This day in history

[April 29, 2011]  (AP)  Today is Friday, April 29, the 119th day of 2011. There are 246 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On April 29, 1861, the Maryland House of Delegates voted 53-13 against seceding from the Union. In Montgomery, Ala., during an address to a special session of the Confederate Congress, President Jefferson Davis asked for the authority to wage war.

On this date:

In 1429, Joan of Arc entered the besieged city of Orleans to lead a French victory over the English.

In 1798, Joseph Haydn's oratorio "The Creation" was rehearsed in Vienna, Austria, before an invited audience.

In 1916, the Easter Rising in Dublin collapsed as Irish nationalists surrendered to British authorities.

In 1945, during World War II, American soldiers liberated the Dachau (DAH'-khow) concentration camp. Adolf Hitler married Eva Braun and designated Adm. Karl Doenitz (DUHR'-nihtz) president.

In 1946, 28 former Japanese officials went on trial in Tokyo as war criminals; seven ended up being sentenced to death.

In 1961, "ABC's Wide World of Sports" premiered, with Jim McKay as host.

In 1974, President Richard M. Nixon announced he was releasing edited transcripts of some secretly made White House tape recordings related to Watergate.

In 1983, Harold Washington was sworn in as the first black mayor of Chicago.

In 1991, a cyclone struck the South Asian country of Bangladesh, claiming an estimated 138,000 lives.

In 1992, deadly rioting erupted in Los Angeles after a jury in Simi (see-mee) Valley, Calif. acquitted four Los Angeles police officers of almost all state charges in the videotaped beating of Rodney King.

Ten years ago: The International Monetary Fund endorsed a program to establish better procedures to prevent a repeat of the 1997-1998 Asian currency crisis that plunged two-fifths of the world into recession.

Five years ago: Tens of thousands of protesters marched through lower Manhattan to demand an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Liberal economist John Kenneth Galbraith died in Cambridge, Mass., at age 97.

One year ago: Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (JIN'-dul) declared a state of emergency in the face of the worsening oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The U.S. Navy officially ended a ban on women serving on submarines, saying the first females would be reporting for duty by 2012. A knife-wielding man slashed 29 children and three teachers at a school in eastern China (the assailant was executed a month later). The NCAA's Board of Directors approved a 68-team format for the men's basketball tournament beginning the next season.

Today's birthdays: Actress Celeste Holm is 94. Rhythm-and-blues singer Carl Gardner (The Coasters) is 83. Poet Rod McKuen is 78. Actor Keith Baxter is 78. Bluesman Otis Rush is 77. Conductor Zubin Mehta is 75. Pop singer Bob Miranda (The Happenings) is 69. Country singer Duane Allen (The Oak Ridge Boys) is 68. Singer Tommy James is 64. Movie director Phillip Noyce is 61. Country musician Wayne Secrest (Confederate Railroad) is 61. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is 57. Actor Leslie Jordan is 56. Actress Kate Mulgrew is 56. Actor Daniel Day-Lewis is 54. Actress Michelle Pfeiffer is 53. Actress Eve Plumb is 53. Rock musician Phil King is 51. Country singer Stephanie Bentley is 48. Singer Carnie Wilson (Wilson Phillips) is 43. Actor Paul Adelstein is 42. Actress Uma Thurman is 41. Tennis player Andre Agassi is 41. Rapper Master P is 41. Country singer James Bonamy is 39. Gospel/rhythm-and-blues singer Erica Campbell (Mary Mary) is 39. Rock musician Mike Hogan (The Cranberries) is 38. Actor Tyler Labine is 33. Actress-model Taylor Cole is 27. Actor Zane Carney is 26.

Thought for today: "An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don't." -- Anatole France, French author and critic (1844-1924)

[Associated Press]

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