April 23......

April 23 is the 113th (114th in leap years) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 252 days remaining in the year on this date.

Best Liberal Quote of the Day: On Courage "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." — Martin Luther King, Jr.

Stupidest Quote from the Right for the Day: On Gynephobia "God created Adam, lord of all living creatures, but Eve spoiled it all." — Martin Luther, the founder of Protestantism

{Disclaimer: I have attempted to give credit to the many different sources that I get entries. Any failure to do so is unintentional. Any statement enclosed by brackets like these are the opinion of the blogger, A Proud Liberal.}

EVENTS

● 215 BC - A temple is built on the Capitoline Hill dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Lake Trasimene.

● 33 - Christian tradition says the Jesus Christ, crucified three days earlier, was raised from the dead -- marking this date as the very first Easter. (The next time Easter falls on April 23rd was in the year 2000.)

● 303 - Perseus was arrested, tortured, and put to death.

● 1014 - Battle of Clontarf: King Brian Boru of Ireland defeats Viking invaders, but is killed in battle.

● 1154 - Damascus surrenders to sultan Nur ad-Din van Aleppo

● 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.

● 1500 - Pedro Álvarez Cabral lands & annexes Brazil (Terra da Vera Cruz)

● 1504 - King Maximilian I routes troops to Bavaria

● 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.

● 1564 - The generally accepted birthdate of the English poet and dramatist William Shakespeare. He died on the same date 52 years later.

● 1586 - Birth of Martin Rinkart, German clergyman and Latin scholar. Rinkart, a prolific writer, penned the German hymn which begins: "Nun danket alle Gott..." ("Now Thank We All Our God").

● 1616 - Both William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes died.

● 1616 - Netherlands buys De Briel/Vlissingen/Fort Rammekens from England

● 1633 - Sweden & Protestant German monarchy form Union of Heilbronn

● 1660 - Treaty of Oliwa is established between Sweden and Poland.

● 1661 - King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland is crowned in Westminster Abbey.

● 1662 - Connecticut chartered as an English colony

● 1723 - Cornelis Steenoven elected archbishop of Utrecht

● 1759 - The British seized Basse-Terre and Guadeloupe in the Antilies from France.

● 1779 - Anglican clergyman and hymnwriter John Newton wrote in a letter: '"What Thou wilt, when Thou wilt, how Thou wilt." I had rather speak these three sentences from my heart in my mother tongue than be master of all the languages in Europe.' (Is one of the principles in the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.)

● 1789 - What is believed to have been the first Catholic newspaper in America, "The Courier de Boston" published its first issue. (The periodical lasted only until October 15th of this same year.)

● 1789 - U.S. President George Washington moved into Franklin House, New York. It was the first executive mansion.

● 1791 - James Buchanan, the 15th president of the United States, was born in Franklin County, Pa.

● 1795 - William Hastings acquitted in England of high treason

● 1798 - Dutch emperor accepts new Constitution

● 1826 - Missolonghi captured by Turks

● 1827 - William Rowan Hamilton presents his Theory of systems of rays.

● 1851 - Canada issues its 1st postage stamps

● 1858 - Max Planck, the German Nobel Prize winner who developed the quantum theory, was born.

● 1860 - Birth of Charles H. Kerr. Establishes radical publishing house, still going strong today.

● 1860 - Democratic convention in Charleston SC divided over slavery

● 1861 - Arkansas troops seize Fort Smith

● 1861 - Battle of San Antonio TX

● 1864 - Battle of Cane River LA (Red River Expedition, Monett's Ferry)

● 1867 - Queen Victoria & Napoleon III turn down plans for a channel tunnel

● 1867 - William Lincoln patents the zoetrope, a machine which shows animated pictures by mounting a strip of drawings in a wheel.

● 1871 - Blossom Rock in San Francisco Bay blown up

● 1872 - Charlotte E. Ray became the first black woman lawyer.

