On April 23, 1616 (Old Style calendar), English poet and dramatist William Shakespeare died in Stratfordupon Avon on what has traditionally been regarded as the 52nd anniversary of his birth in 1564.

Ten years ago

Osama bin Laden issued new threats in an audiotape broadcast on Arab television and accused the United States and Europe of supporting a “Zionist” war on Islam by cutting off funds to the Hamas-led Palestinian government.

Five years ago

Yemen’s embattled president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, agreed to a proposal by Gulf Arab mediators to step down within 30 days and hand power to his deputy in exchange for immunity from prosecution (Saleh ended up leaving office in Feb. 2012). Former Sony Corp. president and chairman Norio Ohga, credited with developing the compact disc, died in Tokyo at age 81.

One year ago

Former CIA Director David Petraeus, whose career was destroyed by an extramarital affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, was sentenced in Charlotte, North Carolina, to two years’ probation and fined $100,000 for giving her classified material while she was working on the book. The Senate voted 56-43 to confirm Loretta Lynch as U.S. attorney general. Richard Corliss, 71, Time magazine’s longtime film critic, died in New York.

— By The Associated Press