History of Today in India – 23 April

Explore the history of today 23 April in India, including important events, famous personalities, and milestones for UPSC SSC,Banking & PSC exams.

Last updated on 23 April 2026, 04:25 AM

📜 Important Events on 23 April in World History

23 Apr 2024: The 2024 Lumut mid-air collision in Malaysia kills 10 people while rehearsing for the 90th anniversary of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Read more
23 Apr 2019: The April 2019 Hpakant jade mine collapse in Myanmar kills four miners and two rescuers, with at least 50 others missing and presumed dead. Read more
23 Apr 2018: A vehicle-ramming attack kills 11 people and injures 15 in Toronto. A 25-year-old suspect, Alek Minassian, is arrested. Read more
23 Apr 2013: At least 111 people are killed and 233 injured as violence breaks out in Hawija, Iraq. Read more
23 Apr 2005: The first YouTube video, titled "Me at the zoo", is published by co-founder Jawed Karim. Read more
23 Apr 1999: NATO bombs the headquarters of Radio Television of Serbia, as part of their aerial campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Read more
23 Apr 1993: Eritreans vote overwhelmingly for independence from Ethiopia in a United Nations-monitored referendum. Read more
23 Apr 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. Read more
23 Apr 1990: Namibia becomes the 160th member of the United Nations and the 50th member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Read more
23 Apr 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. Read more
23 Apr 1979: SAETA Flight 011 crashes in Pastaza Province, Ecuador, killing all 57 people on board. The wreckage was not discovered until 1984. Read more
23 Apr 1979: Blair 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. Read more
23 Apr 1971: Bangladesh Liberation War: The Pakistan Army and Razakars massacre approximately 3,000 Hindu emigrants in the Jathibhanga area of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Read more
23 Apr 1968: Vietnam War: Student protesters at Columbia University in New York City take over administration buildings and shut down the university. Read more
23 Apr 1967: Soviet space program: Soyuz 1 (Russian: Союз 1, Union 1), a crewed spaceflight carrying cosmonaut Colonel Vladimir Komarov, is launched into orbit. Read more
23 Apr 1966: Aeroflot Flight 2723 crashes into the Caspian Sea off the Absheron Peninsula, killing 33 people. Read more
23 Apr 1961: Algiers putsch by French generals. Read more
23 Apr 1951: Cold War: American journalist William N. Oatis is arrested for espionage by the Communist government of Czechoslovakia. Read more
23 Apr 1949: Chinese Civil War: Establishment of the People's Liberation Army Navy. Read more
23 Apr 1946: Manuel Roxas is elected the last President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines. Read more
23 Apr 1945: World 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. Read more
23 Apr 1942: World War II: Baedeker Blitz: German bombers hit Exeter, Bath and York in retaliation for the British raid on Lübeck. Read more
23 Apr 1941: World War II: The Greek government and King George II evacuate Athens before the invading Wehrmacht. Read more
23 Apr 1940: The Rhythm Club fire at a dance hall in Natchez, Mississippi, kills 198 people. Read more
23 Apr 1935: The Polish Constitution of 1935 is adopted. Read more
23 Apr 1927: Cardiff City defeat Arsenal in the FA Cup Final, the only time it has been won by a team not based in England. Read more
23 Apr 1920: The 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. Read more
23 Apr 1919: The Estonian Constituent Assembly is held in Estonia, which marks the birth of the Estonian Parliament, the Riigikogu. Read more
23 Apr 1918: World War I: The British Royal Navy makes a raid in an attempt to neutralise the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge. Read more
23 Apr 1909: In Portugal, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake strikes near Lisbon, killing at least 60 people and injuring 75. Read more
23 Apr 1891: Chilean Civil War: The ironclad Blanco Encalada is sunk at Caldera Bay by torpedo boats. Read more
23 Apr 1879: Fire 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. Read more
23 Apr 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. Read more

🎂 Important Births on 23 April in World History

23 Apr 2018: Prince Louis of Wales, British royal Prince Louis of Wales is a member of the British royal family. He is the third and youngest child of William, Prince of Wales, and Catherine, Princess of Wales, and a grandson of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales. He is fourth in the line of succession to the British throne. Read more
23 Apr 2000: Chloe Kim, American snowboarder Chloe Kim is an American professional snowboarder and two-time Olympic gold medalist. At the 2018 Winter Olympics, she became the youngest woman to win an Olympic snowboarding gold medal when she won gold in the women's snowboard halfpipe at 17 years old. Read more
23 Apr 2000: Lee Jeno, South Korean rapper, vocalist and dancer Lee Je-no, known professionally as Jeno, is a South Korean rapper and singer. Jeno began his career as a child commercial model. He was discovered by SM Entertainment at the age of thirteen. Jeno officially debuted in August 2016 as a member of South Korean boy band NCT through the sub-units NCT Dream and NCT JNJM. Read more
23 Apr 1999: Son Chaeyoung, South Korean rapper and singer-songwriter Son Chae-young, known mononymously as Chaeyoung, is a South Korean singer and rapper. She is a member of the girl group Twice, formed by JYP Entertainment in 2015. Read more
23 Apr 1999: Laufey, Icelandic singer-songwriter and musician Laufey Lín Bing Jónsdóttir, known mononymously as Laufey, is an Icelandic singer and songwriter. Her musical style blends genres such as jazz pop and classical music. Laufey began performing as a cello soloist with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra at age 15. She then emerged as a finalist in the 2014 edition of Ísland Got Talent and a semifinalist on The Voice Iceland in 2015. Read more
23 Apr 1997: Zach Apple, American swimmer Zachary Douglas Apple is an American retired competitive swimmer who specialized in the sprint freestyle events. He used to swim for DC Trident in the International Swimming League. He won his first Olympic gold medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay at the 2020 Summer Olympics, swimming in the prelims and the final of the event, and later in the same Olympic Games won a gold medal and helped set a new world record and Olympic record in the 4×100-meter medley relay, swimming the freestyle leg of the relay in the final. Read more
23 Apr 1996: Carolina Alves, Brazilian tennis player Carolina Meligeni Rodrigues Alves, also known as Carol Meligeni, is a Brazilian professional tennis player. She has a career-high WTA singles ranking of No. 165, achieved on 12 September 2022 and a best doubles ranking of No. 110, achieved on 18 July 2022. Read more
23 Apr 1995: Gigi Hadid, American fashion model and television personality Jelena Noura "Gigi" Hadid is an American fashion model and television personality. In 2016, she was named International Model of the Year by the British Fashion Council. Throughout her career, Hadid has made at least 50 appearances in international Vogue. Models.com ranks her as one of the "New Supers". Since 2017, Hadid has been one of the highest-paid models in the world, earning $20 million. Read more
23 Apr 1995: Jamie Hayter, English professional wrestler Paige Wooding, better known by her ring name Jamie Hayter, is an English professional wrestler. She is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where she is one-half of the Brawling Birds with Alex Windsor, and a one-time AEW Women's World Champion. Read more
23 Apr 1994: Patrick Olsen, Danish footballer Patrick Haakon Olsen is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Danish 1st Division club Horsens. Read more
23 Apr 1994: Song Kang, South Korean actor Song Kang is a South Korean actor. He is known for starring in the dramas Love Alarm (2019–2021), Sweet Home (2020–2024), Nevertheless (2021), Forecasting Love and Weather (2022), and My Demon (2023–2024). He has been called the "Son of Netflix" because the majority of the series he has starred in were streamed on the platform. Read more
23 Apr 1991: Britt Baker, American professional wrestler Brittany Ann Baker is an American professional wrestler and dentist. She is signed to All Elite Wrestling—where she performs under the ring name Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. and is a former AEW Women's World Champion. She is also the first female wrestler signed to AEW. Read more
23 Apr 1991: Nathan Baker, English footballer Nathan Luke Baker is an English former professional footballer who played as a central defender. Baker is a product of the Aston Villa Academy and had loan spells at Lincoln City and Millwall before joining Bristol City in 2017. He has represented England at U19, U20, and U21 levels. Read more
23 Apr 1991: Caleb Johnson, American singer-songwriter Caleb Perry Johnson is an American singer who won the thirteenth season of American Idol. Prior to appearing on the series, he was the front man for the band Elijah Hooker. After American Idol, Johnson released his debut solo album, Testify, through Interscope Records. After leaving his label, he formed another group, Caleb Johnson and the Ramblin' Saints, and in 2019, the group self-released its first album, Born from Southern Ground. Read more
23 Apr 1991: Kyle Juszczyk, American football player Kyle Patrick Juszczyk is an American professional football fullback for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Harvard Crimson and was selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the fourth round of the 2013 NFL draft. Read more
23 Apr 1991: Paul Vaughan, Australian-Italian rugby league player Paul Vaughan is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a prop forward for the York Knights in the Super League. He has played for both Italy and Australia at international level. Read more
23 Apr 1990: Rui Fonte, Portuguese footballer Rui Pedro da Rocha Fonte is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a forward. Read more
23 Apr 1990: Dev Patel, English actor Dev Patel is a British actor and filmmaker. His accolades include a British Academy Film Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Patel was included in Time's list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2024. Read more
23 Apr 1989: Nicole Vaidišová, Czech tennis player Nicole Vaidišová Štěpánková is a Czech former professional tennis player. Read more
23 Apr 1988: Victor Anichebe, Nigerian footballer Victor Chinedu Anichebe is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Read more
23 Apr 1988: Sandra Borch, Norwegian politician Sandra Konstance Nygård Borch is a Norwegian politician who served as the minister of research and higher education from 2023 to 2024 until her resignation over the extensive plagiarism in her master's thesis. Read more
23 Apr 1988: Alistair Brownlee, English triathlete Alistair Edward Brownlee is an English former triathlete. He is the only athlete to hold two Olympic titles in the individual triathlon event, winning gold medals in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games. He is also a four-time World Champion in triathlon being Triathlon World Champion twice and World Team Champion twice, a four-time European Champion, and the 2014 Commonwealth champion. Brownlee is the only male athlete,, to have completed a grand slam of Olympic, World, and continental championships. Brownlee is also a one-time world champion in aquathlon. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest male Triathletes ever. Read more
23 Apr 1988: Patrick Maroon, American ice hockey player Patrick Maroon is an American former professional ice hockey player who was a left winger in the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "Big Rig", Maroon played for the Anaheim Ducks, Edmonton Oilers, New Jersey Devils, St. Louis Blues, Tampa Bay Lightning, Minnesota Wild, Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks. Maroon is a three-time Stanley Cup champion, winning in three consecutive seasons. Read more
23 Apr 1988: Signe Ronka, Canadian figure skater Signe Ronka is a Latvian Canadian former competitive figure skater. She won three medals on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series and competed at the 2003 World Junior Championships. Read more
23 Apr 1988: Lenka Wienerová, Slovak tennis player Lenka Wienerová is a Slovak former tennis player. Read more
23 Apr 1987: Michael Arroyo, Ecuadorian footballer Michael Antonio Arroyo Mina is an Ecuadorian professional footballer, who plays for Espartanos as a winger or attacking midfielder. Read more
23 Apr 1987: John Boye, Ghanaian footballer John Boye is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a defender. Read more
23 Apr 1987: Emily Fox, American basketball player Emily Fox is an American former basketball player and former world record holder in sport stacking. She set the overall world record in the cycle in April 2002 and the 3–6–3. However, in 2006, her cycle record was beaten. Her 3–6–3 record was also broken in 2007 by Robin Stangenberg and Yannick Zittlau of Germany with a time of 2.70 seconds. She has appeared on several television shows, including The Ellen DeGeneres Show and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, to demonstrate her skills. Read more
23 Apr 1986: Sven Kramer, Dutch speed skater Sven Kramer is a retired Dutch long track speed skater who has won an all-time record nine World Allround Championships as well as a record ten European Allround Championships. He is the Olympic champion of the 5000 meters at the Vancouver 2010, Sochi 2014 and Pyeongchang 2018 Olympics, and won a record 21 gold medals at the World Single Distance Championships; eight in the 5000 meters, five in the 10,000 meters, and eight in the team pursuit. Kramer used to be the world record holder in the team pursuit and broke the world records in the 5000 meter and 10,000 meter events three times. By winning the 2010 World Allround Championship, Kramer became the first speed skater in history to win four consecutive world allround championships and eight consecutive international all round championships. He was undefeated in the 18 international allround championships he participated in from the 2006/2007 season until the 2016/2017 season. From November 2007 to March 2009, he was ranked first in the Adelskalender, but despite his dominance as an all-round skater he has since been overtaken on that list by Shani Davis and, more recently, by his teammate Patrick Roest and Jordan Stolz. Read more
23 Apr 1986: Alysia Montaño, American runner Alysia Montaño is an American middle distance runner. She is a six-time USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships 800 metres champion. She gained significant publicity for the 2014 race that she competed while 8 months pregnant. Read more
23 Apr 1986: Rafael Fernandes, Brazilian baseball player Rafael Miranda Fernandes is a Brazilian professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has previously played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. Read more
