April 23 in History

Historical Events on April 23

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.

1918 World War I: The British Royal Navy makes a raid in an attempt to neutralise the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge.

1941 World War II: The Greek government and King George II evacuate Athens before the invading Wehrmacht.

1945 World War II: Adolf Hitler's designated successor Hermann Göring sends him a telegram asking permission to take leadership of the Third Reich, which causes Hitler to replace him with Joseph Goebbels and Karl Dönitz.

1968 Vietnam War: Student protesters at Columbia University in New York City take over administration buildings and shut down the university.

1985 Coca-Cola changes its formula and releases New Coke. The response is overwhelmingly negative, and the original formula is back on the market in less than three months.

1990 Namibia becomes the 160th member of the United Nations and the 50th member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

1993 Eritreans vote overwhelmingly for independence from Ethiopia in a United Nations-monitored referendum.

1993 Sri Lankan politician Lalith Athulathmudali is assassinated while addressing a gathering, approximately four weeks ahead of the Provincial Council elections for the Western Province.

All Events

Famous Birthdays on April 23

1564 William Shakespeare

1977 John Cena

1977 John Oliver

1983 Daniela Hantuchová

All Births

Famous Deaths on April 23

1616 William Shakespeare

1993 Cesar Chavez

2005 Joh Bjelke-Petersen

2007 Boris Yeltsin

All Deaths

Choose Another Date