23 April 2024 (MIA) 

-World Book and Copyright Day

1348 – The founding of the Order of the Garter by King Edward III is announced on St. George’s Day.

1564 – The great English dramatist and poet William Shakespeare is born in Stratford-upon-Avon on April 23, 1564. It is impossible to be certain the exact day on which he was born, but church records show that he was baptized on April 26, and three days was a customary amount of time to wait before baptizing a newborn. Shakespeare’s date of death is conclusively known, however: it was April 23, 1616. He was 52 years old and had retired to Stratford three years before.

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 Oliva 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.

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.

1935 – The Polish Constitution of 1935 is adopted.

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

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).

1972 – Cornerstone is laid for a cathedral of the Macedonian Orthodox Church in Skopje. The St. Clement of Ohrid Church was dedicated on 12 August 1990.

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.

2013 – At least 28 are dead and more than 70 are injured as violence breaks out in Hawija, Iraq.