Today in History (23 APRIL)

[Spiral]

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.
1229 - Ferdinand III of Castile conquers Cáceres.
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.
1597 - Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor is first performed, with Queen Elizabeth I of England in attendance.
1616 - Funeral of Miguel de Cervantes, who died on April 22
1635 - First public school in the United States, Boston Latin School, is founded in Boston, Massachusetts.
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.
1920 - The Grand National Assembly of Turkey was founded in Ankara.
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 - The Rhythm Night Club fire at a dance hall in Natchez, Mississippi, kills 198 people.
1941 - World War II: Greek government and King George II evacuate Athens before the attacking Wehrmacht.
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.
1955 - The Canadian Labour Congress is formed by the merger of the Trades and Labour Congress of Canada and the Canadian Congress of Labour.
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 - Vietnam War: Student protesters at Columbia University in New York City take over administration buildings and shut down the university. see main article Columbia University protests of 1968
1979 - Fighting in London between the Anti-Nazi League and the Metropolitan Police's Special Patrol Group results in the death of protester Blair Peach.
1982 - Conch Republic is established.
1982 - The ZX Spectrum is released.
1985 - Coca-Cola changes its formula and releases New Coke. (The response is overwhelmingly negative, and the original formula is back on the market in less than 3 months.)
1987 - 28 construction workers die when the L'Ambiance Plaza apartment building collapses while under construction in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
1988 - Pink Floyd's album Dark Side of the Moon, after spending the record total of 741 consecutive weeks (over 14 years) on the Billboard 200, left the charts for its first time ever.
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.
1997 - Omaria massacre in Algeria: 42 villagers are killed.
2003 - Beijing closes all schools for two weeks because of the SARS virus.

Births
1928 - Shirley Temple, American actress and politician
1932 - Jim Fixx, American athlete and writer (d. 1984)
1932 - Halston, American fashion designer (d. 1990)
1935 - Bunky Green, American musician
1936 - Roy Orbison, American singer and musician (d. 1988)
1939 - Jorge Fons, Mexican film director
1939 - Lee Majors, American actor
1939 - Ray Peterson, American singer (d. 2005)
1940 - Michael Copps, American Federal Government official
1941 - Jacqueline Boyer, French singer
1941 - Paavo Lipponen, Prime Minister of Finland 1995-2003
1941 - Michael Lynne, American film executive
1942 - Sandra Dee, American actress (d. 2005)
1943 - Tony Esposito, Canadian ice hockey player
1943 - Frans Koppelaar, Dutch painter
1943 - Hervé Villechaize, French actor (d. 1993)
1947 - Glenn Cornick, British musician (Jethro Tull)
1947 - Bernadette Devlin, Irish politician
1948 - Pascal Quignard, French author
1948 - Serge Thériault, French-Canadian comedian and actor
1949 - David Cross, British violinist (King Crimson)
1949 - Joyce DeWitt, American actress
1952 - Narada Michael Walden, American musician and producer
1954 - Michael Moore, American filmmaker
1955 - Judy Davis, Australian actress
1955 - Tony Miles, English chess player (d. 2001)
1957 - Kenji Kawai, Japanese composer
1958 - Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, Icelandic music composer
1958 - Ryan Walter, Canadian ice hockey player
1960 - Valerie Bertinelli, American actress
1960 - Steve Clark, English guitarist (Def Leppard) (d. 1991)
1960 - Claude Julien, French-Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1961 - Terry Gordy, American professional wrestler (d. 2001)
1961 - George Lopez, American actor and comedian
1962 - John Hannah, Scottish actor
1963 - Paul Belmondo, French actor and racing driver
1963 - Magnús Ver Magnússon, Icelandic powerlifter
1967 - Rheal Cormier, Canadian baseball player
1967 - Melina Kanakaredes, American actress
1968 - Timothy McVeigh, American terrorist (d. 2001)
1968 - Princess Aisha bint Al Hussein of Jordan
1968 - Princess Zein bint Al Hussein of Jordan
1969 - Yelena Shushunova, Russian gymnast
1969 - Richard Wolstencroft, Australian Filmmaker
1969 - Martin López-Zubero, Spanish swimmer
1970 - Scott Bairstow, American actor
1970 - Dennis Bayne Culp, American singer/songwriter
1970 - Sadao Abe, Japanese actor
1971 - Charmaine Sinclair, English model
1972 - Pierre Labrie, Canadian poet
1972 - Patricia Manterola, Mexican singer
1973 - Patrick Poulin, French-Canadian ice hockey player
1974 - Carlos Dengler, American musician (Interpol)
1974 - Barry Watson, American actor
1975 - Jón Þór Birgisson, Icelandic musician and singer (Sigur Rós)
1975 - Bobby Shaw, American football wide receiver for the NFL
1976 - I was born. istanbul
1977 - John Cena, American professional wrestler
1977 - Andruw Jones, Curaçaoan baseball player
1977 - Willie Mitchell, Canadian ice hockey player
1977 - Kal Penn, American actor
1977 - Lee Young-Pyo, Korean footballer
1979 - Yana Gupta, Indian actress & model
1979 - Jaime King, American actress
1979 - Lauri Ylönen, Finnish singer (The Rasmus)
1981 - Sean Henn, American baseball player
1981 - Joanna Krupa, Supermodel/actress
1981 - Chris Sharma, American rock climber/boulderer
1983 - Daniela Hantuchová, Slovakian tennis player
1983 - Jennifer Heil, Canadian free style skier
1984 - Alexandra Kosteniuk, Chess Woman World Champion
1985 - Angel Locsin, Filipina TV and movie actress
1986 - Sven Kramer, Dutch speedskater
1986 - Jessica Stam, Canadian supermodel
1987 - Emily Fox, American cupstacking champion
1988 - Victor Anichebe, Nigerian footballer
1989 - Nicole Vaidišová, Czech tennis player
1990 - Matthew Dillon Underwood, American actor
2003 - Princess Laetitia Maria of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este

Deaths
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 - Jean-Victor Allard, Canadian military officer (b. 1913)
1996 - P. L. Travers, Australian author (b. 1899)
1997 - Denis Compton, English cricketer (b. 1918)
1998 - Constantine Karamanlis, Greek politician (b. 1907)
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 - Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Premier of Queensland (b. 1911)
2005 - Al Grassby, Australian immigration minister (b. 1928)
2005 - John Mills, English actor (b. 1908)
2005 - Romano Scarpa, Italian-born comic artist (b. 1927)
2005 - Earl Wilson, American baseball player (b. 1934)
2006 - Johnnie Checketts, New Zealand fighter pilot (b. 1912)
2007 - Paul Erdman, American economist and author (b. 1932)
2007 - David Halberstam, American journalist, historian and author (b. 1934)
2007 - Boris Yeltsin, first President of the Russian Federation (b. 1931)