Today in history
Today is Sunday, April 23, the 113th day of 2017. There are 252 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History
On April 23, 1789, President-elect George Washington and his wife, Martha, moved into the first executive mansion, the Franklin House, in New York.
On this date
In 1016, Aethelred II “The Unready,” King of the English, died in London after 38 years on the throne.
In 1616 (Old Style calendar), English poet and dramatist William Shakespeare died in Stratford-upon-Avon on what has traditionally been regarded as the 52nd anniversary of his birth in 1564. In 1791, the 15th president of the United States, James Buchanan, was born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. In 1910, former President Theodore Roosevelt delivered his “Man in the Arena” speech at the Sorbonne in Paris. In 1935, Poland adopted a constitution which gave new powers to the presidency. In 1940, about 200 people died in the Rhythm Night Club Fire in Natchez, Mississippi. In 1954, Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves hit the first of his 755 major-league home runs in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals. (The Braves won, 7-5.) In 1969, Sirhan Sirhan was sentenced to death for assassinating New York Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. (The sentence was later reduced to life imprisonment.) In 1971, hundreds of Vietnam War veterans opposed to the conflict protested by tossing their medals and ribbons over a wire fence in front of the U.S. Capitol. In 1987, 28 construction workers were killed when an apartment complex being built in Bridgeport, Connecticut, suddenly collapsed. In 1992, McDonald’s opened its first fast-food restaurant in the Chinese capital of Beijing. In 2005, the recently cre- ated video-sharing website YouTube uploaded its first clip, “Me at the Zoo,” which showed YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim standing in front of an elephant enclosure at the San Diego Zoo.
Ten years ago: Boris Yeltsin, Russia’s first freely elected president, died in Moscow at age 76. Congressional Democratic leaders agreed on legislation requiring the first U.S. combat troops to be withdrawn from Iraq by Oct. 1, 2007, with a goal of a complete pullout six months later; President George W. Bush pledged to veto such a measure. Classes at Virginia Tech resumed one week after the killings of 32 victims by a suicidal gunman. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author David Halberstam died in a car crash in Menlo Park, California, at age 73. Five years ago: Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson broke down in tears while testifying at the Chicago trial of William Balfour, the man accused of killing her mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew in a jealous rage in 2008. (Balfour was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.) The government reported that Social Security was rushing even faster toward insolvency, with its trust funds expected to run dry in 2033, three years earlier than previously projected.
One year ago: A confident Donald Trump told supporters in Bridgeport, Connecticut, that he was not changing his pitch to voters, a day after his chief adviser assured Republican officials their party’s front-runner would show more restraint while campaigning. Britain marked the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare with parades, church services and stage performances; President Barack Obama took a break from political talks in London to tour the Globe Theatre, a re-creation of the venue where many of the Bard’s plays were first performed.