23 Apr 1985: Angel Locsin, Filipino actress, producer, and fashion designer Angelica Locsin Colmenares is a Filipino actress and humanitarian. She is known for her dramatic roles and portrayals of heroines and mythological characters in film and television. She is a recipient of various accolades, including four Star Awards, three FAMAS Awards, two Box Office Entertainment Awards, and a Luna Award. Read more
23 Apr 1984: Alexandra Kosteniuk, Russian chess player Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk is a Russian and Swiss chess grandmaster who was the Women's World Chess Champion from 2008 to 2010 and Women's World Rapid Chess Champion in 2021. She was European women's champion in 2004 and a two-time Russian Women's Chess Champion. Kosteniuk won the team gold medal playing for Russia at the Women's Chess Olympiads of 2010, 2012 and 2014; the Women's World Team Chess Championship of 2017; and the Women's European Team Chess Championships of 2007, 2009, 2011, 2015 and 2017 and the Women's Chess World Cup 2021. In 2022, due to sanctions imposed on Russian players after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, she switched federations, and since March 2023 she has represented Switzerland. Read more
23 Apr 1984: Moose, American professional wrestler and football player Quinn Ojinnaka, better known by his ring name Moose, is an American professional wrestler and former professional football player. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he is the former leader of The System stable. He also makes appearances for TNA's partner promotion WWE on its NXT brand. Read more
23 Apr 1984: Jesse Lee Soffer, American actor Jesse Lee Soffer is an American actor and television director. He is known for portraying Will Munson on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns, and received three Emmy nominations for his work on the show. From 2014 to 2022, he starred as Jay Halstead on the NBC drama Chicago P.D. and guest-starred on Chicago P.D. crossover episodes with Chicago Med and Chicago Fire, as part of the main cast. He is also known for his role as Bobby Brady in the comedy The Brady Bunch Movie and its sequel A Very Brady Sequel. In 2024, Soffer played Wesley "Wes" Mitchell, the new International Fly Team leader on the fourth season of CBS drama FBI: International, after the departure of Luke Kleintank, who played Scott Forester. Read more
23 Apr 1983: Leon Andreasen, Danish international footballer Leon Hougaard Andreasen is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a defender or midfielder. He won 20 caps and scored three goals for the Denmark national team. Read more
23 Apr 1983: Daniela Hantuchová, Slovak tennis player Daniela Hantuchová is a Slovak tennis commentator and retired player. She turned professional in 1999 and had her breakthrough year in 2002, when she won her first WTA Tour title at the Indian Wells Open, defeating Martina Hingis in the final and becoming the lowest-ranked player to ever win the tournament. She also reached the quarterfinals of that year's Wimbledon Championships and US Open, ending the year in the top ten. She was part of the Slovak team that won the 2002 Fed Cup and the 2005 Hopman Cup. Read more
23 Apr 1983: Ian Henderson, English rugby league player Ian Henderson is a former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Sydney Roosters in the NRL. A Scotland international hooker, his brothers, Andrew Henderson and Kevin, are also international rugby league players., Read more
23 Apr 1982: Kyle Beckerman, American footballer Kyle Robert Beckerman is an American former professional soccer player who played as a midfielder. He spent 21 seasons in Major League Soccer (MLS) with the Miami Fusion (2000–2001), Colorado Rapids (2002–2007) and Real Salt Lake (2007–2020). He was a starting central defensive midfielder and captain when RSL won MLS Cup 2009. He also earned 58 caps with the United States national team. Read more
23 Apr 1982: Tony Sunshine, American singer-songwriter Antonio Cruz, known professionally as Tony Sunshine, is an American R&B singer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known as a member of Fat Joe's hip hop group Terror Squad in the late 1990s, and notably guest appeared on group cohort Big Pun's 2000 single, "100%" and also appeared on Cuban Link's single "Still Telling Lies" that same year. His guest appearance alongside Armageddon on Fat Joe's 2003 single, "All I Need" peaked at number 54 on the Billboard Hot 100, while his guest appearance on Lumidee's 2007 cover "She's Like the Wind" peaked at number 43 on the chart. He was led by Joe to sign with Jive Records to release his 2004 debut single "Oh My God", which failed to chart. Read more
23 Apr 1980: Nicole den Dulk, Dutch Paralympic equestrian Nicole den Dulk is a Paralympic equestrian. Read more
23 Apr 1979: Barry Hawkins, English snooker player Barry Hawkins is an English professional snooker player from Ditton, Kent. He turned professional in 1996, but only rose to prominence in the 2004–05 snooker season when he reached the last 16 of the 2004 UK Championship, the quarter-finals of the 2004 British Open and the semi-finals of the 2005 Welsh Open. He has spent twenty successive seasons ranked inside the top 32. Hawkins reached his first ranking final and won his first ranking title at the 2012 Australian Goldfields Open. Hawkins has played in 13 ranking finals and won five ranking titles. Read more
23 Apr 1979: Jaime King, American actress and model Jaime Barbara King is an American actress and model best known for her roles in the TV series Hart of Dixie (2011–2015) and Black Summer (2019–2021), and in films such as Pearl Harbor (2001), Slackers (2002), White Chicks (2004), Sin City (2005), Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (2005), Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014), Ocean’s 8 (2018) and Lights Out (2024). Read more
23 Apr 1979: Joanna Krupa, Polish-American model and television personality Joanna Krupa is a Polish-born American model, actress, and television presenter. She is known internationally as the host and head judge of Polish Top Model (2010–present) and has appeared on the reality television series Dancing with the Stars (2009) and The Real Housewives of Miami (2012–2013). Read more
23 Apr 1979: Samppa Lajunen, Finnish skier Samppa Lajunen is a retired Finnish Winter Olympic Games gold medalist, entrepreneur, and investor. At the 2002 Winter Olympics, he became the first athlete to sweep the gold medals at all three Nordic combined events, a feat that was only equalished by Jens Lurås Oftebro twenty four years later at the 2026 Winter Olympics Read more
23 Apr 1978: Gezahegne Abera, Ethiopian runner Gezahegne Abera is an Ethiopian athlete and winner of the marathon race at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Read more
23 Apr 1977: John Cena, American professional wrestler and actor John Felix Anthony Cena is an American actor, retired professional wrestler, and former rapper. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all-time, he is signed with WWE as a brand ambassador as of December 2025. He is best known for his in-ring career from 2001 to 2025, where he is recognized by WWE as a record 17-time world champion. Read more
23 Apr 1977: Andruw Jones, Curaçaoan baseball player Andruw Rudolf Jones is a Curaçaoan former professional baseball center fielder who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), most notably for the Atlanta Braves. He also played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, and New York Yankees, and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. Jones was a strong defensive player for much of his career, winning the Rawlings Gold Glove Award for outfielders every year from 1998 through 2007. He had a strong throwing arm in addition to his elite fielding. He was an MLB All-Star five times, and he won both the Hank Aaron Award and a Silver Slugger Award for outfielders in 2005. Read more
23 Apr 1977: David Kidwell, New Zealand rugby league player and coach David Kidwell is a New Zealand professional rugby coach and former rugby league player who is the defence coach for the Highlanders in Super Rugby. As a player, he represented New Zealand as a member of the 2005 Tri-Nations and 2008 World Cup winning New Zealand teams. He primarily played as a second-row, though he started his career as a centre. Read more
23 Apr 1977: Willie Mitchell, Canadian ice hockey player William Mitchell is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He is known primarily as a physical defensive defenceman. Mitchell played Junior A in the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) and Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) before joining the college ranks with the Clarkson Knights of ECAC Hockey in 1997. He won an ECAC championship with Clarkson in 1999, while also earning playoff MVP and ECAC First Team All-Star honours. Read more
23 Apr 1977: John Oliver, English comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter John William Oliver is a British and American comedian, political commentator and television personality. He hosts Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on HBO and started his career as a stand-up comedian in the United Kingdom and came to wider attention for his work in the United States as the senior British correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart from 2006 to 2013. Oliver won three Primetime Emmy Awards for writing for The Daily Show and became its guest host for an eight-week period in 2013. He also co-hosted the comedy podcast The Bugle with Andy Zaltzman, with whom Oliver had previously worked on the radio series Political Animal and The Department. From 2010 to 2013, he hosted the stand-up series John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show on Comedy Central. His acting roles include Ian Duncan on the NBC sitcom Community, as well as voice work in the animated films The Smurfs (2011), The Smurfs 2 (2013), and The Lion King remake (2019). Read more
23 Apr 1977: Kal Penn, Indian-American actor Kalpen Suresh Modi, known professionally as Kal Penn, is an American actor, author, and former White House staff member in the Barack Obama administration. Read more
23 Apr 1977: Bram Schmitz, Dutch cyclist Bram Schmitz is a retired Dutch professional road cyclist. Read more
23 Apr 1977: Lee Young-pyo, South Korean international footballer Lee Young-pyo is a South Korean former professional footballer who played as a right-footed left back. Lee was recognized for his speed and dribbling skills. His former manager Martin Jol once called him "the best left back in Holland". Read more
23 Apr 1976: Gabriel Damon, American actor Gabriel Damon Lavezzi is an American former child actor. His acting career involved providing the voices of Littlefoot in the 1988 film The Land Before Time and Little Nemo in the 1989 film Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland. He also played Hob in RoboCop 2 and a variety of live-action guest roles on television. Read more
23 Apr 1976: Aaron Dessner, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer Aaron Brooking Dessner is an American musician. He is best known as a founding member of the rock band the National, with whom he has recorded ten studio albums; a co-founder of the indie rock duo Big Red Machine, teaming with Bon Iver's Justin Vernon; and a collaborator on Taylor Swift's critically acclaimed studio albums Folklore and Evermore, both of which contended for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2021 and 2022, respectively, with the former winning the accolade; as well as The Tortured Poets Department (2024). Read more
23 Apr 1975: Bobby Shaw, American football player Bobby T. Shaw II is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the California Golden Bears, earning third-team All-American honors in 1997. Shaw played for five NFL teams: Seattle Seahawks, Pittsburgh Steelers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Buffalo Bills, and San Diego Chargers. Read more
23 Apr 1974: Carlos Dengler, American bass player Carlos Andres Dengler is an American musician, actor, composer, and writer. He has performed in regional theaters, appeared in various short films, and released three albums. His essays have appeared in n+1 and Tablet Magazine. He is the co-founder and former bass guitarist and keyboardist for the rock band Interpol. Read more
23 Apr 1974: Michael Kerr, New Zealand-German rugby player Michael Kerr is a German international rugby union player, playing for the RG Heidelberg in the Rugby-Bundesliga and the Germany national rugby union team. He is originally from New Zealand and qualified to play for Germany after five years of residence in the country. Read more
23 Apr 1973: Patrick Poulin, Canadian ice hockey player Joseph Emelien Patrick Poulin is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played 634 games in the National Hockey League between 1991 and 2002. Read more
23 Apr 1972: Pierre Labrie, Canadian poet and playwright Pierre Labrie is a Québécois poet, born at Mont-Joli, Quebec. He now lives in Trois-Rivières. Read more
23 Apr 1972: Peter Dench, English photographer and journalist

Peter Dench is a British photojournalist, photographer, writer, curator, educator and TV presenter. His work has been published in a number of books. In 2025, Dench served as Acting Features Editor at Amateur Photographer. Read more
23 Apr 1972: Amira Medunjanin, Bosnian singer Amira Medunjanin is a Bosnian singer and interpreter of sevdalinka. She holds both citizenship of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Read more
23 Apr 1971: Uli Herzner, German-American fashion designer Ulrike "Uli" Herzner is a fashion designer originally from East Germany, currently living in Miami Beach, Florida. She was a contestant on the third season of the Bravo network reality television series Project Runway, where she finished runner-up to Jeffrey Sebelia. She starred in her own show, It's Very Uli on Plum TV, and finished as second runner-up on season 2 of Project Runway All-Stars. Read more
23 Apr 1970: Egemen Bağış, Turkish politician, 1st Minister of European Union Affairs Egemen Bağış is a former Turkish politician of, former member of the Turkish parliament, the former minister for EU Affairs and chief negotiator of Turkey in accession talks with the European Union and a former ambassador of Turkey to the Czech Republic. Read more
23 Apr 1970: Dennis Culp, American singer-songwriter and trombonist Dennis Culp is an American trombonist and singer-songwriter best known for his work with the bands Brave Saint Saturn and Five Iron Frenzy. Read more
23 Apr 1970: Andrew Gee, Australian rugby league player and manager Andrew Gee is an Australian rugby league administrator and former football operations manager at the Brisbane Broncos of the NRL. Also a former player with the club, he was a Queensland State of Origin representative prop, and at the time of his retirement, held the Broncos' club record for most appearances of any forward. Read more
