ON THIS DAY IN RECENT HISTORY ~ APRIL 23

ON THIS DAY IN RECENT HISTORY ~ APRIL 23

1939 - Boston Red Sox Ted Williams hits his 1st HR.
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.
1945 - Concentration camp Flossenburg liberated.
1954 - Hammerin' Hank Aaron hits 1st of his 755 homers.

1955 - "Kismet" closes at Ziegfeld Theater NYC after 583 performances.
1962 - 1st US satellite to reach the moon launched.
1963 - Jan & Dean record "Surf City."

1965 - Launch of 1st Soviet communications satellite.
1968 - United Methodist Church forms.
1969 - ABC Masters Bowling Tournament won by Jim Chestney.
1969 - Sirhan Sirhan sentenced to death for killing Bobby Kennedy.
1971 - Columbia University operations virtually end, by student strike.
1972 - 26th Tony Awards: Sticks & Bones & 2 Gentlemen of Verona win.
1972 - Apollo 16 astronauts explores Moon surface.

1975 - Peter Ham (Badfinger) hangs himself in his London garage at the age of 27.
1977 - Dr Allen Bussey completes 20,302 yo-yo loops.
1978 - Sid Vicious films his rendition of Paul Anka's "My Way" for the Sex Pistols' film "The Great Rock n' Roll Swindle."
1981 - Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins reunite in Stuttgart, Germany and record "The Survivors."
1984 - AIDS-virus identified (acquired immune deficiency syndrome).
1985 - Coca-Cola announced it is changing its secret flavor formula "New Coke" debuts.

1985 - The "We Are the World" album is released.
1988 - Federal smoking ban during domestic airline flights of 2 hrs or less.
1989 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar plays his last game as a Laker.
1989 - Nolan Ryan blows a no hitter in 9th inning.
1991 - Bjorn Borg loses 6-2, 6-3 to Jordi Arrese after 8 year lay off.
1992 - Marion Berry (former mayor of Wash DC) let out of prison.
1992 - McDonald's opens its 1st fast-food restaurant in China.

1993 - Motley Crue's Mike Mars files for divorce from Emi-Canyn.
1993 - Peter Townshend's musical "Tommy," premieres in NYC.
1995 - Pres Clinton declares a national day of mourning for Oklahoma City.
1996 - Sotherby begins 4 day auction of Jackie O stuff-take in $34.5 million.

1997 - "Titanic," musical, opens at Lunt-Fontanne Theater, NYC.
1997 - 32nd Academy of Country Music Awards: LeAnn Rines & Brooks & Dunn.
1997 - The Four Tops receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2003 - Beijing closes all schools for two weeks because of the SARS virus.

FAMOUS BIRTHDAYS

1564 - William Shakespeare, playwrite, poet (d. 1616)
1791 - James Buchanan, Cove Gap PA, (Fed/Dem), 15th US president (1857-61)
1911 - Ronald Neame, director (1st Monday in Oct, Poseidon Adventure)
1911 - Simone Simon, France, actress (All Money Can Buy, Ladies in Love)
1917 - Dorian Leigh, American supermodel (d. 2008)
1921 - Janet Blair, Altoona Pa, actress (Leave it to the Girls, Smith Family)
1928 - Shirley Temple Black, Ca, actress (Heidi)/ambassador (UN)
1930 - Alan Oppenheimer, NYC, actor (6 Million Dollar Man, Eischied)
1936 - Roy Orbison, Vernon Tx, rocker (Pretty Woman)
1939 - David Birney, Wash DC, actor (Brigette Loves Bernie, St Elsewhere)
1939 - Ray Peterson, Denton Tx, singer (Tell Laura I Love Her)
1939 - Lee Majors, [Harvey Yeary], Mich, TV actor ($6,000,000 Man, Stunt Man)
1942 - Sandra Dee, [Zuck], Bayonne NJ, actress (Gidget, Imitation of Life)
1943 - Herve Villechaize, France, "Da Plane! Da Plane!" (Fantasy Island)
1949 - Joyce DeWitt, Wheeling WV, actress (Janet Wood-Three's Company)
1960 - Valerie Bertinelli, Del, (1 Day at a Time, Sydney)
1961 - George Lopez, American actor and comedian
1962 - John Hannah, Scottish actor
1977 - Kal Penn, Montclair, New Jersey, American actor (Dr. Lawrence Kutner-House)

FAMOUS DEATHS

 

1616 - William Shakespeare, English poet and playwright (b. April 23, 1564) dies aged 52.

1850 - William Wordsworth, poet, dies at 80.
1975 - William Hartnell, actor (Dr Who), dies at 67.

1975 - Pete Ham, rocker (Badfinger), commits suicide by hanging himself at 27
1976 - James Flavin, actor (Man With a Camera), dies at 69.
1976 - Ronald Radd, actor (King Lear, Up Jumped a Swagman), dies at 47.
1986 - Otto Preminger, dir (Advise & Consent, Anatomy of Murder), dies at 79.
1990 - Paulette Goddard, actress (Hazard), dies in Switzerland at 78.

1995 - Howard Cosell, sportscaster (Monday Night Football), dies at 77.

1996 - Pamela Lyndon Travers, writer (Mary Poppins), dies at 96.
1998 - James Earl Ray, American assassin (b. 1928)
2005 - John Mills, English actor (b. 1908)
2007 - Boris Yeltsin, first President of the Russian Federation (b. 1931)