April 23: Encyclopedia - April 23

April 23

April 23 is the 113th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (114th in leap years). There are 252 days remaining.

April 23 - 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.
• 1564 - Playwright William Shakespeare is Born
• 1597 - Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor is first performed, with Queen Elizabeth I of England in attendance.
• 1616 - Famous Playwright William Shakespeare Died. Also Spanish Novelist, Poet and Playwright Miguel de Cervantes Died.
• 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 - A 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 - New Coke, a marketing disaster is introduced.
• 1990 - Namibia becomes the 160th member of the United Nations and the 50th member of the British Commonwealth.
• 1993 - Eritreans vote overwhelmingly for independence from Ethiopia in a United Nations-monitored referendum.
• 1994 - Physicists discover the top quark subatomic particle.
• 1997 - Omaria massacre in Algeria; 42 villagers killed.
• 2001 - Intel introduces the Pentium 4 Processor.
• 2003 - Beijing closes all schools for two weeks due to the SARS virus.

April 23 - Births

• 1185 - King Afonso II of Portugal (d. 1223)
• 1484 - Julius Caesar Scaliger, Italian philosopher (d. 1558)
• 1500 - Alexander Ales, Scottish theologian (d. 1565)
• 1516 - Georg Fabricius, German poet, historian, and archaeologist (d. 1571)
• 1564 - William Shakespeare, English poet and playwright (d. 1616)
• 1598 - Maarten Tromp, Dutch admiral (d. 1653)
• 1628 - Johann van Waveren Hudde, Dutch mathematician (d. 1704)
• 1676 - King Frederick I of Sweden (d. 1751)
• 1720 - Vilna Gaon, Lithuanian rabbi (d. 1797)
• 1725 - Saint Gerard Majella, Catholic saint
• 1775 - William Turner, English ornithologist (d. 1851)
• 1791 - James Buchanan, 15th President of the United States (d. 1868)
• 1792 - John Thomas Romney Robinson, Irish astronomer and physicist (d. 1882)
• 1805 - Johann Karl Friedrich Rosenkranz, German philosopher (d. 1879)
• 1813 - Stephen A. Douglas, U.S. Senator from Illinois and Presidential candidate (d. 1861)
• 1823 - Abd-ul-Mejid, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1861)
• 1858 - Max Planck, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1947)
• 1861 - Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, British general (d. 1936)
• 1867 - Johannes Andreas Grib Fibiger, Danish scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1928)
• 1876 - Arthur Moeller van den Bruck, German historian (d. 1925)
• 1880 - Michel Fokine, Russian choreographer and dancer (d. 1942)
• 1882 - Albert Coates, British composer (d. 1953)
• 1889 - Karel Doorman, Dutch admiral (d. 1942)
• 1891 - Sergei Prokofiev, Russian composer (d. 1953)
• 1893 - Frank Borzage, American film director (d. 1952)
• 1893 - Allen Dulles, American Central Intelligence Agency director (d. 1969)
• 1895 - Ngaio Marsh, New Zealand writer (d. 1982)
• 1897 - Lucius Clay, American general (d. 1978)
• 1897 - Lester B. Pearson, fourteenth Prime Minister of Canada, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1972)
• 1899 - Dame Ngaio Marsh, New Zealand author (d. 1982)
• 1899 - Bertil Ohlin, Swedish economist, Bank of Sweden Prize winner (d. 1979)
• 1900 - Joseph Green, Polish-born actor and director (d. 1996)
• 1901 - E.B. Ford, British ecological geneticist (d. 1988)
• 1902 - Halldór Laxness, Icelandic writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
• 1904 - Duncan Renaldo, Spanish-American actor (d. 1985)
• 1907 - Fritz Wotruba, Austrian sculptor
• 1910 - Simone Simon, French actress (d. 2005)
• 1918 - Maurice Druon, French author
• 1921 - Warren Spahn, baseball player (d. 2003)
• 1923 - Dolph Briscoe, Governor of Texas
• 1923 - Avram Davidson, American writer (d. 1993)
• 1928 - Shirley Temple, American actress and politician
• 1932 - Jim Fixx, American athlete and writer (d. 1984)
• 1932 - Halston, American fashion designer (d. 1990)
• 1932 - Estelle Harris, American actress
• 1935 - Bunky Green, American musician
• 1935 - Ray Peterson, American singer (d. 2005)
• 1936 - Roy Orbison, American singer and musician (d. 1988)
• 1939 - Lee Majors, American actor
• 1941 - Jacqueline Boyer, French singer
• 1941 - Paavo Lipponen, Prime Minister of Finland
• 1942 - Sandra Dee, American actress (d. 2005)
• 1943 - Tony Esposito, Canadian hockey player
• 1943 - Frans Koppelaar, Dutch painter
• 1943 - Hervé Villechaize, French actor (d. 1993)
• 1947 - Bernadette Devlin, Irish politician
• 1948 - Pascal Quignard, French author
• 1949 - Joyce DeWitt, American actress
• 1954 - Michael Moore, American filmmaker
• 1955 - Judy Davis, Australian actress
• 1955 - Tony Miles, English chess player (d. 2001)
• 1958 - Tove Jensen, Swedish porn actress
• 1960 - Valerie Bertinelli, American actress
• 1960 - Steve Clark, English guitarist (Def Leppard) (d. 1991)
• 1961 - George Lopez, American actor and comedian
• 1967 - Melina Kanakaredes, American actress
• 1968 - Timothy McVeigh, American terrorist (d. 2001)
• 1972 - Patricia Manterola, Mexican singer
• 1977 - John Cena, American professional wrestler and rapper
• 1979 - Jaime King, American actress
• 1983 - Daniela Hantuchová, Slovakian tennis player
• 1989 - Nicole Vaidisová, Czech tennis player

