April 23rd

Today's Highlight in History:
April 23rd, 1564, is believed to be the birthdate of English poet and dramatist William Shakespeare; he died 52 years later, also on April 23rd.

On this date:
In 1348, King Edward the Third of England established the Order of the Garter.

In 1789, President-elect Washington and his wife moved into the first executive mansion, the Franklin House, in New York.

In 1791, the 15th president of the United States, James Buchanan, was born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania.

In 1896, the "Vitascope" system for projecting movies onto a screen was demonstrated in New York City.

In 1899, Russian-American author Vladimir Nabokov was born in St. Petersburg.

In 1940, about 200 people died in a dance hall fire in Natchez, Mississippi.

In 1954, Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves hit the first of his record 755 major-league home runs, in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals. (The Braves won, 7-to-5.)

In 1969, Sirhan Sirhan was sentenced to death for assassinating New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy. (The sentence was later reduced to life imprisonment.)

In 1985, the Coca-Cola Company announced it was changing the secret flavor formula for Coke (negative public reaction forced the company to resume selling the original version).

In 1998, James Earl Ray, who confessed to assassinating the Reverend Martin Luther King Junior in 1968 and then insisted he was framed, died at a Nashville hospital at age 70.

Ten years ago: Freed American hostage Robert Polhill, released in Lebanon the day before, enjoyed his first full day of freedom at the U-S Air Force hospital in Wiesbaden, West Germany.

Five years ago: The nation observed a national day of mourning for the victims of the Oklahoma City blast. Sportscaster Howard Cosell died in New York at age 77. Former Senator John C. Stennis (Democrat, Mississippi) died in Jackson, Mississippi, at age 93.

One year ago: On the first day of a 50th anniversary NATO summit in Washington, Western leaders pledged to intensify military strikes against Yugoslavia and vowed "no compromise" on demands that Slobodan Milosevic withdraw his troops from Kosovo.

"...We are such stuff/ As dreams are made on, and our little life/ Is rounded with a sleep."

-- From "The Tempest," by William Shakespeare (1564-1616).