April 23 in History: First Public School Opens, New Coke Introduced, and First YouTube Video Uploaded

Discover what happened on April 23 in history, along with notable events that shaped education, business, and digital culture.

What Happened on April 23 in History?

From the founding of America’s first public school to a famous marketing misstep and the birth of online video, April 23 highlights moments that influenced how we learn, consume, and connect.

APRIL 23 – TODAY IN HISTORY:

1635 – In Boston, MA, the Boston Public Latin School was established. It was the first public school building in the United States.

1789 – President George Washington moved into Franklin House, New York. It was the first executive mansion.

1872 – Charlotte E. Ray became the African American woman lawyer.

1878 – Lansing, MI inventor George Richmond was given a patent for the speaking telephone transmitter.

1896 – The Vitascope system for projecting movies onto a screen was demonstrated in New York, NY.

1900 – The word “hillbilly” was first used in print in an article in the “New York Journal.” It was spelled “Hill-Billie”.

1908 – President Theodore Roosevelt signed an act creating the U.S. Army Reserve.

1915 – The A.C.A. became the National Advisory Council on Aeronautics.

1951 – The Associated Press began use of the new service of teletype setting.

1954 – Hank Aaron, of the Milwaukee Braves, hit his first major-league home run on this day.

1967 – The Soyuz 1 was launched by Russia.

1968 – The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church merged to form the United Methodist Church.

1971 – The Soyuz 10 was launched.

1982 – The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that consumer prices declined the previous month (March). It was the first decline in almost 17 years.

1985 – The all-star charity group U.S.A. for Africa released their album “We Are the World”.

1985 – The Coca-Cola Company announced that it was changing its 99-year-old secret formula. “New Coke” was not successful, which resulted in them returning to the original version in less than three months. New Coke remained on the market until 2002.

1988 – A U.S. federal law took effect that banned smoking on flights that were under two hours.

1988 – Kanellos Kanelopoulos set three world records for human-powered flight when he stayed in the air for 74 miles and four hours in his pedal-powered “Daedalus”.

1988 – The Pink Floyd album “Dark Side of the Moon” left the Billboard charts for the first time. The album spend 741 consecutive weeks (over 14 years) on the Billboard 200.

1989 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played his last regular season game in the NBA.

1991 – The U.S. issued a patent (#5,008,959 to Edward and Richard Coppage of Centreville, VA, for their design of a Bulletproof Dress Shirt.

1997 – An infertility doctor in California announced that a 63-year-old woman had given birth in late 1996. The child was from a donor egg. The woman is the oldest known woman to give birth.

1997 – The Four Tops received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

2002 – Karen Hughes, the first President Bush’s confidant, director of communications and spokeswoman, resigns. She later accepts a diplomatic post, writes a book and becomes a publicity executive.

2003 – President George W. Bush signed legislation that authorized the design change of the 5-cent nickel for release in 2004. It was the first change to the coin in 65 years. The change, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase, was planned to run for only two years before returning to the previous design.

2004 – Michael Jackson dumped his “dream team” of defense lawyers Mark Geragos and Benjamin Brafman in favor of Thomas Mesereau Jr.

2005 – The first video was uploaded to YouTube.com. It was called “Me at the Zoo“.

2009 – The iTunes Music Store reached 1 billion applications downloaded.

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS ON APRIL 23:

Lee Majors – 87 years old (1939) – Actor

Michael Copps – 86 years old (1940) – Academic and politician

Gail Goodrich – 83 years old (1943) – Basketball player and coach

Blair Brown – 80 years old (1946) – Actress

Barbara McIlvaine Smith – 76 years old (1950) – Sac and Fox Nation Native American politician

Martin Bayerle – 75 years old (1951) – Treasure hunter

Narada Michael Walden – 74 years old (1952) – Singer-songwriter, drummer, and producer

James Russo – 73 years old (1953) – Actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

Michael Moore – 72 years old (1954) – Director, producer, and activist

Valerie Bertinelli – 66 years old (1960) – Actress

George Lopez – 65 years old (1961) – Comedian, actor, and talk show host

Robby Naish – 63 years old (1963) – Windsurfer

Matt Freeman – 60 years old (1966) – Bass player

Melina Kanakaredes – 59 years old (1967) – Actress

Martín López-Zubero – 57 years old (1969) – American-Spanish swimmer and coach

Dennis Culp – 56 years old (1970) – Singer-songwriter and trombonist

Uli Herzner – 55 years old (1971) – German-American fashion designer

Carlos Dengler – 52 years old (1974) – Bass player

Bobby Shaw – 51 years old (1975) – Football player

Gabriel Damon – 50 years old (1976) – Actor

Aaron Dessner – 50 years old (1976) – Guitarist, songwriter, and producer

John Cena – 49 years old (1977) – Professional wrestler and actor

Kal Penn – 49 years old (1977) – Indian-American actor

Jaime King – 47 years old (1979) – Actress and model

Joanna Krupa – 47 years old (1979) – Polish-American model and television personality

Kyle Beckerman – 44 years old (1982) – Footballer

Tony Sunshine – 44 years old (1982) – Singer-songwriter

Moose – 42 years old (1984) – Professional wrestler and football player

Jesse Lee Soffer – 42 years old (1984) – Actor

Alysia Montaño – 40 years old (1986) – Runner

Emily Fox – 39 years old (1987) – Basketball player

Patrick Maroon – 38 years old (1988) – Ice hockey player

Britt Baker – 35 years old (1991) – Professional wrestler

Caleb Johnson – 35 years old (1991) – Singer-songwriter

Kyle Juszczyk – 35 years old (1991) – Football player

Gigi Hadid – 31 years old (1995) – Fashion model and television personality

Zach Apple – 29 years old (1997) – Swimmer

Chloe Kim – 26 years old (2000) – Snowboarder

DAYS OF THE YEAR FOR APRIL 23:

For additional information check out websites like: www.on-this-day.com, www.born-today.com, www.famousbirthdays.com, www.daysoftheyear.com, and www.nationaldaycalendar.com.