 Today's highlight in history:
On April 14, 1912, the British liner RMS Titanic collided with an
iceberg in the North Atlantic at 11:40 p.m. ship's time and began
sinking. (The ship went under two hours and 40 minutes later with
the loss of 1,514 lives.)
On this date:
In 1775, the first American society for the abolition of slavery was
formed in Philadelphia.
In 1828, the first edition of Noah Webster's "American Dictionary of
the English Language" was published.
In 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes
Booth during a performance of "Our American Cousin" at Ford's
Theater in Washington.
In 1902, James Cash Penney opened his first store, The Golden Rule,
in Kemmerer, Wyo.
In 1910, President William Howard Taft became the first U.S. chief
executive to throw the ceremonial first pitch at a baseball game as
the Washington Senators beat the Philadelphia Athletics 3-0.
In 1931, King Alfonso XIII of Spain went into exile, and the Second
Spanish Republic was proclaimed.
In 1939, the John Steinbeck novel "The Grapes of Wrath" was first
published by Viking Press.
In 1949, the "Wilhelmstrasse Trial" in Nuremberg ended with 19
former Nazi Foreign Office officials sentenced by an American
tribunal to prison terms ranging from four to 25 years.
In 1956, Ampex Corp. demonstrated its videotape recorder at the
National Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters Convention
in Chicago.
In 1960, the musical "Bye Bye Birdie" opened on Broadway.
In 1981, the first test flight of America's first operational space
shuttle, the Columbia, ended successfully with a landing at Edwards
Air Force Base in California.
In 1986, Americans got word of a U.S. air raid on Libya (because of
the time difference, it was the early morning of April 15 where the
attack occurred.) French feminist author Simone de Beauvoir died in
Paris at age 78.
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Ten years ago: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returned to
office two days after being ousted and arrested by his country's
military. Tiger Woods became only the third player to win
back-to-back Masters titles; he closed with a 1-under 71 to claim a
three-stroke victory over Retief Goosen.
Five years ago: Riot police beat and detained protesters as
thousands defied an official ban and attempted to stage a rally in
Moscow against Russian President Vladimir Putin's government. A car
bomb exploded near one of Shiite Islam's holiest shrines in Karbala,
Iraq, killing 47 people. Entertainer Don Ho died in Honolulu,
Hawaii, at age 76.
One year ago: Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi rolled defiantly
through the streets of Tripoli the same day NATO air strikes shook
the city. North Korean confirmed it was holding an American who was
detained in November 2010, reportedly for proselytizing. (Eddie Jun
was freed in May 2011.) ABC canceled two of its longtime soap
operas, "One Life to Live" and "All My Children."
Today's birthdays: Actor Bradford Dillman is 82. Actor Jay
Robinson is 82. Country singer Loretta Lynn is 80. Actress Julie
Christie is 72. Retired MLB All-Star Pete Rose is 71. Rock musician
Ritchie Blackmore is 67. Actor John Shea is 63. Actor-race car
driver Brian Forster is 52. Actor Brad Garrett is 52. Actor Robert
Carlyle is 51. Rock singer-musician John Bell (Widespread Panic) is
50. Actor Robert Clendenin is 48. Actress Catherine Dent is 47.
Actor Lloyd Owen is 46. Retired MLB All-Star Greg Maddux is 46. Rock
musician Barrett Martin is 45. Actor Anthony Michael Hall is 44.
Actor Adrien Brody is 39. Classical singer David Miller is 39.
Rapper DaBrat is 38. Actor Antwon Tanner is 37. Actress Sarah
Michelle Gellar is 35. Actor-producer Rob McElhenney is 35. Actor
Christian Alexander is 22. Actor Nick Krause (Film: "The
Descendants") is 20. Actress Vivien Cardone is 19. Actress Abigail
Breslin is 16.
Thought for today: "Courage is not simply one of the virtues,
but the form of every virtue at the testing point." -- C.S. Lewis, Irish-born
author (1898-1963)
[Associated Press]
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