Today in History - April 23

Today in History - April 23
By The Associated Press – 10 hours ago

Today is Wednesday, April 23, the 114th day of 2008. There are 252 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

April 23, 1564, is believed to be the birthdate of English poet and dramatist William Shakespeare; he died 52 years later, also on April 23.

On this date:

In 1789, President-elect George Washington moved into the first executive mansion, the Franklin House, in New York.

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

In 1896, the Vitascope system for projecting movies onto a screen was publicly demonstrated in New York City.

In 1940, about 200 people died in the Rhythm Night Club Fire in Natchez, Miss.

In 1958, the film noir thriller "Touch of Evil," starring Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh and Orson Welles, who also directed, was released.

In 1968, student protesters began occupying buildings on the campus of Columbia University in New York; police put down the protests a week later.

In 1968, the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church merged to form the United Methodist Church.

In 1969, Sirhan Sirhan was sentenced to death for assassinating New York Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. (The sentence was later reduced to life imprisonment.)

In 1985, the Coca-Cola Company announced it was changing the secret flavor formula for Coke. (Negative public reaction forced the company to resume selling the original version).

In 1988, a federal ban on smoking during domestic airline flights of two hours or less went into effect.

Ten years ago: James Earl Ray, the ex-convict who'd confessed to assassinating the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 and then insisted he'd been framed, died at a Nashville, Tenn., hospital at age 70.

Five years ago: Global health officials warned travelers to avoid Beijing and Toronto, where they might get the SARS virus and export it to new locations. U.S. negotiators met with North Korean and Chinese representatives in Beijing for the first three-way meeting by the governments since the Korean War. American Airlines reported a billion-dollar first-quarter loss.

One year ago: Boris Yeltsin, the first freely elected Russian president, died in Moscow at age 76. Congressional Democratic leaders agreed on legislation requiring the first U.S. combat troops to be withdrawn from Iraq by Oct. 1, 2007, with a goal of a complete pullout six months later; President Bush pledged to veto such a measure. Classes at Virginia Tech resumed a week after the killings of 32 victims by a suicidal gunman. Journalist and author David Halberstam died in a car crash in Menlo Park, Calif., at age 73.

Thought for Today: "...We are such stuff/ As dreams are made on, and our little life/ Is rounded with a sleep." — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), from "The Tempest."

AP

1635—The first public school in the United States, Boston Latin School, is founded.

1928—American child actress Shirley Temple is born.

1968—Students protesting the Vietnam War at Columbia University take over the administrative buildings, forcing the university to shut down.

1984—Scientists find the AIDS virus, a variant of a known human cancer virus called HTLV-3.

