This day in history

[April 26, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Monday, April 26, the 116th day of 2010. There are 249 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On April 26, 1785, American naturalist, hunter and artist John James Audubon was born in present-day Haiti.

On this date:

In 1607, English colonists went ashore at present-day Cape Henry, Va., on an expedition to establish the first permanent English settlement in the Western Hemisphere.

In 1865, John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, was surrounded by federal troops near Bowling Green, Va., and killed.

In 1909, Abdul Hamid II was deposed as sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

In 1937, planes from Nazi Germany raided the Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.

In 1945, Marshal Henri Philippe Petain (an-REE' fee-LEEP' pay-TAN'), the head of France's Vichy government during World War II, was arrested.

In 1964, the African nations of Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged to form Tanzania.

In 1968, the United States exploded beneath the Nevada desert a 1.3 megaton nuclear device called "Boxcar."

In 1970, the Stephen Sondheim-George Furth musical "Company" opened at the Alvin Theatre in New York.

In 1980, following an unsuccessful attempt by the United States to rescue the U.S. Embassy hostages in Iran, the Tehran government announced the captives were being scattered to thwart any future rescue effort.

In 1986, the world's worst nuclear accident occurred at the Chernobyl plant in the Soviet Union.

Ten years ago: Vermont Gov. Howard Dean signed the nation's first bill allowing same-sex couples to form civil unions.

Five years ago: Syria's 29-year military presence in Lebanon ended as Syrian soldiers completed a withdrawal brought about by international pressure and Lebanese street protests. Actress Maria Schell died in Preitenegg, Carinthia, Austria, at age 79.

One year ago: The United States declared a public health emergency as more possible cases of swine flu surfaced from Canada to New Zealand; officials in Mexico City closed everything from concerts to sports matches to churches in an effort to stem the spread of the virus. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made an unannounced visit to Lebanon, where she met with President Michel Suleiman. Salamo Arouch, a Jewish boxer who'd survived the Auschwitz death camp by fighting exhibition bouts for Nazi officers, died in Israel at age 86.

Today's birthdays: Actress-comedian Carol Burnett is 77. Rhythm-and-blues singer Maurice Williams is 72. Songwriter-musician Duane Eddy is 72. Singer Bobby Rydell is 68. Rock musician Gary Wright is 67. Actor Giancarlo Esposito is 52. Rock musician Roger Taylor (Duran Duran) is 50. Actress Joan Chen is 49. Rock musician Chris Mars is 49. Actor-singer Michael Damian is 48. Actor Jet Li (lee) is 47. Rock musician Jimmy Stafford (Train) is 46. Actor-comedian Kevin James is 45. Actress Marianne Jean-Baptiste is 43. Country musician Joe Caverlee (Yankee Grey) is 42. Rapper T-Boz (TLC) is 40. Country musician Jay DeMarcus (Rascal Flatts) is 39. Country musician Michael Jeffers (Pinmonkey) is 38. Rock musician Jose Pasillas (Incubus) is 34. Actor Jason Earles ("Hannah Montana") is 33. Actor Tom Welling is 33. Actress Jordana Brewster is 30. Actress Marnette Patterson is 30. Actor Channing Tatum is 30. Actor Aaron Weeks is 24.

Thought for today: "A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices." -- William James, American philosopher and psychologist (1842-1910)

[Associated Press]

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