April 23

April 23 in recent years

2024 (Tuesday)

2023 (Sunday)

2022 (Saturday)

2021 (Friday)

2020 (Thursday)

2019 (Tuesday)

2018 (Monday)

2017 (Sunday)

2016 (Saturday)

2015 (Thursday)

April 23 is the 113th day of the year (114th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 252 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 215 BC – A temple is built on the Capitoline Hill dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Lake Trasimene.
• 599 – Maya king Uneh Chan of Calakmul attacks rival city-state Palenque in southern Mexico, defeating queen Yohl Ik'nal and sacking the city.
• 711 – Dagobert III is crowned King of the Franks.
• 1014 – Battle of Clontarf: Brian Boru defeats Viking invaders, but is killed in battle.
• 1016 – Edmund Ironside succeeds his father Æthelred the Unready as king of England.
• 1343 – St. George's Night Uprising commences in the Duchy of Estonia.
• 1348 – The founding of the Order of the Garter by King Edward III is announced on St. George's Day.
• 1516 – The Bayerische Reinheitsgebot (regarding the ingredients of beer) is signed in Ingolstadt.
• 1521 – Battle of Villalar: King Charles I of Spain defeats the Comuneros.
• 1635 – The first public school in the United States, Boston Latin School, is founded in Boston.
• 1655 – The Siege of Santo Domingo begins during the Anglo-Spanish War, and fails seven days later.
• 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.
• 1910 – American President Theodore Roosevelt makes his "The Man in the Arena" speech.
• 1914 – First baseball game at Wrigley Field, then known as Weeghman Park in Chicago.
• 1918 – World War I: The British Royal Navy makes a raid in an attempt to neutralise the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge.
• 1920 – The Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) is founded in Ankara, Turkey. It denounces the government of Sultan Mehmed VI and announces the preparation of a temporary constitution.
• 1927 – Cardiff City defeat Arsenal in the FA Cup Final, the only time it has been won by a team not based in England.
• 1932 – The 153-year-old De Adriaan Windmill in Haarlem, Netherlands burns down. It is rebuilt and reopens exactly 70 years later.
• 1935 – The 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: 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.
• 1945 – World War II: Adolf Hitler's designated successor Hermann Göring sends him a telegram asking permission to take leadership of the Third Reich, which causes Hitler to replace him with Joseph Goebbels and Karl Dönitz.
• 1946 – Manuel Roxas is elected the last President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.
• 1949 – Chinese Civil War: Establishment of the People's Liberation Army Navy.
• 1951 – American journalist William N. Oatis is arrested for espionage by the Communist government of Czechoslovakia.
• 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 – Soviet space program: Soyuz 1 (Russian: Союз 1, Union 1) a manned spaceflight carrying cosmonaut Colonel Vladimir Komarov is launched into orbit.
• 1968 – Vietnam War: Student protesters at Columbia University in New York City take over administration buildings and shut down the university.
• 1971 – Bangladesh Liberation War: The Pakistan Army and Razakars massacre approximately 3,000 Hindu emigrants in the Jathibhanga area of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
• 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 three months.
• 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.
• 1993 – Sri Lankan politician Lalith Athulathmudali is assassinated while addressing a gathering, approximately four weeks ahead of the Provincial Council elections for the Western Province.
• 1997 – Omaria massacre in Algeria: Forty-two villagers are killed.
• 2005 – First YouTube video uploaded, titled "Me at the zoo".
• 2013 – Violence in Bachu County, Kashgar Prefecture, of China's Xinjiang results in death of 21 people.