23 Apr 1970: Hans Välimäki, Finnish chef and author Hans Välimäki is a Finnish chef, and since 1998, was the owner of the now closed restaurant Chez Dominique. Välimäki was the chief judge of the Sub culinary show Top Chef Suomi and hosts the Finnish version of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, Kuppilat kuntoon, Hans Välimäki!. Read more
23 Apr 1970: Tayfur Havutçu, Turkish international footballer and manager Tayfur Havutçu is a Turkish football manager and former professional player who was most recently the manager of Süper Lig club Kasımpaşa. He was part of the Turkey national team squad that reached third place at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Read more
23 Apr 1969: Martín López-Zubero, American-Spanish swimmer and coach Martín López-Zubero Purcell, also known as Martin Zubero, is a former competition swimmer and Olympic gold medalist. López-Zubero was born in the United States, swam in international competition for Spain, and holds dual Spanish-American citizenship. Read more
23 Apr 1969: Yelena Shushunova, Russian gymnast (died 2018) Yelena Lvovna Shushunova was a Soviet Russian gymnast. Shushunova was one of five women who have won all-around titles at all major competitions: Olympics, World Championships and European/Continental Championships and one of eleven women who medaled on every event at World Championships. Shushunova was renowned for pioneering complex skills as well as her explosive and dynamic tumbling and high consistency. Read more
23 Apr 1968: Bas Haring, Dutch philosopher, writer, television presenter and professor. Sebastiaan (Bas) Haring is a Dutch writer of popular science and children's literature, television presenter and professor. He is a full professor at Leiden University, where he has held a chair in "public understanding of science" since 2007. He also hosted his own philosophical TV program for Dutch public broadcasting. Read more
23 Apr 1968: Ken McRae, Canadian ice hockey player and coach Kenneth Duncan McRae is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. McRae is the former head coach of the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League. McRae is also a former right wing who played 137 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Quebec Nordiques and Toronto Maple Leafs. He was drafted by the Nordiques in the first round, 18th overall, in the 1986 NHL Entry Draft. Read more
23 Apr 1968: Timothy McVeigh, American terrorist, Oklahoma City bombing co-perpetrator (died 2001) Timothy James McVeigh was an American domestic terrorist who masterminded and perpetrated the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995. The bombing itself killed 167 or 168 people, injured 684 people, and destroyed one-third of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. A rescue worker was killed after the bombing when debris struck her head, bringing the total to 168–169 killed. It remains the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history. Read more
23 Apr 1967: Rhéal Cormier, Canadian baseball player (died 2021) Rhéal Paul Cormier was a Canadian-American professional baseball left-handed pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB), for the St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Red Sox (twice), Montreal Expos, Philadelphia Phillies, and Cincinnati Reds for 16 seasons, between 1991 through 2007. Read more
23 Apr 1967: Melina Kanakaredes, American actress Melina Kanakaredes Constantinides is a Greek-American actress. She is widely known for her roles in American primetime television dramas as Dr. Sydney Hansen in Providence (1999–2002), as Detective Stella Bonasera in CSI: NY (2004–2010), and on the American daytime television drama series Guiding Light as Eleni Andros Cooper (1991–1995). Read more
23 Apr 1966: Jörg Deisinger, German bass player Joerg Deisinger is a German photographer, musician and the former bassist and a founding member of the German 1980s heavy metal band Bonfire. Read more
23 Apr 1966: Matt Freeman, American bass player Roger Matthew Freeman, also known as Matt McCall, is an American musician best known as the bassist of punk rock band Rancid. After forming several bands with guitarist and vocalist Tim Armstrong in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including ska-punk pioneers Operation Ivy, he and Armstrong formed Rancid with drummer Brett Reed. The band's success helped revive mainstream interest in punk, and they have released ten albums since their formation. Freeman has several side projects as well, including Devil's Brigade, in which Freeman sings lead vocals and plays bass. Freeman's style is characterized by aggressive walking lines and fills, typically played on a Fender Precision Bass. Read more
23 Apr 1966: Lembit Oll, Estonian chess Grandmaster (died 1999) Lembit Oll was an Estonian chess grandmaster. Read more
23 Apr 1965: Leni Robredo, Filipina human rights lawyer, 14th Vice President of the Philippines Maria Leonor "Leni" Gerona Robredo is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 14th vice president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022 under President Rodrigo Duterte. She is currently serving as the 18th mayor of Naga since 2025. Robredo is the second female vice president of the Philippines, after Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and the first from the Bicol Region. Read more
23 Apr 1964: Gianandrea Noseda, Italian pianist and conductor Gianandrea Noseda is an Italian conductor. He is currently the music director of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., general music director (Generalmusikdirektor) of Zurich Opera, principal guest conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, and music director of the Tsinandali Festival in Tsinandali, Georgia. Read more
23 Apr 1963: Paul Belmondo, French race car driver Paul Alexandre Belmondo is a French actor and racing driver who raced in Formula One for the March and Pacific Racing teams. He was born in Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, the son of actor Jean-Paul Belmondo and grandson of sculptor Paul Belmondo. Around 1981, Paul gained publicity for becoming the lover of Princess Stéphanie of Monaco. Read more
23 Apr 1963: Robby Naish, American windsurfer Robert Staunton Naish is an American athlete and entrepreneur who has won 24 World Championship Windsurfing titles. He is also considered a pioneer of kiteboarding and standup paddleboarding. Read more
23 Apr 1962: John Hannah, Scottish actor and producer John Hannah is a Scottish actor and narrator. He came to prominence in Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), for which he was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role as Matthew. His other film appearances include Sliding Doors (1998), The Hurricane (1999), and The Mummy trilogy (1999–2008). Read more
23 Apr 1962: Shaun Spiers, English businessman and politician Shaun Mark Spiers is the Executive Director of the environmental think-tank, Green Alliance and a former Member of the European Parliament. Read more
23 Apr 1961: George Lopez, American comedian, actor, and talk show host George Edward Lopez is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is most known for starring in his self-produced ABC sitcom George Lopez. His stand-up comedy examines race and ethnic relations, including Mexican American culture. Lopez has received several honors for his work and contributions to the Latino community, including the 2003 Imagen Vision Award, the 2003 Latino Spirit Award for Excellence in Television and the National Hispanic Media Coalition Impact Award. He was also named one of the "25 Most Influential Hispanics in America" by Time magazine in 2005. Read more
23 Apr 1961: Pierluigi Martini, Italian race car driver Pierluigi Martini is an Italian former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from 1984 to 1985 and from 1988 to 1995. In endurance racing, Martini won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1999 with BMW. Read more
23 Apr 1960: Valerie Bertinelli, American actress Valerie Anne Bertinelli is an American actress and television personality. She began acting as a child and made her screen debut in a 1974 episode of Apple's Way. She gained wide recognition for portraying Barbara Cooper Royer on the sitcom One Day at a Time (1975–1984), winning two Golden Globes for Best Supporting Actress. She also starred in several television films and played the titular character in the sitcom Sydney (1990). Read more
23 Apr 1960: Steve Clark, English guitarist and songwriter (died 1991) Stephen Maynard Clark was an English musician. He was a guitarist and songwriter for the hard rock band Def Leppard until his death in 1991. In 2007, Clark was ranked No. 11 on Classic Rock Magazine's "100 Wildest Guitar Heroes". In 2019, he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Def Leppard. Read more
23 Apr 1960: Barry Douglas, Irish pianist and conductor William Barry Douglas in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is a classical pianist and conductor. Read more
23 Apr 1960: Léo Jaime, Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor Leonardo "Léo" Jaime is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor and writer, famous for being one of the founding members of the rockabilly band João Penca e Seus Miquinhos Amestrados. Read more
23 Apr 1960: Claude Julien, Canadian ice hockey player and coach Claude Julien is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. He is currently an assistant coach of the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). Before his firing by the Boston Bruins in 2017, he was the longest tenured head coach in the NHL. He had previously served as head coach of the New Jersey Devils in the NHL, as well as in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Hamilton Bulldogs. In 2011, he coached the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Final, against the Vancouver Canucks, winning in seven games, guiding Boston to their sixth franchise Stanley Cup title. In 2013, he brought Boston to another Stanley Cup Final; however, they lost the series to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games. Read more
23 Apr 1959: Unity Dow, Botswanan judge, author, and rights activist Unity Dow is a Motswana lawyer, author, human rights activist and Member of Parliament for Kgatleng West since November 2024. She formerly served as a judge on the High Court of Botswana and in various Botswana government ministries. Born in the Bechuanaland Protectorate to a seamstress and a farmer, who insisted on their children obtaining an education, Dow grew up in a traditional rural village before modernisation. She earned a law degree in 1983 from the University of Botswana and Swaziland, though her studies were completed in Swaziland and University of Edinburgh, Scotland, as Botswana had no law school at the time. After her graduation, Dow opened the first all-woman law firm in Botswana and in 1997 became the first woman to be appointed as a judge to the country's High Court. Read more
23 Apr 1958: Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, Icelandic composer and producer Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, also known as HÖH, is a musician, an art director, and allsherjargoði of Ásatrúarfélagið. Read more
23 Apr 1958: Ryan Walter, Canadian ice hockey player and coach Ryan William Walter is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played 15 seasons in the National Hockey League. He won the 1986 Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens. Read more
23 Apr 1957: Neville Brody, English graphic designer, typographer, and art director Neville Stanley Brody is an English graphic designer, typographer and art director. He is known for his work on The Face magazine (1981–1986), Arena magazine (1987–1990), and designing record covers for artists such as Clock DVA, Cabaret Voltaire, The Bongos, 23 Skidoo and Depeche Mode. He created the company Research Studios in 1994 and is a founding member of Fontworks. His work is included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). He was the Dean of the School of Communication at the Royal College of Art, London until September 2018. He is now Professor of Communication. Read more
23 Apr 1957: Jan Hooks, American actress and comedian (died 2014) Janet Vivian Hooks was an American actress and comedian. She was best known for her tenure on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live, where she was a repertory player from 1986 to 1991. After leaving SNL, she continued to make cameo appearances until 1994. Her subsequent work included a regular role on the last two seasons of Designing Women, a recurring role on 3rd Rock from the Sun, and a number of other film and television roles, including on 30 Rock and The Simpsons. She died of complications of throat cancer on October 9, 2014 at the age of 57. Read more
23 Apr 1955: Judy Davis, Australian actress Judith Davis is an Australian actress. In a career spanning over four decades of both screen and stage, she is known for portraying brittle, neurotic women in independent film. She is commended for her versatility and regarded as one of the finest actresses of her generation with collaborator Woody Allen describing her as "one of the most exciting actresses in the world". She is the most rewarded recipient of the AACTA Award with nine wins and has received numerous other accolades, including three Primetime Emmy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards and an Laurence Olivier Award. Read more
23 Apr 1955: Tony Miles, English chess player (died 2001) Anthony John Miles was an English chess player and the first Englishman to earn the Grandmaster title. Read more
23 Apr 1955: Urmas Ott, Estonian journalist and author (died 2008) Urmas Ott was an Estonian television and radio journalist, and talk show host in Soviet Union, Estonia and Russia. Read more
23 Apr 1955: Serge Vohor, Vanuatuan politician, 4th Prime Minister of Vanuatu (died 2024) Rialuth Serge Vohor was a Vanuatuan politician. He hailed from the largest island of Vanuatu, Espiritu Santo, from Port Olry. Read more
23 Apr 1954: Stephen Dalton, English air marshal Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Gary George Dalton, is a retired senior officer of the Royal Air Force and former Lieutenant-Governor of Jersey. Read more
23 Apr 1954: Michael Moore, American director, producer, and activist Michael Francis Moore is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. Moore's work frequently addresses various social, political, and economic topics. He first became publicly known for his award-winning debut documentary Roger & Me, a scathing look at the downfall of the automotive industry in 1980s Flint and Detroit. Read more
23 Apr 1953: James Russo, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter James Vincent Russo is an American film and television actor. He has appeared in over 150 films in three decades. Read more
23 Apr 1952: Narada Michael Walden, American singer-songwriter, drummer, and producer Narada Michael Walden is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He was given the name Narada by guru Sri Chinmoy. Read more
