 Today's highlight in history:
On April 30, 1812, Louisiana (formerly the Territory of Orleans)
became the 18th state of the Union.
On this date:
In 1789, George Washington took office in New York as the first
president of the United States.
In 1803, the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from
France for 60 million francs, the equivalent of about $15 million.
In 1900, engineer John Luther "Casey" Jones of the Illinois Central
Railroad died in a train wreck near Vaughan, Miss., after staying at
the controls in a successful effort to save the passengers.
 In 1911, a fire broke out in Bangor, Maine, destroying much of the
downtown area before it was brought under control the next morning;
two deaths were blamed on the blaze.
In 1912, Universal Studios had its beginnings as papers
incorporating the Universal Film Manufacturing Co. were filed and
recorded in New York State.
In 1939, the New York World's Fair officially opened with a ceremony
that included an address by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
In 1945, as Russian troops approached his Berlin bunker, Adolf
Hitler committed suicide along with his wife of one day, Eva Braun.
In 1958, the American Association of Retired Persons (later simply
AARP) was founded in Washington, D.C.
In 1968, New York City police forcibly removed student demonstrators
occupying five buildings at Columbia University.
In 1973, President Richard M. Nixon announced the resignations of
top aides H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, along with Attorney
General Richard G. Kleindienst and White House counsel John Dean.
In 1980, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands abdicated; she was
succeeded by her daughter, Princess Beatrix.
In 1997, the Senate approved the nomination of Alexis Herman to be
labor secretary. ABC-TV aired the "coming out" episode of the
situation comedy "Ellen" in which the title character, played by
Ellen DeGeneres, acknowledged her homosexuality.
Ten years ago: Benevolence International Foundation, an
Islamic charity based in suburban Chicago, and its director were
charged with perjury; authorities accused the charity of supporting
terrorists. (Enaam Arnaout (EE'-nam ahr-NAHT') later pleaded guilty
to racketeering, admitting he'd defrauded donors by diverting some
of the money to Islamic military groups in Bosnia and Chechnya.)
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 Five years ago: A British judge sentenced
five al-Qaida-linked men, all British citizens, to life in prison
for plotting to attack London targets, including a nightclub, power
plants and shopping mall with bombs. An Israeli government probe
faulted Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for what it called "very severe
failures" in Israel's war with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. Actor
Tom Poston died in Los Angeles at age 85.
One year ago: A Libyan official said Moammar Gadhafi had
escaped a NATO missile strike in Tripoli that killed one of his sons
and three young grandchildren. (There have been conflicting accounts
about whether Gadhafi's relatives even died in the airstrike.) In
Moscow, Japan's Miki Ando defeated Olympic champion Kim Yu-na of
South Korea at the world figure skating championships originally
scheduled for Japan, which had been devastated by an earthquake and
tsunami.
Today's birthdays: Actress Cloris Leachman is 86. Singer
Willie Nelson is 79. Actor Gary Collins is 74. Actor Burt Young is
72. Singer Bobby Vee is 69. Movie director Allan Arkush is 64. Actor
Perry King is 64. Singer Merrill Osmond is 59. Movie director Jane
Campion is 58. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is 53. Actor
Paul Gross is 53. Basketball Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas is 51.
Country musician Robert Reynolds (The Mavericks) is 50. Actor Adrian
Pasdar is 47. Rapper Turbo B (Snap) is 45. Rock musician Clark
Vogeler is 43. Rhythm-and-blues singer Chris "Choc" Dalyrimple (Soul
For Real) is 41. Rock musician Chris Henderson (3 Doors Down) is 41.
Country singer Carolyn Dawn Johnson is 41. Actress Lisa Dean Ryan is
40. Rhythm-and-blues singer Akon is 39. Rhythm-and-blues singer Jeff
Timmons (98 Degrees) is 39. Actor Johnny Galecki is 37.
Singer-musician Cole Deggs (Cole Deggs and the Lonesome) is 36.
Actor Kunal Nayyar is 31. Rapper Lloyd Banks is 30. Actress Kirsten
Dunst is 30. Country singer Tyler Wilkinson (The Wilkinsons) is 28.
Actress Dianna Agron is 26.
Thought for today: "There's a difference between a philosophy
and a bumper sticker." -- Charles M. Schulz, American
cartoonist (1922-2000)
[Associated Press]
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
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