Births

• 1141 – Malcolm IV of Scotland (d. 1165)
• 1185 – Afonso II of Portugal (d. 1223)
• 1464 – Joan of France, Duchess of Berry (d. 1505)
• 1484 – Julius Caesar Scaliger, Italian physician and scholar (d. 1558)
• 1500 – Alexander Ales, Scottish theologian (d. 1565)
• 1516 – Georg Fabricius, German poet, historian, and archaeologist (d. 1571)
• 1598 – Maarten Tromp, Dutch admiral (d. 1653)
• 1621 – William Penn, English admiral and politician (d. 1670)
• 1628 – Johannes Hudde, Dutch mathematician and politician (d. 1704)
• 1715 – Johann Friedrich Doles, German composer (d. 1797)
• 1720 – Vilna Gaon, Lithuanian rabbi (d. 1797)
• 1744 – Princess Charlotte Amalie Wilhelmine of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön (d. 1770)
• 1746 – Félix Vicq-d'Azyr, French physician and anatomist (d. 1794)
• 1791 – James Buchanan, American politician, 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, American politician (d. 1861)
• 1813 – Frédéric Ozanam, Italian-French historian and scholar (d. 1853)
• 1814 – Maria Brontë, eldest daughter of the Brontë family (d. 1825)
• 1823 – Abdülmecid I, Ottoman sultan (d. 1861)
• 1853 – Winthrop M. Crane, American businessman and politician, 40th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1920)
• 1857 – Ruggero Leoncavallo, Italian composer (d. 1919)
• 1858 – Max Planck, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1947)
• 1858 – Ethel Smyth, English composer (d. 1944)
• 1860 – Justinian Oxenham, Australian public servant (d. 1932)
• 1861 – Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, English field marshal (d. 1936)
• 1861 – John Peltz, American baseball player (d. 1906)
• 1865 – Ali-Agha Shikhlinski, Russian-Azerbaijani general (d. 1943)
• 1867 – Johannes Fibiger, Danish physician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1928)
• 1872 – Violet Gordon-Woodhouse, English pianist (d. 1951)
• 1876 – Arthur Moeller van den Bruck, German historian and author (d. 1925)
• 1880 – Michel Fokine, Russian dancer and choreographer (d. 1942)
• 1882 – Albert Coates, English composer and conductor (d. 1953)
• 1887 – Jenő Törzs, Hungarian actor (d. 1946)
• 1888 – Georges Vanier, Canadian general and politician, 19th Governor General of Canada (d. 1967)
• 1889 – Karel Doorman, Dutch admiral (d. 1942)
• 1891 – Sergei Prokofiev, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1953)
• 1893 – Frank Borzage, American actor and director (d. 1952)
• 1894 – Cow Cow Davenport, American singer and pianist (d. 1955)
• 1895 – Johnny Hyde, Russian-American talent agent (d. 1950)
• 1895 – Ngaio Marsh, New Zealand author and director (d. 1982)
• 1897 – Lucius D. Clay, American general (d. 1978)
• 1897 – Folke Jansson, Swedish triple jumper (d. 1965)
• 1897 – Lester B. Pearson, Canadian historian and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Canada, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1972)
• 1899 – Vladimir Nabokov, Russian-American author (d. 1977)
• 1899 – Bertil Ohlin, Swedish economist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
• 1899 – Minoru Shirota, Japanese physician and microbiologist, invented Yakult (d. 1982)
• 1900 – Jim Bottomley, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1959)
• 1900 – Joseph Green, Polish-American actor and director (d. 1996)
• 1901 – E.B. Ford, English biologist and geneticist (d. 1988)
• 1902 – Halldór Laxness, Icelandic author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
