April 23

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

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.
1343 - St. George's Night Uprising
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.
1961 - Algiers putsch by French generals.
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.
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.
1997 - Omaria massacre in Algeria; 42 villagers killed.
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)
1725 - Saint Gerard Majella, Catholic|Catholic saint (d. 1755)
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)
1857 - Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Italian composer (d. 1919)
1858 - Max Planck, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1947)
1861 - Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, British general (d. 1936)
1865 - Ali-Agha Shikhlinski, Russian-Azerbaijani general (d. 1943)
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)
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 - Bertil Ohlin, Swedish economist, Bank of Sweden Prize winner (d. 1979)
1899 - Vladimir Nabokov, Russian and American writer (d. 1977)
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 (d. 1975)
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)
1923 - Antonino Rocca, Professional wrestler
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 1995-2003
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
1947 - Glenn Cornick, British rock bassist (Jethro Tull)
1948 - Pascal Quignard, French author
1949 - David Cross, British violinist (King Crimson)
1949 - Joyce DeWitt, American actress
1952 - Narada Michael Walden, Grammy Award-winning musician and producer
1954 - Michael Moore, American filmmaker
1955 - Judy Davis, Australian actress
1955 - Tony Miles, English chess player (d. 2001)
1958 - Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, Icelandic music composer
1958 - Tove Jensen, Swedish porn actress
1958 - Ryan Walter, Canadian ice hockey player
1960 - Valerie Bertinelli, American actress
1960 - Steve Clark, English guitarist (Def Leppard) (d. 1991)
1961 - George Lopez, American actor and comedian
1961 - Terry Gordy, Professional wrestler
1967 - Melina Kanakaredes, American actress
1968 - Timothy McVeigh, American terrorist (d. 2001)
1969 - Yelena Shushunova, Russian gymnast
1972 - Patricia Manterola, Mexican singer
1974 - Carlos Dengler, American musician, Interpol
1975 - Jón Þór Birgisson, Icelandic musician and singer
1977 - John Cena, American professional wrestler and rapper
1977 - Andruw Jones, American baseball player
1979 - Jaime King, American actress
1981 - Chris Sharma, American rock climber/boulderer
1983 - Daniela Hantuchová, Slovakian tennis player
1986 - Sven Kramer, Dutch speedskater and olympic medal winner
1986 - Jessica Stam, Canadian supermodel
1989 - Nicole Vaidišová, Czech tennis player
1990 - Matthew Underwood, American Actor (Logan on Zoey 101)

Deaths

303 - Saint George, Roman soldier and Christian martyr
725 - Wihtred, King of Kent
871 - Ethelred of Wessex
997 - Adalbert of Prague, bishop, patron saint of Bohemia, Poland, Hungary, and Prussia (b. ca. 956
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)
1616 - El Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Peruvian writer (b. 1539)
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)
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)
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)
2006 - Johnnie Checketts, New Zealand fighter ace and war hero (b. 1912)

Holidays and observances

UNESCO International Day of the Book in honor of Shakespeare's and Cervantes's death on April 23, 1616.
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).
Independence Day for the Conch Republic
National Beer Day in Germany

Liturgical feasts

Feast Day of Saint George:
- Patron saint and National Day of England
- Patron saint of the Spanish region of Aragón
- Celebrated as St. Jordi's Day in Catalonia, presents of books and roses. See above.
- Jurgi festival, in ancient Latvia
Saint Adalbert of Prague
Saint Gerard (d.1138)

External links

BBC: On This Day

April 22 - April 24 - March 23 - May 23 – listing of all days

Gourt Home::Gourt :: April 23

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

Liturgical feasts

External links