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April 23: Today in History – Historical Events
Early Centuries – April 23 Historic Events – Before the 1700s
1. 23rd April 1014: The Battle of Clontarf resulted in the end of Danish rule in Ireland. King Brian Boru of Ireland was killed by a Dane.
2. 23rd April 1348: King Edward III of England established the Order of the Garter, the first English order of Knighthood.
3. 23rd April 1500: Pedro Cabal claimed Brazil for Portugal.
4. 23rd April 1504: King Maximilian I sent troops to Bavaria.
5. 23rd April 1521: In Spain, royalist troops crushed Comuneros.
6. 23rd April 1635: The Boston Public Latin School was established today. It was the first public school building in the United States.
7. 23rd April 1661: English King Charles II was crowned today in London.
8. 23rd April 1662: Connecticut was chartered as an English colony today.
18th Century – What Happened on April 23 – The 1700s
9. 23rd April 1789: President George Washington of the US moved into Franklin House in New York. It was the first executive mansion.
19th Century – April 23 This Day That Year – The 1800s
10. 23rd April 1826: Egyptian forces take Missol onghi today.
11. 23rd April 1861: Fort Smith was seized by Arkansas troops today.
12. 23rd April 1872: Charlotte I. Ray today became an African-American woman lawyer.
13. 23rd April 1895: Russia, France, and Germany today forced Japan to return the Liaodong peninsula to China.
14. 23rd April 1898: Spain today rejected America’s ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba and declared war on the United States.
20th Century – Important Events On This Day April 23rd – The 1900s
15. 23rd April 1908: President Theodore Roosevelt of the US today signed an act creating the U.S. Army Reserve.
16. 23rd April 1915: The A.C.A. became the National Advisory Council on Aeronautics (NACA).
17. 23rd April 1920: In Ankara the Turkish Grand National Assembly had its first meeting today.
18. 23rd April 1922: A Bootlegging scheme for smuggling liquor into America from Bermuda using former submarine chaser ships with officers wearing US Navy uniforms was broken up today. The ships and the crew were seized.
19. 23rd April 1924: The U.S. Senate today passed the Soldiers Bonus Bill.
20. 23rd April 1932: The New Royal Shakespeare Theatre which was rebuilt after the original Shakespeare Memorial Theatre was gutted in fire opened today in Shakespeare’s birthplace of Stratford-upon-Avon.
21. 23rd April 1938: In Austria Jews were persecuted by the members of the Hitler Youth Movement forcing Jewish shopkeepers in Vienna to picket their shops with placards saying “Don’t buy from Jews” and the national library was asked to remove non-Aryan works from the library.
22. 23rd April 1939: The Franco government in Spain was recognized by the United States following the end of the Civil War in Spain.
23. 23rd April 1940: A fire broke out in the Rhythm Night Club in Natchez Mississippi. Over 200 African Americans perished in the fire.
24. 23rd April 1942: Luftwaffe bombs Exeter.
25. 23rd April 1942: The four-day Allied bombing on Rostock begins.
26. 23rd April 1944: During World War II, German Plane plants in Germany were today bombarded by 2000 bombers and fighters from Britain and another 1000 launched attacks from Italy.
27. 23rd April 1945: The United States Tenth Army laded the previous on Okinawa about 362 miles from the Japanese mainland meeting with much less resistance than expected.
28. 23rd April 1945: U.S. troops in Italy cross river Po.
29. 23rd April 1945: The Soviet Army today fought its way into Berlin.
30. 23rd April 1949: Courtesy mailboxes for motorists started in San Francisco.
31. 23rd April 1949: The Chinese Red Army today conquered Nanjing.
32. 23rd April 1950: Chiang today evacuated Haina, leaving mainland China to Mao and the communists.
33. 23rd April 1951: The Associated Press started use of the new service of teletype setting.
34. 23rd April 1952: This day marks the completion of the oil pipeline from Kirkuk to Baines.
35. 23rd April 1956: In the United States, the Supreme Court today ended race segregation on buses.
