ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY: APRIL 23

Russian politician Boris Yeltsin—who became in 1991 the first popularly elected leader in his country's history and guided Russia through a stormy decade of political and economic retrenching until his resignation on the eve of 2000—died in Moscow.

James Earl Ray, convicted assassin of Martin Luther King, Jr., died in prison in Nashville, Tennessee.

The Coca-Cola Company introduced New Coke, a reformulated soft drink meant to replace its flagship beverage; due to public outrage, however, the previous version of Coke was brought back as “Coca-Cola Classic” less than three months later.

American singer-songwriter Roy Orbison, known for his soaring voice and for his carefully crafted ballads of loneliness and heartache, was born in Vernon, Texas.

Russian Tsar Nicholas II promulgated the Fundamental Laws, which marked the end of unlimited autocracy but fell short of the reforms promised in the October Manifesto.

German physicist Max Planck, who originated quantum theory, was born in Kiel.

James Buchanan, the 15th U.S. president, was born near Mercersburg, Pennsylvania.

Upon the death of King Ethelred II of England, his son claimed the throne as Edmund II.