This day in history

[April 23, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Friday, April 23, the 113th day of 2010. There are 252 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On April 23, 1910, former President Theodore Roosevelt delivered his famous "Man in the Arena" speech at the Sorbonne in Paris. In it, Roosevelt declared, "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena."

On this date:

In 1616, English poet and dramatist William Shakespeare, 52, died on what has been traditionally regarded as the anniversary of his birth in 1564.

In 1789, President-elect George Washington 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, Pa.

In 1896, the Vitascope system for projecting movies onto a screen was publicly demonstrated in New York City.

In 1940, about 200 people died in the Rhythm Night Club Fire in Natchez, Miss.

In 1954, Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves hit the first of his record 755 major-league home runs, in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals. (The Braves won, 7-5.)

In 1968, student protesters began occupying buildings on the campus of Columbia University in New York; police put down the protests a week later.

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 1985, the Coca-Cola Co. announced it was changing the secret flavor formula for Coke (negative public reaction forced the company to resume selling the original version).

In 1998, James Earl Ray, who'd confessed to assassinating the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and then insisted he'd been framed, died at a Nashville hospital at age 70.

Ten years ago: Elian Gonzalez spent a secluded Easter with his father at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington, a day after the 6-year-old was removed from his Miami relatives' home in a pre-dawn raid by immigration agents. Twenty-one tourists and workers were kidnapped from a Malaysian diving resort by Abu Sayyaf rebels. (All were later freed in exchange for millions of dollars in ransom reportedly financed by Libya.)

Five years ago: Leaders of China and Japan met in Jakarta, Indonesia, to try to settle their nations' worst dispute in three decades, but failed to reach an agreement in the bitter feud over Tokyo's handling of its World War II atrocities. Silvio Berlusconi was sworn in as head of Italy's 60th postwar government. Recently created Web site YouTube uploaded its first video, consisting of 19 seconds of co-founder Jawed Karim in front of an elephant pen at the San Diego Zoo. Renowned British actor Sir John Mills died in Denham, England, at age 97.

One year ago: President Barack Obama met privately with leading executives of credit-card issuing companies; afterward, the president said he was determined to get a credit-card law passed that eliminated the tricky fine print, sudden rate increases and late fees.

Today's birthdays: Actress-turned-diplomat Shirley Temple Black is 82. Actor Alan Oppenheimer is 80. Actor David Birney is 71. Actor Lee Majors is 71. Irish nationalist Bernadette Devlin McAliskey is 63. Actress Blair Brown is 62. Writer-director Paul Brickman is 61. Actress Joyce DeWitt is 61. Actor James Russo is 57. Filmmaker-author Michael Moore is 56. Actress Judy Davis is 55. Actress Jan Hooks is 53. Actress Valerie Bertinelli is 50. Actor Craig Sheffer is 50. Actor George Lopez is 49. Rock musician Gen is 46. U.S. Olympic gold medal skier Donna Weinbrecht is 45. Actress Melina Kanakaredes (kah-nah-KAH'-ree-deez) is 43. Rock musician Stan Frazier (Sugar Ray) is 42. Country musician Tim Womack (Sons of the Desert) is 42. Actor Scott Bairstow (BEHR'-stow) is 40. Actor Barry Watson is 36. Actor Kal Penn is 33. MLB All-Star Andruw Jones is 33. Actress Jaime King is 31. Actor Aaron Hill is 27. Actress Rachel Skarsten is 25. Tennis player Nicole Vaidisova (vay-deh-SOH'-vuh) is 21. Actor Dev Patel (puh-TEHL') ("Slumdog Millionaire") is 20. Actor Matthew Underwood is 20. Actor Camryn Walling is 20.

Thought for today: "Don't pay any attention to the critics -- don't even ignore them." -- Samuel Goldwyn, American movie producer (1879-1974)

[Associated Press]

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