36. 23rd April 1957: In the United States police forces are now using portable speed radar checking devices to enforce speed limits.
37. 23rd April 1959: The first heliport in Britain opens today in London.
38. 23rd April 1962: The first US satellite to reach the moon was launched today.
39. 23rd April 1964: The New York State Theater opened today.
40. 23rd April 1965: The first Soviet communication satellite was launched.
41. 23rd April 1967: The Soyuz I was launched by Russia today.
42. 23rd April 1967: Vladimir Komarov, a Soviet cosmonaut was killed today when his parachute failed to open during his Soyuz I spacecraft landing.
43. 23rd April 1968: Decimalisation took place in the U.K. and decimal coins were introduced. 5p coil replaced 1 shilling and 10p coil replaced 2 shillings Florin. Decimal currency to be introduced on 15th Feb 1971.
44. 23rd April 1968: The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church merged today to form the United Methodist Church.
45. 23rd April 1969: Sirhan Sirhan was sentenced to death for killing Bobby Kennedy.
46. 23rd April 1970: President Richard Nixon of the US today signed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act which would ban advertising of cigarettes on radio and television. The act is to take effect from 2nd Jan ’71.
47. 23rd April 1971: The Soyuz 10 was launched today by Russia.
48. 23rd April 1971: Student strike virtually ends Columbia University operations.
49. 23rd April 1972: The surface of the moon was today explored by the astronauts of Apollo 16.
50. 23rd April 1974: U.S.S.R. today performed a nuclear test at Sary Shagan U.S.S.R.
51. 23rd April 1977: In Addis Ababa, military workers kill 300-500 students.
52. 23rd April 1977: Vlastimil Hort, the Czechoslovakian chess master played 201 games simultaneously. He lost only 10 out of the 201 games.
53. 23rd April 1978: U.S.S.R. today performed a nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R.
54. 23rd April 1979: Thousands of people gathered to demonstrate against the National Front campaign meeting in Southall, London. One of the protestors a teacher was killed.
55. 23rd April 1979: President Jimmy Carter is thinking of implementing a windfall profits tax on oil companies for excess profits as oil companies are reporting sharp increases in profits due to huge increases in supply prices.
56. 23rd April 1980: A Soviet submarine catches fire off the coast of Japan. 9 people died in the accident.
57. 23rd April 1981: The Soviet Union today conducted an underground nuclear test at their Semipaltinsk (Kazakhstan) test site.
58. 23rd April 1982: A decline in consumer prices was today reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This was the first decline in about 17 years.
59. 23rd April 1983: In Washington, a think tank today predicted that by the year 2000, 50% of the world’s energy resources will be met from renewable energy sources. The predictions were grossly wrong.
60. 23rd April 1984: Singer Marvin Gaye was shot to death by his father, who was suffering from a brain tumor at age 45. His father pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to six years of probation.
61. 23rd April 1984: Researchers in the USA announced to had discovered and isolated a virus, which they say is likely to be the primary cause of AIDS.
62. 23rd April 1985: The U.S. House today rejected $14 million aid to Nicaragua.
63. 23rd April 1985: The Coca-Cola Company today announced that they had changed the formula of Coke which will now be known as new Coke. They however returned to the original formula six months later.
64. 23rd April 1986: Groundbreaking for Grand Floridian Beach Resort.
65. 23rd April 1987: In an apartment collapse in Bridgeport, 28 construction workers were killed.
66. 23rd April 1988: Kanellos Kanelopoulos set three world records for human-powered flight today when he stayed in the air for 74 miles and 4 hours in his peddle-powered “Daedalus”.
67. 23rd April 1988: The US federal law banning smoking on under two-hour flights took effect today.
68. 23rd April 1988: More than 10,000 barrels of oil poured into the marsh adjoining Peyton Slough owing to a drain valve left open at the Shell Marsh in Martinez, CA.
69. 23rd April 1989: Students in Beijing China announce class boycotts.
70. 23rd April 1991: USSR grants republics the right to secede under certain conditions.
