This day in history

[April 20, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Friday, April 16, the 106th day of 2010. There are 259 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On April 16, 1789, President-elect George Washington left Mount Vernon, Va., for his inauguration in New York.

On this date:

In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia.

In 1879, St. Bernadette, who'd described seeing visions of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes, died in Nevers (neh-VEHR'), France.

In 1910, Boston Arena (now Matthews Arena) first opened.

In 1917, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin returned to Russia after years of exile.

In 1935, the radio comedy program "Fibber McGee and Molly" premiered on NBC's Blue Network.

In 1947, the French ship Grandcamp blew up at the harbor in Texas City, Texas; another ship, the High Flyer, exploded the following day. The blasts and resulting fires killed nearly 600 people.

In 1960, shortly before midnight, rock-and-roll performer Eddie Cochran, 21, was fatally injured in a taxi crash in Chippenham, Wiltshire, England; he died the next day.

In 1972, Apollo 16 blasted off on a voyage to the moon.

In 1996, Britain's Prince Andrew and his wife, Sarah, the Duchess of York, announced they were divorcing.

In 2007, in the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history, student Seung-Hui Cho (sung-wee joh) killed 32 people on the campus of Virginia Tech before taking his own life.

Ten years ago: The International Monetary Fund concluded a protest-marred opening session in Washington with a statement repeating past pledges to seek greater debt relief for the poorest countries and reform the IMF so it could better prevent financial crises.

Five years ago: Marla Ruzicka (roo-ZEE'-kah), the founder of a humanitarian group to aid civilian casualties in Iraq, was killed in a car bombing in Baghdad. Cardinals meeting at the Vatican destroyed the late Pope John Paul II's ring and seal to formally end his reign. Authorities in Hillsborough County, Fla., found the body of missing 13-year-old Sarah Michelle Lunde (LUHN'-dee). A suspect in her death, David Lee Onstott, was later convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. Actress Kay Walsh died in London at age 93; some sources reported 90.

One year ago: President Barack Obama issued a statement saying CIA officials who'd used harsh interrogation tactics during the Bush administration would not be prosecuted; the president traveled to Mexico, where he pledged to help the country in its battle against drugs and violence. The crew of the cargo ship Maersk Alabama, who'd thwarted pirates off the Somali coast, returned to the U.S.; ship's captain Richard Phillips, held hostage for five days, arrived in Kenya aboard the USS Bainbridge. U.N. nuclear experts ordered by North Korea to leave departed the country. The Cleveland Indians ruined the Yankees' first game at their new stadium by beating New York 10-2.

Today's birthdays: Pope Benedict XVI is 83. Actor Peter Mark Richman is 83. Singer Bobby Vinton is 75. Denmark's Queen Margrethe II is 70. Basketball Hall-of-Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is 63. Singer Gerry Rafferty is 63. NFL coach Bill Belichick is 58. Rock singer-turned-politician Peter Garrett is 57. Actress Ellen Barkin is 56. Rock musician Jason Scheff (Chicago) is 48. Singer Jimmy Osmond is 47. Rock singer David Pirner (Soul Asylum) is 46. Actor-comedian Martin Lawrence is 45. Actor Jon Cryer is 45. Rock musician Dan Rieser is 44. Actor Peter Billingsley is 39. Actor Lukas Haas is 34.

Thought for today: "Do not wait; the time will never be 'just right.' Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along. " -- George Herbert, English author, 1593-1633

[Associated Press]

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