23 Apr 1951: Martin Bayerle, American treasure hunter Martin Gerard Bayerle is an American treasure hunter and author, best known for discovering the wreck of the RMS Republic, a White Star Line passenger ship that sank in 1909. He was featured in the History Channel television series Billion Dollar Wreck in 2016. Read more
23 Apr 1950: Rowley Leigh, English chef and journalist Richard Rowland Leigh, known commonly as Rowley Leigh, is a British chef, restaurateur and journalist who lives in Shepherd's Bush, London. Read more
23 Apr 1950: Barbara McIlvaine Smith, Sac and Fox Nation Native American politician Barbara McIlvaine Smith is an American politician. A Democrat, she is a former member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing the 156th district from 2007 to 2010. She previously served on the West Chester, Pennsylvania Borough Council and was the Council's vice-president from 2004 to 2006. She is an enrolled member of the federally recognized Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma. Read more
23 Apr 1949: Paul Collier, English economist and academic Sir Paul Collier, is a British development economist who serves as the Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford and co-director of the International Growth Centre. He is also a Professeur invité at Sciences Po and a Professorial Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford. Read more
23 Apr 1949: David Cross, English violinist David Cross is an English electric violinist and keyboardist best known for playing with progressive rock band King Crimson from 1972 to 1974. Read more
23 Apr 1949: John Miles, British rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist (died 2021) John Miles was an English rock singer, guitarist and keyboard player best known for his 1976 top 3 UK hit single "Music", which won an Ivor Novello Award, and his frequent appearances at Night of the Proms. He won the "Outstanding Musical Achievement" award at the 2017 Progressive Music Awards. He released 10 albums from 1976 to 1999 and was a touring musician for Tina Turner from 1987 to 2009. Read more
23 Apr 1948: Pascal Quignard, French author and screenwriter Pascal Quignard is a French writer born in Verneuil-sur-Avre, Eure. In 1980 his novel Carus was awarded the Prix des Critiques. In 2002 Les Ombres errantes won the Prix Goncourt, France's most prestigious literary prize. Terrasse à Rome, received the French Academy prize in 2000. He also won the 2023 Prix Formentor. Read more
23 Apr 1948: Serge Thériault, Canadian actor Serge Thériault is a Canadian comedian and actor from Quebec. He is best known for his collaborations with Claude Meunier, including the Ding et Dong comedy duo and the spinoff television series La Petite Vie, in which he played the role of Môman. Read more
23 Apr 1947: Robert Burgess, English sociologist and academic (died 2022) Sir Robert George Burgess DL, FAcSS was a British sociologist and academic. He was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leicester in 1999, succeeding Ken Edwards. He was President of the British Sociological Association 1989–1991 and chair of the board of GSM London. Read more
23 Apr 1947: Glenn Cornick, English bass player (died 2014) Glenn Douglas Barnard Cornick was an English bass guitarist, and the original bassist for the British rock band Jethro Tull from 1967 to 1970. Rolling Stone has called his playing with Tull as "stout, nimble underpinning, the vital half of a blues-ribbed, jazz-fluent rhythm section". Read more
23 Apr 1947: Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, Irish civil rights leader and politician Josephine Bernadette McAliskey, usually known as Bernadette Devlin or Bernadette McAliskey, is an Irish civil rights leader and former politician. She served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Ulster in Northern Ireland from a 1969 by-election until February 1974. McAliskey came to national and international prominence at the age of 21 when she became the youngest woman ever to become a British Member of Parliament. McAliskey broke with the traditional Irish republican policy of abstentionism and took her seat in Westminster. Read more
23 Apr 1946: Blair Brown, American actress Bonnie Blair Brown is an American theater, film and television actress. She has had a number of high-profile roles, including in the play Copenhagen on Broadway, the leading actress in the films Altered States (1980), Continental Divide (1981) and Strapless (1989), as well as a run as the title character in the comedy-drama television series The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, which ran from 1987 to 1991 and earned her four consecutive Outstanding Comedy Series Actress Emmy Award nominations. Her later roles include Nina Sharp on the Fox television series Fringe and Judy King on the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black. Read more
23 Apr 1946: Carlton Sherwood, American soldier and journalist (died 2014) Carlton Alex Sherwood was an American journalist who produced the anti-John Kerry film Stolen Honor. Sherwood served on two news teams which were responsible for the award of the Pulitzer Prize and the Peabody Award to their organizations. Read more
23 Apr 1944: Jean-François Stévenin, French actor and director (died 2021) Jean-François Stévenin was a French actor and filmmaker. He appeared in 150 films and television shows since 1968. He starred in the film Cold Moon, which was entered into the 1991 Cannes Film Festival. Read more
23 Apr 1943: Gail Goodrich, American basketball player and coach Gail Charles Goodrich Jr. is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is best known for scoring a then record 42 points for UCLA in the 1965 NCAA championship game vs. Michigan, and his part in the Los Angeles Lakers' 1971–72 season. During that season the team won a still-record 33 consecutive games, posted what was at the time the best regular season record in NBA history, and also won the franchise's first NBA championship since relocating to Los Angeles. Goodrich was the leading scorer on that team. He is also acclaimed for leading UCLA to its first two national championships under the legendary coach John Wooden, the first in 1963–64 being a perfect 30–0 season when he played with teammate Walt Hazzard. In 1996, 17 years after his retirement from professional basketball, Goodrich was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Goodrich is the leader in highest average minutes per game played in Suns franchise history with 39.9. Read more
23 Apr 1943: Tony Esposito, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and manager (died 2021) Anthony James "Tony O" Esposito was a Canadian-American professional ice hockey goaltender, who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), 15 of those for the Chicago Blackhawks. He was one of the pioneers of the now popular butterfly style. Tony was the younger brother of Phil Esposito, a centre. Both brothers had notable careers and are enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Esposito's jersey number 35 was retired by the Blackhawks in 1988. Read more
23 Apr 1943: Frans Koppelaar, Dutch painter Frans Thomas Koppelaar is a Dutch painter, who was born in The Hague, Netherlands. Read more
23 Apr 1943: Hervé Villechaize, French actor (died 1993) Hervé Jean-Pierre Villechaize was a French actor. He is best known for his roles as the evil henchman Nick Nack in the 1974 James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun and as Mr. Roarke's assistant, Tattoo, on the American television series Fantasy Island that he played from 1977 to 1983. On Fantasy Island, his shout of "De plane! De plane!" became one of the show's signature phrases. He died by suicide in 1993. Read more
23 Apr 1942: Sandra Dee, American model and actress (died 2005) Sandra Dee was an American actress. Dee began her career as a child model, working first in commercials and then film in her teenage years. Best known for her portrayal of ingénues, Dee earned a Golden Globe Award as one of the year's most promising newcomers for her performance in Robert Wise's Until They Sail (1957). She became a teenage star for her performances in Imitation of Life, Gidget and A Summer Place, which made her a household name. Read more
23 Apr 1941: Jacqueline Boyer, French singer and actress Eliane Ducos, known professionally as Jacqueline Boyer, is a French singer and actress. She is also the daughter of performers Jacques Pills and Lucienne Boyer. Read more
23 Apr 1941: Arie den Hartog, Dutch road bicycle racer (died 2018) Arie den Hartog was a Dutch road bicycle racer. Den Hartog won the Milan–San Remo Classic in 1965, as well as the Amstel Gold Race in 1967. Read more
23 Apr 1941: Paavo Lipponen, Finnish journalist and politician, 38th Prime Minister of Finland Paavo Tapio Lipponen is a Finnish politician and former reporter. He was prime minister of Finland from 1995 to 2003, and chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Finland from 1993 to 2005. He also served as speaker of the Parliament of Finland from 2003 to 2007 and was his party's nominee in the 2012 Finnish presidential election but received only 6.7% of the votes, making it the biggest defeat the Social Democratic Party had ever received in Finnish presidential elections at the time. Lipponen is currently the oldest living former prime minister of Finland. Read more
23 Apr 1941: Michael Lynne, American film producer, co-founded New Line Cinema (died 2019) Michael Lynne was an American film executive, best known as the former co-chair of New Line Cinema alongside its founder Robert Shaye. Read more
23 Apr 1941: Ed Stewart, English radio and television host (died 2016) Edward Stewart Mainwaring, known as Ed "Stewpot" Stewart, was an English radio broadcaster and TV presenter. He was principally known for his work with the BBC as a DJ on Radio 1 and Radio 2, and as a presenter on Top of the Pops and Crackerjack both on BBC Television. Read more
23 Apr 1941: Ray Tomlinson, American computer programmer and engineer (died 2016) Raymond Samuel Tomlinson was an American computer programmer who invented the first email program on the ARPANET system, the precursor to the Internet, in 1971; it was the first system able to send mail between users on different hosts connected to ARPANET. Previously, mail could be sent only to others who used the same computer. To achieve this, he used the @ sign to separate the username from the name of their machine, a scheme which has been used in email addresses ever since. Read more
23 Apr 1940: Michael Copps, American academic and politician Michael Joseph Copps is a former commissioner of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), an independent agency of the United States government. He was sworn in on May 31, 2001, and served until December 31, 2011. He took on the additional role of acting chairman from January 22, 2009, through June 28, 2009. He relinquished the chairmanship to Julius Genachowski after Genachowski was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 25 and then sworn in on June 29, 2009. In 2014, he joined Common Cause, a nonpartisan citizen advocacy organization, to lead a Media and Democracy Initiative. Read more
23 Apr 1940: Dale Houston, American singer-songwriter (died 2007) Dale & Grace was an American singing duo consisting of Dale Houston and Grace Broussard. They had two Billboard chart hits. The first was the No. 1 gold record "I'm Leaving It Up to You" in 1963. "Stop and Think It Over" reached No. 8 in 1964. The duo broke up in 1965, but they reunited onstage on several occasions. Their recordings are highly regarded examples of the Louisiana-Texas style known as "Swamp Pop". Read more
23 Apr 1940: Michael Kadosh, Israeli footballer and manager (died 2014) Michael "Lufa" Kadosh was an Israeli footballer who also worked as the manager of Hapoel Jerusalem. He died on 29 April 2014 from cancer at the age of 74. Read more
23 Apr 1939: Jorge Fons, Mexican director and screenwriter (died 2022) Jorge Fons Pérez was a Mexican film director. Read more
23 Apr 1939: Bill Hagerty, English journalist
William John Gell Hagerty was a British newspaper editor and the chairman emeritus of British Journalism Review. Read more
23 Apr 1939: Lee Majors, American actor Harvey Lee Yeary, known professionally as Lee Majors, is an American actor. He portrayed the characters of Heath Barkley on the American television Western series The Big Valley (1965–1969), Colonel Steve Austin on the American television science-fiction action series The Six Million Dollar Man (1973–1978), and Colt Seavers on the American television action series The Fall Guy (1981–1986). Read more
23 Apr 1939: Ray Peterson, American pop singer (died 2005) Ray Peterson was an American pop singer who is best remembered for singing "Tell Laura I Love Her". He also scored numerous other hits, including "Corrine, Corrina" and "The Wonder of You". Read more
23 Apr 1937: Victoria Glendinning, English author and critic
Victoria Glendinning is a British biographer, critic, broadcaster and novelist. She is an honorary vice-president of English PEN and vice-president of the Royal Society of Literature. She won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Whitbread Prize for biography. Read more
23 Apr 1937: David Mills, English cricketer (died 2013) David Cecil Mills was an English cricketer. Mills was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm medium pace. He was born in Camborne, Cornwall and educated at Clifton College, where he represented the college cricket team. Read more
23 Apr 1937: Barry Shepherd, Australian cricketer (died 2001) Barry Kenneth Shepherd was an Australian cricketer who played in nine Test matches from 1963 to 1965. Read more
23 Apr 1936: Roy Orbison, American singer-songwriter (died 1988) Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's most successful periods were in the early 1960s and the late 1980s. Many of Orbison's songs conveyed vulnerability at a time when most male performers projected strength. He performed with minimal motion and in black clothes, matching his dyed black hair and dark sunglasses. Read more
23 Apr 1934: George Canseco, Filipino composer and producer (died 2004) George Masangkay Canseco was a Filipino composer and former politician. He composed numerous popular Filipino songs. Read more
23 Apr 1933: Annie Easley, American computer scientist, mathematician, and engineer (died 2011) Annie Jean Easley was an African American computer scientist who contributed significantly to the beginning iterations of NASA's rocket technologies. Read more
23 Apr 1932: Halston, American fashion designer (died 1990) Roy Halston Frowick, known mononymously as Halston, was an American fashion designer. His minimalist, fluid designs helped define the look of 1970s American style. Halston was known for creating a relaxed urban lifestyle for women. Read more
23 Apr 1932: Jim Fixx, American runner and author (died 1984) James Fuller Fixx was an American who wrote the 1977 best-selling book The Complete Book of Running; he is credited with helping start America's fitness revolution by popularizing the sport of running and demonstrating the health benefits of regular jogging. Fixx died of a heart attack while jogging at 52 years of age; his genetic predisposition for heart problems and other previous lifestyle factors may have caused his heart attack. Read more
