NOVEMBER 23RD

534 BC – Thespis of Icaria becomes the first recorded actor to portray a character onstage

1644 – John Milton publishes Areopagitica, a pamphlet decrying censorship.

1888 – Harpo Marx, American actor and singer is born (d. 1964)

1889 – The first jukebox goes into operation at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco.

1910 – Johan Alfred Ander becomes the last person to be executed in Sweden. He is found guilty of murder and the theft of 6000 Swedish Krona. The murder weapon was a steelyard balance.

1910 – Hawley Harvey Crippen, American physician and murderer (b. 1862) is hung in Pentonville prison.

1933 – Krzysztof Penderecki, Polish composer and conductor is born.

1953 – Pilot Felix Moncla and Lieutenant Robert Wilson disappear while in pursuit of a mysterious craft over Lake Superior.

1963 – The BBC broadcasts the first episode of An Unearthly Child (starring William Hartnell), the first story from the first series of Doctor Who, which is now the world’s longest running science fiction drama.

1970 – Zoë Ball, English radio and television host is born.

1978 – The Geneva Frequency Plan of 1975 goes into effect, realigning many of Europe’s longwave and mediumwave broadcasting frequencies

1981 – Iran–Contra affair: Ronald Reagan signs the top secret National Security Decision Directive 17 (NSDD-17), giving the Central Intelligence Agency the authority to recruit and support Contra rebels in Nicaragua.

1990 – Roald Dahl, British novelist, poet, and screenwriter died (b. 1916)

1992 – Miley Cyrus, American singer-songwriter and actress

1993 – Rachel Whiteread wins both the £20,000 Turner Prize award for best British modern artist and the £40,000 K Foundation art award for the worst artist of the year.

2006 – Alexander Litvinenko, Russian spy and defector (b. 1962) dies as a result of polonium (Po) poisoning.

2016 – Cosmic Trigger at The Camp and Furnace, Liverpool, situated halfway between Constellations and an Ice Cream Van garage. Appearances from Daisy, Oliver, John Higgs and Greg Wilson.

2018 – K2 Plant Hire begin construction of The People’s Pyramid