 Today's highlight in history:
On April 16, 1912, American aviator Harriet Quimby became the first
woman to fly across the English Channel, traveling from Dover,
England, to France in 59 minutes, an accomplishment that was
overshadowed by the Titanic disaster the day before.
On this date:
In 1789, President-elect George Washington left Mount Vernon, Va.,
for his inauguration in New York.
In 1862, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln signed a
bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia. The Confederacy
conscripted all white men between the ages of 18 to 35.
In 1879, St. Bernadette, who'd described seeing visions of the
Virgin Mary at Lourdes, died in Nevers (neh-VEHR'), France.
In 1889, comedian and movie director Charles Chaplin was born in
London.
In 1910, Boston Arena (now Matthews Arena) first opened.
In 1917, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin returned to Russia after years of
exile.
In 1935, the radio comedy program "Fibber McGee and Molly" premiered
on NBC's Blue Network.
In 1945, U.S. troops reached Nuremberg, Germany, during the Second
World War.
In 1947, the French ship Grandcamp blew up at the harbor in Texas
City, Texas; another ship, the High Flyer, exploded the following
day (the blasts and fires killed nearly 600 people). Financier
Bernard M. Baruch said in a speech at the South Carolina statehouse,
"Let us not be deceived -- we are today in the midst of a cold war."
In 1962, Bob Dylan debuted his song "Blowin' in the Wind" at Gerde's
Folk City in New York; New Orleans Archbishop Joseph Rummel
excommunicated three local Roman Catholics for fighting racial
integration of parochial schools; Walter Cronkite succeeded Douglas
Edwards as anchorman of "The CBS Evening News."
In 1972, Apollo 16 blasted off on a voyage to the moon with
astronauts John W. Young, Charles M. Duke Jr. and Ken Mattingly on
board.
In 1996, Britain's Prince Andrew and his wife, Sarah, the Duchess of
York, announced they were in the process of divorcing.
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Ten years ago: The U.S. Supreme Court overturned two major
provisions of the Child Pornography Prevention Act, saying the
government had gone too far in trying to ban "virtual" child
pornography. Actor Robert Urich died in Thousand Oaks, Calif., at
age 55.
Five years ago: In the deadliest shooting rampage in modern
U.S. history, student Seung-Hui Cho (sung-wee joh) killed 32 people
on the campus of Virginia Tech before taking his own life. Robert
Cheruiyot (CHEHR'-ee-aht) of Kenya won the Boston Marathon for the
third time in 2 hours, 14 minutes, 13 seconds; Russia's Lidiya
Grigoryeva (grih-gohr-YEV'-uh) captured the women's race in 2:29:18.
Carrie Underwood's dark hit "Before He Cheats" won video of the
year, female video and best video director at the fan-voted CMT
Music Awards.
One year ago: A Taliban sleeper agent walked into a meeting
of NATO trainers and Afghan troops at Forward Operating Base Gamberi
in the eastern Afghan province of Laghman and detonated a vest of
explosives hidden underneath his uniform; six American troops, four
Afghan soldiers and an interpreter were killed. President Raul
Castro drew a line in the Caribbean sand across which Cuba's
economic reforms must never go, telling a Communist party summit
that he had rejected dozens of suggested changes that would have
allowed the concentration of property in private hands.
Today's birthdays: Pope Benedict XVI is 85. Actor Peter Mark
Richman is 85. Singer Bobby Vinton is 77. Denmark's Queen Margrethe
II is 72. Basketball Hall-of-Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is 65. NFL
coach Bill Belichick is 60. Rock singer-turned-politician Peter
Garrett is 59. Actress Ellen Barkin is 58. Rock musician Jason
Scheff (Chicago) is 50. Singer Jimmy Osmond is 49. Rock singer David
Pirner (Soul Asylum) is 48. Actor-comedian Martin Lawrence is 47.
Actor Jon Cryer is 47. Rock musician Dan Rieser is 46. Actor Peter
Billingsley is 41. Actor Lukas Haas is 36.
Thought for today: "We think too much and feel too little."
-- Charles Chaplin (1889-1977)
[Associated Press]
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