This Day in History, April 23

April 23rd, 1616 marks the death of both William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes.

In 1635, the first public school in America, the Boston Latin School, opened.

In 1898, the first movie theater opened at Koster and Bials Music Hall in New York City.

In 1898, the U.S. government asked for 125,000 volunteers to fight against Spain in Cuba.

In 1965, more than 200 U.S. planes struck North Vietnam in one of the heaviest raids of the Vietnam War.

In 1985, former U.S. Sen. Sam Ervin died at age 88. The North Carolina Democrat directed the Senate Watergate investigation that led to U.S. President Richard Nixon's resignation.

In 1987, an apartment building under construction in Bridgeport, Conn., collapsed, killing 28 construction workers.

In 1990, the West German government bowed to East German demands and agreed to a 1-1 exchange rate between East and West marks, clearing the path to a planned currency union.

In 1991, Virgilio Pablo Paz Romero was arrested for the 1976 car-bomb killing of Chilean Ambassador Orlando Letelier in Washington.

In 1992, McDonald's opened its first restaurant in Beijing.

In 1993, United Farm Workers founder Cesar Chavez died at age 66 of apparent natural causes.

In 2002, Pope John Paul II met at the Vatican with U.S. cardinals to discuss the sexual abuse scandal that had rocked the Roman Catholic clergy. He expressed an apology to victims of abuse, saying what had happened to them was a crime and "an appalling act in the eyes of God."

In 2003, after a 10-day stalemate, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat reached agreement on a new Cabinet with his choice for prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas.

In 2006, Hungary's Socialist-Liberal coalition recaptured government control by a comfortable majority in parliamentary elections.

In 2007, former Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who faced down army tanks during the fall of the Soviet Union, died of cardiac arrest at the age of 76.

Also in 2007, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said he was ordering a halt to construction of a wall separating a Sunni neighborhood from other parts of Baghdad.

In 2008, U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, top U.S. military official in Iraq, was promoted to head of Central Command, overseeing military affairs in the Middle East and Central Asia, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He succeeds Adm. William Fallon, who recently retired from the post.