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 is announced on St George's Day.

• 1521 – Battle of Villalar: King Charles I of Spain defeats the Comuneros.

• 1597 – William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor is first performed, with Queen Elizabeth I in attendance.

• 1635 – The 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.

• 1815 – The Second Serbian Uprising - a second phase of the national revolution of the Serbs against the Ottoman Empire, erupts shortly after the annexation of the country to the Ottoman Empire.

• 1867 – William Lincoln patents the zoetrope, a machine that 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 is 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 – The Polish Constitution of 1935 is adopted.

• 1935 – The first official Children's day is celebrated in Turkey.

• 1940 – The Rhythm Night Club fire at a dance hall in Natchez, Mississippi, kills 198 people.

• 1941 – World War II: The Greek government and King George II evacuate Athens before the invading 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 Arab forces.

• 1949 – Chinese Civil War: Establishment of the People's Liberation Army Navy.

• 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. This group goes on to found the Socialist Workers Party.

• 1968 – Vietnam War: Student protesters at Columbia University in New York City take over administration buildings and shut down the university.

• 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 – The Conch Republic is established

• 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 The Dark Side of the Moon leaves the charts for the first time after spending a record of 741 consecutive weeks (over 14 years) on the Billboard 200.

• 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.

• 2009 – The gamma ray burst GRB 090423 it's observed for 10 seconds as the most distant object of any kind and also the oldest known object in the universe.

Births

• 1170 – Isabelle of Hainaut, queen of France (d. 1190)

• 1185 – King Afonso II of Portugal (d. 1223)

• 1464 – Joan of France, Duchess of Berry, queen of France (d. 1505)

• 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 writer and actor (d. 1616) (traditional approximate birth date (in the Julian calendar) based on April 26 baptism)

• 1598 – Maarten Tromp, Dutch admiral (d. 1653)

• 1621 – William Penn, English admiral (d. 1670)

• 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 (d. 1755)

• 1746 – Félix Vicq-d'Azyr, French physician and anatomist (d. 1794)

• 1775 – J. M. W. Turner, English painter (d. 1851)

• 1791 – James Buchanan, 15th President of the United States (d. 1868)

• 1792 – John Thomas Romney Robinson, Irish astronomer and physicist (d. 1882)

• 1794 – Wei Yuan, Chinese scholar (d. 1856)

• 1805 – Johann Karl Friedrich Rosenkranz, German philosopher (d. 1879)

• 1813 – Stephen A. Douglas, U.S. Senator from Illinois and Presidential candidate (d. 1861)

• 1813 – Frédéric Ozanam, French scholar (Society of Saint Vincent de Paul) (d. 1853)

• 1823 – Abd-ul-Mejid, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1861)

• 1834 – Artemus Ward, American comic writer (d. 1867)

• 1853 – Winthrop M. Crane, 40^th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1920)

• 1857 – Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Italian composer (d. 1919)

• 1858 – Max Planck, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1947)

• 1858 – Ethel Mary Smyth, English composer (d. 1944)

• 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)

• 1872 – Violet Gordon-Woodhouse, British musician (d. 1951)

• 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)

• 1888 – Georges Vanier, French-Canadian soldier and diplomat (d. 1967)

• 1889 – Karel Doorman, Dutch admiral (d. 1942)

• 1893 – Frank Borzage, American film director (d. 1952)

• 1894 – Cow Cow Davenport, American pianist (d. 1955)

• 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 – Minoru Shirota, inventor of Yakult (d. 1982)

• 1899 – Vladimir Nabokov, Russian-American author (d.1977)

• 1900 – Joseph Green, Polish-born actor and director (d. 1996)

• 1900 – Jim Bottomley, American baseball player (d. 1959)

• 1901 – E.B. Ford, British ecological geneticist (d. 1988)

• 1902 – Halldór Laxness, Icelandic writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)

• 1903 – Guy Simonds, youngest general officer in the Canadian army (d. 1974)

• 1904 – Duncan Renaldo, Spanish-American actor (d. 1985)

• 1907 – Fritz Wotruba, Austrian sculptor (d. 1975)

• 1907 – Lee Miller, American photographer & model (d. 1977)

• 1908 – Myron Waldman, American animator (d. 2006)

• 1910 – Simone Simon, French actress (d. 2005)

• 1917 – Dorian Leigh, American supermodel (d. 2008)

• 1918 – Maurice Druon, French author (d. 2009)

• 1919 – Oleg Penkovsky, Soviet double-agent (d. 1963)

• 1921 – Janet Blair, American actress (d. 2007)

• 1921 – Warren Spahn, American baseball player (d. 2003)