• 1903 – Guy Simonds, Canadian general (d. 1974)
• 1904 – Cliff Bricker, Canadian runner (d. 1980)
• 1904 – Louis Muhlstock, Canadian painter (d. 2001)
• 1904 – Duncan Renaldo, Romanian-American actor (d. 1985)
• 1907 – Lee Miller, American photographer and model (d. 1977)
• 1907 – Fritz Wotruba, Austrian sculptor, designed the Wotruba Church (d. 1975)
• 1908 – Myron Waldman, American animator and director (d. 2006)
• 1910 – Simone Simon, French actress (d. 2005)
• 1911 – Ronald Neame, English-American director, cinematographer, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2010)
• 1913 – Diosa Costello, Puerto Rican-American actress and singer (d. 2013)
• 1915 – Arnold Alexander Hall, English engineer, academic, and businessman (d. 2000)
• 1916 – Yiannis Moralis, Greek painter (d. 2009)
• 1917 – Dorian Leigh, American model (d. 2008)
• 1918 – Maurice Druon, French author (d. 2009)
• 1919 – Oleg Penkovsky, Russian colonel (d. 1963)
• 1920 – Eric Grant Yarrow, 3rd Baronet, English businessman
• 1921 – Cleto Bellucci, Italian archbishop (d. 2013)
• 1921 – Janet Blair, American actress (d. 2007)
• 1921 – Warren Spahn, American baseball player and coach (d. 2003)
• 1922 – Marjorie Cameron, American actress and occultist (d. 1995)
• 1922 – Jack May, English actor (d. 1997)
• 1923 – Dolph Briscoe, American politician, 41st Governor of Texas (d. 2010)
• 1923 – Avram Davidson, American author (d. 1993)
• 1923 – Antonino Rocca, Italian-American wrestler (d. 1977)
• 1924 – Chuck Harmon, American baseball player and scout
• 1924 – Bobby Rosengarden, American drummer and bandleader (d. 2007)
• 1926 – J.P. Donleavy, American-born Irish author and playwright
• 1926 – Rifaat el-Mahgoub, Egyptian politician (d. 1990)
• 1926 – Richard Laws, English mammalogist and academic (d. 2014)
• 1928 – Shirley Temple, American actress, singer, dancer, and diplomat (d. 2014)
• 1929 – George Steiner, French-American philosopher, author, and critic
• 1930 – Michael Bowen, Gibraltarian-English archbishop
• 1930 – Alan Oppenheimer, American actor
• 1932 – Halston, American fashion designer (d. 1990)
• 1932 – Jim Fixx, American runner and author (d. 1984)
• 1933 – Annie Easley, American computer scientist, mathematician, and rocket scientist (d. 2011)
• 1934 – George Canseco, Filipino composer (d. 2004)
• 1935 – Bunky Green, American saxophonist and educator
• 1936 – Roy Orbison, American singer-songwriter (Traveling Wilburys) (d. 1988)
• 1937 – Victoria Glendinning, English author and critic
• 1937 – David Mills, English cricketer (d. 2013)
• 1938 – S. Janaki, Indian singer
• 1939 – Jorge Fons, Mexican director and screenwriter
• 1939 – Bill Hagerty, English journalist
• 1939 – Lee Majors, American actor
• 1939 – Ray Peterson, American singer (d. 2005)
• 1940 – Michael Copps, American politician
• 1940 – Dale Houston, American singer (d. 2007)
• 1940 – Michael Kadosh, Israeli footballer and manager (d. 2014)
• 1941 – Jacqueline Boyer, French singer and actress
• 1941 – Paavo Lipponen, Finnish journalist and politician, 38th Prime Minister of Finland
• 1941 – Michael Lynne, American film producer, co-founded New Line Cinema
• 1941 – Ed Stewart, English radio and television host
• 1942 – Sandra Dee, American model and actress (d. 2005)
• 1943 – Gail Goodrich, American basketball player
• 1943 – Tony Esposito, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and manager
• 1943 – Frans Koppelaar, Dutch painter
• 1943 – Delano Meriwether, American runner and physician
