Famous birthdays, deaths and events of April 23
Birthdays 1170 - Isabelle of Hainaut, queen of France (d. 1190) 1464 - Joan of France, Duchess of Berry 1516 - Georg Fabricius, German poet 1720 - Vilna Gaon, Lithuanian rabbi (d. 1797) 1857 - Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Italian composer (d. 1919) 1858 - Ethel Mary Smyth, English composer (d. 1944) 1872 - Violet Gordon-Woodhouse, British musician (d. 1951) 1880 - Michel Fokine, Russian choreographer and dancer (d. 1942) 1882 - Albert Coates, British composer (d. 1953) 1893 - Frank Borzage, American film director (d. 1952) 1894 - Cow Cow Davenport, American pianist (d. 1955) 1895 - Ngaio Marsh, New Zealand writer (d. 1982) 1900 - Joseph Green, Polish-born actor and director (d. 1996) 1900 - Jim Bottomley, American baseball player (d. 1959) 1902 - Halldór Laxness, Icelandic writer 1904 - Duncan Renaldo, Spanish-American actor (d. 1985) 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 1919 - Oleg Penkovsky, Soviet double-agent 1921 - Janet Blair, American actress (d. 2007) 1921 - Warren Spahn, American baseball player (d. 2003) 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 1932 - Jim Fixx, American athlete and writer (d. 1984) 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) 1941 - Jacqueline Boyer, French singer 1942 - Sandra Dee , American actress (d. 2005) 1943 - Gail Goodrich, American basketball player 1943 - Tony Esposito, Canadian ice hockey player 1943 - Hervé Villechaize, French actor (d. 1993) 1947 - Glenn Cornick, British musician (Jethro Tull) 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) 1961 - Terry Gordy, American professional wrestler (d. 2001) 1961 - George Lopez , American actor and comedian 1962 - Hillel Slovak Former guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, (1988) 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) 1969 - Yelena Shushunova, Russian gymnast 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 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 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 , Supermodel/actress 1981 - Chris Sharma, American rock climber/boulderer 1982 - Taio Cruz, London/English R&B 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
Deaths 871 - Ethelred of Wessex, 1016 - Ethelred II of England, 1151 - Queen Adeliza of England, (b. 1103) 1605 - Tsar Boris Godunov of Russia, (b. ca. 1550) 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) 1740 - Thomas Tickell, English writer (b. 1685) 1827 - Georgios Karaiskakis, Greek hero of the Greek War of Independence 1850 - William Wordsworth, English poet (b. 1770) 1889 - Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly, French writer (b. 1808) 1907 - Alfred Packer, American Cannibal (b. 1842) 1915 - Rupert Brooke, English poet (b. 1887). 1936 - Teresa de la Parra, Venezuelan writer (b. 1889) 1975 - William Hartnell, English actor (b. 1908) 1979 - Blair Peach, New Zealand-born anti-fascist (b. 1946) 1983 - Buster Crabbe, American swimmer and actor (b. 1908) 1984 - Red Garland, American jazz pianist (b. 1923) 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) 1996 - P. L. Travers, Australian author (b. 1899) 1997 - Denis Compton, English cricketer (b. 1918) 1998 - James Earl Ray, American assassin (b. 1928) 2003 - James H. Critchfield, American Central Intelligence agent (b. 1917) 2005 - John Mills, English actor (b. 1908) 2005 - Earl Wilson, American baseball player (b. 1934) 2009 - Timothy Wright, 61, American gospel singer, car accident. 2009 - Felipe Solís, 64, Mexican archaeologist, curator of the National Anthropology Museum. 2009 - Ivan Madray, 74, Guyanese cricketer, hypertension.
Events 215 - 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 - William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor is first performed, with Queen Elizabeth I of England in attendance. 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. 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 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 - 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 Arab 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 Sinclair 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 leaves the charts for its 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.
