April 23Birthdays & History

On this day: April 23 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 215 BCA temple is built on the Capitoline Hill dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Lake Trasimene.Europe
2. 599Maya king Uneh Chan of Calakmul attacks rival city-state Palenque in southern Mexico, defeating queen Yohl Ik'nal and sacking the city.Latin America
3. 711Dagobert III succeeds his father King Childebert III as King of the Franks.Europe
4. 1014Battle of Clontarf: High King of Ireland Brian Boru defeats Viking invaders, but is killed in battle.Europe
5. 1016Edmund Ironside succeeds his father Æthelred the Unready as King of England.Europe
6. 1343St. George's Night Uprising commences in the Duchy of Estonia.Europe
7. 1348The founding of the Order of the Garter by King Edward III is announced on St. George's Day.Europe
8. 1500Portuguese explorer Pedro Alvarez Cabral reaches new coastline (Brazil).EuropeLatin America
9. 1516The Munich Reinheitsgebot (regarding the ingredients of beer) takes effect in all of Bavaria.Europe
10. 1521Battle of Villalar: King Charles I of Spain defeats the Comuneros.Europe
11. 1635The first public school in the United States, the Boston Latin School, is founded.North America
12. 1655The Siege of Santo Domingo begins during the Anglo-Spanish War, and fails seven days later.Europe
13. 1660Treaty of Oliva is established between Sweden and Poland.Europe
14. 1661King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland is crowned in Westminster Abbey.Europe
15. 1724Johann Sebastian Bach leads the first performance of his cantata Du Hirte Israel, höre, BWV 104, illustrating the topic of the Good Shepherd in pastoral music.Middle East
16. 1815The 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.EuropeMiddle East
17. 1879Fire burns down the second main building and dome of the University of Notre Dame, which prompts the construction of the third, and current, Main Building with its golden dome.North America
18. 1891Chilean Civil War: The ironclad Blanco Encalada is sunk at Caldera Bay by torpedo boats.Latin America
19. 1909In Portugal, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake strikes near Lisbon, killing at least 60 people and injuring 75.Europe
20. 1918World War I: The British Royal Navy makes a raid in an attempt to neutralise the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge.Europe
21. 1919The Estonian Constituent Assembly is held in Estonia, which marks the birth of the Estonian Parliament, the Riigikogu.Europe
22. 1920The Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) is founded in Ankara. The assembly denounces the government of Sultan Mehmed VI and announces the preparation of a temporary constitution.Middle East
23. 1927Cardiff City defeat Arsenal in the FA Cup Final, the only time it has been won by a team not based in England.Europe
24. 1935The Polish Constitution of 1935 is adopted.Europe
25. 1940The Rhythm Club fire at a dance hall in Natchez, Mississippi, kills 198 people.North America
26. 1941World War II: The Greek government and King George II evacuate Athens before the invading Wehrmacht.Europe
27. 1942World War II: Baedeker Blitz: German bombers hit Exeter, Bath and York in retaliation for the British raid on Lübeck.Europe
28. 1945World War II: Adolf Hitler's designated successor, Hermann Göring, sends him a telegram asking permission to take leadership of Nazi Germany. Martin Bormann and Joseph Goebbels advise Göring that the telegram is treasonous.Europe
29. 1946Manuel Roxas is elected the last President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.Asia
30. 1949Chinese Civil War: Establishment of the People's Liberation Army Navy.Asia
31. 1951Cold War: American journalist William N. Oatis is arrested for espionage by the Communist government of Czechoslovakia.North AmericaEurope
32. 1961During the Algiers putsch by French generals, President Charles de Gaulle announces he has assumed emergency powers, and calls on troops and civilians to support him.AfricaEurope
33. 1966Aeroflot Flight 2723 crashes into the Caspian Sea off the Absheron Peninsula, killing 33 people.Europe
34. 1967Soviet space program: Soyuz 1 (Russian: Союз 1, Union 1), a crewed spaceflight carrying cosmonaut Colonel Vladimir Komarov, is launched into orbit.Europe
35. 1968Vietnam War: Student protesters at Columbia University in New York City take over administration buildings and shut down the university.AsiaNorth America
36. 1971Bangladesh Liberation War: The Pakistan Army and Razakars massacre approximately 3,000 Hindu emigrants in the Jathibhanga area of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).Asia
37. 1979Blair Peach, a British activist, is fatally injured after being knocked unconscious during an Anti-Nazi League demonstration against a National Front election meeting in Southall, London.Europe
38. 1979SAETA Flight 011 crashes in Pastaza Province, Ecuador, killing all 57 people on board. The wreckage was not discovered until 1984.Latin America
39. 1985Coca-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.North America
40. 1990Namibia becomes the 160th member of the United Nations and the 50th member of the Commonwealth of Nations.Africa
41. 1993Sri Lankan politician Lalith Athulathmudali is assassinated while addressing a gathering, approximately four weeks ahead of the Provincial Council elections for the Western Province.Asia
42. 1993Eritreans vote overwhelmingly for independence from Ethiopia in a United Nations-monitored referendum.Africa
43. 1999NATO bombs the headquarters of Radio Television of Serbia, as part of their aerial campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.Europe
44. 2005The first YouTube video, titled "Me at the zoo", is published by co-founder Jawed Karim.North America
45. 2013At least 111 people are killed and 233 injured as violence breaks out in Hawija, Iraq.Middle East
46. 2018A vehicle-ramming attack kills 11 people and injures 15 in Toronto. A 25-year-old suspect, Alek Minassian, is arrested.North America
47. 2019The April 2019 Hpakant jade mine collapse in Myanmar kills four miners and two rescuers, with at least 50 others missing and presumed dead.Asia
48. 2024The 2024 Lumut mid-air collision in Malaysia kills 10 people while rehearsing for the 90th anniversary of the Royal Malaysian Navy.Asia

Source: Wikipedia "April 23" / CC BY-SA 4.0