People's Defence Force administration office.source
  • May 3 – A school shooting occurs in Belgrade, Serbia. A 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 mass anti-government protests to begin.source
  • August 10 – Tapestry, the holding company of Coach New York and Kate Spade, announces it will acquire Michael Kors' Capri Holdings, which also owns Versace and Jimmy Choo.source
  • September 9 – At the 18th G20 summit in New Delhi, the African Union is announced as the 21st permanent member of the G20.source
  • September 28 - The landmark Sycamore Gap Tree, beside Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland, is illegally felled. A 16-year-old boy is subsequently arrested on suspicion of criminal damage.source
  • October 3 – Sam Bankman-Fried, an American entrepreneur and founder of cryptocurrency exchange company FTX, is 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.source
  • October 25 – 40-year-old Robert Card shoots and kills 18 people at two locations in Lewiston, Maine, making it one of the deadliest spree shootings in U.S. history.source
  • 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.source
  • December 21 – The deadliest mass shooting in the Czech Republic's history occurs at a Prague university, with 15 killed, including the perpetrator, and 25 others wounded.source

Disasters & Accidents

  • January 15 – Yeti Airlines Flight 691 crashes during final approach into Pokhara, Nepal, killing all 72 people on board.source
  • January 18 – A helicopter crash in Brovary near Kyiv, Ukraine kills 14 people including Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs Denys Monastyrsky.source
  • February 3 – A Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials derails in East Palestine, Ohio. Multiple train cars burn for more than two days, followed by emergency crews conducting a controlled burn of several additional cars, releasing hydrogen chloride and phosgene into the atmosphere.source
  • April 15 – Nuclear power in Germany ends after 50 years, with the closure of the final power plants.source
  • June 2 – A train collision in Odisha, India results in at least 296 deaths and more than 1,200 others injured.source
  • June 13 – At least 106 people are killed when a wedding boat capsizes on the Niger River in Kwara State, Nigeria.source
  • June 14 – At least 82 people die and 500 are reported missing after a boat carrying migrants capsizes off the coast of the Peloponnese.source
  • June 18 – Titan submersible implosion: All five crew members of Titan, a deep-sea submersible exploring the wreck of the Titanic, are killed following a catastrophic implosion of the vessel.source
  • August 17 – A Beechcraft 390 Premier I business jet crashes onto an expressway interchange near Elmina, Selangor, Malaysia, killing 10 people.source
  • August 23 – Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder Dmitry Utkin and eight others are killed when their plane crashes in Russia.source
  • 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.source
  • September 25 – An estimated 170 people are killed and over 300 are injured during an explosion at a gas station in Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh.source

Climate & Environment

  • January 10–17 – A cold snap in Afghanistan kills 166 people and nearly 80,000 livestock.source
  • January 27 – Widespread unrest erupts in Israel following an Israeli military raid in Jenin 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 in a terrorist attack.source
  • February 4 – Cyclone Freddy forms in the Indian Ocean. It would become the longest lasting tropical cyclone in history and cause over 1,400 deaths and countless injuries and property damage across southeastern Africa.source
  • February 6 – A 7.8 earthquake strikes southern and central Turkey and northern and western Syria followed by a 7.7 aftershock on the same day, causing widespread damage and at more than 59,000 fatalities and 121,000 injured.source
  • May 3 – 2023 Manipur violence: Ethnic violence erupts in the state of Manipur between the Kuki and Meitei people.source
  • May 4 – A series of floods and landslides strikes villages in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, resulting in over 400 deaths.source
  • May 9 – Cyclone Mocha forms in the Indian Ocean, killing over 400 people and injuring over 700 as it strikes Myanmar and Bangladesh.source
  • July 19 – Typhoon Doksuri forms in the eastern Pacific Ocean, going on to kill 137 people in Southeast Asia.source
  • July 23 – 2023 Greece wildfires: Tens of thousands of tourists flee Rhodes, Greece, amid wildfires and a major heatwave, in what officials say is the largest evacuation in the country's history.source
  • August 1 – Global warming: The world's oceans reach a new record high temperature of 20.96 C F, exceeding the previous record in 2016. July is also the hottest month on record for globally averaged surface air temperatures by a considerable margin (0.3 C F).source
  • 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.source
  • August 16–21 – Hurricane Hilary, a Category 4 Pacific Hurricane, strikes the Baja California peninsula and later causes record flooding in Southern California.source
  • August 21 – 2023 Canadian wildfires: 68% of the Northwest Territories are forced to evacuate to other parts of the country due to wildfires.source
  • September 8 – 2023 Marrakesh–Safi earthquake: A 6.9 magnitude earthquake strikes Marrakesh–Safi province in western Morocco, killing at least 2,960 people and damaging historic buildings.source
  • September 10 – Storm Daniel, 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 in Libya, two dams collapse, resulting in a quarter of the city being destroyed.source
  • October 7 – A series of earthquakes occur in Herat Province in Afghanistan, killing over 1,000 people and injuring nearly 2,000, with tremors felt in Iran and Turkmenistan. The earthquakes are the deadliest in the country since 1998.source
  • October 13 – After British regulators' approval, Microsoft closes its US$68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.source
  • October 25 – Hurricane Otis, an 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 landfall in 2015.source

Culture & Society

  • March 8–21 – The 2023 World Baseball Classic is held in, and won by, Japan.source
  • May 9–13 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 is held in Liverpool, UK. Swedish contestant Loreen wins with the song "Tattoo".source
  • July 14–30 – The 2023 World Aquatics Championships took place in Fukuoka, Japan. Léon Marchand broke the world record in the men's 400-meter individual medley, which was previously held by Michael Phelps.source
  • July 20–August 20 – The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup is held in Australia and New Zealand. In the final, Spain wins 1–0 against England.source
  • July 23 – Danish cyclist Jonas Vingegaard wins the Tour de France for the second consecutive time.source
  • September 8 – October 28 – The 2023 Rugby World Cup is held in France and is won by South Africa who beat New Zealand in the final at the Stade de France, claiming a record fourth Rugby World Cup title.source
  • October 5 – November 19 – The 2023 Cricket World Cup is held in India, with Australia defeating India in the final.source

Deaths

  • November 20 – A Boeing P-8A Poseidon operated by the United States Navy overshot the runway at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Kaneohe, Hawaii. No one died.source
  • 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.source