Today in History

April 23

1896 - Thomas Edison begins public showings of his films at Koster and Bial’s Music Hall in New York.

1904 - US acquires property of French Panama Canal Company.

1972 - Two US Apollo 16 astronauts blast off from the moon and rejoin command ship for journey back to earth.

1990 - Namibia becomes the 160th member of the United Nations.

1991 - Tens of thousands of striking Soviet workers fill the streets in Minsk on the eve of the Communist Party plenum.

2007 - Former Russian president Boris Yeltsin dies of cardiac arrest.

2013 - Kuwaiti Saud Al Sanousi wins the International Prize for Arabic Fiction.

2016 - The UAE and over 175 countries sign the historic Paris climate agreement at the UN headquarters.