Today in History

Today is Saturday, April 23, the 114th day of 2016. There are 252 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On April 23, 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.

On this date:

In 1016, Aethelred II "The Unready," King of the English, died in London after 38 years on the throne.

In 1789, President-elect George Washington and his wife, Martha, 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 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 1976, "Ramones," the debut album of the punk rock group, was released by Sire Records.

In 1986, death claimed composer Harold Arlen at age 81 and movie director Otto Preminger at age 80.

In 1996, a civil court jury in The Bronx, New York, ordered Bernhard Goetz to pay $43 million to Darrell Cabey, one of four young men he'd shot on a subway car in 1984. A three-night auction of the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis' possessions began at Sotheby's in New York with a bidding frenzy.

In 2007, Boris Yeltsin, the first freely elected Russian president, died in Moscow at age 76.

Ten years ago: Osama bin Laden issued new threats in an audiotape broadcast on Arab television and accused the United States and Europe of supporting a "Zionist" war on Islam by cutting off funds to the Hamas-led Palestinian government.

Five years ago: Yemen's embattled president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, agreed to a proposal by Gulf Arab mediators to step down within 30 days and hand power to his deputy in exchange for immunity from prosecution. (Saleh ended up leaving office in Feb. 2012.) Former Sony Corp. president and chairman Norio Ohga, credited with developing the compact disc, died in Tokyo at age 81.

One year ago: Blaming the "fog of war," President Barack Obama revealed that U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan had inadvertently killed an American and an Italian, two hostages held by al-Qaida, as well as two other Americans who had leadership roles with the terror network. Former CIA Director David Petraeus, whose career was destroyed by an extramarital affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, was sentenced in Charlotte, North Carolina, to two years' probation and fined $100,000 for giving her classified material while she was working on the book. The Senate voted 56-43 to confirm Loretta Lynch as U.S. attorney general. Richard Corliss, 71, Time magazine's longtime film critic, died in New York.

Today's Birthdays: Actor Alan Oppenheimer is 86. Actor David Birney is 77. Actor Lee Majors is 77. Hockey Hall of Famer Tony Esposito is 73. Irish nationalist Bernadette Devlin McAliskey is 69. Actress Blair Brown is 69. Writer-director Paul Brickman is 67. Actress Joyce DeWitt is 67. Actor James Russo is 63. Filmmaker-author Michael Moore is 62. Actress Judy Davis is 61. Actress Valerie Bertinelli is 56. Actor Craig Sheffer is 56. Actor-comedian-talk show host George Lopez is 55. Rock musician Gen is 52. U.S. Olympic gold medal skier Donna Weinbrecht is 51. Actress Melina Kanakaredes is 49. Rock musician Stan Frazier (Sugar Ray) is 48. Country musician Tim Womack (Sons of the Desert) is 48. Actor Scott Bairstow is 46. Actor-writer John Lutz is 43. Actor Barry Watson is 42. Rock musician Aaron Dessner (The National) is 40. Rock musician Bryce Dessner (The National) is 40. Professional wrestler/actor John Cena is 39. Actor-writer-comedian John Oliver is 39. Actor Kal Penn is 39. MLB All-Star Andruw Jones is 39. Actress Jaime King is 37. Pop singer Taio Cruz is 33. Actor Aaron Hill is 33. Actor Jesse Lee Soffer is 32. Actress Rachel Skarsten is 31. Singer-songwriter John Fullbright is 28. Tennis player Nicole Vaidisova is 27. Actor Dev Patel (puh-TEHL') is 26. Actor Matthew Underwood is 26. Actor Camryn Walling is 26.

Thought for Today: "For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,/ When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,/ Must give us pause." -- From "Hamlet."