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 Today's highlight in history:
On April 8, 1913, the 17th Amendment to the Constitution, providing for direct popular election of United States senators (as opposed to appointment by state legislatures), was ratified.
On this date:
In 1513, explorer Juan Ponce de Leon and his expedition began exploring the Florida coastline.
In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Emergency Relief Appropriations Act, which provided money for programs such as the Works Progress Administration.
In 1946, the League of Nations assembled in Geneva for its final session.
In 1952, President Truman seized the steel industry to avert a nationwide strike. (The U.S. Supreme Court later ruled that Truman had overstepped his authority.)
In 1970, the Senate rejected President Nixon's nomination of G. Harold Carswell to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 1973, artist Pablo Picasso died at his home near Mougins, France, at age 91.
In 1974, Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hit his 715th career home run in a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, breaking Babe Ruth's record.
In 1988, TV evangelist Jimmy Swaggart resigned from the Assemblies of God after he was defrocked for rejecting an order from the church's national leaders to stop preaching for a year amid reports he'd consorted with a prostitute.
In 1990, Ryan White, the teenage AIDS patient whose battle for acceptance gained national attention, died in Indianapolis at age 18.
In 1994, Kurt Cobain, singer and guitarist for the grunge band Nirvana, was found dead in Seattle from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound; he was 27.
Ten years ago: The nation's major cigarette makers withdrew support for a historic tobacco settlement, saying Congress had twisted their offer to help cut teen smoking into a harsh attack on their industry and sharp tax increases for American smokers. Thirty-six people were killed by tornadoes which struck Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia.
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 Five years ago: Two journalists were killed when U.S. forces fired on their hotel in Baghdad. Kidnapper-rapist John Jamelske, who had imprisoned five women and girls, one after another, as sex slaves inside a makeshift dungeon in his DeWitt, N.Y., home, was arrested. Connecticut won its second straight NCAA women's basketball championship, defeating Tennessee 73-68.
One year ago: Powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his militiamen to redouble their battle to oust American forces from Iraq and called on the country's army and police to join him in defeating "your archenemy." Zach Johnson won the Masters with a two-shot victory over Tiger Woods.
Today's birthdays: Former first lady Betty Ford is 90. Comedian Shecky Greene is 82. Actor-turned-diplomat John Gavin is 77. Author and investigative reporter Seymour Hersh is 71. Basketball Hall-of-Famer John Havlicek is 68. "Mouseketeer" Darlene Gillespie is 67. Singer J.J. Jackson is 67. Singer Peggy Lennon (The Lennon Sisters) is 67. Songwriter-producer Leon Huff is 66. Actor Hywel Bennett is 64. Actor Stuart Pankin is 62. Rock musician Steve Howe (Yes) is 61. Movie director John Madden ("Shakespeare in Love") is 59. Rock musician Mel Schacher (Grand Funk Railroad) is 57. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Gary Carter is 54. Actor John Schneider is 48. Rock musician Izzy Stradlin is 46. Singer Julian Lennon is 45. Rock singer-musician Donita Sparks is 45. Rapper Biz Markie is 44. Actress Robin Wright Penn is 42. Actress Patricia Arquette is 40. Rock singer Craig Honeycutt (Everything) is 38. Rock musician Darren Jessee is 37. Actress Emma Caulfield is 35. Actress Katee Sackhoff is 28. Actor Taylor Kitsch is 27. Actor Taran Noah Smith is 24. Actress Kirsten Storms is 24.
Thought for today: "The world has achieved brilliance without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants."
-- Army Gen. Omar N. Bradley (born 1893, died this day in 1981)
[Associated Press]
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