1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar).
Events
January-June
July-September
- July 6 - Union of Soviet Socialist Republics established
- July 10 - Large hailstones kill 23 in Rostow, Soviet Russia
- July 19-20 night - Assassination of Pancho Villa
- July 24 - The Treaty of Lausanne, settling the boundaries of modern Turkey, is signed in Switzerland by Greece, Bulgaria and other countries that fought in the First World War
- August 2 - Warren G. Harding, 29th President of the United States (1921 - 1923) dies in office and is succeeded by Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929).
- August 13 - First major sea-going ship arrives at Gdynia, newly constructed Polish seaport
- August 13 - Gustav Stresemann is named chancellor and founds a coalition government in Weimar Republic Germany
- September 1 - Great Kantō earthquake devastates Tokyo and Yokohama killing 142.807 people
- September 4 - In Lakehurst, New Jersey, the first American airship, the "USS Shenandoah, takes to the sky for the first time
- September 6 - Italian navy occupies Corfu in retaliation of murder of an Italian officer. League of Nations protests and they leave September 29
- September 8 - Honda Point Disaster: Seven US Navy destroyers ran aground off the California coast.
- September 9 - Atatürk founded the CHP.
- September 13 - Military coup in Spain - Miguel Primo de Rivera takes over, setting up a dictatorship.
- September 18-26 - Newspaper printers strike in New York
- September 26 - In Bayern, declares independence from Berlin
October-December
Unknown dates
Births
January-February
- January 1 - Roméo Sabourin, Canadian World War II spy (d. 1944)
- January 5 - Sam Phillips, American record producer (d. 2003)
- January 6 - Jacobo Timerman, Argentine writer (d. 1999)
- January 7 - Hugh Kenner, Canadian literary critic (d. 2003)
- January 8 - Johnny Wardle, English cricketer (d. 1985)
- January 16 - Anthony Hecht, American poet (d. 2004)
- January 19 - Jean Stapleton, American actress
- January 25 - Arvid Carlsson, Swedish scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- January 26 - Anne Jeffreys, American actress
- January 29 - Paddy Chayefsky, American writer (d. 1981)
- January 31 - Norman Mailer, American writer and journalist
- February 2 - James Dickey, American poet and author (d. 1997)
- February 2 - Liz Smith, American gossip columnist
- February 9 - Brendan Behan, Irish author (d. 1964)
- February 12 - Franco Zeffirelli, Italian film and opera director
- February 13 - Yfrah Neaman, Lebanese-born violinist (d. 2003)
- February 13 - Chuck Yeager, American pilot and NASA official
- February 20 - Forbes Burnham, President of Guyana (d. 1985)
- February 24 - David Soyer, American cellist
- February 27 - Dexter Gordon, American jazz saxophone player (d. 1990)
March-April
- March 6 - Ed McMahon, American television personality
- March 9 - Walter Kohn, Austrian-born physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- March 10 - Val Logsdon Fitch, American nuclear physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- March 12 - Wally Schirra, astronaut
- March 21 - Shri Mataji Nirmala Shrivastava, Indian founder of Sahaja Yoga
- March 25 - Wim van Est, Dutch cyclist (d. 2003)
- March 26 - Bob Elliott, American comedian
- March 27 - Louis Simpson, Jamaican-born poet
- March 30 - Milton Acorn, Canadian writer (d. 1986)
- April 2 - G. Spencer-Brown, British mathematician
- April 8 - George Fisher, American political cartoonist (d. 2003)
- April 8 - Edward Mulhare, Irish actor (d. 1997)
- April 13 - Don Adams, American actor and comedian (d. 2005)
- April 20 - Mother Angelica, American founder of the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN)
- April 22 - Bettie Page, American model
- April 22 - Aaron Spelling, American television producer and writer
- April 23 - Dolph Briscoe, Governor of Texas
May-August
- May 1 - Joseph Heller, American novelist (d. 1999)
- May 2 - Patrick Hillery, President of Ireland
- May 3 - Ralph Hall, American politician
- May 5 - Richard Wollheim, British philosopher (d. 2003)
- May 7 - Anne Baxter, American actress (d. 1985)
- May 13 - Bea Arthur, American actress
- May 15 - John Lanchbery, English composer (d. 2003)
- May 16 - Merton Miller, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- May 18 - Hugh Shearer, Prime Minister of Jamaica (d. 2004)
- May 21 - Armand Borel, Swiss mathematician (d. 2003)
- May 21 - Dorothy Hewett, writer (d. 2002)
- May 21 - Ara Parseghian, American football coach
- May 26 - James Arness, American actor
- May 27 - Henry Kissinger, United States Secretary of State, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- May 28 - György Ligeti, Hungarian composer
- May 31 - Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (d. 2005)
- July 2 - Wislawa Szymborska, Polish writer, Nobel Prize laureate
- July 4 - Rudolf Friedrich, Swiss Federal Councilor
- July 8 - Harrison Dillard, American athlete
- July 18 - Jerome H. Lemelson, American inventor (d. 1997)
- July 20 - Stanisław Albinowski, Polish economist and journalist (d. 2005)
- July 21 - Rudolph A. Marcus, Canadian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- July 22 - Robert Joseph Dole, American politician and Presidential candidate
- July 22 - Mukesh, Indian singer (d. 1976)
- July 23 - Witto Aloma, Cuban Major League Baseball player (d. 1997)
- August 5 - Devan Nair, third President of Singapore (d. 2005)
- August 20 - Jim Reeves, American singer (d. 1964)
- August 21 - Shimon Peres, Prime Minister of Israel, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- August 24 - Arthur Jensen, American educational psychologist
- August 26 - Wolfgang Sawallisch, German conductor and pianist
September-December
- September 1 - Kenneth Roy Thomson, 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet, Canadian businessman and art collector
- September 1 - Rocky Marciano, American boxer (d. 1969)
- September 3 - Mort Walker, American cartoonist
- September 6 - King Peter II of Yugoslavia (d. 1970)
- September 9 - Daniel Carleton Gajdusek, American virologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- September 11 - Dharmsamrat Paramhans Swami Madhavananda, Indian guru (d. 2003)
- September 17 - Hank Williams, American country musician (d. 1953)
- September 20 - Geraldine Clinton Little, Irish-born poet (D. 1997
- September 22 - Dannie Abse, Welsh poet
- September 26 - Dev Anand, Indian actor
- October 3 - Edward Oliver LeBlanc, Dominican politician (d. 2004)
- October 5 - Albert Guðmundsson, Icelandic professional football player and politician (d. 1994)
- October 5 - Glynis Johns, British actress
- October 13 - Faas Wilkes, Dutch football (soccer) player
- October 15 - Italo Calvino, Italian writer (d. 1985)
- October 23 - Frank Sutton, American actor (d. 1974)
- November 1 - Victoria de los Angeles, Catalan soprano (d. 2005)
- November 1 - Gordon R. Dickson, Canadian author (d. 2001)
- November 8 - Jack Kilby, American electrical engineer, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics (d. 2005)
- November 20 - Nadine Gordimer, South African writer, Nobel Prize laureate
- November 22 - Arthur Hiller, Canadian film director
- November 23 - Billy Haughton, American harness driver and trainer (d. 1986)
- November 25 - Mauno Koivisto, President of Finland
- December 2 - Maria Callas, Greek soprano (d. 1977)
- December 12 - Bob Barker, American game show host
- December 13 - Philip Warren Anderson, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- December 13 - Larry Doby, baseball player (d. 2003)
- December 13 - Antoni Tàpies, Catalan painter
- December 14 - Gerard Reve, Dutch writer
- December 15 - Freeman Dyson, English-born physicist
- December 23 - Claudio Scimone, Italian conductor
- December 23 - James Stockdale, U.S. Navy admiral
- December 24 - George Patton IV, American general (d. 2004)
- December 25 - Sonia Olschanezky, World War II heroine (d. 1944)
Deaths
- Michel-Joseph Maunoury, French general (b. 1847)
- January 9 - Katherine Mansfield, British novelist (b. 1888)
- January 23 - Max Nordau, Hungarian author, philosopher, and Zionist leader (b. 1849)
- February 10 - Wilhelm Röntgen, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1845)
- February 23 - Théophile Delcassé, French statesman (b. 1852)
- March 8 - Johannes Diderik van der Waals, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1837)
- March 26 - Sarah Bernhardt, French actress (b. 1844)
- March 27 - Sir James Dewar, Scottish chemist (b. 1842)
- April 4 - John Venn, British mathematician (b. 1834)
- April 5 - George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, English financier of Egyptian excavations (b. 1866)
- June 9 - Princess Helena of the United Kingdom (b. 1846)
- August 2 - Warren G. Harding, 29th President of the United States (b. 1865)
- October 30 - Andrew Bonar Law, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1858)
- December 12 - Raymond Radiguet, French author (b. 1903)
- December 13 - Théophile Steinlen, Swiss painter (b. 1859)
Nobel Prizes