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Today in History

Today is Thursday, April 30, the 120th day of 2015. There are 245 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight

in History:

On April 30, 1945, as Soviet troops approached his Berlin bunker, Adolf Hitler committed suicide along with his wife of one day, Eva Braun.

On this date:

In 1789, George Washington took the oath of office in New York as the first president of the United States.

In 1803, the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France for 60 million francs, the equivalent of about $15 million.

In 1812, Louisiana became the 18th state of the Union.

In 1900, engineer John Luther “Casey” Jones of the Illinois Central Railroad died in a train wreck near Vaughan, Mississippi, after staying at the controls in a successful effort to save the passengers.

In 1939, the New York World’s Fair officially opened with a ceremony that included an address by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

In 1945, the radio show “Queen for Today” (later “Queen for a Day”) premiered on the Mutual Network.

In 1958, the American Association of Retired Persons (later simply AARP) was founded in Washington, D.C., by Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus.

In 1968, New York City police forcibly removed student demonstrators occupying five buildings at Columbia University.

In 1973, President Richard Nixon announced the resignations of top aides H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, Attorney General Richard G. Kleindienst and White House counsel John Dean, who was actually fired.

In 1975, the Vietnam War ended as the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to Communist forces.

In 1988, Gen. Manuel Noriega, waving a machete, vowed at a rally to keep fighting U.S. efforts to oust him as Panama’s military ruler.

In 1990, hostage Frank Reed was released by his captives in Lebanon; he was the second American to be released in eight days.

Ten years ago: Missing Georgia woman Jennifer Wilbanks admitted to police in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that she was a “runaway bride” after initially claiming to have been abducted; on what was supposed to have been her wedding day, she was escorted to the airport by officers for a flight home. Vietnam marked the 30th anniversary of the war’s end. James Toney outpointed John Ruiz to win the WBA heavyweight title in New York.

Today in History

Today is Monday, April 27, the 117th day of 2015. There are 248 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlights in History:

On April 27, 1865, in America’s worst maritime disaster, the steamer Sultana, carrying freed Union prisoners of war, exploded on the Mississippi River near Memphis, Tennessee; death toll estimates vary from 1,500 to 2,000. Cornell University was established as New York Gov. Reuben E. Fenton signed a measure approving its charter.

On this date:

In 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan was killed by natives in the Philippines.

In 1777, the only land battle in Connecticut during the Revolutionary War, the Battle of Ridgefield, took place, resulting in a limited British victory.

In 1805, during the First Barbary War, an American-led force of Marines and mercenaries captured the city of Derna, on the shores of Tripoli.

In 1822, the 18th president of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant, was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio.

In 1925, the song “Yes, Sir! That’s My Baby” by Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn was published by Irving Berlin, Inc. of New York.

In 1938, King Zog I of the Albanians married Countess Geraldine Apponyi de Nagy-Apponyi.

In 1941, German forces occupied Athens during World War II.

In 1965, broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow died in Pawling, New York, two days after turning 57.

In 1967, Expo ’67 was officially opened in Montreal by Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson.

In 1973, Acting FBI Director L. Patrick Gray resigned after it was revealed that he’d destroyed files removed from the safe of Watergate conspirator E. Howard Hunt.

In 1982, the trial of John W. Hinckley Jr., who had shot four people, including President Ronald Reagan, began in Washington. (The trial ended with Hinckley’s acquittal by reason of insanity.)

In 1994, former President Richard M. Nixon was remembered at an outdoor funeral service attended by all five of his successors at the Nixon presidential library in Yorba Linda, California.

Ten years ago: Touting technology as a way to solve the country’s energy problems, President George W. Bush called for construction of more nuclear power plants and urged Congress to give tax breaks for fuel-efficient hybrid and clean-diesel cars. Russian President Vladimir Putin became the first Kremlin leader to visit Israel. The Airbus A380, the world’s largest jetliner, made its maiden flight as it took off from Blagnac, France, and returned four hours later.

Five years ago: Defending his company against blistering criticism, the chief executive of Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein, told a Senate hearing that clients who’d bought subprime mortgage securities from the Wall Street powerhouse in 2006 and 2007 came looking for risk “and that’s what they got.” Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega was extradited from the United States to France, where he was later convicted of laundering drug money and received a seven-year sentence. Thomas Hagan, the only man to admit shooting Malcolm X, was freed on parole. University of Washington president Mark Emmert was selected as president of the NCAA.

