This day in history

[April 09, 2009]  (AP)  Today is Thursday, April 9, the 99th day of 2009. There are 266 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

Fifty years ago, on April 9, 1959, NASA announced the selection of America's first seven astronauts: Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard and Donald Slayton.

On this date:

In 1682, French explorer Robert de La Salle claimed the Mississippi River Basin for France.

In 1865, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia.

In 1939, singer Marian Anderson performed a concert at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington after she was denied the use of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution.

In 1940, during World War II, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway.

In 1942, American and Philippine defenders on Bataan capitulated to Japanese forces; the surrender was followed by the notorious Bataan Death March which claimed thousands of lives.

In 1947, a series of tornadoes in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas claimed 181 lives.

In 1959, American architect Frank Lloyd Wright died in Phoenix at age 91.

In 1965, the newly built Astrodome in Houston featured its first baseball game, an exhibition between the Astros and the New York Yankees. (The Astros won, 2-1, in 12 innings.)

In 1983, the Space Shuttle Challenger ended its first mission with a safe landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

In 1988, pro-Iranian Shiite Muslim hijackers who had seized a Kuwait Airways jetliner on April 5 killed one of their hostages as the plane sat on the ground in Larnaca, Cyprus.

Ten years ago: Niger's president, Ibrahim Bare Mainassara, was gunned down by members of his own Presidential Guard.

Five years ago: Four employees of Halliburton subsidiary KBR were killed in an attack on a fuel truck convoy near Baghdad; a U.S. soldier in the convoy, Sgt. Elmer Krause, was found dead weeks later. Four people went missing, including Army Specialist Keith M. Maupin, whose remains were found in 2008. The body of civilian truck driver Wiliam Bradley was found in January 2005; Thomas Hamill escaped his captors in May 2004; Timothy Bell remains unaccounted for.

One year ago: America's war commander in Iraq faced Congress for a second day; Army Gen. David Petraeus told lawmakers he was unlikely to endorse any fresh buildup of troops even if security in the country deteriorated. The Olympic torch was rerouted away from thousands of demonstrators and spectators who had crowded San Francisco's waterfront to witness the flame's symbolic journey to the Beijing Games during its only North American stop.

Today's birthdays: Jazz musician Art Van Damme is 89. Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner is 83. Naturalist Jim Fowler is 77. Actor Jean-Paul Belmondo is 76. Actress Michael Learned is 70. Country singer Margo Smith is 67. Country singer Hal Ketchum is 56. Actor Dennis Quaid is 55. Humorist Jimmy Tingle is 54. Golfer Severiano Ballesteros is 52. Country musician Dave Innis (Restless Heart) is 50. Actress-sports reporter Lisa Guerrero is 45. Actor Mark Pellegrino is 44. Actress-model Paulina Porizkova is 44. Actress Cynthia Nixon is 43. Rock singer Kevin Martin (Candlebox) is 40. Rock singer Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance) is 32. Actress Keshia Knight Pulliam is 30. Football player Jeff Reed is 30. Rock musician Albert Hammond Jr. (The Strokes) is 29. Actor Ryan Northcott is 29. Actor Jay Baruchel is 27. Actor-singer Jesse McCartney is 22. Rhythm-and-blues singer Jazmine Sullivan is 22. Actress Kristen Stewart is 19. Actress Elle Fanning is 11.

Thought for today: "Early in life I had to choose between honest arrogance and hypocritical humility. I chose the former and have seen no reason to change." -- Frank Lloyd Wright, American architect (1867-1959)

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.