August 23 Birthday
William Wallace was executed on August 23, 1305, at Smithfield in London. He was hanged until nearly dead, then emasculated, disemboweled, beheaded, and quartered. His head was placed on London Bridge; his limbs were sent to Newcastle, Berwick, Stirling, and Perth. Wallace had led the Scottish resistance against English occupation, winning at Stirling Bridge in 1297 before losing at Falkirk in 1298. He was captured near Glasgow in 1305. The charge was treason — Wallace argued he had never sworn allegiance to Edward I, so could not be a traitor. He was dragged through the streets by horses before execution. The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, signed on August 23, 1939, was a non-aggression treaty between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. It included a secret protocol dividing Eastern Europe between them. Germany would take western Poland; the Soviet Union would take eastern Poland, the Baltic states, and Bessarabia. The pact shocked the world — the Nazis and Communists had been mortal enemies. The pact allowed Germany to invade Poland on September 1, starting World War II, without fear of a Soviet attack. Hitler broke the pact on June 22, 1941, when he invaded the Soviet Union. People born on August 23 fall under the zodiac sign of Virgo. The birthstone is Peridot and the birth flower is Gladiolus. Historical events on August 23 include 1305: William Wallace executed for treason in London (hanged, drawn, quartered), 1939: Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact signed (Nazi-Soviet non-aggression), 1973: Norrmalmstorg bank robbery in Stockholm (origin of "Stockholm Syndrome"). Famous people born on August 23 include Barbara Eden (1931), Vera Miles (1930), Keith Moon (1946).