◆ On this day

March 23

4 sourced moments from March 23 in history: Patrick Henry demanded liberty, or death (1775); The abbreviation 'OK' first appeared in print (1839); The first Otis passenger elevator was installed (1857), plus 1 more.

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4 things happened on March 23

newest first ↓

1965 Space · Space Exploration

Gemini 3 flew America's first two-person crew in 1965

Gemini III put two Americans in orbit on March 23, 1965, days after a Soviet duo, but it was the first crewed craft to change its orbit.

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1857 Technology · Engineering

The first Otis passenger elevator was installed

A safety brake that caught a falling platform turned a deadly contraption into the machine that let cities reach for the sky.

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1839 Language & Communication · Etymology

The abbreviation 'OK' first appeared in print

A Boston editor's throwaway joke — a deliberate misspelling of "all correct" — grew into one of the most-used words on Earth.

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1775 History · Modern

Patrick Henry demanded liberty, or death

At a tense Virginia convention in 1775, one lawyer reframed a militia vote as a choice between freedom and the grave.

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