December 23 in Victorian History
What the Victorians were up to on this date, year by remarkable year.
1888
Van Gogh mutilates his ear
After a violent quarrel with Paul Gauguin in Arles, Vincent van Gogh slices off part of his left ear with a razor. He wraps it in newspaper and takes it to a local brothel. Gauguin leaves the next morning; the two never meet again.