This Day in History
23 Apr 1014
King Brian Boru of Ireland defeats Viking forces at Battle of Clontarf freeing Ireland from foreign control
23 Apr 1154
Damascus surrenders to Sultan Nur ad-Din van Aleppo
23 Apr 1348
1st English order of knighthood founded (Order of Garter)
23 Apr 1516
The German Beer Purity Law (Reinheitsgebot) is enforced across all of Bavaria by Wilhelm IV Duke of Bavaria stating beer should be brewed from only three ingredients water malt and hops
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William Shakespeare born
According to tradition the great English dramatist and poet William Shakespeare is born in Stratford-upon-Avon on April 23 1564. It is impossible to be certai...
Poet-soldier Rupert Brooke dies in Greece
On this day in 1915 Rupert Brooke a young scholar and poet serving as an officer in the British Royal Navy dies of blood poisoning on a hospital ship anchore...
Ford says that war is finished for America
At a speech at Tulane University President Gerald Ford says the Vietnam War is finished as far as America is concerned. Today Americans can regain the ...
Hank Aaron hits first home run of his MLB career
On April 23 1954 Hank Aaron knocks out the first home run of his Major League Baseball career. Twenty years later Aaron becomes baseballs new home ru...
James Buchanan is born
Future President James Buchanan is born in Cove Gap near Mercersburg Pennsylvania on this day in 1791. Buchanan remembered mostly for his administration...
William Byers publishes first Denver newspaper
Beating a rival publisher by a mere 20 minutes William Byers distributes the first newspaper ever published in the frontier boomtown of Denver Colorado.Byers ...
Judy Garland plays Carnegie Hall
She was one of the biggest and most popular movie stars of all time making her first film appearance at the age of seven and earning the first of three Oscar n...
Birth and death of William Shakespeare celebrated
Historians believe Shakespeare was born on this day in 1564 the same day he died in 1616.Although the plays of William Shakespeare may be the most widely read ...
Character actor Otto Preminger dies
On this day in 1986 the director producer and character actor Otto Preminger dies at the age of 80. Preminger a Jew who fled Austria before World War II mor...
Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov killed when parachute fails to deploy
On this day in 1967 Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov is killed when his parachute fails to deploy during his spacecrafts landing. Komarov was testing...
Sirhan Sirhan receives death penalty for assassination of Robert F. Kennedy
On this day in 1969 Sirhan Sirhan is sentenced to the death penalty after being convicted in the assassination of politician Robert F. Kennedy. In 1972 Sirhan...
President Truman confronts Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov
Less than two weeks after taking over as president after the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt Harry S. Truman gives a tongue-lashing to Soviet Foreign Minister V...
Panic has seized the country, writes Confederate President Jefferson Davis
Confederate President Jefferson Davis writes to his wife Varina of the desperate situating facing the Confederates.Panic has seized the country...
Chrysler buys luxury automaker Lamborghini
On this day in 1987 the Chrysler Corporation purchases Nuova Automobili F. Lamborghini the Bologna Italy-based maker of high-priced high-performance cars. A...
John Paul Jones burns Whitehaven, England
At 8 a.m. on this day in 1778 John Paul Jones with 30 volunteers from his ship the USS Ranger launches a surprise attack on the two harbor forts at Whitehav...
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