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)

April 22 : Oh, Father, teach me to trust You, to willingly go where You lead. Greta Zwaan, Feelings

On This Day, 22 April...

238 – Year of the Six Emperors: The Roman Senate outlaws emperor Maximinus Thrax for his bloodthirsty proscriptions in Rome and nominates two of its members, Pupienus and Balbinus, to the throne.

1500 – Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral lands in Brazil.

1519 – Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés establishes a settlement at Veracruz, Mexico.

1529 – Treaty of Zaragoza divides the eastern hemisphere between Spain and Portugal along a line 297.5 leagues or 17° east of the Moluccas.

1622 – The Capture of Ormuz by the East India Company ends Portuguese control of Hormuz Island.

1809 – The second day of the Battle of Eckmühl: The Austrian army is defeated by the First French Empire army led by Napoleon and driven over the Danube in Regensburg.

1836 – Texas Revolution: A day after the Battle of San Jacinto, forces under Texas General Sam Houston identify Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna among the captives of the battle when one of his fellow captives mistakenly gives away his identity.

1864 – The U.S. Congress passes the Coinage Act of 1864 that mandates that the inscription In God We Trust be placed on all coins minted as United States currency.

1876 – The first game in the history of the National League was played at the Jefferson Street Grounds in Philadelphia. This game is often pointed to as the beginning of the MLB.

1889 – At noon, thousands rush to claim land in the Land Rush of 1889. Within hours the cities of Oklahoma City and Guthrie are formed with populations of at least 10,000.

1898 – Spanish–American War: The USS Nashville captures a Spanish merchant ship.

1906 – The 1906 Intercalated Games, not now recognized as part of the official Olympic Games, open in Athens.

1915 – The use of poison gas in World War I escalates when chlorine gas is released as a chemical weapon in the Second Battle of Ypres.

1930 – The United Kingdom, Japan, and the United States sign the London Naval Treaty regulating submarine warfare and limiting shipbuilding.

1944 – The 1st Air Commando Group using Sikorsky R-4 helicopters stage the first use of helicopters in combat with combat search and rescue operations in the China Burma India Theater.

1944 – World War II: Operation Persecution is initiated: Allied forces land in the Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura) area of New Guinea.

1945 – World War II: Prisoners at the Jasenovac concentration camp revolt. Five hundred twenty are killed and around eighty escape.

1945 – World War II: Führerbunker: After learning that Soviet forces have taken Eberswalde without a fight, Adolf Hitler admits defeat in his underground bunker and states that suicide is his only recourse.

1948 – Arab–Israeli War: Haifa, a major part of Israel, is captured from Arab forces.

1951 – Korean War: The Chinese People's Volunteer Army begin assaulting positions defended by the Royal Australian Regiment and the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry at the Battle of Kapyong.

1954 – Red Scare: Witnesses begin testifying and live television coverage of the Army–McCarthy hearings begin.

1969 – British yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston wins the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race and completes the first solo non-stop circumnavigation of the world.

1970 – The first Earth Day is celebrated.

1972 – Vietnam War: Increased American bombing in Vietnam prompts anti-war protests in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco.

1977 – Optical fiber is first used to carry live telephone traffic.

1983 – The German magazine Stern claims the "Hitler Diaries" had been found in wreckage in East Germany; the diaries are subsequently revealed to be forgeries.

1992 – In a series of explosions in Guadalajara, Mexico, 206 people are killed, nearly 500 injured and 15,000 left homeless.

1993 – Eighteen-year-old Stephen Lawrence is murdered in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus in Well Hall, Eltham.

1997 – Haouch Khemisti massacre in Algeria where 93 villagers are killed.

2000 – In a pre-dawn raid, federal agents seize six-year-old Elián González from his relatives' home in Miami.

2004 – Two fuel trains collide in Ryongchon, North Korea, killing up to 150 people.

2005 – Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi apologizes for Japan's war record.

2008 – The United States Air Force retires the remaining F-117 Nighthawk aircraft in service.

2013 – The Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrest and charge two men with plotting to disrupt a Toronto area train service in a plot claimed to be backed by Al-Qaeda elements.

2014 – More than 60 people are killed and 80 are seriously injured in a train crash in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Katanga Province.

2016 – The Paris Agreement is signed, an agreement to help fight global warming.

Born

1914 – Baldev Raj Chopra, Indian director and producer.

1929 – Robert Wade-Gery, English diplomat, British High Commissioner to India.

1935 – Bhama Srinivasan, Indian-American mathematician and academic.

1945 – Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Indian civil servant, and politician, 22nd Governor of West Bengal.

RIP

2013 – Lalgudi Jayaraman, Indian violinist and composer (b. 1930)

2013 – J. S. Verma, Indian judge, 27th Chief Justice of India (b. 1933)

April 21 : Do it again and again. Consistency makes the rain drops to create holes in the rock. Whatever is difficult can be done easily with regular attendance, attention and action.

On This Day, 21 April...

753 BC – Romulus founds Rome (traditional date).

43 BC – Battle of Mutina: Mark Antony is again defeated in battle by Aulus Hirtius, who is killed. Antony fails to capture Mutina and Decimus Brutus is murdered shortly after.

900 – The Laguna Copperplate Inscription (the earliest known written document found in what is now the Philippines): the Commander-in-Chief of the Kingdom of Tondo, as represented by the Honourable Jayadewa, Lord Minister of Pailah, pardons from all debt the Honourable Namwaran and his relations.

1092 – The Diocese of Pisa is elevated to the rank of a metropolitan archdiocese by Pope Urban II

1506 – The three-day Lisbon Massacre comes to an end with the slaughter of over 1,900 suspected Jews by Portuguese Catholics.

