{"id":7536,"date":"2026-08-23T08:05:41","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T08:05:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7536"},"modified":"2026-08-23T08:05:41","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T08:05:41","slug":"today-in-history-august-23-former-priest-convicted-child-molester-dies-in-prison-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7536","title":{"rendered":"Today in History: August 23, former priest, convicted child molester dies in prison attack"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Today is Sunday, Aug. 23, the 235th day of 2026. There are 130 days left in the year.<\/p>\n

Read more Word Game: August 22, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Today in history:<\/h4>\n

On Aug. 23, 2003, former priest John Geoghan (GAY\u2019-gun), the convicted child molester whose prosecution sparked the sex abuse scandal that shook the Roman Catholic Church nationwide, died after another inmate attacked him in a Massachusetts prison.<\/p>\n

Also on this date:<\/h4>\n

In 1305, Scottish rebel leader Sir William Wallace was executed by the English for treason.<\/p>\n

In 1775, Britain\u2019s King George III proclaimed the American colonies to be in a state of \u201copen and avowed rebellion.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1914, Japan declared war against Germany in World War I.<\/p>\n

In 1927, amid worldwide protests, Italian-born anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed in Boston for the murders of two men during a 1920 robbery. (On the 50th anniversary of their executions, then-Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis issued a proclamation that Sacco and Vanzetti had been unfairly tried and convicted.)<\/p>\n

In 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agreed to a non-aggression treaty, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, in Moscow.<\/p>\n

In 1970, the Salad Bowl strike began, organized by farm labor leader Cesar Chavez; between 5,000 to 10,000 laborers walked off the job, leading to the largest farmworker strike in U.S. history.<\/p>\n

Read more European-style cakes and pastries \u2013 and dog biscuits \u2013 come to Livermore<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

In 2000, a Gulf Air Airbus crashed into the Persian Gulf near Bahrain, killing all 143 people aboard.<\/p>\n

In 2011, a magnitude-5.8 earthquake centered near Mineral, Virginia, the strongest on the East Coast since 1944, caused cracks in the Washington Monument and damaged the Washington National Cathedral.<\/p>\n

In 2013, a military jury convicted Maj. Nidal Hasan in the deadly 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, that claimed 13 lives; the Army psychiatrist was later sentenced to death.<\/p>\n

In 2020, a white police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, shot a Black man, Jacob Blake, seven times as officers tried to arrest Blake on an outstanding warrant; the shooting left Blake partially paralyzed and triggered several nights of violent protests.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

In 2022, a jury convicted two men of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020, a victory for prosecutors in a plot that was broken up by the FBI and described as a rallying cry for a U.S. civil war by anti-government extremists.<\/p>\n

Read more Petaluma police investigate \u2018swatting\u2019 call that claimed woman was shot<\/a><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Birthdays:<\/h4>\n
    \n
  • Actor Vera Miles is 97.<\/li>\n
  • Actor Barbara Eden is 95.<\/li>\n
  • Ballerina Patricia McBride is 84.<\/li>\n
  • Singer-songwriter Linda Thompson is 79.<\/li>\n
  • Author and motivational speaker Rudy Ruettiger is 78.<\/li>\n
  • Actor Shelley Long is 77.<\/li>\n
  • Actor-singer Rick Springfield is 77.<\/li>\n
  • Noor al-Hussein (Queen Noor of Jordan) is 75.<\/li>\n
  • Film composer Alexandre Desplat is 65.<\/li>\n
  • Actor Jay Mohr is 56.<\/li>\n
  • Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is 55.<\/li>\n
  • Actor Ray Park is 52.<\/li>\n
  • Actor Scott Caan is 50.<\/li>\n
  • Rock singer Julian Casablancas (The Strokes) is 48.<\/li>\n
  • Actor Joanne Froggatt is 46.<\/li>\n
  • Olympic gold medal swimmer Natalie Coughlin Hall is 44.<\/li>\n
  • Musician Lil Yachty is 29.<\/li>\n
  • NBA basketball player Devin Vassell is 26.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Former priest John Geoghan (GAY\u2019-gun), the convicted child molester whose prosecution sparked the sex abuse scandal that shook the Roman Catholic Church nationwide, died after another inmate attacked him in a Massachusetts prison.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7535,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nToday in History: August 23, former priest, convicted child molester dies in prison attack - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7536\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Today in History: August 23, former priest, convicted child molester dies in prison attack - 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