On this day in History - Apr. 23

• 0303 BC- Saint George is put to death because of his strong faith in Christianity.
• 0215 BC - A temple is built on the Capitoline Hill dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Lake Trasum.
• 0303 - Saint George dies. Soldier of the Roman Empire and Christian martyr.
• 0725 - Wihtred dies. King of Kent.
• 0871 - Ethelred of Wessex dies.
• 0997 - Saint Adalbert of Prague dies (b. ca. 0956). Bishop, patron saint of Bohemia, Poland, Hungary, and Prussia.
• 1014 - Battle of Clontarf: Brian Boru (b. 0940), High King of Ireland defeats Viking invaders, but is killed in battle.
• 1016 - Ethelred II of England dies.
• 1124 - King Alexander I of Scotland dies (b.1078).
• 1151 - Queen Adeliza of England dies (b. 1103).
• 1170 - Isabelle of Hainaut was born (d. 1190). Queen of France.
  
• 1185 - King Afonso II of Portugal was born (d. 1223).
• 1217 - King Inge II of Norway dies (b. 1185).
• 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.
• 1407 - Olivier de Clisson dies (b. 1326). French soldier.
• 1445 - Henrique VI de Inglaterra casa com Margarida de Anjou.
• 1464 - Joan of France, Duchess of Berry was bortn (d. 1505). Queen of France.
• 1484 - Julius Caesar Scaliger was born (d. 1558). Italian philosopher.
• 1500 - Alexander Ales was born (d. 1565). Scottish theologian.
• 1501 - Portuguese navigator Pedro Cabral and 6 ships return to Lisbon one year after landed Brazil .
• 1516 - Georg Fabricius was born (d. 1571). German poet, historian and archaeologist.
• 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.
• 1563 - Se coloca la primera piedra del Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial. Construido en la sierra cercana a Madrid, el monasterio se convirtió en residencia real y símbolo y centro del poder de su promotor, Felipe II.
• 1564 - William Shakespeare, traditional birth date, actual date unknown (d. 1616) . English poet and playwright.
• 1597 - Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor is first performed, with Queen Elizabeth I of England in attendance.
• 1598 - Maarten Tromp was born (d. 1653). Dutch admiral.
• 1605 - Tsar Boris Godunov of Russia dies (b. ca. 1550).
• 1616 - (Julian calendar) - William Shakespeare dies (b. 1564). English poet and playwright.
• 1616 - Miguel Cervantes dies (b. 1547). Spanish author.
• 1616 - "El Inca" Garcilaso de la Vega [Gomez Suarez de Figueroa] dies (b. 12 Apr 1539). Peruvian writer and historiator.
• 1621 - William Penn was born (d. 1670). English admiral.
• 1625 - Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange dies (b. 1567).
• 1628 - Johann van Waveren Hudde was born (d. 1704). Dutch mathematician.
• 1635 - First public school in the United States, Boston Latin School, is founded in Boston, Massachusetts.
• 1660 - Treaty of Oliva between Sweden and Poland.
• 1661 - King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland is crowned in Westminster Abbey.
• 1676 - King Frederick I of Sweden was born (d. 1751).
• 1697 - George Anson was born (d. 1762). 1st Baron of Anson, British admiral.
• 1702 - Margaret Fell dies (b. 1614). English Quaker leader.
• 1720 - Vilna Gaon was born (d. 1797). Lithuanian rabbi.
• 1725 - Saint Gerard Majella was born (d. 1755). Catholic saint.
• 1728 - Samuel Wallis was born (d. 1795). English naval officer and Pacific explorer.
• 1740 - Thomas Tickell dies (b. 1685). English writer.
• 1746 - Félix Vicq-d'Azyr was born (d. 1794). French physician and anatomist, discoverer of the theory of homology in biology.
• 1775 - J. M. William Turner was born (d. 1851). English painter.
• 1781 - James Abercrombie dies (b. 1706). British general.
• 1791 - James Buchanan was born (d. 1868). 15th President of the United States).
• 1792 - John Thomas Romney Robinson was born (d. 1882). Irish astronomer and physicist.
• 1792 - Karl Friedrich Bahrdt dies (b. 1741). German theologian and adventurer.
• 1794 - Wei Yuan was born (d. 1856). Chinese scholar.
• 1794 - Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes dies executed (b. 1721). French statesman.