1509 – Henry VIII ascends the throne of England on the death of his father, Henry VII.

1526 – The last ruler of the Lodi dynasty, Ibrahim Lodi is defeated and killed by Babur in the First Battle of Panipat.

1615 – The Wignacourt Aqueduct is inaugurated in Malta.

1782 – The city of Rattanakosin, now known internationally as Bangkok, is founded on the eastern bank of the Chao Phraya River by King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke.

1792 – Tiradentes, a revolutionary leading a movement for Brazil's independence, is hanged, drawn and quartered.

1802 – Twelve thousand Wahhabis under Abdul-Aziz bin Muhammad, the invaded city of Karbala, killed over three thousand inhabitants and sacked the city.

1806 – Action of 21 April 1806: A French frigate escapes British forces off the coast of South Africa.

1809 – Two Austrian army corps are driven from Landshut by a First French Empire army led by Napoleon as two French corps to the north hold off the main Austrian army on the first day of the Battle of Eckmühl.

1821 – Benderli Ali Pasha arrives in Constantinople as the new Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire; he remains in power for only nine days before being sent into exile.

1836 – Texas Revolution: The Battle of San Jacinto: Republic of Texas forces under Sam Houston defeat troops under Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.

1856 – Australian labor movement: Stonemasons and building workers on building sites around Melbourne march from the University of Melbourne to Parliament House to achieve an eight-hour day.

1894 – Norway formally adopts the Krag–Jørgensen bolt-action rifle as the main arm of its armed forces, a weapon that would remain in service for almost 50 years.

1898 – Spanish–American War: The United States Navy begins a blockade of Cuban ports. When the U.S. Congress issued a declaration of war on April 25, it declared that a state of war had existed from this date.

1914 – Ypiranga incident: A German arms shipment to Mexico is intercepted by the U.S. Navy near Veracruz.

1918 – World War I: German fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen, better known as "The Red Baron", is shot down and killed over Vaux-sur-Somme in France.

1926 – Al-Baqi cemetery, a former site of the mausoleum of four Shi'a Imams, is leveled to the ground by Wahhabis.

1934 – The "Surgeon's Photograph", the most famous photo allegedly showing the Loch Ness Monster, is published in the Daily Mail (in 1999, it is revealed to be a hoax).

1945 – World War II: Soviet forces south of Berlin at Zossen attack the German High Command headquarters.

1948 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 47 relating to Kashmir conflict is adopted.

1952 – Secretary's Day (now Administrative Professionals' Day) is first celebrated.

1960 – Brasília, Brazil's capital, is officially inaugurated. At 09:30, the Three Powers of the Republic are simultaneously transferred from the old capital, Rio de Janeiro.

1962 – The Seattle World's Fair (Century 21 Exposition) opens. It is the first World's Fair in the United States since World War II.

1963 – The first election of the Universal House of Justice is held, marking its establishment as the supreme governing institution of the Bahá'í Faith.

1964 – A Transit-5bn satellite fails to reach orbit after launch; as it re-enters the atmosphere, 2.1 pounds (0.95 kg) of radioactive plutonium in its SNAP RTG power source is widely dispersed.

1965 – The 1964–1965 New York World's Fair opens for its second and final season.

1966 – Rastafari movement: Haile Selassie of Ethiopia visits Jamaica, an event now celebrated as Grounation Day.

1967 – Greek military junta of 1967–74: A few days before the general election in Greece, Colonel George Papadopoulos leads a coup d'état, establishing a military regime that lasts for seven years.

1975 – Vietnam War: President of South Vietnam Nguyễn Văn Thiệu flees Saigon, as Xuân Lộc, the last South Vietnamese outpost blocking a direct North Vietnamese assault on Saigon, falls.

1977 – Annie opens on Broadway.

1982 – Baseball: Rollie Fingers of the Milwaukee Brewers becomes the first pitcher to record 300 saves.

1985 – The compound of the militant group The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord surrenders to federal authorities in Arkansas after a two-day government siege.

1987 – The Tamil Tigers are blamed for a car bomb that detonates in the Sri Lankan capital city of Colombo, killing 106 people.

1989 – Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: In Beijing, around 100,000 students gather in Tiananmen Square to commemorate Chinese reform leader Hu Yaobang.

1993 – The Supreme Court in La Paz, Bolivia, sentences former dictator Luis García Meza to 30 years in jail without parole for murder, theft, fraud and violating the constitution.

2004 – Five suicide car bombers target police stations in and around Basra, killing 74 people and wounding 160.

2010 – The controversial Kharkiv Pact (Russian Ukrainian Naval Base for Gas Treaty) is signed in Kharkiv, Ukraine, by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev; it was unilaterally terminated by Russia on March 31, 2014.

2012 – Two trains are involved in a head-on collision near Sloterdijk, Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, injuring 116 people.

2012 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 2043 relating to Syrian uprising is adopted.

2014 – The American city of Flint, Michigan switches its water source to the Flint River, beginning the ongoing Flint water crisis which has caused lead poisoning in up to 12,000 people, and 15 deaths from Legionnaires disease, ultimately leading to criminal indictments against 15 people, five of whom have been charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Born

1945 – Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan, Indian cricketer and umpire

1950 – Shivaji Satam, Indian actor

RIP

1900 – Vikramatji Khimojiraj, Indian ruler.

1938 – Muhammad Iqbal, Indian-Pakistani philosopher and poet.

2006 – T. K. Ramakrishnan, Indian politician.

2013 – Shakuntala Devi, Indian mathematician and astrologer.

2015 – Janaki Ballabh Patnaik, Indian politician, Governor of Assam.