April 23 : Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. Because it's only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential.

On This Day, 23 April...

215 BC – A temple is built on the Capitoline Hill dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Lake Trasimene.

599 – Maya king Uneh Chan of Calakmul attacks rival city-state Palenque in southern Mexico, defeating queen Yohl Ik'nal and sacking the city.

711 – Dagobert III succeeds his father King Childebert III as King of the Franks.

1014 – Battle of Clontarf: High King of Ireland Brian Boru defeats Viking invaders, but is killed in battle.

1016 – Edmund Ironside succeeds his father Æthelred the Unready as King of England.

1343 – St. George's Night Uprising commences in the Duchy of Estonia.

1348 – The founding of the Order of the Garter by King Edward III is announced on St. George's Day.

1516 – The Bayerische Reinheitsgebot (regarding the ingredients of beer) is signed in Ingolstadt.

1521 – Battle of Villalar: King Charles I of Spain defeats the Comuneros.

1635 – The first public school in the United States, Boston Latin School, is founded in Boston.

1655 – The Siege of Santo Domingo begins during the Anglo-Spanish War, and fails seven days later.

1660 – Treaty of Oliva is established between Sweden and Poland.

1661 – King Charles II of England, Scotland, and Ireland is crowned in Westminster Abbey.

1815 – The Second Serbian Uprising: A second phase of the national revolution of the Serbs against the Ottoman Empire, erupts shortly after the annexation of the country to the Ottoman Empire.

1879 – Fire burns down the second main building and dome of the University of Notre Dame, which prompts the construction of the third, and current, Main Building with its golden dome.

1914 – First baseball game at Wrigley Field, then known as Weeghman Park, in Chicago.

1918 – World War I: The British Royal Navy makes a raid in an attempt to neutralize the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge.

1920 – The Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) is founded in Ankara. The assembly denounces the government of Sultan Mehmed VI and announces the preparation of a temporary constitution.

1927 – Cardiff City defeat Arsenal in the FA Cup Final, the only time it has been won by a team not based in England.

1935 – The Polish Constitution of 1935 is adopted.

1940 – The Rhythm Club fire at a dance hall in Natchez, Mississippi, kills 198 people.

1941 – World War II: The Greek government and King George II evacuate Athens before the invading Wehrmacht.

1942 – World War II: Baedeker Blitz – German bombers hit Exeter, Bath, and York in retaliation for the British raid on Lübeck.

1945 – World War II: Adolf Hitler's designated successor, Hermann Göring, sends him a telegram asking permission to take leadership of the Third Reich. Martin Bormann and Joseph Goebbels advise Hitler that the telegram is treasonous.

1946 – Manuel Roxas is elected the last President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.

1949 – Chinese Civil War: Establishment of the People's Liberation Army Navy.

1951 – Cold War: American journalist William N. Oatis is arrested for espionage by the Communist government of Czechoslovakia.

1961 – Algiers putsch by French generals.

1967 – Soviet space program: Soyuz 1 (Russian: Союз 1, Union 1) a manned spaceflight carrying cosmonaut Colonel Vladimir Komarov is launched into orbit.

1968 – Vietnam War: Student protesters at Columbia University in New York City take over administration buildings and shut down the university.

1971 – Bangladesh Liberation War: The Pakistan Army and Razakars massacre approximately 3,000 Hindu emigrants in the Jathibhanga area of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).

1985 – Coca-Cola changes its formula and releases New Coke. The response is overwhelmingly negative, and the original formula is back on the market in less than three months.

1990 – Namibia becomes the 160th member of the United Nations and the 50th member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

1993 – Eritreans vote overwhelmingly for independence from Ethiopia in a United Nations-monitored referendum.

1993 – Sri Lankan politician Lalith Athulathmudali is assassinated while addressing a gathering, approximately four weeks ahead of the Provincial Council elections for the Western Province.

2005 – The first ever YouTube video, titled "Me at the zoo", was published by user "jawed".

2013 – At least 28 people are killed and more than 70 are injured as violence breaks out in Hawija, Iraq.

Born 

1977 – Kal Penn, Indian-American actor

RIP 

1992 – Satyajit Ray, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1921)