April 23 - Deaths

• 303 - Saint George, Roman soldier and Christian martyr
• 725 - Wihtred, King of Kent
• 871 - Ethelred of Wessex
• 1014 - Brian Boru, High King of Ireland (killed in battle)
• 1016 - Ethelred II of England
• 1124 - King Alexander I of Scotland (b. 1078)
• 1151 - Queen Adeliza of England (b. 1103)
• 1217 - King Inge II of Norway (b. 1185)
• 1407 - Olivier de Clisson, French soldier (b. 1326)
• 1616 - Miguel Cervantes, Spanish author (b. 1547)
• 1616 - William Shakespeare, English writer and actor (b. 1564)
• 1625 - Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange (b. 1567)
• 1702 - Margaret Fell, English Quaker leader (b. 1614)
• 1740 - Thomas Tickell, English writer (b. 1685)
• 1781 - James Abercrombie, British general (b. 1706)
• 1792 - Karl Friedrich Bahrdt, German theologian and adventurer (b. 1741)
• 1794 - Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes, French statesman (executed) (b. 1721)
• 1850 - William Wordsworth, English poet (b. 1770)
• 1889 - Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly, French writer (b. 1808)
• 1895 - Carl Ludwig, German physician (b. 1815)
• 1936 - Teresa de la Parra, Venezuelan writer (b. 1889)
• 1951 - Charles G. Dawes, Vice President of the United States, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1865)
• 1952 - Julius Freed, American inventor and banker (b. 1887)
• 1975 - William Hartnell, English actor (b. 1908)
• 1979 - Blair Peach, New Zealand-born anti-fascist (b. 1946)
• 1979 - Lauri Ylönen, Helsinki born, The Rasmus lead vocalist
• 1983 - Buster Crabbe, American swimmer and actor (b. 1908)
• 1984 - Red Garland, American jazz pianist (b. 1923)
• 1985 - Sam Ervin, American politician (b. 1896)
• 1986 - Harold Arlen, American composer (b. 1905)
• 1986 - Jim Laker, English cricketer (b. 1922)
• 1986 - Otto Preminger, Austrian-born film director (b. 1906)
• 1990 - Paulette Goddard, American actress (b. 1911)
• 1991 - Johnny Thunders, American musician (b. 1952)
• 1992 - Satyajit Ray, Indian filmmaker (b. 1921)
• 1993 - César Chávez, American labor activist (b. 1927)
• 1995 - Howard Cosell, American sports journalist (b. 1918)
• 1995 - John C. Stennis, U.S. Senator from Mississippi (b. 1904)
• 1996 - P. L. Travers, Australian author (b. 1899)
• 1997 - Denis Compton, English cricketer (b. 1918)
• 1998 - James Earl Ray, American assassin (b. 1928)
• 2002 - Linda Lovelace, American actress (b. 1949)
• 2003 - James H. Critchfield, American Central Intelligence agent (b. 1917)
• 2003 - Fernand Fonssagrives, French photographer (b. 1910)
• 2005 - Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Premier of Queensland (b. 1911)
• 2005 - Al Grassby, Australian immigration minister (b. 1928)
• 2005 - Sir John Mills, English actor (b. 1908)
• 2005 - Romano Scarpa, Italian-born comic artist (b. 1927)
• 2005 - Earl Wilson, baseball player (b. 1934)

April 23 - Holidays and observances

• Feast Day of Saint George:
  • National Day of England
  • Celebrated as St. Jordi's Day in Catalonia, presents of books and roses. See below.
• Catalonia - Lover's Day. Men receive a book as a gift from their romantic interest, while women receive roses. The book is in honor of Shakespeare's and Cervantes's death on April 23, 1616.
• Turkey - National Sovereignty and Children's Day (1920)
• Israel - Yom Ha'atzma'ut (Israeli Independence Day) for 2007: (the observed date of this national holiday is determined by the Jewish Calendar).
• Jurgi festival, in ancient Latvia
• Independence Day for the Conch Republic
• UNESCO International Day of the Book
• National Beer Day in Germany

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "April 23", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki