April 23
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
April 23 is the 114th day of the year (115th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 251 days remaining after April 23 until the end of the year.
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[change] Births
- 1170 – Isabelle of Hainaut, Queen of France (d. 1190)
- 1185 – King Afonso II of Portugal (d. 1223)
- 1516 – Georg Fabricius, German poet, historian and archaeologist (d. 1571)
- 1564 – William Shakespeare, English playwright (d. 1616)
- 1676 – King Frederick I of Sweden (d. 1751)
- 1758 – Philip Gidley King, third Governor of New South Wales (d. 1808)
- 1775 – J. M. W. Turner, English painter (d. 1851)
- 1791 – James Buchanan, 15th President of the United States (d. 1868)
- 1805 – Johann Karl Friedrich Rosenkranz, German philosopher (d. 1879)
- 1812 – Frederick Whitaker, Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1891)
- 1813 – Stephen A. Douglas, American politician (d. 1861)
- 1823 – Abd-ul-Mejid I, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1861)
- 1844 – Sanford Dole, American politician (d. 1926)
- 1858 – Max Planck, German scientist (d. 1947)
- 1867 – Johannes Andreas Grib Fibiger, Danish doctor, won the 1926 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1928)
- 1891 – Sergei Prokofiev, Russian composer (d. 1953)
- 1897 – Lester Pearson, Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1972)
- 1899 – Bertil Ohlin, Swedish economist (d. 1979)
- 1899 – Vladimir Nabokov, Russian writer (d. 1977)
- 1902 – Halldor Laxness, Icelandic writer (d. 1998)
- 1910 – Simone Simon, French actress (d. 2005)
- 1911 – Ronald Neame, British film producer (d. 2010)
- 1928 – Shirley Temple, American actress and political activist
- 1936 – Roy Orbison, American singer (d. 1988)
- 1939 – Lee Majors, American actor
- 1941 – Paavo Lipponen, former Prime Minister of Finland
- 1954 – Michael Moore, American filmmaker
- 1960 – Valerie Bertinelli, American actress
- 1962 – Hillel Slovak, American musician (Red Hot Chili Peppers) (d. 1988)
- 1968 – Princess Aisha bint al Hussein of Jordan
- 1968 – Princess Zein bint al Hussein of Jordan
- 1968 – Timothy McVeigh, American terrorist (d. 2001)
- 1975 – Jon Thor Birgisson, Icelandic singer
- 1979 – Barry Fratelli, Scottish musician (The Fratellis)
- 1979 – Lauri Ylonen, Finnish singer (The Rasmus)
- 1983 – Taio Cruz, British singer
- 1983 – Daniela Hantuchova, Slovakian tennis player
- 1988 – Victor Anichebe, Nigerian footballer
- 1990 – Dev Patel, British actor
[change] Deaths
- 303 – Saint George, Christian martyr and patron Saint (date of birth unknown)
- 871 – Ethelred of Wessex, Saxon king
- 1016 – Ethelred the Unready, Saxon king (b. 968)
- 1124 – Alexander I of Scotland (b. 1078)
- 1605 – Tsar Boris Godunov of Russia (b. c. 1550)
- 1616 – Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish writer (b. 1547)
- 1616 – William Shakespeare, English playwright (b. 1564)
- 1827 – Georgios Karaiskakis, hero of the Greek War of Independence (b. 1780)
- 1850 – William Wordsworth, English poet (b. 1770)
- 1951 – Charles G. Dawes, Vice President of the United States (b. 1865)
- 1975 – William Hartnell, English actor (b. 1908)
- 1983 – Buster Crabbe, American singer and actor (b. 1908)
- 1986 – Harold Arlen, American composer (b. 1905)
- 1992 – Satyajit Ray, Indian filmmaker (b. 1921)
- 1993 – César Chávez, Mexican-American activist (b. 1927)
- 1998 – James Earl Ray, convicted assassin of Martin Luther King, Jr. (b. 1928)
- 1998 – Konstantinos Karamanlis, Greek politician (b. 1907)
- 2005 – Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Australian politician, Premier of Queensland (b. 1911)
- 2007 – Boris Yeltsin, former President of Russia (b. 1931)
- 2011 – John Sullivan, British television writer (b. 1946)
[change] Events
- 215 BC – A temple is built on the Capitoline Hill dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Lake Trasimene.
- 1014 – Battle of Clontarf: Brian Boru defeats Viking invaders, but is killed in battle.
- 1348 – The founding of the Order of the Garter by King Edward III of England is announced on St George's Day.
- 1521 – Battle of Villalar: King Charles I of Spain defeats the Comuneros.
- 1533 – The Church of England annuls the marriage between Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII of England.
- 1597 – Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor is first performed, with Queen Elizabeth I of England in attendance.
- 1660 – Treaty of Oliwa is established between Sweden and Poland.
- 1661 – King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland is crowned in Westminster Abbey.
- 1827 – William Rowan Hamilton presents his Theory of systems of rays.
- 1867 – William Lincoln patents the zoetrope, a machine which shows animated pictures by mounting a strip of drawings in a wheel.
- 1920 – The national council in Turkey denounces the government of Sultan Mehmed VI and announces a temporary constitution.
- 1923 – Inauguration ceremonies take place of Gdynia as a temporary military port and fishers' shelter.
- 1932 – The 153-year old De Adriaan Windmill in Haarlem, the Netherlands burns down.
- 1935 – Polish Constitution of 1935 is adopted.
- 1940 – Rhythm Night Club fire at a dance hall in Natchez, Mississippi kills 198 people.
- 1942 – World War II: Baedeker Blitz – German bombers hit Exeter, Bath and York in retaliation for the British raid on Lübeck.
- 1948 – 1948 Arab-Israeli War: Haifa, the major port of Israel, is captured from Palestinian forces.
- 1954 – Hank Aaron hits his first major league home run.
- 1956 – Elvis Presley makes his first appearance in Las Vegas, Nevada.
- 1967 – A group of young radicals are expelled from the Nicaraguan Socialist Party (PSN). This group goes on to found the Socialist Workers Party (POS).
- 1968 – The United Kingdom produces its first decimalised coins, a 5p and a 10p coin.
- 1968 – Vietnam War: Student protesters at Columbia University in New York City take over administration buildings and shut down the university.
- 1974 – A Pan American World Airways Boeing 707 crashes in Bali, Indonesia, killing 107.
- 1979 – Fighting in London between the Anti-Nazi League and the Metropolitan Police's Special Patrol Group results in the death of protestor Blair Peach.
- 1981 – Stefano Bontade, Mafia boss in Sicily, is murdered in Palermo, the opening shot in a Mob War orchestrated by Salvatore Riina.
- 1985 – Coca Cola changes its 99 year old formula to the sweeter new Coke. (It is doomed to failure and the company is later forced to reintroduce the original).
- 1990 – Namibia becomes the 160th member of the United Nations and the 50th member of the Commonwealth of Nations.
- 1993 – Eritreans vote overwhelmingly for independence from Ethiopia in a United Nations-monitored referendum.
- 1994 – Physicists discover the top quark subatomic particle.
- 1995 – Association of Autonomous Astronauts founded.
- 1997 – Omaria massacre in Algeria; 42 villagers killed.
- 2003 – Beijing closes all schools for two weeks due to the SARS virus.
[change] Observances
- Saint George's Day
- National Sovereignty and Children's Day (Turkey)
- Latest possible date for Good Friday, in relation to Easter