• 1805 - Johann Karl Friedrich Rosenkranz was born (d. 1879). German philosopher.
• 1812 - Franz Sebastian Haindl dies at 85. Composer.
• 1813 - Frédéric Ozanam was born (d. 1853). French scholar (Society of Saint Vincent de Paul).
• 1813 - Stephen A. Douglas was born (d. 1861). U. S. Senator from Illinois, candidate for President of the United States.
  
• 1815 - The Second Serbian Uprising (1815-1817) was a second phase of the national revolution of the Serbs against the Ottoman Empire, which erupted shortly after the annexation of the country to the Ottoman Empire.
• 1823 - Abd-ul-Mejid was born (d. 1861). Ottoman sultan.
• 1827 - William Rowan Hamilton presents his Theory of systems of rays.
• 1827 - Georgios Karaiskakis dies. Greek hero of the Greek War of Independence.
• 1834 - Artemus Ward was born (d. 1867). American comic writer.
• 1839 - Jacques Félix Emmanuel Hamelin dies (b. 1768). French explorer.
• 1850 - William Wordsworth dies (b. 1770). English poet.
• 1853 - Winthrop M. Crane was born (d. 1920). 40th Governor of Massachusetts.
• 1857 - Ruggiero Leoncavallo was born (d. 1919). Italian composer.
• 1858 – Ethel Mary Smyth was born (d. 1944). English composer.
• 1858 - Max (Karl Ernst Ludwig) Planck was born (d. 1947). German Physicis, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics- 1918.
• 1861 - Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby was born (d. 1936). British general.
• 1865 - Ali-Agha Shikhlinski was born (d. 1943). Russian-Azerbaijani general.
• 1867 - William Lincoln patents the zoetrope, a machine which shows animated pictures by mounting a strip of drawings in a wheel.
• 1867 - Johannes Andreas Grib Fibiger was born (d. 1928). Danish scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
• 1872 - Violet Gordon-Woodhouse was born (d. 1951). British musician.
  
• 1876 - April Uprising in Perushtitsa, Bulgaria.
• 1876 - Arthur Moeller van den Bruck was born (d. 1925). German historian.
• 1880 - Michel Fokine was born (d. 1942). Russian choreographer and dancer.
• 1881 - Nasceu o pioneiro da aviação portuguesa, Sacadura Cabral (d. 1924), co-responsável pela travessia aérea do Atlântico Sul.
• 1882 - Albert Coates was born (d. 1953). British composer.
• 1888 - Georges Vanier was born (d. 1967). French-Canadian soldier and diplomat.
• 1889 - Karel Doorman was born (d. 1942). Dutch admiral.
• 1889 - Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly dies (b. 1808). French writer.
• 1891 - Sergei Prokofiev was born in Ukraine (d. 1953). Soviet composer (Peter and the Wolf ).
• 1893 - Allen Dulles was born (d. 1969). American CIA director.
• 1893 - Frank Borzage was born (d. 1952). American film director.
• 1893 - Jorge Matheus de Lima was born in União - AL (d. 16 Nov 1953). Brazilian poet.
• 1894 - Cow Cow Davenport was born (d. 1955). American pianist.
• 1895 - Ngaio Marsh was born (d. 1982). New Zealand writer.
• 1895 - Carl Ludwig dies (b. 1815). German physician.
• 1896 - Charlie Rivel was born (d. 1983). Spanish clown.
• 1897 - Lester B. Pearson was born (d. 1972). Fourteenth Prime Minister of Canada, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
• 1897 - Lucius Clay was born (d. 1978). American general.
• 1897 - Pixinguinha (Alfredo da Rocha Vianna Filho) was born in Rio de Janeiro-RJ. Brazilian composer and musician.
• 1899 - Vladimir Nabokov was born in St. Petersburg. Russia, novelist (Lolita, Ada).
• 1899 - Bertil Ohlin was born (d. 1979). Swedish economist, Bank of Sweden Prize winner.
• 1899 - Minoru Shirota was born (d. 1982). Inventor of Yakult.
• 1900 - Jim Bottomley was born (d. 1959). American baseball player.
• 1900 - Joseph Green was born (d. 1996). Polish-born actor and director.
• 1901 - E.B. Ford was born (d. 1988). British ecological geneticist.
