Today in History

Today is Friday, April 23, the 113rd day of 2010. There are 252 days left in the year.

1867 _ Queen Victoria and Napoleon III turn down plans for a channel tunnel

1949 _ Chinese Red army conquerors Nanjing

1954 _ Hammerin' Hank Aaron hits first of his 755 homers

1967 _ Soyuz 1 launched; Vladimir Komarov becomes first in-flight casualty when its parachute lines became tangled and the parachutes failed to open properly upon return to Earth

1969 _ Sirhan Sirhan sentenced to death for killing Bobby Kennedy

1984 _ AIDS-virus identified (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome)

1985 _ Coca-Cola announced it is changing its secret flavor formula

1993 _ Eritrea votes to secede from Ethiopia

1993 _ Peter Townshend's musical ``Tommy," premieres in NYC

1995 _ President Bill Clinton declares a national day of mourning for Oklahoma City bombing victims