One year ago: Two 20th-century popes who’d changed the course of the Roman Catholic church become saints as Pope Francis honored John XXIII and John Paul II; Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI joined him in the first celebration of Mass by a serving and retired pontiff in the church’s 2,000-year history. In a rare acknowledgement, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called the Nazi Holocaust “the most heinous crime” of modern history. A tornado tore through parts of Arkansas, killing 16 people. Lydia Ko birdied the final hole for her third LPGA Tour victory and first as a professional in the inaugural Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic, three days after celebrating her 17th birthday.

Today’s Birthdays: Actress Anouk Aimee is 83. Actress Judy Carne is 76. Rock musician Jim Keltner is 73. Rhythm-and-blues singer Cuba Gooding is 71. Singer Ann Peebles is 68. Rock singer Kate Pierson (The B-52’s) is 67. Rhythm-and-blues singer Herbie Murrell (The Stylistics) is 66. Actor Douglas Sheehan is 66. Rock musician Ace Frehley is 64. Pop singer Sheena Easton is 56. Actor James Le Gros (groh) is 53. Rock musician Rob Squires (Big Head Todd and the Monsters) is 50. Singer Mica Paris is 46. Actor David Lascher is 43. Actress Maura West is 43. Actress Sally Hawkins is 39. Rock musician Patrick Hallahan (My Morning Jacket) is 37. Rock singer Jim James (My Morning Jacket) is 37. Rock singer-musician Travis Meeks (Days of the New) is 36. Actress Ari Graynor is 32. Rock singer-musician Patrick Stump (Fall Out Boy) is 31. Pop singer Nick Noonan (Karmin) is 29. Actor William Moseley is 28. Actress Emily Rios is 26. Singer Allison Iraheta is 23.

Thought for Today: “The newest computer can merely compound, at speed, the oldest problem in the relations between human beings, and in the end the communicator will be confronted with the old problem, of what to say and how to say it.” – Edward R. Murrow (1908-1965).

Today in History

Today is Friday, April 24, the 114th day of 2015. There are 251 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On April 24, 1915, what’s regarded as the start of the Armenian genocide began as the Ottoman Empire rounded up Armenian political and cultural leaders in Constantinople.

On this date:

In 1792, the national anthem of France, “La Marseillaise”, was composed by Captain Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle.

In 1800, Congress approved a bill establishing the Library of Congress.

In 1898, Spain declared war on the United States. (The United States responded in kind the next day.)

In 1916, some 1,600 Irish nationalists launched the Easter Rising by seizing several key sites in Dublin. (The rising was put down by British forces almost a week later.)

In 1932, in the Free State of Prussia, the Nazi Party gained a plurality of seats in parliamentary elections.

In 1953, British statesman Winston Churchill was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

In 1962, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology achieved the first satellite relay of a television signal, using NASA’s Echo 1 balloon satellite to bounce a video image from Camp Parks, California, to Westford, Massachusetts.

In 1970, the People’s Republic of China launched its first satellite, which kept transmitting a song, “The East Is Red.”

In 1980, the United States launched an unsuccessful attempt to free the American hostages in Iran, a mission that resulted in the deaths of eight U.S. servicemen.

In 1986, Wallis, Duchess of Windsor, for whom King Edward VIII had given up the British throne, died in Paris at age 89.

In 1990, the space shuttle Discovery blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying the $1.5 billion Hubble Space Telescope.

In 1995, the final bomb linked to the Unabomber exploded inside the Sacramento, California, offices of a lobbying group for the wood products industry, killing chief lobbyist Gilbert B. Murray. (Theodore Kaczynski was later sentenced to four lifetimes in prison for a series of bombings that killed three men and injured 29 others.)

Ten years ago: Pope Benedict XVI formally began his stewardship of the Roman Catholic Church; the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger said in his installation homily that as pontiff he would listen to the will of God in governing the world’s 1.1 billion Catholics. South Korean scientists succeeded in cloning a dog as an Afghan hound puppy named “Snuppy” was born. Former Israeli president Ezer Weizman died in Caesarea, Israel, at age 80.

Five years ago: The policy-setting panel of the International Monetary Fund, with a nervous eye on Greece, pledged during a meeting in Washington to address the risks posed to the global recovery from high government debt. A dozen people were killed by a tornado system that bumped down in Louisiana before plowing into Mississippi and then Alabama. Etiquette expert Elizabeth Post (granddaughter-in-law of Emily Post) died in Naples, Florida, at 89.