• 1922 – Marjorie Cameron, American writer, painter, actress and occultist (d. 1995)

• 1923 – Dolph Briscoe, Governor of Texas

• 1923 – Avram Davidson, American writer (d. 1993)

• 1923 – Antonino Rocca, professional wrestler

• 1924 – Chuck Harmon, American baseball player

• 1924 – Bobby Rosengarden, American jazz drummer (d. 2007)

• 1926 – J. P. Donleavy, Irish American author

• 1928 – Shirley Temple, American actress and politician

• 1932 – Jim Fixx, American athlete and writer (d. 1984)

• 1932 – Halston, American fashion designer (d. 1990)

• 1934 – George Canseco, Filipino music composer (d. 2004)

• 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 – Gail Goodrich, American basketball player

• 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 – Neville Brody, English graphic designer, typographer and art director

• 1957 – Jan Hooks, American actress

• 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 – Byron Thames, American actor

• 1969 – Richard Wolstencroft, Australian Filmmaker

• 1969 – Martin López-Zubero, Spanish swimmer

• 1970 – Scott Bairstow, American actor

• 1970 – Andrew Gee, Australian rugby league footballer

• 1970 – Dennis Bayne Culp, American singer/songwriter

• 1970 – Sadao Abe, Japanese actor

• 1971 – Charmaine Sinclair, English model

• 1971 – Uli Herzner, German American designer

• 1972 – Pierre Labrie, Canadian poet

• 1972 – Patricia Manterola, Mexican singer

• 1972 – Sonya Smith, American actress

• 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

• 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

• 1977 – John Oliver, British comedian

• 1979 – Barry Fratelli, Scottish bassist (The Fratellis)

• 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, Polish/American model and actress

• 1981 – Chris Sharma, American rock climber/boulderer

• 1982 – Taio Cruz, English singer

• 1983 – Daniela Hantuchová, Slovakian tennis player

• 1983 – Jennifer Heil, Canadian free style skier

• 1984 – Alexandra Kosteniuk, Russian chess player

• 1985 – Angel Locsin, Filipina actress

• 1986 – Sven Kramer, Dutch speedskater

• 1986 – Jessica Stam, Canadian model

• 1987 – Emily Fox, American cup stacker

• 1988 – Victor Anichebe, Nigerian footballer

• 1989 – Nicole Vaidišová, Czech tennis player

• 1990 – Dev Patel, British actor

• 1990 – Matthew Underwood, American actor

• 1991 – Jennifer Messelier, French model

Deaths

• 303 – Saint George, Roman soldier and Christian martyr

• 725 – Wihtred, King of Kent

• 871 – Ethelred of Wessex

• 997 – Saint Adalbert of Prague, bishop (b. c. 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)

• 1605 – Tsar Boris Godunov of Russia (b. c. 1550)

• 1616 – Miguel Cervantes, Spanish author (b. 1547)

• 1616 – El Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Peruvian writer (b. 1539)

• 1616 – William Shakespeare, English writer and actor (b. 1564) (date according to the Julian calendar, hence 10 days later than death of Cervantes or Garcilaso, by the Gregorian calendar)

• 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)

• 1827 – Georgios Karaiskakis, Greek hero of the Greek War of Independence

• 1839 – Jacques Félix Emmanuel Hamelin, French explorer (b. 1768)

• 1850 – William Wordsworth, English poet (b. 1770)

• 1889 – Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly, French writer (b. 1808)

• 1895 – Carl Ludwig, German physician (b. 1815)

• 1905 – Gédéon Ouimet, Quebec politician (b. 1823)

• 1907 – Alfred Packer, American Cannibal (b. 1842)

• 1915 – Rupert Brooke, English poet (b. 1887).

• 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)

• 1981 – Josep Pla, Catalan journalist and writer (b. 1897)

• 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. 1910)

• 1991 – Johnny Thunders, American musician (b. 1952)

• 1992 – Satyajit Ray, Indian filmmaker (b. 1921)

• 1992 – Tanka Prasad Acharya former Nepalese Prime Minister (b.1912)

• 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 – Konstantinos 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)

• 2006 – Phil Walden, American manager of the Allman Brothers Band (b. 1940)

• 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)

Holidays and observances

• Turkey, Northern Cyprus – National Sovereignty and Children's Day (1920)

• UNESCO World Book and Copyright Day in honor of the death of both William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes on April 23, 1616.

• Canada Book Day

• Feast Day of Saint George

• Castile and León – Castile and León Day

• Aragón - Aragón Day

• Conch Republic - Independence Day

• Saint Adalbert of Prague

• Saint Gerard (d. 1138)