Timeline April 2023

Events in April 2023 16

• 1927 – 2023 Harry Belafonte (1927-2023) Died 25 April 2023, aged 96 American singer and actor who brought calypso to a mass audience and was a central financial and organisational figure in the civil rights movement.
• 1934 – 2023 Barry Humphries Australian Comedian (Dame Edna) Australian comedian, actor, author and satirist best known for creating and performing the characters Dame Edna Everage, Sir Les Patterson and Sandy Stone. Over a career spanning more than seventy years, he won a Tony Award, was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia, and was made a CBE. He was also a respected painter, author and art collector.
• 1942 – 2023 Seymour Stein (1942-2023) Died 2 April 2023, aged 80 American record executive who founded Sire Records and signed the Ramones, Talking Heads and Madonna.
• 1944 – 2023 Jerry Springer American TV Host & Politician British-born American television host, lawyer and politician. Born in a London Underground station during the Blitz, he emigrated to the United States as a child. He served as Mayor of Cincinnati before becoming host of The Jerry Springer Show, a ratings phenomenon that ran for 27 years and became a defining artefact of 1990s American pop culture.
• 1952 – 2023 Klaus Teuber (1952-2023) Died 1 April 2023, aged 70 German game designer who created Settlers of Catan, the board game that opened the hobby to a mass audience.
• 2023 Koji Sato becomes CEO — EV acceleration Koji Sato succeeds Akio Toyoda as Toyota's president in April 2023, with Akio moving to chairman. Sato, a former Lexus chief who has led Toyota's GR sports car brand, signals a more aggressive EV commitment than his predecessor. He announces a next-generation EV platform with dramatically simplified manufacturing, targeting a 50% reduction in manufacturing costs versus current EVs. Sato also commits to solid-state battery production by 2027–2028 — a technology that would give Toyota EVs a significant range and charging time advantage.
• 2023 Finland Joins NATO Historical Policy Shift In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Finland ended decades of military non-alignment.
• 2023 The City and Its Uncertain Walls Published The City and Its Uncertain Walls, his first full-length novel in six years, returning to the walled town from Hard-Boiled Wonderland. The same year, he received the Princess of Asturias Award for Literature, one of Spain's most prestigious cultural prizes.
• 2023 Metallica release 72 Seasons Eleventh album Their first album in seven years.
• 2023 2023 World Snooker Championship Brecel Breakthrough First winner from mainland Europe. Winner: Luca Brecel; Runner-up: Mark Selby. Score: 18–15.
• 2023 Civil war breaks out in Sudan Fighting between the army and the Rapid Support Forces Fighting erupted in Khartoum on 15 April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, beginning a civil war that displaced millions and drove the country into famine.
• 2023 Starship makes its first integrated flight test The largest rocket ever flown, destroyed four minutes in SpaceX launched Starship on its first full-stack flight on 20 April 2023. The vehicle failed to separate and was destroyed about four minutes after lift-off, but it was the most powerful rocket ever flown.
• 2023 Barry Humphries dies in Sydney Died at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney at the age of 89, following complications from hip surgery. He had returned to Australia from London for Christmas and suffered a fall in February.
• 2023 India overtakes China as the world's most populous country An estimated 1.43 billion people United Nations estimates published in April 2023 showed India had overtaken China to become the world's most populous country, with about 1.43 billion people.
• 2023 Jerry Springer dies in Chicago Died peacefully at his home in suburban Chicago at the age of 79, after a brief illness. The cause of death was pancreatic cancer.
• 2023 Willie Nelson's 90th birthday concerts Hollywood Bowl Two all-star concerts in Los Angeles.