23 Apr 1932: Rafał Gan-Ganowicz, Polish mercenary, activist, and journalist (died 2002) Rafał Gan-Ganowicz was a Polish soldier-in-exile, mercenary, journalist, member of the National Council of Poland, and political and social activist, dedicating his life to anti-communism. Read more
23 Apr 1929: George Steiner, French-American philosopher, author, and critic (died 2020) Francis George Steiner, FBA was a French and American literary critic, essayist, philosopher, novelist and educator. He wrote extensively about the relationship between language, literature and society, as well as the impact of the Holocaust. A 2001 article in The Guardian described Steiner as a "polyglot and polymath". Read more
23 Apr 1928: Shirley Temple, American actress, singer, dancer, and diplomat (died 2014) Shirley Temple Black was an American actress, singer, dancer, politician, and diplomat, who was Hollywood's number-one box-office draw as a child actress from 1934 to 1938. Later, she was named United States Ambassador to Ghana and to Czechoslovakia, and also served as Chief of Protocol of the United States. Read more
23 Apr 1926: J.P. Donleavy, American-Irish novelist and playwright (died 2017) James Patrick Donleavy, popularly known as J. P. Donleavy, was an American-Irish author, short story writer, novelist, and playwright. Known for the dark humor in his writings, he first achieved critical acclaim with his picaresque novel The Ginger Man (1955), initially published in Paris. The novel became an international bestseller, selling 50 million copies worldwide. It is one of the best-selling books of all time and has been translated into over 30 languages. The novel is Donleavy's best-known work, and in 1998, it was ranked 99th by the Modern Library in its list of the "100 Best Novels of the 20th century". Read more
23 Apr 1926: Rifaat el-Mahgoub, Egyptian politician (died 1990) Rifaat El Mahgoub was an Egyptian politician who served as the 8th speaker of the People's Assembly of Egypt from 1984 until his assassination in 1990. He was a member of the then ruling National Democratic Party. Read more
23 Apr 1924: Chuck Harmon, American baseball player and scout (died 2019) Charles Byron Harmon was an American professional baseball utility player in Major League Baseball (MLB), who played for the Cincinnati Redlegs (1954–1956), St. Louis Cardinals (1956–1957), and Philadelphia Phillies (1957). He batted and threw right-handed. Read more
23 Apr 1924: Bobby Rosengarden, American drummer and bandleader (died 2007) Robert Marshall Rosengarden was an American jazz drummer, percussionist and bandleader. A native of Elgin, Illinois, United States, he played on many recordings and in television orchestras and talk show bands. Read more
23 Apr 1923: Dolph Briscoe, American lieutenant and politician, 41st Governor of Texas (died 2010) Dolph Briscoe Jr. was an American rancher and businessman from Uvalde, Texas, who was the 41st governor of Texas between 1973 and 1979. He was a conservative Democrat. Read more
23 Apr 1923: Avram Davidson, American soldier and author (died 1993) Avram Davidson was an American writer of fantasy fiction, science fiction, and crime fiction, as well as the author of many stories that do not fit into a genre niche. He won a Hugo Award and three World Fantasy Awards in the science fiction and fantasy genres, a World Fantasy Life Achievement award, and an Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine short story award and an Edgar Award in the mystery genre. Davidson edited The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction from 1962 to 1964. His last novel The Boss in the Wall: A Treatise on the House Devil was completed by Grania Davis and was a Nebula Award finalist in 1998. His posthumous collection The Avram Davidson Treasury won the Locus Award for Best Collection in 1999. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction says "he is perhaps sf's most explicitly literary author". Read more
23 Apr 1921: Judy Agnew, Second Lady of the United States (died 2012) Elinor Isabel "Judy" Agnew was the second lady of the United States from 1969 to 1973. She was the wife of the 39th vice president of the United States, Spiro Agnew, who had previously served as Governor of Maryland and Baltimore County Executive. Although Judy Agnew attempted to avoid political discussion during her tenure as second lady, preferring to cultivate her image primarily as a wife and mother, her dismissive remarks about the women's liberation movement were quoted by media. Read more
23 Apr 1921: Cleto Bellucci, Italian archbishop (died 2013) Cleto Bellucci was an Italian Prelate of Roman Catholic Church. Read more
23 Apr 1921: Janet Blair, American actress and singer (died 2007) Janet Blair was an American big-band singer who later became a popular film and television actress. Read more
23 Apr 1921: Warren Spahn, American baseball player and coach (died 2003) Warren Edward Spahn was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). A left-handed pitcher, Spahn played in 1942 and then from 1946 until 1965, most notably for the Boston Braves, who became the Milwaukee Braves after the team moved west before the 1953 season. His baseball career was interrupted by his military service in the United States Army during World War II. Read more
23 Apr 1920: Eric Grant Yarrow, 3rd Baronet, English businessman (died 2018) Sir Eric Grant Yarrow, 3rd Baronet, was a British businessman. Read more
23 Apr 1919: Oleg Penkovsky, Russian colonel (died 1963) Oleg Vladimirovich Penkovsky, codenamed Hero and Yoga was a Soviet military intelligence (GRU) colonel during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Penkovsky informed the United States and the United Kingdom about Soviet military secrets, including the appearance and footprint of Soviet intermediate-range ballistic missile installations and the weakness of the Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program. This information was decisive in allowing the US to recognize that the Soviets were placing missiles in Cuba before most of them were operational. It also gave US President John F. Kennedy, during the Cuban Missile Crisis that followed, valuable information about Soviet weakness that allowed him to face down Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and resolve the crisis without a nuclear war. Read more
23 Apr 1918: Maurice Druon, French author and screenwriter (died 2009) Maurice Druon was a French novelist and a member of the Académie Française, of which he served as "Perpetual Secretary" (chairman) between 1985 and 1999. Read more
23 Apr 1917: Dorian Leigh, American model (died 2008) Dorian Elizabeth Leigh Parker, known professionally as Dorian Leigh, was an American model and one of the earliest modeling icons of the fashion industry. She is considered one of the first supermodels, and was well known in the United States and Europe. Read more
23 Apr 1917: Tony Lupien, American baseball player and coach (died 2004) Ulysses John "Tony" Lupien Jr. was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB). He was a left-handed batter who played for the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago White Sox. Lupien was an all-around athlete and successful coach. He was the grandfather of former professional wrestler, and actor John Cena. Read more
23 Apr 1916: Ivo Lola Ribar, Yugoslav communist politician, military leader, and People's Hero of Yugoslavia (died 1943) Ivan Ribar, known as Ivo Lola or Ivo Lolo, was a Yugoslav Croat communist politician and military leader. In the 1930s, he became one of the closest associates of Josip Broz Tito, leader of the Yugoslav Communist Party. In 1936, Ribar became secretary of the Central Committee of SKOJ. During World War II in Yugoslavia, Ribar was among the main leaders of the Yugoslav Partisans and was a member of the Partisan Supreme Headquarters. During the war, he founded and ran several leftist youth magazines. In 1942, Ribar was among the founders of the Unified League of Anti-Fascist Youth of Yugoslavia (USAOJ). He was killed by a German bomb in 1943 near Glamoč while boarding an airplane for Cairo, where he was to become the first representative of Communist Yugoslavia to the Middle East Command. Read more
23 Apr 1916: Yiannis Moralis, Greek painter and educator (died 2009) Yiannis Moralis was an important Greek visual artist and part of the so-called "Generation of the '30s". He is a person who carried weight in many fields and found himself to be equally au courant. Furthermore, he exhibited a strong sense of responsibility when it came to confronting modern day problems. His art is distinct for the esoteric nature of its forms and its capacity and ability to suggest space. Read more
23 Apr 1916: Sinah Estelle Kelley, American chemist (died 1982) Sinah Estelle Kelley was an American chemist who worked on the mass production of penicillin. Read more
23 Apr 1915: Arnold Alexander Hall, English engineer, academic, and businessman (died 2000) Sir Arnold Alexander Hall was an English aeronautical engineer, scientist and industrialist. Read more
23 Apr 1913: Diosa Costello, Puerto Rican-American entertainer, producer, and club owner (died 2013) Juana de Dios Castrello, better known as Diosa Costello, was a Puerto Rican entertainer, performer, producer and club owner, often referred to as "the Latin Bombshell". Read more
23 Apr 1911: Ronald Neame, English-American director, cinematographer, producer, and screenwriter (died 2010) Ronald Neame CBE, BSC was an English filmmaker and cinematographer. Beginning his career as a cinematographer, for his work on the British war film One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1943) he received nomination for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. During a partnership with director David Lean, he produced Brief Encounter (1945), Great Expectations (1946), and Oliver Twist (1948), receiving two nominations for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Read more
23 Apr 1910: Sheila Scott Macintyre, Scottish mathematician (died 1960) Sheila Scott Macintyre FRSE was a Scottish mathematician best known for her work on the Whittaker constant. Macintyre is also known for co-authoring a German–English mathematics dictionary with Edith Witte. Read more
23 Apr 1910: Simone Simon, French actress (died 2005) Simone Thérèse Fernande Simon was a French film actress who began her film career in 1931. She is perhaps best remembered for her role in the American horror film Cat People and its sequel The Curse of the Cat People. Read more
23 Apr 1908: Myron Waldman, American animator and director (died 2006) Myron Waldman was an American animator, best known for his work at Fleischer Studios. Read more
23 Apr 1907: Lee Miller, American model and photographer (died 1977) Elizabeth "Lee" Miller, Lady Penrose was an American photographer and photojournalist. Miller was a fashion model in New York City in the 1920s before going to Paris, becoming a fashion and fine-art photographer there. Read more
23 Apr 1907: Fritz Wotruba, Austrian sculptor, designed the Wotruba Church (died 1975) Fritz Wotruba was an Austrian sculptor of Czecho-Hungarian descent. He was considered one of the most notable sculptors of the 20th century in Austria. In his work, he increasingly dissolves figurative components in favor of geometrical abstraction with the shape of the cube as the basic form. Read more
23 Apr 1904: Clifford Bricker, Canadian long-distance runner (died 1980) Clifford Bricker was a Canadian long-distance runner who competed in the 1928 and 1932 Summer Olympics. In 1927 he set the amateur world record for 15 miles. Read more
23 Apr 1904: Louis Muhlstock, Polish-Canadian painter (died 2001) Louis Muhlstock, LL.D. was a Canadian painter best known for his depictions of the Great Depression and for landscapes and urban scenes in and around Montreal. Read more
23 Apr 1904: Duncan Renaldo, American actor (died 1985) Renault Renaldo Duncan, better known as Duncan Renaldo, was a Romanian-born American actor best remembered for his portrayal of The Cisco Kid in films and on the 1950–1956 American TV series The Cisco Kid. Read more
23 Apr 1903: Guy Simonds, English-Canadian general (died 1974) Lieutenant-General Guy Granville Simonds, was a senior Canadian Army officer who served with distinction during World War II. Acknowledged by many military historians and senior commanders, among them Sir Max Hastings and Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery, as one of the best Canadian generals of the war, Simonds, after serving the first few years of the Second World War mainly as a staff officer, commanded the 1st Canadian Infantry Division with distinction in Sicily and Italy from July 1943 until January 1944, and later II Canadian Corps during the Battle of Normandy from June−August 1944 and throughout the subsequent campaign in Western Europe from 1944, towards the end of which he temporarily commanded the First Canadian Army during the Battle of the Scheldt, until victory in Europe Day in May 1945. The historian J. L. Granatstein states about Simonds: "No Canadian commander rose higher and faster in the Second World War, and none did as well in action. Simonds owed his success wholly to his own abilities and efforts—and those of the men who served under him". Read more
23 Apr 1902: Halldór Laxness, Icelandic author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1998) Halldór Kiljan Laxness was an Icelandic writer and winner of the 1955 Nobel Prize in Literature. He wrote novels, poetry, newspaper articles, essays, plays, travelogues and short stories. Writers who influenced Laxness include August Strindberg, Sigmund Freud, Knut Hamsun, Sinclair Lewis, Upton Sinclair, Bertolt Brecht, and Ernest Hemingway. Read more
23 Apr 1901: E. B. Ford, English biologist and geneticist (died 1988) Edmund Brisco "Henry" Ford was a British ecological geneticist. He was a leader among those British biologists who investigated the role of natural selection in nature. As a schoolboy Ford became interested in lepidoptera, the group of insects which includes butterflies and moths. He went on to study the genetics of natural populations, and invented the field of ecological genetics. Ford was awarded the Royal Society's Darwin Medal in 1954. In the wider world his best known work is Butterflies (1945). Ford was a member of the UK Eugenics Society, of which he was a council member in 1933-1934, also contributing to its publications. Read more
23 Apr 1900: Jim Bottomley, American baseball player and sportscaster (died 1959) James Leroy Bottomley was an American professional baseball player, scout and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a first baseman from 1922 to 1937, most prominently as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals where he helped lead the team to four National League pennants and two World Series titles. Read more
23 Apr 1900: Joseph Green, Polish-American actor and director (died 1996) Joseph Green, born Yoysef Grinberg, a.k.a. Josef Grünberg, Joseph Greenberg and Joseph Greene, a Polish-born Jew who emigrated to the United States in 1924, was an actor in Yiddish theater and one of the few directors of Yiddish-language films. He made four Yiddish films that he shot on location in Poland, beginning in 1935: Yidl mitn fidl, Der Purimspiler, Mamele, and A brivele der mamen. He also wrote the screenplays for the films, except for Mamele. Read more
