Today in History, 4/23

1014: King Brian of Ireland is murdered by Vikings. That's what you get for spelling your name wrong, tough guy!
1348: King Edward III of England founds the Order of the Garter on St. George's Day. The Order of the Garter is a very exclusive club, with membership being limited to the king, the Prince of Wales and no more than 24 other people. Some years later, when Charles I was being executed, the only decoration he wore was his Order of the Garter pin to remind people of exactly who they were executing.1564: William Shakespeare is born.
1597: Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor is first performed. Queen Elizabeth I was in attendance that night.
1661: King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland is crowned in Westminster Abbey. His rule was backdated to January 30, 1649, the day his father was executed.
1791: James Buchanan, 15th President of the United States, is born.
1813: Stephen A. Douglas is born. He was the Democratic nominee who ran against Lincoln in 1860.1867: William Lincoln patents the zoetrope, a machine that displays a moving image by mounting a strip of drawings in a wheel.1897: General Lucius Clay is born. He was the military governor of Germany after WWII and is considered the father of the Berlin Airlift.1928: Shirley Temple is born.1932: Running advocate Jim Fixx is born.1942: Sandra Dee is born. She was the original Gidget.1949: Joyce DeWitt is born.1954: Michael Moore is born.1955: Judy Davis is born. She was in one of my favorite movies, Barton Fink.

1955: Hank Aaron hits the first of his 755 major league home runs.1960: Valerie Bertinelli is born. Many a young man of my generation fell in love with her on One Day at a Time.1969: Sirhan Sirhan is sentenced to death for the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. The sentence was later commuted to life in prison.1975: William Hartnell dies. He is the actor who originated the character of the Doctor on Doctor Who. Many of the character's well-known attributes (forgetfulness and irascibility, for example) came about because Mr. Hartnell wasn't feeling well or had forgotten his lines. One of my favorite Doctors!

1985: Coca-Cola releases New Coke.1987: 28 construction workers die when the L'Ambiance Plaza apartment build collapses in Bridgeport, CT.
1988: Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon leaves the charts after a record 741 weeks. Here's proof that Dark Side of the Moon and Wizard of Oz match up perfectly. Now if only someone would match up Zardoz and Rush's 2112.

Today in History elements mostly cribbed from The History Channel, Wikipedia, The New York Times, The Jewish World Review, The Writer's Almanac and anything else I can dig up.