This day in history

[April 20, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Wednesday, April 7, the 97th day of 2010. There are 268 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On April 7, 1862, Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant defeated the Confederates at the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee.

On this date:

In 1199, King Richard I of England (also known as The Lion-Heart) died in the Limousin region of France at age 41 after being mortally wounded by an arrow.

In 1860, Will Keith Kellogg, founder of cereal maker Kellogg Co., was born in Battle Creek, Mich.

In 1927, the image and voice of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover were transmitted live from Washington to New York in the first successful long-distance demonstration of television.

In 1939, Italy invaded Albania, which was annexed less than a week later.

In 1949, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "South Pacific" opened on Broadway.

In 1953, the U.N. General Assembly elected Dag Hammarskjold (dahg HAWM'-ahr-shoold) of Sweden to be secretary-general.

In 1969, the Supreme Court, in Stanley v. Georgia, unanimously struck down laws prohibiting private possession of obscene material.

In 1978, President Jimmy Carter announced he was deferring development of the neutron bomb, a high-radiation weapon.

In 1983, space shuttle astronauts Story Musgrave and Don Peterson took the first U.S. space walk in almost a decade as they worked in the open cargo bay of Challenger for nearly four hours.

In 1990, a display of Robert Mapplethorpe photographs opened at Cincinnati's Contemporary Arts Center, the same day the center and its director were indicted on obscenity charges (both were acquitted). An arson fire aboard a ferry en route from Norway to Denmark killed 158 people.

Ten years ago: Attorney General Janet Reno met in Washington with the father of Elian Gonzalez; Reno later told reporters that officials would arrange for Juan Miguel Gonzalez to reclaim his son, but she gave Elian's Miami relatives one more chance to drop their resistance and join in a peaceful transfer.

Five years ago: The blockbuster painkiller Bextra was taken off the market, and the FDA said all similar prescription drugs should strongly warn about possible risk of heart attacks and strokes. Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shiite, was named Iraq's interim prime minister; Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani was sworn in as interim president. Historic bus service began between the two parts of Kashmir, one controlled by India, the other by Pakistan.

One year ago: President Barack Obama capped his eight-day European trip by addressing college students in Istanbul, Turkey; he then made an unannounced trip to Baghdad where he visited with U.S. troops and Iraqi officials. Vermont became the fourth state (after Connecticut, Massachusetts and Iowa) to legalize gay marriage. Three members of the Congressional Black Caucus met with former Cuban President Fidel Castro in Havana. Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori was sentenced to 25 years in prison by a Lima court for death squad killings and kidnappings during his struggle against Shining Path insurgents. Connecticut routed Louisville 76-54 to capture its sixth women's basketball title.

Today's birthdays: Actor R.G. Armstrong is 93. Sitar player Ravi Shankar is 90. Actor James Garner is 82. Country singer Cal Smith is 78. Actor Wayne Rogers is 77. Media commentator Hodding Carter III is 75. Country singer Bobby Bare is 75. Rhythm-and-blues singer Charlie Thomas (The Drifters) is 73. California Attorney General Jerry Brown is 72. Movie director Francis Ford Coppola is 71. TV personality David Frost is 71. Singer Patricia Bennett (The Chiffons) is 63. Singer John Oates is 61. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels is 61. Singer Janis Ian is 59. Country musician John Dittrich is 59. Actor Jackie Chan is 56. Football Hall-of-Famer Tony Dorsett is 56. Actor Russell Crowe is 46. Christian/jazz singer Mark Kibble (Take 6) is 46. Actor Bill Bellamy is 45. Rock musician Dave "Yorkie" Palmer (Space) is 45. Former football player-turned-analyst Tiki Barber is 35. Actress Heather Burns is 35. Actor Kevin Alejandro (TV: "Southland") is 34. Actor Conner Rayburn is 11.

Thought for today: "Lying is done with words and also with silence." -- Adrienne Rich, American poet

[Associated Press]

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