This Day in History – April 23, 2011

1661 English king Charles II crowned in London 1662 Connecticut chartered as an English colony 1789 President-elect George Washington moves into Franklin House, New York 1851 Canada issues its 1st postage stamps 1860 Democratic convention in Charleston SC divided over slavery 1900 1st known occurrence of word “hillbillie” (New York Journal) 1918 National Urban League forms 1932 Shakespeare Memorial Theatre opens at Stratford-on-Avon 1940 Dance hall fires kills 198 (Natchez MS) 1945 Concentration camp Flossenburg liberated 1949 Courtesy mail boxes for motorists started in San Francisco 1950 1st major league day game completed under lights (Phillies 6, Braves 5) 1954 Hammerin’ Hank Aaron hits 1st of his 755 homers 1954 NBA adopts the 24-second shot clock rule 1956 US Supreme court ends race segregation on buses 1962 New York Mets win their 1st game ever, after going 0-9, beat Pittsburgh Pirates 9-1 1962 Ranger 4, 1st US satellite to reach Moon launched from Cape Canaveral 1965 Launch of 1st Soviet communications satellite 1967 Soyuz 1 launched; Vladimir Komarov becomes 1st in-flight casualty when its parachute lines became tangled and the parachutes failed to open properly upon return to Earth 1968 United Methodist Church forms 1968 1st decimal coins issued in Britain (5 & 10 pence) 1969 Sirhan Sirhan sentenced to death for killing Bobby Kennedy 1972 Apollo 16 astronauts explore Moon surface 1977 Dr Allen Bussey completes 20,302 yo-yo loops 1985 Coca-Cola announced it is changing its secret flavor formula 1988 A Greek pedals self-powered aircraft, 74 miles 1988 Federal smoking ban during domestic airline flights of 2 hours or less 1989 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar plays his last game as a Los Angeles Laker 1992 Marion Berry (former mayor of Washington DC) is released from prison 1992 McDonald’s opens its 1st fast-food restaurant in China 1994 Libertarian party nominates Howard Stern for Governor of New York 1995 President Bill Clinton declares a national day of mourning for Oklahoma City bombing victims 1996 Sotherby begins 4 day auction of Jackie O’s stuff-takes in $34.5 million]]]]> ]]>