● 1878 - 1st Dutch test drive of steam tram

● 1883 - John Heemskerk Azn forms Dutch government

● 1891 - Jews are expelled from Moscow Russia

● 1895 - Russia, France, and Germany forced Japan to return the Liaodong peninsula to China.

● 1896 - Vitascope system of movie projection 1st demonstrated (Koster & Bial's Music Hall, NYC)

● 1904 - Flathead Indian Reservation (in northwestern Montana) split into allotments; nearly half the land is then given to white settlers.

● 1908 - U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt signed an act creating the U.S. Army Reserve. {A good idea until under the Shrub criminal organization uses the Reserve as a back-door draft.}

● 1908 - Denmark, Germany, England, France, Netherlands & Sweden sign North Sea accord

● 1915 - ACA becomes National Advisory Council on Aeronautics (NACA) (Forerunner to NASA)

● 1916 - Declaration of Irish independence from Britain.

● 1918 - Battle of Zeebrugge ends

● 1918 - Dover Patrol overthrows Germany U-boat in East Sea

● 1918 - National Urban League forms

● 1920 - Turkish Grand National Assembly 1st meets, in Ankara

● 1920 - The national council in Turkey denounces the government of Sultan Mehmed VI and announces a temporary constitution.

● 1923 - In Sliven, Bulgaria, imprisoned anarchists Nicolai Dragnev and the brothers Panayot and Ilia Kratounkov are all shot by the army under the pretext of an "escape attempt."

● 1923 - Inauguration ceremonies take place of Gdynia as a temporary military port and fishers' shelter.

● 1924 - The U.S. Senate passed the Soldiers Bonus Bill.

● 1932 - The 153-year old De Adriaan Windmill in Haarlem, the Netherlands burns down.

● 1935 - Polish Constitution of 1935 is adopted.

● 1938 - Sudeten Germans in Czechoslovakia demand self government

● 1940 - 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. RAF brings Greek king George II to Egypt.

● 1942 - World War II: Baedeker Blitz – German bombers hit Exeter, Bath and York in retaliation for the British raid on Lübeck.

● 1942 - 4-day allied bombing on Rostock begins

● 1943 - British & US offensive directed at Tunis/Bizerta

● 1945 - The Soviet Army fought its way into Berlin.

● 1945 - Concentration camp Flossenburg liberated

● 1945 - US troops in Italy cross river Po

● 1948 - 1948 Arab-Israeli War: Haifa, the major port of Israel, is captured from Palestinian forces.

● 1949 - Courtesy mail boxes for motorists started in San Francisco

● 1949 - Chinese Red army conquerors Nanjing

● 1949 - Netherlands annexes Elten & Tudderen

● 1950 - Nationalist China evacuates Hainan Island, leaving mainland China to Mao and the communists.

● 1951 - The Associated Press began use of the new service of teletype setting.

● 1952 - Oil pipeline from Kirkuk to Banias completed

● 1953 - General Charles P Cabell, USAF, becomes deputy director of CIA

● 1956 - U.S.S.R. announces possession of H-bomb.

● 1956 - US Supreme court ends race segregation on buses

● 1959 - Mack Parker lynched.

● 1959 - 1st heliport in Britain opens in London

● 1961 - Algiers putsch by French generals.

● 1962 - Ranger 4, 1st US satellite to reach Moon launched from Cape Canaveral

● 1963 - Committee for Nonviolent Action holds vigil in protest of the commissioning of nuclear submarine Polaris, Groton, Connecticut.

● 1965 - Launch of 1st Soviet communications satellite

● 1967 - Soyuz 1 launched; Vladimir Komarov becomes 1st in-flight casualty when its parachute lines became tangled and the parachutes failed to open properly upon return 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).

● 1968 - Decimal coins reach the high street; The first decimal coins make their way into purses throughout Britain in preparation for replacing the current system of pounds, shillings and pence by 1971.

● 1968 - Vietnam War: Student protesters at Columbia University in New York City take over administration buildings and shut down the university. Police storm the campus eight days later, resulting in numerous casualties.

