On this day in history - November 23

What Happened On This Day – November 23

• 2009 Maguindanao massacre in the Philippines

  Considered to be the worst attack on journalists in recorded history, the massacre occurred in the southern Philippines, when 57 citizens and journalists en route to register voters in Esmael Mangudadatu for the upcoming gubernatorial elections, were killed by gunmen and buried. 34 journalists were killed on the day.

• 2005 Ellen Johnson Sirleaf elected as President of Liberia

  The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner is also the first woman to be elected as head of state in an African country.

• 1976 First person to dive 100 meters in the sea without breathing equipment

  Frenchman Jacques Mayol, who is also sometimes known as Dolphin Man, was 49 years old at the time. He broke his own record 7 years later by diving 105 meters.

• 1963 Doctor Who debuts on TV

  The longest running science fiction TV show first aired with an episode called An Unearthly Child on the British Broadcasting Channel. The show that has had 11 different actors play the lead role, follows the time-traveling adventures of Doctor Who, who uses the Time and Relative Dimension in Space or TARDIS to jump around in time and space.

• 1910 Last person to be executed in Sweden

  Johan Alfred Ander was convicted of murdering Victoria Hellsten during a robbery of a currency exchange. He was the only person in Swedish history to be executed using a guillotine. Capital punishment in the country was abolished for all peacetime crimes in 1921 and for all crimes in 1973.