Important Events From This day in History April 23rd

 1984 - U.S.A. Marvin Gaye

1984 : Singer Marvin Gaye the Motown singer who had numerous hits including "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" was shot to death by his father at age 45. His father was suffering from a brain tumor at the time and after pleading guilty to manslaughter was sentenced to six years of probation. Find More What happened in 1984

 

 

1985 - U.S.A. Coca-Cola

1985 : The Coca-Cola Company announced it has changed its formula for Coke and will known as New Coke ( less than 6 months later they returned to the original formula ).

 

 

1968 - UK Decimalisation

1968 : Decimal coins were introduced as part of decimalisation with
New 5p coin replacing 1 shilling ( 12 old pence )
New 10p coin replacing 2 shillings Florin ( 24 old pence )
The current system of pounds, shillings and pence will be replaced by Decimal currency on February 15th 1971.

 

 

 

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1979 - US Oil Company Windfall Profits Tax

1979 : Major oil companies have been reporting sharp profit increases in profits , the profits have been made due to the large increases in supply prices and the President Carter is thinking of implementing a windfall profits tax on oil companies excessive profits . In 1980 The United States government did levy the tax on oil companies because of the profits they earned as a result of the sharp increase in oil prices brought about by the Arab oil embargo ( ring any bells ).

 

 

1898 - Spain declares war on the United States

1898 : Spain declares war on the United States on This Day 1898 after rejecting America's ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba. Following the declaration The American Asiatic Squadron under Commodore George Dewey engaged the Spanish Pacific Squadron under Admiral Patricio Montojo y Pasarón in Manila Bay, the Philippines and decimated the Spanish squadron.

 

 

1922 - U.S.A. Bootlegging

1922 : A Bootlegging scheme where liquor was smuggled into the US from Bermuda was broken up today when on former submarine chaser ships with officers wearing the uniform of the United States Navy was broken up today when the ships and crew were seized.

 

 

1932 - England Royal Shakespeare Theatre

1932 : The New Royal Shakespeare Theatre opens in Shakespeare's birthplace of Stratford-upon-Avon, it had been rebuilt after a fire destroyed the original Shakespeare Memorial Theatre.

 

 

1938 - Austria Persecution of The Jews

1938 : Jewish shopkeepers in Vienna were forced to picket their own shops with placards saying don't buy from Jews in 1938, they were forced to do this by members of the Hitler Youth Movement , at the same time the librarian of the national library was given a list of non Arian works to be removed from the library.

 

 

 

1939 - Spain Franco Government Recognized

1939 : Following the end of the civil war in Spain the United States recognizes the Franco government.

 

 

1940 - U.S.A. Night Club Fire

1940 : More than 200 African Americans died today when fire broke out in the Rhythm Night Club in Natchez , Mississippi.

 

 

1944 - Germany World War II

1944 : 2000 bombers and fighters from Britain and another 1000 launched from Italy launched an attack on German Plane Plants in Germany, Bucharest and Ploesti. General MacArthur isolated 100,000 Japanese Troops in New Guinea when beachheads were established at Hollandia and Aitape in New Guinea.

 

 

1945 - Okinawa World War II

1945 : The United States Tenth Army landed yesterday morning on Okinawa, 362 miles from the Japanese mainland. The landings and assault on the Island met with much less resistance than was expected from the Japanese.

 

 

1957 - Radar Devices Used To Enforce Speed Limits

1957 : More police forces throughout the United States are to buy and use a greater number of portable speed radar checking devices to enforce speed limits.

 

 

1967 - Soviet Cosmonaut Dies In Accident

1967 : Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov is killed when his parachute fails to deploy during his Soyuz I spacecraft landing.

 

 

http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/april24th.html

 

 

 

1970 - U.S.A. Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act

1970 : President Richard Nixon signed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act which would ban the advertising of cigarettes on television and radio beginning on January 2nd, 1971.

 

 

1979 - UK National Front

1979 : Thousands of protesters gathered to demonstrate against a National Front campaign meeting in Southall London and one protestor a teacher is killed

 

 

1983 - U.S.A. Renewable Energy

1983 : A think tank in Washington predicted by the year 2000 50% of the worlds energy resources will be met from renewable energy sources . ( In 2004 Oil accounted for 37.6% , Natural Gas 25.6% and Coal for 23.1% so the total for Non Renewable Energy Sources = 85.2% ) so predictions were somewhat wrong.

 

 

1984 - U.S.A. Aids

1984 : Researchers announced have discovered and isolated a virus they say is likely to be the primary cause of AIDS, the mysterious and deadly disease that destroys the body's protective immune system.

 

 

1998 - U.S.A. James Earl Ray

1998 : James Earl Ray, the convicted killer of the black American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, has died from a terminal liver disease while still incarcerated. He protested his innocence to the murder till the end.

 

 

2001 - Serbia Slobodan Milosevic

2001 : Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic is arrested on suspicion of corruption, abuse of power, and embezzlement by Serbian authorities at his Belgrade villa.

 

 

2003 - Iraq Pfc. Jessica Lynch

2003 : US troops rescue Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch from a hospital in Nasiriyah, Iraq, where she had been held prisoner since her unit was ambushed nine days earlier.

 

 

2007 - Nine U.S. troops are killed in Iraq

2007 : Two suicide car bombers have struck a U.S. patrol base in the Diyala province, killing nine soldiers and wounding twenty others. All of the casualties were members of the Army's 82nd Airborne, which is based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. "Today represents the single greatest loss of life for soldiers from Fort Bragg in more than five years of simultaneous deployment," a media affairs officer said. Police have reported that the bombers rammed their cars into a checkpoint in the town of Khalis, which is 50 miles from Baghdad.

 

 

2010 - Arizona has a new immigration law

2010 : Arizona's governor, Jan Brewer, has signed an immigration bill into law that is seen as one of the toughest in the U.S., despite criticism of it by President Obama. The bill will require State Police to question people about their immigration status if there is 'reasonable suspicion.' Its aim is to identify, prosecute and deport illegal immigrants, although it has already unleashed protests and reignited the divisive battle over immigration reform.

 

 

2012 - President of Yemen Announces Plans to Step Down

2012 : Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh agreed to leave power after thirty two years in order to appease protesters in the country and curb violence. Saleh agreed to a transition plan that would take thirty days. After signing an agreement with opposition leaders there would be thirty days before he would leave power to the vice-president and receive immunity from any prosecution. Despite the progress, the opposition leaders still needed to agree on the conditions of the handover of power and protesters were resistant to accept a transitional government doubting that the President would actually leave his position of power.

 

 

2012 - Dutch Government Falls During Budget Crisis

2012 : The Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte gave his resignation to Queen Beatrix after his cabinet fell apart during budget talks. Rutte's government lasted 558 days the fourth shortest period of a government in the country since World War II. His resignation meant that political parties would have to gear up for early elections.

 

 

2013 - Same-Sex Marriage Approved in France

2013 : The French parliament made the final approval of same-sex marriage in the country with a vote of 321 to 225. The bill also legalized the adoption of children by same-sex couples.

 

 

2014 - Russian Parliament Bans Swearing in Art

2014 : The lower house of the Russian parliament passed a bill that would ban swearing in all film, music and art. They would issue fines for swearing in movies, concerts, plays, etc. The fines would be around $70 for members of the general public and $140 for officials. If passed in the upper house and signed by President Putin it would become effective by July of 2014 and the inappropriate words would be determined by a panel.