Historical Events on April 23

  • 1635: In Boston, Massachusetts, the very first U.S public school is founded. It’s called Boston Latin School.
  • 1655: The Siege of Santo Domingo starts on this day. However, it would end up failing just 7 days later.
  • 1660: Poland and Sweden sign the Treaty of Oliva.
  • 1661: King Charles II of England is crowned in Westminster Abbey on this day.
  • 1914: The first game of baseball is held at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois. At the time, this field is known as Weeghman Park.
  • 1918: The British Royal Navy attacks the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge in an attempt to destroy it.
  • 1940: Almost 200 people are killed when a fire breaks out at the Rhythm Club in Natchez, Mississippi.
  • 1942: The cities of Exeter, York and Bath are bombed by German bombers during the Baedeker Blitz of World War II. These raids are a direct retaliation for the British attacking Lubeck.
  • 1945: Adolf Hitler replaces Hermann Göring with Joseph Goebbels and Karl Donitz when Goring asks Hitler if he could take leadership of the Third Reich.
  • 1968: Students take over Columbia University in New York City during a protest and shut it down.
  • 1985: Coca-Cola changes its formula and releases New Coke. However, after the initial response is negative, the switch back to the original formula in under 3 months.
  • 2005: The very first YouTube video titled “Me at the Zoo” is published by the user named Jawed.
  • 2013: Violence breaks out in Hawija, Iraq and results in more than seventy people being injured and almost thirty people killed.

Famous Birthdays on April 23

  • American lawyer and 15thS President, James Buchanan is born in 1791.
  • Danish physician and Nobel Prize laureate, Johannes Fibiger is born in 1867.
  • American actress, singer, dancer and diplomat, Shirley Temple is born in 1928.
  • American singer-songwriter Roy Orbison is born in 1936.
  • American actor Lee Majors is born in 1939.
  • American actress and model, Sandra Dee is born in 1942.
  • American director Michael Moore is born in 1954.
  • Australian actress Judy Davis is born in 1955.