This day in history

[April 28, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Wednesday, April 28, the 118th day of 2010. There are 247 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On April 28, 1758, the fifth president of the United States, James Monroe, was born in Westmoreland County, Va.

On this date:

In 1788, Maryland became the seventh state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

In 1789, the mutiny on HMS Bounty took place as the crew of the British ship set Capt. William Bligh and 18 sailors adrift in a launch in the South Pacific. (Bligh and most of the men with him managed to reach Timor in 47 days.)

In 1918, Gavrilo Princip, the assassin of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and the archduke's wife, Sophie, died in prison of tuberculosis.

In 1940, Glenn Miller and his Orchestra recorded "Pennsylvania 6-5000" for RCA Victor.

In 1945, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci, were executed by Italian partisans as they attempted to flee the country.

In 1958, the United States conducted the first of 35 nuclear test explosions in the Pacific Proving Ground as part of Operation Hardtack I. Vice President Richard Nixon and his wife, Pat, began a goodwill tour of Latin America that was marred by hostile mobs in Lima, Peru, and Caracas, Venezuela.

In 1967, heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali refused to be inducted into the Army, the same day General William C. Westmoreland told Congress the U.S. "would prevail in Vietnam."

In 1980, President Jimmy Carter accepted the resignation of Secretary of State Cyrus R. Vance, who had opposed the failed rescue mission aimed at freeing American hostages in Iran. (Vance was succeeded by Edmund Muskie.)

In 1988, a flight attendant was killed and more than 60 persons injured when part of the roof of an Aloha Airlines Boeing 737 tore off during a flight from Hilo (HEE'-loh) to Honolulu.

In 1990, the musical "A Chorus Line" closed after 6,137 performances on Broadway.

Ten years ago: Five people, targeted for being minorities, were killed in a shooting rampage in suburban Pittsburgh; a suspect, Richard Baumhammers, was arrested. (He was later convicted and sentenced to death.)

Five years ago: A military jury at Fort Bragg, N.C. sentenced Army Sgt. Hasan Akbar to death for the 2003 murders of two officers in Kuwait. More than 100 volunteers joined police in Duluth, Ga. in searching for Jennifer Wilbanks, a bride-to-be who had vanished two days earlier. (Wilbanks turned up in Albuquerque, N.M., having run away on her own.)

One year ago: Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius won Senate confirmation, 65-31, as health and human services secretary, thrusting her into the middle of the nation's swine flu scare. Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania defected from the Republican Party, joining the Democrats. Country singer Vern Gosdin ("Chiseled in Stone") died in a Nashville-area hospital at age 74.

Today's Birthdays: Author Harper Lee is 84. Former Secretary of State James A. Baker III is 80. Actress-singer Ann-Margret is 69. Actress Marcia Strassman is 62. Actor Paul Guilfoyle ("CSI") is 61. "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno is 60. Rock musician Chuck Leavell is 58. Actress Mary McDonnell is 57. Rock singer-musician Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth) is 57. Rapper Too Short is 44. Actress Simbi Khali is 39. Actress Bridget Moynahan is 39. Actor Chris Young is 39. Rapper Big Gipp is 37. Actor Jorge Garcia is 37. Actress Elisabeth Rohm is 37. Actress Penelope Cruz is 36. NFL player Jamal Williams is 34. Actor Nate Richert is 32. Actress Jessica Alba is 29. Actress Aleisha Allen is 19.

Thought for today: "If youth only had a chance or old age any brains." -- Stephen Leacock, Canadian humorist-educator (1869-1944)

[Associated Press]

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