One year ago: An Afghan government security guard opened fire on foreign doctors at a Kabul hospital, killing three Americans in the latest of a deadly string of attacks on Western civilians in the capital. The tiny Pacific nation of the Marshall Islands took on the United States and the world’s eight other nuclear-armed nations with an unprecedented lawsuit demanding they meet their obligations toward disarmament and accusing them of “flagrant violations” of international law.

Today’s Birthdays: Movie director-producer Richard Donner is 85. Actress Shirley MacLaine is 81. Author Sue Grafton is 75. Actor-singer Michael Parks is 75. Actress-singer-director Barbra Streisand is 73. Former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley is 73. Country singer Richard Sterban (The Oak Ridge Boys) is 72. Rock musician Doug Clifford (Creedence Clearwater Revival) is 70. Rock singer-musician Rob Hyman is 65. The Taoiseach (prime minister) of Ireland, Enda Kenny, is 64. Actor-playwright Eric Bogosian is 62. Rock singer-musician Jack Blades (Night Ranger) is 61. Actor Michael O’Keefe is 60. Rock musician David J (Bauhaus) is 58. Actor Glenn Morshower is 56. Rock musician Billy Gould is 52. Actor-comedian Cedric the Entertainer is 51. Actor Djimon Hounsou is 51. Rock musician Patty Schemel is 48. Rock musician Aaron Comess (Spin Doctors) is 47. Actress Melinda Clarke is 46. Actor Rory McCann (TV: “Game of Thrones”) is 46. Latin pop singer Alejandro Fernandez is 44. Country-rock musician Brad Morgan (Drive-By Truckers) is 44. Rock musician Brian Marshall (Creed; Alter Bridge) is 42. Actor Derek Luke is 41. Actor Eric Balfour is 38. Actress Rebecca Mader is 38. Country singer Rebecca Lynn Howard is 36. Country singer Danny Gokey is 35. Actor Austin Nichols is 35. Actress Sasha Barrese is 34. Contemporary Christian musician Jasen Rauch (Red) is 34. Singer Kelly Clarkson is 33. Rock singer-musician Tyson Ritter (The All-American Rejects) is 31. Actor Doc Shaw is 23. Golfer Lydia Ko is 18.

Thought for Today: “The door to the past is a strange door. It swings open and things pass through it, but they pass in one direction only. No man can return across that threshold, though he can look down still and see the green light waver in the water weeds.” – Loren Eiseley, American anthropologist (1907-1977).

Today in History

Today is Tuesday, April 21, the 111th day of 2015. There are 254 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On April 21, 1975, with Communist forces closing in, South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu resigned after nearly ten years in office and fled the country.

On this date:

In 1649, the Maryland Toleration Act, providing for freedom of worship for all Christians, was passed by the Maryland assembly.

In 1789, John Adams was sworn in as the first vice president of the United States.

In 1836, an army of Texans led by Sam Houston defeated the Mexicans at San Jacinto, assuring Texas independence.

In 1910, author Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, died in Redding, Connecticut, at age 74.

In 1918, Baron Manfred von Richthofen, the German ace known as the “Red Baron,” was killed in action during World War I.

In 1930, a fire broke out inside the overcrowded Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus, killing 332 inmates.

In 1940, the quiz show that asked the “$64 question,” ”Take It or Leave It,” premiered on CBS Radio.

In 1955, the Jerome Lawrence-Robert Lee play “Inherit the Wind,” inspired by the Scopes trial of 1925, opened at the National Theatre in New York.

In 1960, Brazil inaugurated its new capital, Brasilia, transferring the seat of national government from Rio de Janeiro.

In 1977, the musical play “Annie,” based on the “Little Orphan Annie” comic strip, opened on Broadway, beginning a run of 2,377 performances.

In 1980, Rosie Ruiz was the first woman to cross the finish line at the Boston Marathon; however, she was later exposed as a fraud. (Canadian Jacqueline Gareau was named the actual winner of the women’s race.)

In 1992, Robert Alton Harris became the first person executed by the state of California in 25 years as he was put to death in the gas chamber for the 1978 murders of two teen-age boys, John Mayeski and Michael Baker.

Ten years ago: A commercial helicopter contracted by the U.S. Defense Department was shot down by missile fire north of Baghdad; 11 people, including six American bodyguards, were killed in the crash while a surviving Bulgarian pilot was gunned down by insurgents. Army Sgt. Hasan Akbar was convicted by a military jury at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, of premeditated murder and attempted murder in an attack that killed two of his comrades and wounded 14 others in Kuwait. (He was later sentenced to death.) Zhang Chunqiao, one of the Gang of Four that terrorized China during the Cultural Revolution, died at age 88.

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