This Day in History | Commonwealth Summit in India | World’s 1st Smartphone | Massive Quake in Italy

On November 23, 1983, India hosted its first and only Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Delhi, chaired by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. IBM Simon is regarded as the first device to combine a personal digital assistant (PDA) with a mobile phone, earning its place as the precursor to modern smartphones. On November 23, 1980, a 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck southern Italy, with its epicenter 40 kilometers from Naples. The disaster devastated the Campania and Calabria regions, claiming around 2,600 lives, injuring thousands, and leaving millions homeless.