Today In History: October 23rd

The Beirut Bombings, Cult Classics, Shaping the World, and Much More

Author

Cameron Bartkoski
October 23, 2023

Good morning and welcome to Today In History. Allow me to introduce you to October 23rd through the lens of the past.

Read time ~ 8 min

  • The Beirut Bomings

  • Culture

  • Shaping the World

  • Just For Fun

  • Births & Deaths

The Beirut Bombings of 1983

Setting The Scene

It’s 1983, the world is caught in the middle of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, with tensions running high and the threat of nuclear war looming large. At the same time technology is booming as the World Wide Web is introduced, personal computers are the hot commodity, and Michael Jackson just debuted “Thriller”. Star Wars: Episode VI- Return of the Jedi reigns supreme.

Now that you’re here with me in 1983, let’s take a trip to Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. We’re 8 years into what will be a 15 year long Lebanese Civil War. In short, tensions between Lebanese Christians and Muslims have boiled over. The Lebanese government has strong ties with Christianity and the Muslims have had quite enough. The conflict is influenced further by the Cold War as the Christians favor the Western world and the Muslims side with the Soviets.

What Happened?

A brisk early morning in Beirut, a hijacked 9-ton yellow Mercedes-Benz truck being driven by a suicide bomber enters the Beirut International Airport. The crew had been expecting a water truck and unfortunately this was not it. After crashing through several gates and wire, driver Ismail Ascari detonates 12,000 pounds of TNT into a four story building. The building houses American members of the peacekeeping group the Multinational Force in Lebanon. The entire building collapses into rubble, killing 241 Americans.

Not even 10 minutes later and less than 4 miles away, another suicide bomber drives a pickup truck towards a building with French paratroopers. The paratroopers notice the truck and begin shooting, killing driver Ramlet al Baidi just 15 yards from the building. A few moments later, the truck explodes and the nine story building comes crumbling down killing 58 French paratroopers, as many of the paratroopers went to the roof to observe the airport.

Impact

The primary motive of this attack was to drive foreign military out of the area. As expected, both the United States and French would pull their troops out of the area. Serving as one of the first terrorist attacks on Americans, the U.S. would learn to take a more cautious approach in the Middle East. Additionally, the U.S. developed counterterrorism strategies and policies. Tensions heightened in the Lebanese Civil War and the Hezbollah gained notoriety as a political and military force.

What else happened?

Culture

  • Dumbo is released by Disney. (1941)

  • Apple announces the first iPod. (2001)

  • Adele releases “Hello”. (2015)

Shaping The World

Just For Fun

  • Worlds longest sea-crossing bridge is opened, the Hong Kong- Macau-Zhuhau bridge. (2018)

  • Ancient greek vessel dated as 2,400 years old is found at bottom of the Black Sea. (2018)

  • Google’s computer achieves Quantum Supremacy. (2019)

Births

Deaths