• 1902 - Halldór Laxness was born (d. 1998). Icelandic writer, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1903 - Guy Simonds was born (d. 1974). Youngest general officer in the Canadian army.
• 1904 - Duncan Renaldo was born (d. 1985). Spanish-American actor.
• 1905 - Gédéon Ouimet dies (b. 1823). Quebec politician.
• 1906 - Promulgação da primeira constituição russa, aprovada após a derrota na Guerra Russo Japonesa e a subsequente Revolução.
• 1907 - Fritz Wotruba was born (d. 1975). Austrian sculptor.
• 1907 - Lee Miller was born (d. 1977). American photographer and model.
• 1908 - Geraldo Pereira was born (d. 1955). Brazilian sambist and composer.
• 1908 - Myron Waldman was born (d. 2006). American animator.
• 1910 - Simone Simon was born (d. 2005). French actress.
• 1915 - Rupert Brooke dies (b. 1887). English poet.
• 1916 - Bud Wilkinson was born American football coach.
• 1917 - Dorian Leigh was born (d. 2008). American supermodel.
  
• 1918 - Maurice Druon was born. French novelist and member of Académie française. He is the nephew of the writer Joseph Kessel, with whom he wrote Chant des Partisans, which, with music composed by Anna Marly, was used by the French Resistance during the Second World War.
• 1919 - Oleg Penkovsky was born. Soviet double-agent.
• 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.
• 1921 - Janet Blair was born (d. 2007). American actress.
• 1921 - Warren Spahn was born (d. 2003). American baseball player.
• 1922 - Marjorie Cameron was born (d. 1995). American writer, painter, actress and occultist.
• 1923 - Inauguration ceremonies take place of Gdynia as a temporary military port and fishers' shelter.
• 1923 - Antonino Rocca was born. Argentine professional wrestler.
• 1923 - Avram Davidson was born (d. 1993). American science fiction writer.
• 1923 - Dolph Briscoe was born. Governor of Texas.
• 1923 - Manuel Mejia Vallejo was born in Jericó (d. 1998). Colombian writer, novelist.
• 1924 - Bobby Rosengarden was born (d. 2007). American jazz drummer.
• 1924 - Chuck Harmon was born. American baseball player.
• 1925 - Se publica la primera edición del "Quijote" en sistema Braille.
• 1926 - J. P. Donleavy was born. Irish novelist.
• 1926 - Ruth Leuwerik was born in Essen. German actress.
• 1928 - Shirley Temple (Shirley Temple Black) was born. American actress and politician.
• 1932 - The 153-year old De Adriaan Windmill in Haarlem, the Netherlands burns down.
• 1932 - Halston was born (d. 1990). American fashion designer.
• 1932 - Jim Fixx was born (d. 1984). American athlete and writer.
• 1934 - An FBI raid in northern Wisconsin goes wrong when George Nelson, aka "Baby Face", kills Special Agent H. Carter Baum.
• 1934 - George Canseco was born (d. 2004). Filipino music composer.
• 1935 - Polish Constitution of 1935 is passed.
• 1935 - Bunky Green was born. American jazz musician.
• 1936 - O governo de Salazar cria a Colónia Penal do Tarrafal na ilha de Santiago, no arquipélago de Cabo Verde, influenciado pelos exemplos soviéticos e nazis.
• 1936 - Roy Orbison was born (d. 1988). American singer and musician.
• 1936 - Teresa de la Parra dies (b. 1889). Venezuelan writer.
• 1939 - Jorge Fons was born. Mexican film director.
• 1939 - Lee Majors was born. American actor.
• 1939 - Ray Peterson was born (d. 2005). American singer.
• 1940 -The Rhythm Night Club fire at a dance hall in Natchez, Mississippi kills 198 people.
• 1940 - Dietrich Schwanitz was born. German author.
• 1940 - Michael Copps was born. American Federal Government official.
• 1940 - Alberto de Oliveira dies in S. Mamede de Infesta (b. 16 Nov. 1873). Portuguese poet and diplomat.
• 1941 - World War II: Greek government and King George II evacuate Athens before the attacking Wehrmacht.
• 1941 - Jacqueline Boyer was born. French singer, Eurovision Song Contest winner.
• 1941 - Michael Lynne was born. American film executive.
• 1941 - Paavo Lipponen was born. Prime Minister of Finland 1995-2003.