1014 - King Brian Boru of Ireland beats Danes at Battle of Clontarf
1154 - Damascus surrenders to sultan Nur ad-Din van Aleppo
1348 - 1st English order of knighthood founded (Order of Garter)
1500 - Pedro Cabral lands and annexes Brazil (Terra da Vera Cruz)
1501 - Portuguese navigator Pedro Cabral and 6 ships return to Lisbon
1504 - King Maximilian I routes troops to Bavaria
1616 - Netherlands buys De Briel/Vlissingen/Fort Rammekens from England
1633 - Sweden and Protestant German monarchy form Union of Heilbronn
1661 - English king Charles II crowned in London
1662 - Connecticut chartered as an English colony
1705 - Richard Steele’s “Tender Husband,” premieres in London
1723 - Cornelis Steenoven elected archbishop of Utrecht
1775 - Opera “Il R‚ Pastore” is produced (Salzburg)
1789 - President-elect George Washington moves into Franklin House, NY
1795 - William Hastings acquitted in England of high treason
1798 - Dutch emperor accepts new Constitution
1826 - Missolonghi captured by Turks
1838 - English steamship “Great Western” crossing Atlantic docks in NYC
1851 - Canada issues its 1st postage stamps
1860 - Dem convention in Charleston SC divided over slavery
1861 - Arkansas troops seize Ft Smith
1861 - Battle of San Antonio, TX
1864 - Battle of Cane River, LA (Red River Expedition, Monett’s Ferry)
1867 - Queen Victoria and Napoleon III turn down plans for a channel tunnel
1871 - Blossom Rock in SF Bay blown up
1878 - 1st Dutch test drive of steam tram
1881 - Gilbert and Sullivan’s opera “Patience” produced in London
1883 - John Heemskerk Azn forms Dutch govt
1891 - Jews are expelled from Moscow Russia
1896 - Vitascope system of movie projection 1st demonstrated (NYC)
1896 - Premier of motion pictures (Koster and Bial’s Music Hall, NYC)
1900 - 1st know occurrence of word “hillbillie” (NY Journal)
1903 - NY Highlanders (Yankees) win their 1st game beating Wash Senators 7-2
1904 - American Academy of Arts and Letters forms
1908 - Denmark, Germany, Engld, France, Neth and Sweden signs North Sea accord
1910 - International Exhibition opens in Brussels
1915 - ACA becomes National Advisory Council on Aeronautics (NACA)
1916 - Lord Dunsany’s “Night at an Inn,” premieres in NYC
1918 - National Urban League forms
1918 - Dover Patrol overthrows Germany U-boat in East Sea
1918 - Battle of Zeebrugge ends
1919 - Major leagues open a reduced 140-game season
1920 - Turkish Grand National Assembly 1st meets, in Ankara
1921 - Charles Paddock runs world record 100m (10.4 secs)
1924 - British Empire Exhibition opens at Wembley
1925 - Pastor LH Perquin forms Union of Catholic Dutch Radio (KRO) forms
1925 - 1st London performance of operetta “Fasquita” staged
1932 - Shakespeare Memorial Theatre opens at Stratford-on-Avon
1933 - Dovo soccer team forms in Veenendaal
1936 - Carl Hubbell’s 1st start of season is his 17th straight win
1938 - Sudeten Germans in Czechoslovakia demand self government
1939 - 1st performance of B‚la Bart¢k’s 2nd Concerto for violin
1939 - Boston Red Sox Ted Williams hits his 1st HR
1940 - Dance hall fires kills 198 (Natchez Miss)
1940 - NY Yankees dedicate a plaque to Jacob Rupert
1941 - Greece Army surrenders to German Nazis RAF brings Greek king George II to Egypt
1942 - 4-day allied bombing on Rostock begins
1942 - Luftwaffe bombs Exeter
1943 - British and US offensive directed at Tunis/Bizerta
1945 - US troops in Italy cross river Po
1945 - Concentration camp Flossenburg liberated
1946 - Bkln Dodger Ed Head no-hits Boston Braves, 5-0
1948 - KSTP TV channel 5 in St Paul-Minneapolis, MN (ABC) 1st broadcast
1949 - Chinese Red army conquerors Nanjing
1949 - Courtesy mail boxes for motorists started in SF
1949 - Netherlands annexes Elten and Tudderen
1950 - Stanley Cup: Detroit Red Wings beat NY Rangers, 4 games to 3
1950 - Nationalist China evacuates Hainan Island
1950 - 4th NBA Championship: Min Lakers beat Syracuse Nationals, 4 games to 2
1950 - 1st major league day game completed under lights (Phils 6, Braves 5)
1951 - Babe Didrikson-Zaharias wins LPGA Richmond Women’s Golf Open
1952 - Oil pipeline from Kirkuk to Banias completed
1952 - NY Giant Hoyt Wilhelm wins his 1st relief game and hits his only HR
1952 - Bob Cain of Browns and Bob Feller of Indians each pitch a one-hitter
1953 - General Charles P Cabell, USAF, becomes deputy director of CIA
1953 - KTAR (now KPNX) TV channel 12 in Phoenix, AZ (NBC) begins broadcasting
1953 - WCOV TV channel 20 in Montgomery, AL (IND/CBS) begins broadcasting
1954 - Hammerin’ Hank Aaron hits 1st of his 755 homers
1955 - Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Carrollton Golf Open
1955 - “Kismet” closes at Ziegfeld Theater NYC after 583 performances
1956 - US Supreme court ends race segregation on buses
1958 - Gil Hodges hits his 300th HR and Pee Wee Reese plays in 2,000th game
