This day in history

[April 20, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Monday, April 19, the 109th day of 2010. There are 256 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On April 19, 1775, the American Revolutionary War began with the battles of Lexington and Concord.

On this date:

In 1897, the first Boston Marathon was held; winner John J. McDermott ran the course in two hours, 55 minutes and 10 seconds.

In 1910, after weeks of being viewed through telescopes, Halley's Comet was reported visible to the naked eye in Curacao.

In 1933, the United States went off the gold standard.

In 1939, Connecticut became the last of the original 13 colonies to ratify the Bill of Rights, 147 years after it took effect.

In 1943, during World War II, tens of thousands of Jews living in the Warsaw Ghetto began a valiant but ultimately futile battle against Nazi forces.

In 1951, General Douglas MacArthur, relieved of his Far East command by President Harry S. Truman, bid farewell in an address to Congress in which he quoted a line from a ballad: "Old soldiers never die; they just fade away."

In 1960, South Korean students began an uprising that toppled the government of President Syngman Rhee a week later. The South West African People's Organization (SWAPO) was founded in Namibia.

In 1982, astronauts Sally K. Ride and Guion S. Bluford Jr. became the first woman and first African-American to be tapped for U.S. space missions.

In 1993, the 51-day siege at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, ended as fire destroyed the structure after federal agents began smashing their way in; dozens of people, including sect leader David Koresh, were killed.

In 1995, a truck bomb destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people. (Timothy McVeigh was later convicted of federal murder charges and executed.)

Ten years ago: President Bill Clinton knelt among 168 empty chairs memorializing each victim of the Oklahoma City bombing and declared the site "sacred ground" in the soul of America during a fifth-anniversary dedication ceremony. A crash claimed the lives of 131 people aboard an Air Philippines Boeing 737-200.

Five years ago: Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany was elected pope in the first conclave of the new millennium; he took the name Benedict XVI. A Spanish court convicted a former Argentine naval officer, Adolfo Scilingo, of crimes against humanity and sentenced him to 640 years in prison for throwing 30 prisoners from planes during his country's "dirty war." General Motors reported a $1.1 billion quarterly loss.

One year ago: The Summit of the Americas wrapped up in Trinidad and Tobago; afterward, President Barack Obama held a news conference in which he defended his brand of world politics, saying he "strengthens our hand" by reaching out to enemies of the United States. Author J.G. Ballard, a survivor of a Japanese prison camp who reached a wide audience with the autobiographical "Empire Of The Sun," died in London at age 78. Felix "Doc" Blanchard, football superhero for Army and winner of the 1945 Heisman Trophy, died at his central Texas home at age 84.

Today's birthdays: Actor Hugh O'Brian is 85. Actress Elinor Donahue is 73. Rock musician Alan Price (The Animals) is 68. Actor Tim Curry is 64. Pop singer Mark "Flo" Volman (The Turtles; Flo and Eddie) is 63. Actor Tony Plana ("Ugly Betty") is 58. Former tennis player Sue Barker is 54. Race car driver Al Unser Jr. is 48. Recording executive Suge Knight is 45. Singer-songwriter Dar Williams is 43. Actress Ashley Judd is 42. Singer Bekka Bramlett is 42. Latin pop singer Luis Miguel is 40. Actress Jennifer Taylor (TV: "Two and A Half Men") is 38. Jazz singer Madeleine Peyroux (PAY'-roo) is 36. Actor James Franco is 32. Actress Kate Hudson is 31. Actor Hayden Christensen is 29. Actress Catalina Sandino Moreno is 29. Actor Courtland Mead is 23. Tennis player Maria Sharapova is 23.

Thought for today: "The charm, one might say the genius of memory, is that it is choosy, chancy and temperamental: it rejects the edifying cathedral and indelibly photographs the small boy outside, chewing a hunk of melon in the dust." -- Elizabeth Bowen, Irish-born author (1899-1973)

[Associated Press]

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