April 23

From Freepedia

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

Template:AprilCalendar2008

1 Events
2 Births
3 Deaths
4 Holidays and observances
5 External links

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 - 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.
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.

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)
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)
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 - Allen Dulles, American director of the Central Intelligence Agency (d. 1969)
1893 - Frank Borzage, American film director (d. 1952)
1895 - Ngaio Marsh, New Zealand writer (d. 1982)
1897 - Lester B. Pearson, fourteenth Prime Minister of Canada, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1972)
1897 - Lucius Clay, American general (d. 1978)
1899 - Dame Ngaio Marsh, New Zealand author (d. 1982)
1899 - Bertil Ohlin, Swedish economist, Nobel Prize laureate (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 - Halston, American fashion designer (d. 1990)
1932 - Jim Fixx, American athlete and writer (d. 1984)
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 - Paavo Lipponen, Prime Minister of Finland
1941 - Jacqueline Boyer, French singer
1942 - Sandra Dee, American actress (d. 2005)
1943 - Hervé Villechaize, French actor (d. 1993)
1943 - Tony Esposito, Canadian hockey player
1947 - Bernadette Devlin, Irish politician
1949 - Joyce DeWitt, American actress
1954 - Michael Moore, American filmmaker
1955 - Judy Davis, Australian actress
1955 - Tony Miles, English chess player (d. 2001)
1960 - Steve Clark, guitarist (Def Leppard)
1960 - Valerie Bertinelli, American actress
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

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)
1407 - Olivier de Clisson, French soldier (b. 1326)
1616 - William Shakespeare, English writer and actor (b. 1564)
1616 - Miguel Cervantes, Spanish author (b. 1547)
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)
1850 - William Wordsworth, English poet (b. 1770)
1889 - Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly, French writer (b. 1808)
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)
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 - Jim Laker, English cricketer (b. 1922)
1986 - Otto Preminger, Austrian-born film director (b. 1906)
1986 - Harold Arlen, American composer (b. 1905)
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 - Al Grassby, Australian immigration minister (b. 1928)
2005 - Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Premier of Queensland (b. 1911)
2005 - Sir John Mills, English actor (b. 1908)
2005 - Romano Scarpa, Italian-born comic artist (b. 1927)
2005 - Earl Wilson, baseball player (b. 1934)

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