Nicosia, Cyprus. A range of political, diplomatic, and international events were recorded as having taken place on March 23 between 1956 and 2008.
Political leadership and government changes
In 1956, Major-General Iskander Mirza was sworn in as the first provisional president of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. In 1996, Lee Teng-hui was sworn in as Taiwan’s first democratically elected president. In 1998, Russian President Boris Yeltsin dismissed Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and his entire cabinet.
Diplomacy and religion
In 1966, the Archbishop of Canterbury met the Pope in Rome, marking the first meeting between the heads of the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches for 400 years.
Space and international incidents
In 2001, remnants of Russia’s Mir space station plunged into the Pacific Ocean after engineers ended the laboratory’s 15-year mission in space.
Legal cases and security matters
In 2002, an Egyptian engineer was found guilty of spying for Israel and sentenced to 15 years in jail with hard labour after President Hosni Mubarak overturned a previous acquittal. In 2004, Mijailo Mijailovic, the self-confessed killer of Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh, was sentenced to life in prison. Also in 2004, 70 suspected mercenaries made their first court appearance in Zimbabwe, charged with conspiracy to overthrow the leader of Equatorial Guinea.
Sport
In 2008, Sophie Edington set a new world record in the women’s 50m backstroke.
Which of these March 23 events do you consider the most significant?