23 Apr 1899: Bertil Ohlin, Swedish economist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1979) Bertil Gotthard Ohlin was a Swedish economist and politician. He was a professor of economics at the Stockholm School of Economics from 1929 to 1965. He was also leader of the People's Party, a social-liberal party which at the time was the largest party in opposition to the governing Social Democratic Party, from 1944 to 1967. He served briefly as Minister of Commerce and Industry from 1944 to 1945 in the Swedish coalition government during World War II. He was President of the Nordic Council in 1959 and 1964. Read more
23 Apr 1899: Minoru Shirota, Japanese physician and microbiologist, invented Yakult (died 1982) Minoru Shirota was a Japanese microbiologist who made pioneering research on gut microbiota and developed the first commercial probiotic. In the 1930, he identified a strain of lactic acid bacteria that is part of normal gut flora that he originally called Lactobacillus casei Shirota, which appeared to help contain the growth of harmful bacteria in the gut. The species was later reclassified as Lactobacillus paracasei. Read more
23 Apr 1898: Lucius D. Clay, American general (died 1978) Lucius Dubignon Clay was a senior officer of the United States Army who was known for his administration of occupied Germany after World War II. He served as the deputy to General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1945; deputy military governor, Germany, in 1946; Commander in Chief, United States Forces in Europe and military governor of the United States Zone, Germany, from 1947 to 1949. Clay orchestrated the Berlin Airlift (1948–1949) when the USSR blockaded West Berlin. Read more
23 Apr 1897: Folke Jansson, Swedish athlete (died 1965) Folke Georg "Pytta" Jansson was a Swedish athlete who specialized in the triple jump. Read more
23 Apr 1897: Lester B. Pearson, Canadian historian and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Canada, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (died 1972) Lester Bowles Pearson was a Canadian politician, diplomat, and scholar who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968. He also served as leader of the Liberal Party from 1958 to 1968 and as leader of the Official Opposition from 1958 to 1963. Read more
23 Apr 1895: Ngaio Marsh, New Zealand author and director (died 1982) Dame Edith Ngaio Marsh was a New Zealand writer. Read more
23 Apr 1894: Frank Borzage, American actor and director (died 1962) Frank Borzage was an American film director and actor. He was the first person to win the Academy Award for Best Director for his film 7th Heaven (1927) at the 1st Academy Awards. Read more
23 Apr 1889: Karel Doorman, Dutch admiral (died 1942) Karel Willem Frederik Marie Doorman was a Royal Netherlands Navy officer who during World War II commanded remnants of the short-lived American-British-Dutch-Australian Command naval strike forces in the Battle of the Java Sea. He was killed in action when his flagship HNLMS De Ruyter was torpedoed during the battle, having chosen to go down with the ship. Read more
23 Apr 1888: Georges Vanier, Canadian general and politician, 19th Governor General of Canada (died 1967) Georges-Philias Vanier was a Canadian military officer, diplomat, and statesman who served as the 19th governor general of Canada from 1959 to 1967, the first Quebecker and second Canadian-born person to hold the position. Read more
23 Apr 1882: Albert Coates, English composer and conductor (died 1953) Albert Coates was an English conductor and composer. Born in Saint Petersburg, where his English father was a successful businessman, he studied in Russia, England and Germany, before beginning his career as a conductor in a series of German opera houses. He was a success in England conducting Wagner at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 1914, and in 1919 was appointed chief conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. Read more
23 Apr 1880: Michel Fokine, Russian dancer and choreographer (died 1942) Michael Fokine was a Russian choreographer and dancer. He is considered the founder of modern ballet. Read more
23 Apr 1876: Arthur Moeller van den Bruck, German historian and author (died 1925) Arthur Wilhelm Ernst Victor Moeller van den Bruck was a German cultural historian, philosopher, and key intellectual figure of the Conservative Revolution. Read more
23 Apr 1867: Johannes Fibiger, Danish physician and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1928) Johannes Andreas Grib Fibiger was a Danish physician and professor of anatomical pathology at the University of Copenhagen. He was the recipient of the 1926 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for his discovery of the Spiroptera carcinoma". He claimed to have shown that the roundworm which he called Spiroptera carcinoma could cause stomach cancer in rats and mice. His experimental results were later proven to be a case of mistaken conclusion. Read more
23 Apr 1865: Ali-Agha Shikhlinski, Russian-Azerbaijani general (died 1943) Ali Agha Ismail Agha oghlu Shikhlinski ; 3 March [O.S. 15 March] 1863 – 18 August 1943) was an Azerbaijani lieutenant-general of the Imperial Russian Army, Deputy Minister of Defense and General of the Artillery of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and a Soviet military officer. Read more
23 Apr 1861: Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, English field marshal and diplomat, British High Commissioner in Egypt (died 1936) Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, was a senior British Army officer and imperial governor. He fought in the Second Boer War and in the First World War, in which he led the British Empire's Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign against the Ottoman Empire in the conquest of Palestine. Read more
23 Apr 1861: John Peltz, American baseball player and manager (died 1906) John Peltz was an American professional baseball player in the 19th century. Peltz first played with the Indianapolis Hoosiers, in 1884 at the age of 23. He batted .219 and surrendered 38 errors in the outfield. Peltz did not appear in major league baseball until 1890, except for a brief one-game appearance in 1888 with the Baltimore Orioles. In 1890, his last year in the major leagues, he played with three teams, the Brooklyn Gladiators, Syracuse Stars, and the Toledo Maumees. He would continue to play with various minor league clubs until 1893, retiring with the Montgomery Colts. Peltz had a career batting average of .224. He died in New Orleans on February 27, 1906, at the age of 44. Read more
23 Apr 1860: Justinian Oxenham, Australian public servant (died 1932) Justinian Oxenham ISO was a senior Australian public servant. He was Secretary of the Postmaster-General's Department from January 1911 until December 1923. Read more
23 Apr 1858: Max Planck, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1947) Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck was a German theoretical physicist. He won the 1918 Nobel Prize in Physics "for the services he rendered to the advancement of physics by his discovery of energy quanta." Read more
23 Apr 1857: Ruggero Leoncavallo, Italian composer (died 1919) Ruggero Leoncavallo was an Italian opera composer and librettist. Throughout his career, Leoncavallo produced numerous operas and songs, but it is his 1892 opera Pagliacci that remained his lasting contribution, despite attempts to escape the shadow of his greatest success. Read more
23 Apr 1856: Granville Woods, American inventor and engineer (died 1910) Granville Tailer Woods was an American inventor who held more than 60 patents in the United States. He was the first African American mechanical and electrical engineer after the Civil War. Self-taught, he concentrated most of his work on trains and streetcars. One of his inventions is the Synchronous Multiplex Railway Telegraph, a variation of the induction telegraph that relied on ambient static electricity from existing telegraph lines to send messages between train stations and moving trains. Read more
23 Apr 1853: Winthrop M. Crane, American businessman and politician, 40th Governor of Massachusetts (died 1920) Winthrop Murray Crane was an American businessman and Republican Party politician who served as the 40th governor of Massachusetts from 1900 to 1903 and represented that state in the United States Senate from 1904 to 1913. Read more
23 Apr 1819: Edward Stafford, Scottish-New Zealand educator and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of New Zealand (died 1901) Sir Edward William Stafford served as the third premier of New Zealand on three occasions in the mid 19th century. His total time in office is the longest of any leader without a political party. He is described as pragmatic, logical, and clear-sighted. Read more
23 Apr 1818: James Anthony Froude, English historian, novelist, biographer and editor (died 1894) James Anthony Froude was an English historian, novelist, biographer, and editor of Fraser's Magazine. From his upbringing amidst the Anglo-Catholic Oxford Movement, Froude intended to become a clergyman, but doubts about the doctrines of the Anglican church, published in his scandalous 1849 novel The Nemesis of Faith, drove him to abandon his religious career. Froude turned to writing history, becoming one of the best-known historians of his time for his History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Defeat of the Spanish Armada. Read more
23 Apr 1813: Stephen A. Douglas, American educator and politician, 7th Illinois Secretary of State (died 1861) Stephen Arnold Douglas was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. As a U.S. senator, he was one of two nominees of the divided Democratic Party to run for president in the 1860 presidential election, representative of the Northern Democrats, and lost to Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln. Douglas had previously defeated Lincoln in the 1858 United States Senate election in Illinois, known for the pivotal Lincoln–Douglas debates. Earlier, Douglas was one of the brokers of the Compromise of 1850, which sought to avert a sectional crisis. To further deal with the volatile issue of extending slavery into the territories, Douglas became the foremost advocate of popular sovereignty, which held that each territory should be allowed to determine whether to permit slavery within its borders. This attempt to address the issue was rejected by both pro-slavery and anti-slavery advocates. Standing 5 feet 4 inches (1.63 m) tall, Douglas was nicknamed the "Little Giant" because he was short in physical stature but a forceful and dominant figure in politics. Read more
23 Apr 1813: Frédéric Ozanam, Italian-French historian and scholar (died 1853) Antoine-Frédéric Ozanam was a French Catholic literary scholar, lawyer, journalist and equal rights advocate. He founded with fellow students the Conference of Charity, later known as the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris in 1997. His feast day is 9 September. Read more
23 Apr 1812: Frederick Whitaker, English-New Zealand lawyer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of New Zealand (died 1891) Sir Frederick Whitaker was an English-born New Zealand politician who served twice as the premier of New Zealand and six times as Attorney-General. Read more
23 Apr 1805: Johann Karl Friedrich Rosenkranz, German philosopher and academic (died 1879) Johann Karl Friedrich Rosenkranz was a German philosopher and pedagogue. Read more

🕊️ Important Deaths on 23 April in World History

23 Apr 2024: Frank Field, British politician (born 1942) Frank Ernest Field, Baron Field of Birkenhead, was a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Birkenhead for 40 years, from 1979 to 2019, serving as a Labour MP until 2018 and thereafter sitting as an independent. In 2019, he formed the Birkenhead Social Justice Party and stood unsuccessfully as its sole candidate in the 2019 election. After leaving the House of Commons, he was awarded a life peerage in 2020 and sat in the House of Lords as a crossbencher. Read more
23 Apr 2024: Helen Vendler, American Literary Critic (born 1933) Helen Vendler was an American academic, writer and literary critic. She was a professor of English language and history at Boston University, Cornell, Harvard, and other universities. Read more
23 Apr 2022: Orrin Hatch, American politician, President pro tempore of the United States Senate (born 1934) Orrin Grant Hatch was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Utah from 1977 to 2019. Hatch's 42-year Senate tenure made him the longest-serving Republican U.S. senator in history, overtaking Ted Stevens, until Chuck Grassley surpassed him in 2023. Read more
23 Apr 2021: Dan Kaminsky, American internet security researcher (born 1979) Daniel Kaminsky was an American computer security researcher. He was a co-founder and chief scientist of Human Security, a computer security company. He previously worked for Cisco, Avaya, and IOActive, where he was the director of penetration testing. The New York Times labeled Kaminsky an "Internet security savior" and "a digital Paul Revere". Read more
23 Apr 2019: Charity Sunshine Tillemann-Dick, American soprano singer and presenter (born 1983) Charity Sunshine Tillemann-Dick was an American soprano and presenter. A recipient of two bilateral (double) lung transplants, she spoke and performed frequently at concerts, conferences and events around the United States. Read more
23 Apr 2019: Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (born 1921) Jean was Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 1964 until his abdication in 2000. He was the first Grand Duke of Luxembourg of French agnatic descent. Read more
23 Apr 2016: Inge King, German-born Australian sculptor (born 1915) Ingeborg Viktoria "Inge" King was a German-born Australian sculptor. She received many significant public commissions. Her work is held in public and private collections. Her best known work is Forward Surge (1974) at the Melbourne Arts Centre. She became a Member of the Order of Australia in January 1984. Read more
23 Apr 2016: Banharn Silpa-archa, Thai politician, Prime Minister from 1995 to 1996 (born 1932) Banharn Silpa-archa was a Thai politician who served as the Prime Minister of Thailand from 1995 to 1996. Banharn made a fortune in the construction business before he became a Member of Parliament representing his home province of Suphan Buri. He held different cabinet posts in several governments. In 1994, he became the leader of the Thai Nation Party. In 2008, the party was dissolved by the Constitutional Court and Banharn was banned from politics for five years. Read more
23 Apr 2015: Richard Corliss, American journalist and critic (born 1944) Richard Nelson Corliss was an American film critic and magazine editor for Time. He focused on movies, with occasional articles on other subjects. Read more
