23 MARCH

1901 - Philippine President-on-the-run Emilio Aguinaldo is captured by imperialist American soldiers posing as prisoners of the traitorous local Macabebe scouts in Palanan, Isabela; instead of fighting the forces of Gen. Frederick Funston as a way of sustaining the morale of his soldiers still valiantly fighting the new colonizing forces during the Philippine-American, Aguinaldo will become a cooperative US Prisoner of War and will swear allegiance to the enemy flag within only a few days from capture.

1878 - The Treaty of San Stefano between the Ottoman Empire and Russia is ratified; the treaty provides that Montenego and Serbia are to be independent and to be enlarged; Romania to become independent as well; Bosnia and Herzegovina are to be granted reforms; Bulgaria will include much of Macedonia, to be occupied for a period of two years by Russian troops but will become an autonomous state under an elected monarch; Russia is to get Ardahan, Batum, Bayazid, and Batum; and finally, the Ottomans have to pay Russia a big indemnity sum.

1983 - United States President Ronald Reagan launches Cold War into space with the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), a defensive shield utilizing laser or particle beam technology to "intercept and destroy" incoming missiles as they travel through the stars; the SDI, which will later be dubbed as "Star Wars," will worsen the relationship between the US and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

1999 - Paraguay's Vice-President Luis Maria Argana is assassinated by unidentified government but President Raul Cubas will be largely blamed for the killing because Argana had earlier disagreed with Cubas over the decision to release Gen. Lino Cesar Oviedo; within a week, Cubas will be forced out of office and will flee the country, along with Ovieda whose imprisonment stemmed from his conviction of  leading a failed coup attempt against former President Juan Carlos Wasmosy;