• 1943 – Hervé Villechaize, French-American actor (d. 1993)
• 1944 – Jean-François Stévenin, French actor
• 1946 – Richard Mottram, ENglish civil servant
• 1947 – Robert Burgess, English sociologist and academic
• 1947 – Glenn Cornick, English bass player (Jethro Tull and Paris) (d. 2014)
• 1947 – Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, Member of Parliament for Mid Ulster constituency (1969-74), later Irish republican and socialist activist
• 1947 – Carlton Sherwood, American soldier and journalist (d. 2014)
• 1948 – Pascal Quignard, French author
• 1948 – Serge Thériault, Canadian actor
• 1949 – Paul Collier, English economist and academic
• 1949 – David Cross, English violinist (King Crimson)
• 1949 – Joyce DeWitt, American actress
• 1950 – Rowley Leigh, English chef and journalist
• 1952 – Narada Michael Walden, American singer-songwriter, drummer, and producer
• 1953 – James Russo, American actor
• 1954 – Tony Atlas, American bodybuilder and wrestler
• 1954 – Stephen Dalton, English air marshal
• 1954 – Lucinda Jenney, American actress
• 1954 – Michael Moore, American director, producer, and activist
• 1955 – Judy Davis, Australian actress
• 1955 – Fumi Hirano, Japanese voice actress
• 1955 – Tony Miles, English chess player (d. 2001)
• 1955 – Urmas Ott, Estonian journalist (d. 2008)
• 1955 – Mike Smith, English radio and television host (d. 2014)
• 1957 – Neville Brody, English graphic designer, typographer, and art director
• 1957 – Jan Hooks, American actress (d. 2014)
• 1957 – Kenji Kawai, Japanese composer
• 1958 – Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, Icelandic composer and producer
• 1958 – Gene Scheer, American songwriter
• 1958 – Ryan Walter, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1960 – Valerie Bertinelli, American actress
• 1960 – Steve Clark, English guitarist and songwriter (Def Leppard) (d. 1991)
• 1960 – Barry Douglas, Irish pianist and conductor
• 1960 – Léo Jaime, Brazilian musician, writer and actor (João Penca e Seus Miquinhos Amestrados)
• 1960 – Claude Julien, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1961 – Dirk Bach, German actor (d. 2012)
• 1961 – Terry Gordy, American wrestler (d. 2001)
• 1961 – George Lopez, American comedian, actor, and talk show host
• 1961 – Pierluigi Martini, Italian race car driver
• 1962 – John Hannah, Scottish actor and producer
• 1962 – Shaun Spiers, English businessman and politician
• 1963 – Paul Belmondo, French race car driver
• 1964 – Gianandrea Noseda, Italian conductor
• 1965 – Tommy DeCarlo, American singer-songwriter (Boston)
• 1966 – Matt Freeman, American bass player (Operation Ivy, Rancid, Social Distortion, Basic Radio, Downfall, and Devils Brigade)
• 1966 – Lembit Oll, Estonian chess player (d. 1999)
• 1966 – Jim Stynes, Irish-Australian footballer (d. 2012)
• 1967 – Rheal Cormier, Canadian baseball player
• 1967 – Kim Hee-ae, South Korean actress
• 1967 – Melina Kanakaredes, American actress
• 1968 – Princess Aisha bint Al Hussein of Jordan
• 1968 – Princess Zein bint Al Hussein of Jordan
• 1968 – Ken McRae, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1968 – Timothy McVeigh, American terrorist, carried out the Oklahoma City Bombing (executed 2001)
• 1969 – Martin López-Zubero, American-Spanish swimmer
• 1969 – Arthur Phillips, American author
• 1969 – Yelena Shushunova, Russian gymnast
• 1969 – Byron Thames, American actor
• 1969 – Richard Wolstencroft, Australian director and producer