• 1942 - World War II: Baedeker Blitz – German bombers hit Exeter, Bath and York in retaliation for the British raid on Lübeck.
• 1942 - Sandra Dee was born (d. 2005). American actress.
• 1942 - Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear dies at 73. President of Argentina (1922-28).
• 1943 - Frans Koppelaar was born. Dutch painter.
• 1943 - Gail Goodrich, American basketball player
• 1943 - Hervé Villechaize was born (d. 1993). French actor.
• 1943 - Tony Esposito was born. Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1947 - Bernadette Devlin was born. Irish politician.
• 1947 - Christer Pettersson was born (d. 2004). Suspected assassin of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme.
• 1947 - Glenn Cornick was born. British rock bassist (Jethro Tull).
• 1948 - 1948 Arab-Israeli War: Haifa, the major port of Israel, is captured from Palestinian forces.
• 1948 - Pascal Quignard was born. French author.
• 1948 - Serge Thériault was born. Quebec comedian and actor.
• 1949 - Chinese Civil War: Establishment of the People's Liberation Army Navy.
• 1949 - David Cross was born. British violinist (King Crimson).
• 1949 - Joyce DeWitt was born. American actress.
• 1951 - Charles G. Dawes dies (b. 1865). Vice President of the United States for Calvin Coolidge.
• 1952 - Narada Michael Walden was born. Grammy Award-winning musician and producer
• 1952 - Julius Freed dies (b. 1887). American inventor and banker.
• 1953 - James Russo born in New York City. American actor (My Own Private Idaho, China Girl) .
• 1954 - Hank Aaron hits his first major league home run.
• 1954 - Michael Moore was born. American filmmaker
• 1955 - The Canadian Labour Congress is formed by the merger of the Trades and Labour Congress of Canada and the Canadian Congress of Labour.
• 1955 - Judy Davis was born. Australian actress.
• 1955 - Tony Miles was born (d. 2001). English chess player.
• 1956 - Elvis Presley makes his first appearance in Las Vegas, Nevada.
• 1957 - Kenji Kawai was born. Japanese composer.
• 1957 – Neville Brody was born. English graphic designer, typographer and art director.
• 1958 - Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson was born. Icelandic music composer.
• 1958 - Ryan Walter was born. Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1958 - Tove Jensen was born. Swedish porn actress.
• 1960 - Claude Julien was born. French Canadian ice hockey player and coach.
• 1960 - Steve Clark was born (d. 1991). English guitarist (Def Leppard).
• 1960 - Valerie Bertinelli was born. American actress.
• 1961 - Algiers putsch by French generals.
• 1961 - Judy Garland performs at Carnegie Hall.
• 1961 - George Lopez was born. American actor, comedian.
• 1961 - Terry Gordy was born (d. 2001). American professional wrestler.
• 1962 - Stirling Moss, auto racer, killed while racing at 32.
• 1962 - John Hannah was born. Scottish actor.
• 1963 - Magnús Ver Magnússon was born. Icelandic powerlifter and strongman.
• 1963 - Paul Belmondo was born. French racing driver.
• 1967 - Soyuz 1 is launched into orbit, carrying a single cosmonaut, Colonel Vladimir Komarov, who is killed when the spacecraft crashes after returning to earth.
• 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).
• 1967 - Jill Davis was born. American book editor and author.
• 1967 - Melina Kanakaredes was born. American actress.
• 1967 - Rheal Cormier was born. Canadian baseball player.
• 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.
• 1968 - The United Kingdom produces its first decimalised coins, a 5p and a 10p coin.
• 1968 - A África do Sul é excluída dos Jogos Olímpicos do México.
• 1968 - Timothy McVeigh was born (d. 2001). American terrorist.
• 1968 - Princess Aisha bint Al Hussein of Jordan was born.
• 1968 - Princess Zein bint Al Hussein of Jordan was born.
• 1969 – Byron Thames was born. American actor.
• 1969 - Martin López-Zubero was born. Spanish swimmer.
• 1969 - Richard Wolstencroft was born. Australian Filmmaker.
• 1969 - Yelena Shushunova was born. Russian gymnast.
• 1970 – Andrew Gee was born. Australian rugby league footballer.
• 1970 - Dennis Bayne Culp was born. American singer/songwriter.
• 1970 - Sadao Abe was born. Japanese actor.
