Almanac for April 23rd

Erin O'Riordan's Almanac for April 23rd: https://ko-fi.com/post/April-23-St-Georges-Day-World-Book-Day-A0A21E8VQE

Today's Observance: St. George's Day/Diada di Sant Jordi
Artist Birthday: William Shakespeare
French Republican Calendar day name (4 Floréal): hawthorn

Bummer April 23rd

April 23, 1902: Mount Pelée on the Caribbean island of Martinique begins erupting. By the 5th of May, the erupting volcano has triggered a mudslide that buries about 150 people who work in a sugar mill. On the 8th of May, the town of Saint-Pierre is destroyed, killing an estimated 28,000 people.

April 23, 1940: More than 200 people perish at the Rhythm Night Club when it catches fire in Natchez, Mississippi. The night club, which was originally built as a blacksmith’s shop, had only one exit and most of its windows were nailed shut.

April 23, 1974: 59-year-old Carl Barnett conducts Bach’s Come, Sweet Death at Will Rogers High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and dies of heart attack during the performance.

April 23, 2017: A U.S. Border Patrol agent fires a bullet at a target containing the explosive Tannerite as part of a gender reveal party in Arizona. (The unborn child was a boy.) The explosion sparks a fire, and although the agent immediately calls authorities, firefighters are unable to contain the blaze. It grows to become known as the Sawmill Fire, which burns 46,991 acres of Arizona and costs more than $8 million. The Border Patrol agent is fined $220,000 and sentenced to five years of probation for starting a fire without a permit.