• 1970 – Sadao Abe, Japanese actor and singer (Group Tamashii)
• 1970 – Scott Bairstow, Canadian actor
• 1970 – Dennis Culp, American singer-songwriter and trombonist (Five Iron Frenzy and Brave Saint Saturn)
• 1970 – Andrew Gee, Australian rugby player and manager
• 1970 – Hans Välimäki, Finnish chef
• 1971 – Uli Herzner, German-American fashion designer
• 1971 – Charmaine Sinclair, English porn actress and model
• 1972 – Pierre Labrie, Canadian poet
• 1972 – Patricia Manterola, Mexican singer, actress, and fashion designer
• 1972 – Sonya Smith, American-Venezuelan actress
• 1972 – Peter Dench, English photojournalist
• 1973 – Patrick Poulin, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1974 – Carlos Dengler, American bass player (Interpol)
• 1974 – Michael Kerr, New Zealand-German rugby player
• 1974 – Barry Watson, American actor
• 1975 – Jónsi, Icelandic singer-songwriter and guitarist (Sigur Rós and Jónsi & Alex)
• 1975 – Bobby Shaw, American football player
• 1976 – Gabriel Damon, American actor
• 1976 – Aaron and Bryce Dessner, American musicians (The National)
• 1977 – John Cena, American wrestler, actor, and rapper
• 1977 – Andruw Jones, Curaçaoan baseball player
• 1977 – Willie Mitchell, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1977 – John Oliver, English-American comedian and actor
• 1977 – Kal Penn, American actor, producer, and civil servant
• 1977 – Lee Young-Pyo, South Korean footballer
• 1978 – Gezahegne Abera, Ethiopian runner
• 1979 – Wu Di, Chinese renju player
• 1979 – Barry Hawkins, English snooker player
• 1979 – Jaime King, American actress
• 1979 – Joanna Krupa, Polish-American model and reality show participant
• 1979 – Samppa Lajunen, Finnish skier
• 1979 – Lauri Ylönen, Finnish singer-songwriter (The Rasmus)
• 1980 – Sally Bretton, English actress
• 1980 – Yana Gupta, Czech model and actress
• 1981 – Seka Aleksić, Serbian singer, actress, and fashion designer
• 1981 – Sean Henn, American baseball player
• 1981 – Chris Sharma, American rock climber
• 1981 – Lady Gabriella Windsor, English daughter of Prince Michael of Kent
• 1983 – Daniela Hantuchová, Slovakian tennis player
• 1983 – Aaron Hill, American actor
• 1983 – Miloš Karadaglić, Montenegrin classical guitar player
• 1984 – Alexandra Kosteniuk, Russian chess player
• 1985 – Taio Cruz, English singer-songwriter and producer
• 1985 – Angel Locsin, Filipino actress and producer
• 1986 – Sven Kramer, Dutch speed skater
• 1986 – Alysia Montaño, American runner
• 1986 – Jessica Stam, Canadian model
• 1987 – Michael Arroyo, Ecuadorian footballer
• 1987 – John Boye, Ghanaian footballer
• 1987 – Emily Fox, American basketball player and cup stacker
• 1987 – Bo'az Ma'uda, Israeli singer-songwriter
• 1988 – Victor Anichebe, Nigerian footballer
• 1988 – Prince Buaben, Ghanaian footballer
• 1988 – Molly Burnett, American actress and singer
• 1988 – Steph Houghton, English footballer
• 1988 – Erica Mer, American actress
• 1988 – Signe Ronka, Canadian figure skater and actress
• 1988 – Lenka Wienerová, Slovak tennis player
• 1989 – Nicole Vaidišová, Czech tennis player
• 1990 – Dev Patel, English actor
• 1990 – Matthew Underwood, American actor
• 1990 – Pikky Ya France, Namibian cricketer
• 1991 – Nathan Baker, English footballer
• 1991 – Caleb Johnson, American singer
• 1992 – Syd tha Kyd, American singer, DJ, and producer (Odd Future and The Internet)
• 1994 – Patrick Olsen, Danish footballer
• 1996 – Charlie Rowe, English actor
• 1997 – Alex Ferris, Canadian actor

