Browse all events for April 23.
Blackout restrictions in Scotland lifted as World War II heads to a conclusion.
A blackout during war, or in preparation for an expected war, is the practice of collectively minimizing outdoor light, including upwardly directed (or reflected) light. This was done in the 20th century to prevent crews of enemy aircraft from being able to identify their targets by sight, such as during the London Blitz of 1940. In coastal regions, a shoreside blackout of city lights also helped protect ships from being seen silhouetted against the artificial light by enemy submarines farther out at sea.
J.P. Donleavy, author of The Ginger Man, is born in New York
James Patrick Donleavy (23 April 1926 – 11 September 2017) was an American-Irish novelist, short story writer and playwright. His best-known work is the novel The Ginger Man, which was initially banned for obscenity.
A general strike takes place throughout Ireland against the British governments attempts to introduce conscription
The Conscription Crisis of 1918 stemmed from a move by the British government to impose conscription (military draft) in Ireland in April 1918 during the First World War. Vigorous opposition was led by trade unions, Irish nationalist parties and Roman Catholic bishops and priests. A conscription law was passed but was never put in effect; no one in Ireland was drafted into the British Army. The proposal and backlash galvanised support for political parties which advocated Irish separatism and influenced events in the lead-up to the Irish War of Independence.
James Henthorn Todd, scholar, is born in Dublin
James Henthorn Todd (23 April 1805 – 28 June 1869) was a biblical scholar, educator, and Irish historian. He is noted for his efforts to place religious disagreements on a rational historical footing, for his advocacy of a liberal form of Protestantism, and for his endeavors as an educator, librarian, and scholar in Irish history.
Thomas Romney Robinson, astronomer and physicist, is born in Dublin
John Thomas Romney Robinson FRAS FRS FRSE (23 April 1792 – 28 February 1882), usually referred to as Thomas Romney Robinson, was a 19th-century Irish astronomer and physicist. He was the longtime director of the Armagh Astronomical Observatory, one of the chief astronomical observatories in the UK of its time.
Actress George Anne Bellamy is born in Fingal, Co. Dublin.
George Anne Bellamy (née O’Hara; 23 April 1731 – 16 February 1788) was an Irish actress. She took leading roles at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
Mervyn Archdall, antiquary, is born in Dublin
Mervyn Archdall (1723 – 1791) was an Irish antiquary and clergyman of the Church of Ireland.
Charles II crowned at Westminster Abbey.
Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651 and King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685.
Four days after the end of his campaign justiciar Thomas Rokeby dies in Kilkea, Co. Kildare
Sir Thomas de Rokeby (died 1356 or 1357) was a soldier and senior Crown official in fourteenth-century England and Ireland, who served as Justiciar of Ireland.
King Alexander I died at Stirling Castle, succeeded by David I.
Alexander I (medieval Gaelic: Alaxandair mac Maíl Coluim; modern Gaelic: Alasdair mac Mhaol Chaluim; c. 1078 – 23 April 1124), posthumously nicknamed The Fierce, was the King of Scotland from 1107 to his death. He succeeded his brother, King Edgar, and his successor was his brother David. He was married to Sybilla of Normandy, an illegitimate daughter of Henry I of England.