23 Apr 2015: Ray Jackson, Australian activist (born 1941) Ray Jackson was an Australian Aboriginal activist and Wiradjuri elder. He was President of the Indigenous Social Justice Association (ISJA), and a prominent campaigner for the rights of Indigenous Australians. Read more
23 Apr 2015: Pierre Claude Nolin, Canadian lawyer and politician, Speaker of the Canadian Senate (born 1950) Pierre Claude Nolin was a Canadian politician and senator. A prominent member of the Conservative Party of Canada from 2004 until his death, he became an influential figure in the Party's parliamentary caucus. Read more
23 Apr 2015: Jim Steffen, American football player (born 1936) James William Steffen was an American professional football defensive back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Detroit Lions, Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys. He was drafted in the thirteenth round of the 1959 NFL draft. He played college football at the University of California, Los Angeles. Read more
23 Apr 2015: Francis Tsai, American author and illustrator (born 1967) Francis Tsai was an American comic book artist, illustrator, author and conceptual artist. He was of Taiwanese and Japanese ancestry. Read more
23 Apr 2014: Benjamín Brea, Spanish-Venezuelan saxophonist, clarinet player, and conductor (born 1946) Benjamín Brea was a Spanish-born Venezuelan musician, arranger and teacher, mostly associated with jazz, even though he had the advantage to play several music genres in various bands as a soloist as well as sideman and conductor. Read more
23 Apr 2014: Michael Glawogger, Austrian director, screenwriter, and cinematographer (born 1959) Michael Glawogger was an Austrian film director, screenwriter and cinematographer, born in Graz. Read more
23 Apr 2014: Jaap Havekotte, Dutch speed skater and producer of ice skates (born 1912) Jaap Havekotte was a Dutch speed skater. He skated in several Dutch championships during the 1940s, but is best known as the founder of Viking Schaatsenfabriek, a Dutch producer of ice skates. The Viking ice skate proved to be very popular, and by 1972 every speed skating world record was skated on Viking ice skates. Viking was the first company to produce the clap skate on a large scale. Due to his significant influence on speed skating in the Netherlands, speed skaters from later generations spoke fondly of Havekotte and used to call him 'Oom Jaap'. Havekotte died on 23 April 2014 at the age of 102. Read more
23 Apr 2014: Connie Marrero, Cuban baseball player and coach (born 1911) Conrado Eugenio Marrero Ramos, nicknamed "Connie", was a Cuban professional baseball pitcher. The right-handed Marrero pitched in Major League Baseball from 1950 to 1954 for the Washington Senators. Read more
23 Apr 2014: F. Michael Rogers, American general (born 1921) Felix Michael Rogers, usually known as Michael Rogers, was a general in the United States Air Force and the former commander of the Air Force Logistics Command, with headquarters at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. The command mission is to provide worldwide technical logistics support to all Air Force active and Reserve force activities, Military Assistance Program countries, and designated United States Government agencies. He is a graduate of the National War College. Read more
23 Apr 2014: Mark Shand, English conservationist and author (born 1951) Mark Roland Shand, a brother of Queen Camilla, was an English travel writer and conservationist. Shand wrote four travel books, and as a BBC conservationist appeared in documentaries related to his journeys, most of which centred on the survival of elephants. His book Travels on My Elephant became a bestseller and won the Travel Writer of the Year Award at the British Book Awards in 1992. He was the chairman of Elephant Family, a wildlife foundation, which he co-founded in 2002. Read more
23 Apr 2014: Patric Standford, English composer and educator (born 1939) Patric Standford was an English composer, supporter of composers' rights, educationalist and author. Read more
23 Apr 2013: Bob Brozman, American guitarist (born 1954) Bob Brozman was an American guitarist and ethnomusicologist. Read more
23 Apr 2013: Robert W. Edgar, American educator and politician (born 1943) Robert William Edgar was an American politician, administrator, and religious leader. A native of the Philadelphia area, he began his career as a Methodist pastor and chaplain. He served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 1987, representing the 7th district of Pennsylvania. He was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for United States Senate in Pennsylvania in 1986. Read more
23 Apr 2013: Tony Grealish, English footballer (born 1956) Anthony Patrick Grealish was a professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Born in England to Irish parents, he played for the Republic of Ireland at international level. Read more
23 Apr 2013: Antonio Maccanico, Italian banker and politician (born 1924) Antonio Maccanico was an Italian constitutional specialist and politician who served in various capacities in the Italian Parliament and federal administrations of Italy. He was the former general secretary of the Quirinal Palace from 1978 to 1987, and was several times minister and undersecretary to the Prime Minister under Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. He was also president of Mediobanca. Read more
23 Apr 2013: Frank W. J. Olver, English-American mathematician and academic (born 1924) Frank William John Olver was a professor of mathematics at the Institute for Physical Science and Technology and Department of Mathematics at the University of Maryland who worked on asymptotic analysis, special functions, and numerical analysis. He was the editor in chief of the NIST Digital Library of Mathematical Functions. Read more
23 Apr 2013: Kathryn Wasserman Davis, American philanthropist and scholar (born 1907) Kathryn Wasserman Davis was an American investor, painter, philanthropist, and political activist. She was a longtime promoter of women's rights and planning parenthood. She was committed to engaging local communities, particularly regarding the environment on the Hudson River and Maine coast, and also concerned with access to high-quality education. At the age of 94, she began an artistic adventure, producing more than 200 paintings. Read more
23 Apr 2012: Lillemor Arvidsson, Swedish trade union leader and politician, 34th Governor of Gotland (born 1943) Maj Lillemor Arvidsson was a Swedish trade union leader and the Governor of Gotland from 1998 to 2004. Read more
23 Apr 2012: Billy Bryans, Canadian drummer, songwriter and producer (born 1947) William Taylor Bryans was a Canadian percussionist, songwriter, music producer and DJ, known as one of the founders of The Parachute Club, among other accomplishments in music. As a producer, he worked on projects for artists as diverse as Dutch Mason, Raffi, Lillian Allen and the Downchild Blues Band. He was born in Montreal, but spent most of his adult life in Toronto, and was particularly supportive of world music as both a promoter and publicist, focusing on bringing Caribbean, Cuban and Latin American music to a wider audience. Read more
23 Apr 2012: Chris Ethridge, American bass player and songwriter (born 1947) John Christopher Ethridge was an American country rock bass guitarist. He was a member of the International Submarine Band (ISB) and The Flying Burrito Brothers, and co-wrote several songs with Gram Parsons. Ethridge worked with Nancy Sinatra, Judy Collins, Leon Russell, Delaney Bramlett, Johnny Winter, Randy Newman, Graham Nash, Ry Cooder, Linda Ronstadt, The Byrds, Jackson Browne, and Willie Nelson. Read more
23 Apr 2012: Raymond Thorsteinsson, Canadian geologist and paleontologist (born 1921) Raymond Thorsteinsson, was a Canadian geologist who focused on the geology of the high Arctic. He was a Fellow of The Arctic Institute of North America, primarily known for his contribution to the geology of the Proterozoic and Paleozoic rocks. Read more
23 Apr 2012: LeRoy T. Walker, American football player and coach (born 1918) LeRoy T. Walker was an American track and field coach and the first African-American president of the United States Olympic Committee. In the 1996 Olympics, Walker was delegated to lead a 10,000 member group of the most talented athletes in the world. Read more
23 Apr 2011: James Casey, English comedian, radio scriptwriter and producer (born 1922) James Casey, known professionally as Jim Casey, was at various times during his long career a Variety comedian on the English music-halls, a scriptwriter for BBC Radio's variety shows and situation comedies, and a senior BBC Radio Light Entertainment producer. Read more
23 Apr 2011: Tom King, American guitarist and songwriter (born 1943) Thomas R. King was an American songwriter, guitarist, and arranger. He founded the 1960s rock band The Outsiders, and co-wrote the band's biggest hit song, "Time Won't Let Me". Read more
23 Apr 2011: Geoffrey Russell, 4th Baron Ampthill, English businessman and politician (born 1921) Geoffrey Denis Erskine Russell, 4th Baron Ampthill, was a British hereditary peer and businessman, whose paternity and succession to the peerage were disputed in the "Ampthill baby case". Read more
23 Apr 2011: Max van der Stoel, Dutch politician and Minister of State (born 1924) Maximilianus "Max" van der Stoel was a Dutch politician and diplomat, member of the Labour Party (PvdA) and activist who served as High Commissioner on National Minorities of the OSCE from 1 January 1993 until 1 July 2001. Read more
23 Apr 2011: John Sullivan, English screenwriter and producer (born 1946) John Richard Thomas Sullivan was an English television scriptwriter responsible for several British sitcoms, including Only Fools and Horses, Citizen Smith and Just Good Friends. Read more
23 Apr 2010: Peter Porter, Australian-born British poet (born 1929) Peter Neville Frederick Porter OAM was a British-based Australian poet. Read more
23 Apr 2007: Paul Erdman, Canadian-American economist and author (born 1932) Paul Emil Erdman was a Canadian-born American economist and banker who became known for writing novels based on monetary trends and international finance. Read more
23 Apr 2007: David Halberstam, American journalist, historian and author (born 1934) David Halberstam was an American writer, journalist, and historian, known for his work on the Vietnam War, politics, history, the Civil Rights Movement, business, media, American culture, Korean War, and later, sports journalism. He won a Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 1964. Halberstam was killed in a car crash in 2007 while doing research for a book. Read more
23 Apr 2007: Peter Randall, English sergeant (born 1930) Peter John Randall, was a British Army soldier and a recipient of the George Medal, and the RSPCA's Margaret Wheatley Cross, for his actions on 8 October 1954 where he saved the life of a fellow soldier and a military dog from a burning truck. Read more
23 Apr 2007: Boris Yeltsin, Russian politician, 1st President of Russia (born 1931) Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as President of Russia from 1991 to 1999. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1961 to 1990. He later stood as a political independent, during which time he was viewed as being ideologically aligned with liberalism. Read more
23 Apr 2006: Phil Walden, American record producer and manager, co-founder of Capricorn Records (born 1940) Phil Walden was the American co-founder of the Macon, Georgia-based Capricorn Records, along with former Atlantic Records executive Frank Fenter. Read more
23 Apr 2005: Joh Bjelke-Petersen, New Zealand-Australian politician, 31st Premier of Queensland (born 1911) Sir Johannes "Joh" Bjelke-Petersen was an Australian politician and farmer who served as premier of Queensland from 1968 to 1987 as leader of the Queensland National Party. He was renowned for his political longevity and the institutional corruption that pervaded his government. Read more
23 Apr 2005: Robert Farnon, Canadian-English trumpet player, composer and conductor (born 1917) Robert Joseph Farnon was a Canadian-born composer, conductor, musical arranger and trumpet player. As well as being a composer of original works, he was commissioned by film and television producers for theme and incidental music. In later life he composed a number of more serious orchestral works, including three symphonies, and was recognised with four Ivor Novello awards and the Order of Canada. Read more
23 Apr 2005: Al Grassby, Australian journalist and politician (born 1928) Albert Jaime Grassby, AM was an Australian politician who served as Minister for Immigration in the Labor Whitlam government. He completed reforms in immigration and human rights, and is often known as the father of Australian "multiculturalism". He gained notoriety by acting as an agent of influence for the Calabrian Mafia that murdered anti-drugs campaigner Donald Mackay. Read more
23 Apr 2005: John Mills, English actor (born 1908) Sir John Mills was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portrayed guileless, wounded war heroes. In 1971, he received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Ryan's Daughter. Read more
23 Apr 2005: Romano Scarpa, Italian author and illustrator (born 1927) Romano Scarpa was one of the most famous Italian creators of Disney comics. Read more
23 Apr 2005: Earl Wilson, American baseball player, coach and educator (born 1934) Robert Earl Wilson was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played all or part of eleven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers (1966–1970) and San Diego Padres (1970), primarily as a starting pitcher. Wilson batted and threw right-handed; he was born in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, and graduated from Greenville Park High School in Tangipahoa Parish. Read more
23 Apr 2004: Herman Veenstra, Dutch water polo player (born 1911) Herman Alex Veenstra was a Dutch water polo player who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics. He was part of the Dutch team which finished fifth in the 1936 tournament. He played five matches as goalkeeper. Read more
23 Apr 2003: Fernand Fonssagrives, French-American photographer (born 1910) Fernand Fonssagrives, born Fernand Vigoureux near Paris, was a photographer known for his 'beauty photography' in the early 1940s, and as the first husband of the model Lisa Fonssagrives. He died in 2003 at Little Rock, Arkansas, United States. Read more
23 Apr 1998: Konstantinos Karamanlis, Greek lawyer and politician, 172nd Prime Minister of Greece (born 1907) Konstantinos G. Karamanlis was a Greek statesman who was the four-time Prime Minister of Greece and two-term president of the Third Hellenic Republic, serving in the former role from 1955 to 1963 and from 1974 to 1980. A towering figure of Greek politics, his political career spanned portions of seven decades, covering much of the latter half of the 20th century. Read more