● 1968 - In Dallas, the 10.3 million-member Methodist and the 750 thousand-member Evangelical United Brethren churches joined together to form the United Methodist Church. The merger made this the second largest Protestant denomination in the United States (after the Southern Baptists).

● 1969 - Northern Ireland independence activist Bernadette Devlin takes a seat as Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons.

● 1969 - Over 1000 square miles flooded in Shantung Province China

● 1969 - Sirhan Sirhan was sentenced to death for killing U.S. Senator Robert Kennedy. The sentence was later reduced to life in prison.

● 1971 - Columbia University operations virtually end, by student strike

● 1971 - Soyuz 10 launched; soft docked with Salyut 1

● 1972 - Apollo 16 astronauts explore Moon surface

● 1973 - Fifteen federal and local narcotics agents mistakenly invaded the home of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Giglotto of Collinsville, Illinois and, without a warrant, ransacked their home, smashing much of their property. No drugs were discovered and no arrests were made. This was considered a big deal at the time.

● 1973 - "Spirit of Peace" sails into French South Pacific nuclear test zone from Tauranga, New Zealand.

● 1974 - USSR performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan USSR

● 1974 - A Pan American World Airways Boeing 707 crashes in Bali, Indonesia, killing 107.

● 1977 - Military workers kill 300-500 students in Addis Ababa

● 1978 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR

● 1979 - Teacher dies in Southall race riots; A 33-year-old man dies from head injuries after a bloody battle breaks out between police and demonstrators in Southall.

● 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.

● 1980 - Soviet sub catches fire off Japan, 9 die

● 1980 - Death of Ida Mae Stull, first woman coal miner.

● 1984 - Scientist finds AIDS virus; The discovery of a virus which may cause AIDS, the fatal disease sweeping through America, is hailed as a "monumental breakthrough" in medical research.

● 1985 - The U.S. House rejected $14 million in aid to Nicaragua contras. {Reagan and Oliver North make sure they get it anyway; the rule of law be damned.}

● 1987 - 28 construction workers died when the L'Ambiance Plaza collapses while under construction in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

● 1988 - Federal smoking ban during domestic airline flights of 2 hours or less

● 1989 - Students in Beijing China announce class boycotts

● 1989 - It was reported that 277 had been killed in the most recent rebel attack in Afghanistan.

● 1990 - Namibia becomes the 160th member of the United Nations and the 50th member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

● 1991 - USSR grants republics right to secede under certain conditions

● 1992 - Ten thousand Indians march for recognition and reform, Quito, Ecuador.

● 1992 - Marion Berry (former mayor of Washington DC) is released from prison

● 1993 - Death of Cesar Chavez, nonviolent civil rights activist and founder of the United Farm Workers.

● 1993 - Eritreans vote overwhelmingly for independence from Ethiopia in a United Nations-monitored referendum.

● 1994 - Physicists discover the top quark subatomic particle.

● 1994 - Army shoots to death 23-40 fishermen in Gonaives Haiti

● 1995 - Sportscaster Howard Cosell died at age 77.

● 1995 - President Bill Clinton declares a national day of mourning for Oklahoma City bombing victims

● 1996 - Nineteen demonstrators arrested in Kiev, Ukraine, during illegal anti- nuclear protest marking 10th anniversary of Chernobyl.

● 1996 - A New York civil-court jury ordered Bernhard Goetz to pay $43 million to Darrell Cabey. Cabey was paralyzed when he was shot in subway car in 1984.

● 1997 - An infertility doctor in California announced that a 63-year-old woman had given birth in late 1996. The child was from a donor egg. The woman is the oldest known woman to give birth.

● 1997 - Omaria massacre in Algeria; 42 villagers killed.

● 1998 - James Earl Ray died, at age 70, while serving a life sentence for the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Ray had confessed to the crime and then later insisted he had been framed, getting support from the King family for this stance.

● 1999 - In Washington, DC, the heads of state and government of the 19 NATO nations celebrated the organization's 50th anniversary.