• 1970 - Scott Bairstow was born. American actor.
• 1971 - The Rolling Stones release the classic album Sticky Fingers.
• 1971 - Charmaine Sinclair was born. English model.
• 1971 – Uli Herzner was born. German American designer.
• 1972 - Patricia Manterola was born. Mexican singer.
• 1972 - Pierre Labrie was born. Poet from Quebec.
• 1972 – Sonya Smith was born. American actress.
• 1973 - Patrick Poulin was born. French Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1974 - A Pan American World Airways Boeing 707 crashes in Bali, Indonesia killing 107.
• 1974 – Portugal - Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho entrega as instruções para as acções a desencadear na noite de 24 para 25.
• 1974 – Barry Watson wass born. American actor.
• 1974 - Carlos Dengler was born. American musician (Interpol).
• 1975 - Vietnam War: At Tulane University, U.S. President Gerald Ford states that the war is over as far as the United States is concerned.
• 1975 - Bobby Shaw was born. American football wide receiver for the NFL.
• 1975 - Jón Þór Birgisson was born. Icelandic musician and singer.
• 1975 - Pete Ham was born (d. 1947). Welsh singer-songwriter (Badfinger).
• 1975 - William Hartnell dies (b. 1908). English actor.
• 1976 - O Governo indonésio declara que Timor será integrado na Indonésia.
• 1977 - Andruw Jones was born. Curaçaoan baseball player.
• 1977 - John Cena was born. American professional wrestler and rapper.
• 1977 - Kal Penn was born. American actor.
• 1977 - Lee Young-Pyo was born. Korean footballer.
• 1977 - Willie Mitchell was born. Canadian ice hockey player.
• 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.
• 1979 - Barry Fratelli was born. Scottish bassist (The Fratellis).
• 1979 - Jaime King was born. American actress.
• 1979 - Lauri Ylönen was born. Finnish singer (The Rasmus).
• 1979 - Yana Gupta was born. Indian actress & model.
• 1979 - Blair Peach dies (b. 1946). New-Zealand anti-fascism campaigner.
• 1980 - Alejo Carpentier dies. Writer.
• 1981 - Chris Sharma was born. American rock climber/boulderer.
• 1981 - Joanna Krupa was born. Polish supermodel and actress.
• 1981 - Sean Henn was born. American baseball player.
• 1981 - Josep Pla dies (b. 8 Mar 1897). Spanish writer.
• 1982 - Conch Republic is established.
• 1982 - The ZX Spectrum is released.
• 1982 - Adam Palmer was born. Guitarist (The Matching Handbags).
• 1982 - Taio Cruz was born in London. English R&B, Pop, Hip Hop singer.
• 1983 - In Munich, Germany, Corinne Hermès wins the twenty-eighth Eurovision Song. Contest for Luxembourg singing "Si la vie est cadeau" (If life is a gift).
• 1983 - Daniela Hantuchová was born. Slovakian tennis player.
• 1983 - Jennifer Heil was born. Canadian free style skier.
• 1983 - Buster Crabbe dies. American swimmer, Olympics gold medalist, and actor.
• 1984 - The United States announce the discovery of the AIDS virus.
• 1984 - Alexandra Kosteniuk was born. Russian chess grandmaster.
• 1984 - Lil Eazy-E was born. American rapper.
• 1984 - Red Garland dies (b. 1923). American jazz pianist.
• 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).
• 1985 - Angel Locsin was born. Filipina TV and movie actress.
• 1985 - Sam Ervin dies (b. 1896). American politician.
• 1986 - Sven Kramer was born. Dutch speedskater and olympic medal winner.
• 1986 - Jessica Stam was born. Canadian supermodel.
• 1986 - Otto Preminger dies (b. 1906). Austrian-born film director (Advise and Consent, Anatomy of Murder).
• 1986 - Jim Laker dies (b. 19212). English cricketer.
• 1986 - Harold Arlen dies (b. 1905). American composer.
• 1987 - 28 construction workers died when the L'Ambiance Plaza collapses while under construction in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
• 1987 - Emily Fox was born. American cupstacking champion.
• 1988 - Karolina Szabo runs female world record 25k (1:29:30)/30k (1:47;06)
• 1988 - Pink Floyd's legendary 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.
• 1988 - Arthur Michael dies. Lord Ramsey/archbishop of Canterbury.
• 1988 - Victor Anichebe dies. Nigerian footballer.
• 1989 - Nicole Vaidišová was born. Czech tennis player.
• 1990 - Namibia becomes the 160th member of the United Nations and the 50th member of the British Commonwealth.
• 1990 - 11th Emmy Sports Award presentation
• 1990 – Dev Patel was born. British-Indian actor.
• 1990 - Matthew Dillon Underwood was born. American actor.
• 1990 - Paulette Goddard dies in Switzerland at 78. American actress.
• 1990 - Ruy Guilherme Paranatinga Barata dies (b. 1920). Brazilian poet and composer.
• 1991 - Jennifer Messelier was born. French model.
• 1991 - Johnny Thunders dies (b. 1952). American musician.
• 1992 - Satyajit Ray dies (b. 1921). Indian filmmaker.
• 1993 - Eritreans vote overwhelmingly for independence from Ethiopia in a United Nations-monitored referendum.
• 1993 - César Chávez dies (b. 1927). American labor activist.
• 1993 - Peter Townshend's musical "Tommy," premieres in New York City.
• 1994 - Physicists discover the top quark subatomic particle.
• 1995 - Howard Cosell dies (b. 1918). American sports journalist.
• 1995 - John C. Stennis dies (b. 1904). U.S. Senator from Mississippi.
• 1996 - Spanish novelist and Nobel Prize, Camilo José Cela, receives The Cervantes Prize.
• 1996 - P. L. Travers dies (b. 1899). Australian author.
• 1996 - Jean-Victor Allard dies (b. 1913). French Canadian military officer.
• 1997 - 32nd Academy of Country Music Awards: LeAnn Rines and Brooks and Dunn
• 1997 - Omaria massacre in Algeria; 42 villagers killed.
• 1997 - Denis Compton dies (b. 1918). English cricketer.
• 1998 - Constantine Karamanlis dies (b. 1907). Greek politician.
• 1998 - James Earl Ray dies (b. 1928). American assassin.
• 1998 - El escritor cubano Guillermo Cabrera Infante recibe el Premio Cervantes.
• 2001 - Intel introduces the Pentium 4 Processor.
• 2003 - Beijing closes all schools for two weeks due to the SARS virus.
• 2003 - James H. Critchfield dies (b. 1917). American Central Intelligence agent.
• 2003 - Bernard Katz dies (b. 26 Mar 1911). Biophysicist, Nobel Prize in 1970 for his work on the synapse.
• 2003 - James H. Critchfield dies (b. 1917). American Central Intelligence agent.
• 2003 - Fernand Fonssagrives dies (b. 1910). French photographer.
• 2003 - Princess Laetitia Maria of Belgium dies. Archduchess of Austria-Este.
• 2004 - Gonzalo Rojas, Chilean poet, receives 2003 Cervantes Prize.
• 2005 - Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen dies (b. 1911). Premier of Queensland.
• 2005 - Al Grassby dies (b.1928). Australian immigration minister.
• 2005 - Sir John Mills dies (b. 1908). English actor.
• 2005 - Romano Scarpa dies (b. 1927). Italian-born comic artist.
• 2005 - Earl Wilson dies (b.1934). American baseball player.
• 2006 - Mount Merapi erupted.
• 2006 - Johnnie Checketts dies (b. 1912). New Zealand fighter ace and war hero.
• 2007 - Paul Erdman dies (b. 1932). American economist and author.
• 2007 - David Halberstam dies (b. 1934). American journalist, historian and author.
• 2007 - Boris Yeltsin dies (b. 1931). First President of the Russian Federation.
• 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.
• Dia de São Jorge: Brasil: feriado local na cidade do Rio de Janeiro.
• Catalonia - Lover's Day (La Diada de Sant Jordi): Men receive a book as a gift from their romantic interest, while women receive roses.
• Turkey - National Sovereignty and Children's Day (1920).
• Jurgi festival, in ancient Latvia.
• Independence Day for the Conch Republic, Key West, Florida).
• World Book and Copyright Day (International) in honor of the death of both Shakespeare and Cervantes on April 23, 1616. / Dia Mundial do Livro e do Direito de Autor (UNESCO).
• The 2007 Jewish Calender date of Israeli Independence Day.
• Feast Day of Saint George: Patron saint and National Day of England; Patron saint and National Day of Aragon.