71. 23rd April 1992: McDonald’s opened its 1st fast-food restaurant in China today.
72. 23rd April 1992: Marion Berry, former mayor of Washington D.C. was let out of prison today.
73. 23rd April 1993: Eritrea today voted to secede from Ethiopia.
74. 23rd April 1994: Libertarian party today nominates Radio shock Jock Howard Stern for Governor of New York.
75. 23rd April 1994: The Army in Haiti shoots to death 23-40 fishermen in Gonaives.
76. 23rd April 1995: President Clinton declares a national day of mourning for Oklahoma City.
77. 23rd April 1996: An auction began today of the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’s possessions at Sotheby’s in New York City. The sale realized 34.5 million.
78. 23rd April 1997: In California, an infertility doctor announced that a 63-year-old woman had given birth in late 1996 from a donor egg. The woman is the oldest known woman to give birth.
79. 23rd April 1999: The heads of state and government of the 19 NATO nations celebrated the organization’s 50th anniversary today in Washington DC.
21st Century – April 23 This Day In History – The 2000s
80. 23rd April 2000: Gulf Air flight 72 crashed near Bahrain killing 143 people.
81. 23rd April 2001: Serbian authorities today arrested former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic at his Belgrade villa, on suspicion of corruption, abuse of power, and embezzlement.
82. 23rd April 2003: Legislation authorizing the design change of the 5-cent coin for release in 2004 was today signed by U.S. President George Bush.
83. 23rd April 2003: Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch was today rescued by the US troops from a hospital in Nasiriyah Iraq, where she had been held prisoner since her unit was ambushed nine days earlier.
84. 23rd April 2004: In return for Moammar Gadhafi’s agreement to give up weapons of mass destruction, U.S. President George W Bush today eased sanctions against Libya.
85. 23rd April 2005: The first video was uploaded today on YouTube.com.
86. 23rd April 2007: Two suicide car bombers struck a U.S. patrol base in Diyala province in Iraq killing nine soldiers, members of the Army’s 82nd Airborne, based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
87. 23rd April 2009: The iTunes Music Store today reached 1 billion applications downloaded.
88. 23rd April 2010: A series of bomb explosions took place near Shia mosques in Baghdad. Dozens of people were killed and hundreds injured.
89. 23rd April 2010: Despite criticism of President Obama, Arizona’s governor, Han Brewer, signed an immigration bill into law, seen as one of the toughest in the United States today. The bill requires State Police to question people about their immigration. It is aimed at identifying, prosecuting, and deporting illegal immigrants.
90. 23rd April 2011: The guest list for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton was released in England today.
91. 23rd April 2011: A clash erupted in the disputed border region of Cambodia and Thailand resulting in the evacuation of thousands of people.
92. 23rd April 2012: To appease protesters and curb violence in the country, President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen today agreed to leave power of 32 years in power.
93. 23rd April 2012: In North Carolina, the trial began over illegal use of campaign funds by US Presidential candidate John Edwards.
94. 23rd April 2012: The Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte submitted his resignation to Queen Beatrix after his cabinet fell apart during the budget talks. This government was in power for 558 days, the second shortest term.
95. 23rd April 2013: The ambassador from the People’s Republic of China was today summoned by Japan’s government after a flotilla of Chinese ships sailed near the disputed Senkaku Islands.
96. 23rd April 2013: The French parliament today approved same-sex marriage in the country. The bill also legalized the adoption of children by same-sex couples.
97. 23rd April 2014: The lower house of the Russian parliament today adopted a bill that would ban swearing in all films, music, and art and would impose fines for violation of the ban.
98. 23rd April 2014: Facebook announced first quarter profits of $642 million a threefold increase over the first quarter profits of the previous year resulting in earnings of 25 cents per share as against 17 cents per share expected by Wall Street.
99. 23rd April 2014: Google is partnering with solar manufacturer SunPower to form a financing program to help families afford solar power for their homes.
100. 23rd April 2015: The pending merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable, the two telecommunication giants was canceled after regulators aired their concerns regarding competitive and public interest issues.
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