● 2001 - Royal aide on trial for murder; A former personal assistant to the Duchess of York stands accused of murdering her boyfriend.

● 2003 - U.S. President Bush signed legislation that authorized the design change of the 5-cent coin (nickel) for release in 2004. It was the first change to the coin in 65 years. The change, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase, was planned to run for only two years before returning to the previous design.

● 2003 - Beijing closes all schools for two weeks due to the SARS virus.

● 2004 - President George W. Bush eased Reagan-era sanctions against Libya in return for Moammar Gadhafi's giving up weapons of mass destruction.

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)

● 1522 - St. Catherine, Italian Dominican mystic (d. 1590)

● 1564 - William Shakespeare, English poet and playwright [uncertain] (d. 1616)

● 1598 - Maarten Tromp, Dutch admiral (d. 1653)

● 1621 - Sir William Penn, English admiral and father of Pennsylvania's founder (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, discoverer of the theory of homology in biology (d. 1794)

● 1775 - William Turner, English ornithologist (d. 1851)

● 1791 - James Buchanan, 15th President of the United States (1857-61) (d. 1868)

● 1792 - John Thomas Romney Robinson, Irish astronomer and physicist (d. 1882)

● 1805 - Johann Karl Friedrich Rosenkranz, German philosopher (d. 1879)

● 1812 - Sir Frederick Whitaker, English politician and businessman; prime minister of New Zealand (1863-64,1882-83) (d. 1891)

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

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

● 1852 - Edwin Markham, American poet and lecturer (d. 1940)

● 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)

● 1891 - Sergey Prokofiev, Russian composer (d. 1953)

● 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 (1963-68), recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1972)

● 1899 - Bertil Ohlin, Swedish economist, Bank of Sweden Prize winner (d. 1979)

● 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)

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

● 1907 - Fritz Wotruba, Austrian sculptor (d. 1975)

● 1908 - Myron Waldman, American animator (d. 2006)

● 1910 - Simone Simon, French actress (d. 2005)

● 1918 - Maurice Druon, French author

● 1921 - Janet Blair, American actress (d. 2007)

● 1921 - Warren Spahn, American baseball player (d. 2003)

● 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)

● 1928 - Shirley Temple, American actress and politician

● 1930 - Alan Oppenheimer, Actor ("Murphy Brown")

● 1932 - Jim Fixx, American athlete and writer (d. 1984)

● 1932 - Halston, American fashion designer (d. 1990)

● 1935 - Bunky Green, American musician

● 1935 - Ray Peterson, American singer (d. 2005)

● 1936 - Roy Orbison, American singer and musician (d. 1988)

● 1939 - David Birney, Actor

● 1939 - Lee Majors, American actor ("The Six Millon Dollar Man")

● 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 ice 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 - Blair Brown, Actress

● 1948 - Pascal Quignard, French author

● 1949 - David Cross, British violinist (King Crimson)

● 1949 - Paul Brickman, Director, writer

● 1949 - Joyce DeWitt, American actress ("Three's Company")

● 1952 - Narada Michael Walden, Grammy Award-winning musician and producer

● 1953 - James Russo, Actor

● 1954 - Michael Moore, American filmmaker ("Fahrenheit 9/11", "Bowling for Columbine")

● 1955 - Judy Davis, Australian actress

● 1955 - Tony Miles, English chess player (d. 2001)

● 1957 - Jan Hooks, Actress ("Saturday Night Live")

● 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 ("One Day at a Time")

● 1960 - Steve Clark, English guitarist (Def Leppard) (d. 1991)

● 1960 - Craig Sheffer, Actor

● 1961 - George Lopez, American actor and comedian

● 1961 - Terry Gordy, American professional wrestler (d. 2001)

● 1963 - Magnús Ver Magnússon, Icelandic powerlifter and strongman

● 1963 - Paul Belmondo, French racing driver

● 1964 - Gen, Rock musician (Jesus Jones)