1959 - “Destry Rides Again” opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 472 perfs
1959 - 1st heliport in Britain opens in London
1960 - 1st performance of Ferde Grof‚’s “San Francisco Suite”
1961 - “Tenderloin” closes at 46th St Theater NYC after 216 performances
1961 - Mary Lena Faulk wins LPGA Babe Didrikson-Zaharias Golf Open
1962 - Ranger 4, 1st US satellite to reach Moon launched from Cape Canaveral
1962 - NY Mets win their 1st game ever, after going 0-9, beat Pirates 9-1
1962 - 1st US satellite to reach the moon launched
1963 - “She Loves Me” opens at Eugene O’Neill Theater NYC for 302 perfs
1963 - Jerry Bock and S Harnick’s musical “She Loves Me,” premieres in NYC
1964 - Houston Colt 45s Ken Johnson becomes 1st major league pitcher to lose a 9 inning no-hitter, Reds win 1-0
1964 - New York State Theater opens
1964 - James Baldwin’s “Blues for Mr Charlie,” premieres in NYC
1965 - Launch of 1st Soviet communications satellite
1967 - Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Raleigh Ladies Golf Invitational
1967 - Soyuz 1 launched; Vladimir Komarov becomes 1st in-flight casualty
1968 - United Methodist Church forms
1968 - 1st decimal coins issued in Britain (5 and 10 pence)
1968 - “I’m Solomon” opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 7 performances
1969 - ABC Masters Bowling Tournament won by Jim Chestney
1969 - LA Laker Jerry West scores 53 points
1969 - Over 1000ý mi flooded in Shantung Province China
1969 - Sirhan Sirhan sentenced to death for killing Bobby Kennedy
1971 - Columbia University operations virtually end, by student strike
1971 - Soyuz 10 launched; cosmonauts become 1st in Salyut 1 space station
1972 - Betty Burfeind wins LPGA Birmingham Centennital Golf Classic
1972 - Apollo 16 astronauts explores Moon surface
1972 - 26th Tony Awards: Sticks and Bones and 2 Gentlemen of Verona win
1974 - USSR performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan USSR
1975 - Harold Pinter’s “No Man’s Land,” premieres in London
1977 - ADO The Hague soccer team forms
1977 - Dr Allen Bussey completes 20,302 yo-yo loops
1977 - Milt workers kill 300-500 students in Addis Ababa
1977 - Czech chess master Vlastimil Hort plays 201 games simultaneously and only loses 10
1978 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1978 - Reds Joe Morgan ends record streak of 91 cons errorless games at 2nd
1978 - Amy Alcott wins LPGA American Defender Golf Classic
1980 - Soviet sub catches fire off Japan, 9 die
1983 - David Hookes scores his only Test Cricket century, 143* v Sri Lanka
1984 - AIDS-virus identified (acquired immune deficiency syndrome)
1985 - Brooklyn College soccer team wins Nepal’s invitational
1985 - Coca-Cola announced it is changing its secret flavor formula
1985 - Flyers 5-Isles 3-Patrick Div Finals-Flyers hold 3-0 lead
1985 - New Coke debuts
1986 - Madrid-Nelli Cooman runs world record 60m indoor (7 sec)
1986 - Grand Floridian Beach Resort groundbreaking
1987 - 28 construction workers killed in an apt collapse in Bridgeport, Ct
1987 - NJ Devils farm team Maine Mariners (AHL) move to Utica (Devils) NY
1988 - Karolina Szabo runs female world record 25k (1:29:30)/30k (1:47;06)
1988 - Federal smoking ban during domestic airline flights of 2 hrs or less
1988 - A Greek pedals self-powered aircraft, 74 miles
1989 - Betsy King wins LPGA USX Golf Classic
1989 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar plays his last game as a Laker
1989 - Nolan Ryan blows a no hitter in 9th inning
1989 - Students in Beijing China announce class boycotts
1990 - 11th Emmy Sports Award presentation
1991 - Bjorn Borg loses 6-2, 6-3 to Jordi Arrese after 8 year lay off
1991 - Gordon Greenidge scores 223 v Aus, his last Test Cricket knock at home
1991 - USSR grants republics right to secede under certain conditions
1992 - McDonald’s opens its 1st fast-food restaurant in China
1992 - Marion Berry (former mayor of Wash DC) let out of prison
1992 - “Shirnada” opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 4 performances
1993 - Eritrea votes to secede from Ethiopia
1993 - M”tley Crue’s Mike Mars files for divorce from Emi-Canyn
1993 - Peter Townshend’s musical “Tommy,” premieres in NYC
1994 - Libertarian party nominates Howard Stern for Governor of NY
1994 - General Tire World Bowling Tournament of Champions won by Norm Duke
1994 - Army shoots to death 23-40 fishermen in Gonaives Haiti
1995 - Laura Davis wins LPGA Chick-fil-A Charity Golf Championship
1995 - Pres Clinton declares a national day of mourning for Okla City
1996 - Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Reno NV on KRZQ 96.5 FM
1996 - Sotherby begins 4 day auction of Jackie O stuff-take in $34.5 million
1997 - “Titanic,” opens at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC
1997 - 32nd Academy of Country Music Awards: LeAnn Rines and Brooks and Dunn