March 23 brings together moments when words and ideas helped shape what came next. In 1775, Patrick Henry addressed the Second Virginia Convention with a plea for liberty that has endured in the phrase “Give me liberty, or give me death!” More than six decades later, in 1839, the Boston Morning Post printed “OK,” helping popularize a compact expression that would travel far beyond its early setting. One event is remembered for stirring political language; the other for a word whose usefulness lies in its brevity.
The day’s other milestones point toward journeys, both completed and imagined. In 1806, the Lewis and Clark expedition began its return from the Pacific toward St. Louis, turning exploration into the long work of coming home. Wernher von Braun, born in 1912, would become a leading figure in rocket technology and develop the Saturn V that carried Apollo 11’s astronauts to the Moon. Together, these entries suggest how ambition can take different forms: a speech, a shared abbreviation, a trek across a continent, or a rocket. Arriving as spring takes hold, March 23’s list also has a seasonal feel of movement and beginnings, even as its events look in different directions.