Deaths

• 303 – Saint George, Roman soldier and martyr (b. 275)
• 711 – Childebert III, Frankish king (b. 670)
• 725 – Wihtred of Kent (b. 670)
• 871 – Æthelred of Wessex (b. 837)
• 997 – Adalbert of Prague, Czech bishop, missionary, and saint (b. 956)
• 1014 – Brian Boru, Irish king (b. 941)
• 1016 – Æthelred the Unready, English son of Edgar the Peaceful (b. 968)
• 1124 – Alexander I of Scotland (b. 1078)
• 1151 – Adeliza of Louvain (b. 1103)
• 1217 – Inge II of Norway (b. 1185)
• 1307 – Joan of Acre, English daughter of Edward I of England (b. 1272)
• 1407 – Olivier de Clisson, French soldier (b. 1326)
• 1605 – Boris Godunov, Russian ruler (b. 1551)
• 1616 – Garcilaso de la Vega, Peruvian historian and author (b. 1539)
• 1616 – William Shakespeare, English playwright and actor (b. 1564)
• 1625 – Maurice, Prince of Orange (b. 1567)
• 1695 – Henry Vaughan, Welsh poet and author (b. 1621)
• 1702 – Margaret Fell, English religious leader, founded the Religious Society of Friends (b. 1614)
• 1781 – James Abercrombie, Scottish general (b. 1706)
• 1784 – Solomon I of Imereti (b. 1735)
• 1792 – Karl Friedrich Bahrdt, German theologian and author (b. 1741)
• 1794 – Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes, French politician (b. 1721)
• 1827 – Georgios Karaiskakis, Greek general (b. 1780)
• 1839 – Jacques Félix Emmanuel Hamelin, French admiral (b. 1768)
• 1850 – William Wordsworth, English poet (b. 1770)
• 1889 – Jules Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly, French author (b. 1808)
• 1895 – Carl Ludwig, German physician and physiologist (b. 1815)
• 1905 – Gédéon Ouimet, Canadian politician, 2nd Premier of Quebec (b. 1823)
• 1907 – Alferd Packer, American prospector (b. 1842)
• 1915 – Rupert Brooke, English poet (b. 1887)
• 1936 – Teresa de la Parra, French-Venezuelan author (b. 1889)
• 1951 – Jules Berry, French actor (b. 1883)
• 1951 – Charles G. Dawes, American banker and politician, 30th Vice President of the United States, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
• 1965 – George Adamski, Polish-American ufologist and author (b. 1891)
• 1975 – William Hartnell, English actor (b. 1908)
• 1979 – Blair Peach, New Zealand-English educator and activist (b. 1946)
• 1981 – Josep Pla, Catalan journalist and author (b. 1897)
• 1983 – Buster Crabbe, American swimmer and actor (b. 1908)
• 1984 – Red Garland, American pianist (Miles Davis Quintet) (b. 1923)
• 1985 – Sam Ervin, American lawyer and politician (b. 1896)
• 1986 – Harold Arlen, American composer (b. 1905)
• 1986 – Jim Laker, English cricketer and sportscaster (b. 1922)
• 1986 – Otto Preminger, Ukrainian-American actor, director, and producer (b. 1906)
• 1990 – Paulette Goddard, American actress and philanthropist (b. 1910)
• 1991 – Johnny Thunders, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (New York Dolls and The Heartbreakers) (b. 1952)
• 1992 – Satyajit Ray, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1921)
• 1992 – Tanka Prasad Acharya, Nepalese politician, 27th Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1912)
• 1993 – Cesar Chavez, American activist, co-founded the United Farm Workers (b. 1927)
• 1995 – Douglas Lloyd Campbell, Canadian politician, 13th Premier of Manitoba (b. 1895)
• 1995 – Howard Cosell, American lawyer and journalist (b. 1918)
• 1995 – Riho Lahi, Estonian journalist (b. 1904)
• 1995 – John C. Stennis, American lawyer and politician (b. 1904)
• 1996 – Jean Victor Allard, Canadian general (b. 1913)
• 1996 – P. L. Travers, Australian-English author and actress (b. 1899)
• 1997 – Denis Compton, English cricketer and footballer (b. 1918)
• 1998 – Konstantinos Karamanlis, Greek politician, 172nd Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1907)