23 Apr 1998: James Earl Ray, American assassin of Martin Luther King Jr. (born 1928) James Earl Ray was an American fugitive who was convicted of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. After the assassination, Ray, who had planned on living in exile in Rhodesia, fled to London and was captured there. Ray was convicted in 1969 after entering a guilty plea—thus forgoing a jury trial and the possibility of a death sentence—and was sentenced to 99 years of imprisonment. He later made many attempts to withdraw his guilty plea and to be tried by a jury, but was unsuccessful. Read more
23 Apr 1998: Thanassis Skordalos, Greek singer-songwriter and lyra player (born 1920) Thanassis Skordalos was a musician from Crete, noted for playing the lyra, the bowed string instrument of Crete and most popular surviving form of the medieval Byzantine lyra. Read more
23 Apr 1997: Denis Compton, English cricketer and footballer (born 1918) Denis Charles Scott Compton was an English multi-sportsman. As a cricketer he played in 78 Test matches and spent his whole career with Middlesex. As a footballer, he played as a winger and spent most of his career at Arsenal, where he would win both the top flight and F.A. Cup. Read more
23 Apr 1996: Jean Victor Allard, Canadian general (born 1913) General Jean Victor Allard was the first French Canadian to become Chief of the Defence Staff, the highest position in the Canadian Forces, from 1966 to 1969. He was also the first to hold the accompanying rank of general. Read more
23 Apr 1996: P. L. Travers, Australian-English author and actress (born 1899) Pamela Lyndon Travers was an Australian-British writer who spent most of her career in England. She is best known for the Mary Poppins series of books, which feature the eponymous magical nanny. Read more
23 Apr 1995: Douglas Lloyd Campbell, Canadian farmer and politician, 13th Premier of Manitoba (born 1895) Douglas Lloyd Campbell was a Canadian politician in Manitoba. He served as the 13th premier of Manitoba from 1948 to 1958. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for 47 years, longer than anyone in the province's history. Read more
23 Apr 1995: Howard Cosell, American lawyer and journalist (born 1918) Howard William Cosell was an American sports journalist, broadcaster and author. Cosell became prominent and influential during his tenure with ABC Sports from 1953 until 1985. Read more
23 Apr 1995: Riho Lahi, Estonian journalist (born 1904) Riho Lahi was an Estonian writer, journalist and cartoonist, probably best known by his fictional character Kihva Värdi. Read more
23 Apr 1995: John C. Stennis, American lawyer and politician (born 1904) John Cornelius Stennis was an American politician who served as a U.S. senator from the state of Mississippi. He was a Democrat who served in the Senate for over 41 years, becoming its most senior member for his last eight years. He retired from the Senate in 1989, and is, to date, the last Democrat to have been a U.S. senator from Mississippi. At the time of his retirement, Stennis was the last senator to have served during the presidency of Harry S. Truman. Read more
23 Apr 1993: Cesar Chavez, American activist, co-founded the United Farm Workers (born 1927) Cesario Estrada "Cesar" Chavez was an American labor unionist and political activist. Along with Dolores Huerta and Gilbert Padilla, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), which later merged with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) to become the United Farm Workers (UFW). Ideologically, his worldview combined leftism with Catholic social teaching. Read more
23 Apr 1992: Satyajit Ray, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1921) Satyajit Ray was an Indian film director, screenwriter, author, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and composer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influential film directors in the history of cinema. He is celebrated for works including The Apu Trilogy (1955–1959), The Music Room (1958), The Big City (1963), Charulata (1964), and the Goopy–Bagha trilogy (1969–1992).[a] Read more
23 Apr 1992: Tanka Prasad Acharya, Nepalese politician, 27th Prime Minister of Nepal (born 1912) Tanka Prasad Acharya, also known as Jeudo-Shahid, was a Nepali politician who served as the 19th Prime Minister of Nepal from 1956 to 1957. He was one of the founders and the leader of the Nepal Praja Parishad, the first political party in Nepal with the goal of removing the Rana Dynasty's dictatorship. Read more
23 Apr 1991: Johnny Thunders, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1952) John Anthony Genzale, known professionally as Johnny Thunders, was an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He came to prominence in the early 1970s as a member of New York Dolls. He later formed the Heartbreakers and played as a solo artist. Read more
23 Apr 1990: Paulette Goddard, American actress (born 1910) Paulette Goddard was an American actress and socialite. She was a prominent leading actress during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Read more
23 Apr 1986: Harold Arlen, American composer (born 1905) Harold Arlen was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, including "Over the Rainbow", which won him the Oscar for Best Original Song, he was nominated as composer for 8 other Oscar awards. Arlen is a contributor to the Great American Songbook. "Over the Rainbow" was voted the 20th century's No. 1 song by the RIAA and the NEA. Read more
23 Apr 1986: Jim Laker, English international cricketer and sportscaster; holder of world record for most wickets taken in a match (born 1922) James Charles Laker was an English professional cricketer. A right-arm off break bowler, Laker is generally regarded as one of the greatest spin bowlers in cricket history. Read more
23 Apr 1986: Otto Preminger, Ukrainian-American actor, director, and producer (born 1905) Otto Ludwig Preminger was an Austrian-American film and theatre director, film producer and actor. He directed more than 35 feature films in a five-decade career after leaving the theatre, and was one of the most influential directors in Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s. He was nominated for three Academy Awards, twice for Best Director and once for Best Picture, among many other accolades. Read more
23 Apr 1985: Sam Ervin, American lawyer and politician (born 1896) Samuel James Ervin Jr. was an American politician who served as a U.S. senator from North Carolina from 1954 to 1974. A Southern Democrat, he liked to call himself a "country lawyer", and often told humorous stories in his Southern drawl. During his Senate career, Ervin was at first a staunch defender of Jim Crow laws and racial segregation, as the South's constitutional expert during the congressional debates on civil rights. However, unexpectedly, he became a liberal hero for his support of civil liberties. He is remembered for his work in the investigation committees that brought down Senator Joseph McCarthy in 1954 and especially for his leadership of the Senate committee's investigation of the Watergate scandal that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974. Read more
23 Apr 1985: Frank Farrell, Australian rugby league player and policeman (born 1916) Francis Michael "Bumper" Farrell was an Australian premiership winning and international representative rugby league footballer. A prop forward, his long club career with the Newtown Bluebags was from 1938 to 1951 with four Test appearances for the Australian national side between 1946 and 1948. Read more
23 Apr 1984: Red Garland, American pianist (born 1923) William McKinley "Red" Garland Jr. was an American modern jazz pianist. Known for his work as a bandleader and during the 1950s with Miles Davis, Garland helped popularize the block chord style of playing in jazz piano. Read more
23 Apr 1983: Buster Crabbe, American swimmer and actor (born 1908) Clarence Linden "Buster" Crabbe II was an American two-time Olympic swimmer and film and television actor. He won the 1932 Olympic gold medal for 400-metre freestyle swimming event, which launched his career on the silver screen and later television. He starred in a variety of popular feature films and movie serials released between 1933 and the 1950s, portraying the top three syndicated comic-strip heroes of the 1930s: Tarzan, Flash Gordon, and Buck Rogers. Read more
23 Apr 1981: Josep Pla, Catalan journalist and author (born 1897) Josep Pla i Casadevall was a Spanish journalist and a popular author. As a journalist he worked in France, Italy, Britain, Germany, and the Soviet Union, from where he wrote political and cultural chronicles in Catalan and Spanish. Read more
23 Apr 1966: George Ohsawa, Japanese founder of the Macrobiotic diet (born 1893) George Ohsawa was a Japanese author and proponent of alternative medicine who was the founder of the macrobiotic diet. When living in Europe he went by the pen names of Musagendo Sakurazawa, Nyoiti Sakurazawa, and Yukikazu Sakurazawa. He also used the French first name Georges while living in France, and his name is sometimes also given this spelling. He wrote about 300 books in Japanese and 20 in French. He defined health on the basis of seven criteria: lack of fatigue, good appetite, good sleep, good memory, good humour, precision of thought and action, and gratitude. Read more
23 Apr 1965: George Adamski, Polish-American ufologist and author (born 1891) George Adamski was a Polish-American author who became widely known in ufology circles, and to some degree in popular culture, after he displayed numerous photographs in the 1940s and 1950s that he said were of alien spacecraft, claimed to have met with friendly Nordic alien or "Space Brothers", and claimed to have taken flights with them to the Moon and other planets. Read more
23 Apr 1959: Bak Jungyang, Korean politician (born 1872) Pak Chungyang was a Korean bureaucrat and politician in the Japanese colonial government. His art names were Haeak (해악) and Ilso (일소), and his courtesy name was Wongeun (원근). He also had the Japanese names Shigeyō Hōchū (朴忠重陽), Jūyō Boku and Shin Yamamoto . Pak was Governor of the prefecture Kōkai Prefecture from 1921 to 1923 and in 1928. He was also governor of Chūseihoku Prefecture from 1923 to 1925. Read more
23 Apr 1951: Jules Berry, French actor and director (born 1883) Jules Berry was a French actor. Read more
23 Apr 1951: Charles G. Dawes, American banker and politician, 30th Vice President of the United States, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (born 1865) Charles Gates Dawes was the 30th vice president of the United States from 1925 to 1929 under President Calvin Coolidge. He was a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925 for his work on the Dawes Plan for World War I reparations, and a member of the Republican Party. Read more
23 Apr 1936: Teresa de la Parra, French-Venezuelan author (born 1889) Teresa de la Parra was a Venezuelan novelist. Read more
23 Apr 1915: Rupert Brooke, English poet (born 1887) Rupert Chawner Brooke was an English poet known for his idealistic war sonnets written during the First World War, especially "The Soldier". He was also known for his boyish good looks, which were said to have prompted the Irish poet W. B. Yeats to describe him as "the handsomest young man in England". He died of septicaemia following a mosquito bite whilst aboard a French hospital ship moored off the island of Skyros in the Aegean Sea. Read more
23 Apr 1907: Alferd Packer, American prospector and convicted cannibal (born 1842) Alfred Griner Packer, also known as the "Colorado Cannibal", was an American prospector and self-proclaimed wilderness guide who confessed to cannibalism during the winter of 1874. Though no clear or definitive evidence has been found to this day, and despite in-depth research about proof of his deeds, he is one of the four persons historically convicted for cannibalism in the United States. After emerging as the sole survivor of a six-man party who had attempted to travel through the San Juan Mountains of the Colorado Territory, he eventually confessed to having lived off the flesh of his companions, giving more than one version of his account as to the circumstances. Read more
23 Apr 1905: Gédéon Ouimet, Canadian politician, 2nd Premier of Quebec (born 1823) Gédéon Ouimet was a French-Canadian politician. Read more
23 Apr 1895: Carl Ludwig, German physician and physiologist (born 1815) Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig was a German physician and physiologist. His work as both a researcher and teacher had a major influence on the understanding, methods and apparatus used in almost all branches of physiology. Read more
23 Apr 1889: Jules Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly, French author and critic (born 1808) Jules-Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly was a French novelist, poet, short story writer, and literary critic. He specialised in mystery tales that explored hidden motivation and hinted at evil without being explicitly concerned with anything supernatural. He had a decisive influence on writers such as Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, Henry James, Léon Bloy, Marcel Proust and Carmelo Bene. Read more
23 Apr 1865: Silas Soule, American soldier and whistleblower of the Sand Creek Massacre (born 1838) Silas Stillman Soule was an American abolitionist, teenage conductor on the Underground Railroad, military officer, and early example of what would later be called a "whistleblower". He is honored as a hero for disobeying orders to participate in a massacre of Native Americans, and then giving evidence against his commander despite threats on his life. Read more
23 Apr 1850: William Wordsworth, English poet and author (born 1770) William Wordsworth was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication Lyrical Ballads (1798). Read more
23 Apr 1850: John Joel Glanton, American outlaw, soldier, mercenary, and Texas ranger (born ~1819) John Joel Glanton was an early settler of Arkansas Territory. He was also a Texas Ranger and a soldier in the Mexican–American War and the leader of a notorious gang of scalp-hunters in Northern Mexico and the Southwestern United States during the mid-19th century. Contemporary sources also describe him as a murderous outlaw and prominent participant in the Texas Revolution. He appears as a violent figure in the works of the prominent Western writers Larry McMurtry and Cormac McCarthy. Read more
23 Apr 1839: Jacques Félix Emmanuel Hamelin, French admiral and explorer (born 1768) Counter-Admiral Jacques Félix Emmanuel Hamelin was a French Navy officer and explorer. He fought in numerous naval engagements during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and conducted several exploratory voyages in the Indian Ocean and Southern Ocean. Read more
23 Apr 1827: Georgios Karaiskakis, Greek general (born 1780) Georgios Karaiskakis, born Georgios Karaiskos, was a Greek military commander and a leader of the Greek War of Independence. Read more

Why is 23 April Important in World History?

Several significant political, cultural, educational, and sporting events took place on 23 April, making it an important topic for general knowledge and competitive examinations.

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On 23 April, several important historical events, notable births, and major milestones occurred in World history.

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