● 1967 - Melina Kanakaredes, American actress ("CSI:NY")

● 1967 - Rheal Cormier, Canadian baseball player

● 1968 - Stan Frazier, Rock musician (Sugar Ray)

● 1968 - Tim Womack, Country musician (Sons of the Desert)

● 1968 - Timothy McVeigh, American terrorist (d. 2001)

● 1969 - Yelena Shushunova, Russian gymnast

● 1970 - Scott Bairstow, Actor

● 1970 - Dennis Bayne Culp, American singer/songwriter

● 1972 - Patricia Manterola, Mexican singer

● 1972 - Pierre Labrie, poet from Quebec

● 1974 - Barry Watson, Actor

● 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, Curaçaoan baseball player

● 1979 - Jaime King, American actress

● 1979 - Lauri Ylönen, Finnish singer (The Rasmus)

● 1979 - Yana Gupta, Indian actress & model

● 1981 - Chris Sharma, American rock climber/boulderer

● 1982 - Adam Palmer, Guitarist (The Matching Handbags)

● 1983 - Daniela Hantuchová, Slovakian tennis player

● 1984 - Lil Eazy-E, American rapper

● 1985 - Rachel Skarsten, Actress

● 1985 - Angel Locsin, Filipina TV and movie actress

● 1986 - Sven Kramer, Dutch speedskater and olympic medal winner

● 1986 - Jessica Stam, Canadian supermodel

● 1987 - Emily Fox, American cupstacking champion

● 1989 - Nicole Vaidišová, Czech tennis player

● 1990 - Matthew Underwood, Actor

● 1990 - Camryn Walling, Actor

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) (Julian calendar)

● 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)

● 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)

● 1975 - Pete Ham, Welsh singer-songwriter (Badfinger) (b. 1947)

● 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. 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)

● 1998 - Constantine Karamanlis, Greek politician (b. 1907)

● 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, American baseball player (b. 1934)

● 2006 - Johnnie Checketts, New Zealand fighter ace and war hero (b. 1912)

HOLIDAYS AND OBSERVANCES

● Roman Catholic:
● St. Adalbert of Prague
● Sts. Felix, Fortunatus, & Achilleus
● St. George
● St. Gerard (d. 1138)

● Russian Orthodox Christian Menaion Calendar for April 10 (Civil Date: April 23)
● Martyrs Terence, Pompeius, Africanus, Maximus, Zeno, Alexander, Theodore, Macarius, and 33 others beheaded at Carthage.
● Martyrs James presbyter, and Azadanes and Abdicius deacons, of Persia.
● Prophetess Huldah (Olda)
● New-Martyr Demos of Smyrna.
● New Hieromartyr Gregory V, Patriarch of Constantinople.
● St. Milteades, pope of Rome.
● The 6,000 Holy Martyrs in Georgia.

● All below are in honor of St. George:
● Patron saint and National Day of England
● Patron saint and National Day of Aragon
● Celebrated as St. Jordi's Day and Lover's Day in Catalonia. 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.
● Jurgi festival, in ancient Latvia

● Lutheran:
● Toyohiko Kagawa, renewer of society

● Ancient Rome : Vinalia (grape harvest), honoring Jupiter

● UNESCO International Day of the Book in honor of the death of both Shakespeare and Cervantes on April 23, 1616.

● Bermuda : Peppercorn Day

● Turkey - National Sovereignty (1920) and Children's Day (1923)

● Independence Day for the Conch Republic

● National Beer Day in Germany


Click on this LINK to see original Wikipedia list with many having links with details.

Additional facts taken from:

On this day in the New York Times

The BBC’s Take on the day

On This Day Website

Geov Parrish's this Day in Radical History, things that happened on this day that you never had to memorize in school.

Scope Systems Any Day Website

Roman Catholic Saint of the Day

Russian Orthodox Christian Menaion Calendar

Quotes of the Day taken from The Best Liberal Quotes Ever: Why the Left Is Right Compiled by William P. Martin ©2004

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