• 1998 – James Earl Ray, American assassin of Martin Luther King, Jr. (b. 1928)
• 1998 – Thanassis Skordalos, Greek singer-songwriter and lyra player (b. 1920)
• 2003 – Fernand Fonssagrives, French photographer (b. 1910)
• 2005 – Joh Bjelke-Petersen, New Zealand-Australian politician, 31st Premier of Queensland (b. 1911)
• 2005 – Robert Farnon, Canadian-English trumpet player, composer, and conductor (b. 1917)
• 2005 – Al Grassby, Australian journalist and politician (b. 1928)
• 2005 – John Mills, English actor (b. 1908)
• 2005 – Romano Scarpa, Italian illustrator (b. 1927)
• 2005 – Earl Wilson, American baseball player, coach, and educator (b. 1934)
• 2006 – Phil Walden, American record producer and manager, co-founded Capricorn Records (b. 1940)
• 2007 – Paul Erdman, Canadian-American economist and author (b. 1932)
• 2007 – David Halberstam, American journalist, historian, and author (b. 1934)
• 2007 – Peter Randall, English sergeant (b. 1930)
• 2007 – Boris Yeltsin, Russian politician, 1st President of Russia (b. 1931)
• 2011 – Tom King, American guitarist and songwriter (The Outsiders and The Starfires) (b. 1943)
• 2011 – Geoffrey Russell, 4th Baron Ampthill, English businessman (b. 1921)
• 2011 – John Sullivan, English screenwriter and producer (b. 1946)
• 2012 – Lillemor Arvidsson, Swedish politician, 34th Governor of Gotland (b. 1943)
• 2012 – Billy Bryans, Canadian drummer, songwriter, and producer (The Parachute Club and Downchild Blues Band) (b. 1947)
• 2012 – Chris Ethridge, American bass player and songwriter (The Flying Burrito Brothers and International Submarine Band) (b. 1947)
• 2012 – Tommy Marth, American saxophonist (b. 1978)
• 2012 – Raymond Thorsteinsson, Canadian geologist and paleontologist (b. 1921)
• 2012 – LeRoy T. Walker, American football player and coach (b. 1918)
• 2013 – Colonial Affair, American race horse (b. 1990)
• 2013 – Shamshad Begum, Indian singer (b. 1919)
• 2013 – Bob Brozman, American guitarist (R. Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders) (b. 1954)
• 2013 – Robert W. Edgar, American politician (b. 1943)
• 2013 – Tony Grealish, English footballer (b. 1956)
• 2013 – Norman Jones, English actor (b. 1932)
• 2013 – Antonio Maccanico, Italian politician (b. 1924)
• 2013 – Frank W. J. Olver, English-American mathematician and educator (b. 1924)
• 2013 – Kathryn Wasserman Davis, American philanthropist and scholar (b. 1907)
• 2014 – Benjamín Brea, Spanish-Venezuelan saxophonist, clarinet player, and conductor (Los Cañoneros) (b. 1946)
• 2014 – Michael Glawogger, Austrian director, screenwriter, and cinematographer (b. 1959)
• 2014 – Connie Marrero, Cuban baseball player and coach (b. 1911)
• 2014 – F. Michael Rogers, American general (b. 1921)
• 2014 – Mark Shand, English conservationist and author (b. 1951)
• 2014 – Patric Standford, English composer and educator (b. 1939)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Adalbert of Prague
  • George
  • Gerard of Toul
  • Toyohiko Kagawa (Episcopal Church; Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)
  • April 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Independence Day (Conch Republic, Key West, Florida)
• National Sovereignty and Children's Day (Turkey and Northern Cyprus)
• Saint George's Day (England) and its related observances:
  • La Diada de Sant Jordi (Catalonia, Spain)
• Canada Book Day (Canada)
• Latest day on which Good Friday can fall, while March 20 is the earliest; celebrated on Friday before Easter. (Christianity)
• World Book Day
• International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day
• Vinalia urbana (Roman Empire)
• UN English Language Day (United Nations)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada