TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS SATURDAY, APRIL 14, the 104th day of 2018. There are 261 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was shot and mortally wounded by John Wilkes Booth during a performance of “Our American Cousin” at Ford’s Theater in Washington.
In 1828, the first edition of Noah Webster’s “American Dictionary of the English Language” was published.
In 1912, the British liner RMS Titanic collided with an iceberg in the North Atlantic at 11:40 p.m. ship’s time and began sinking. The ship went under two hours and 40 minutes later with 1,514 lives lost.
In 1935, the “Black Sunday” dust storm descended upon the central Plains, turning a sunny afternoon into total darkness.
In 1939, the John Steinbeck novel “The Grapes of Wrath” was first published by Viking Press.
In 1956, Ampex Corp. demonstrated the first practical videotape recorder at the National Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters Convention in Chicago.
In 1981, the first test flight of America’s first operational space shuttle, the Columbia, ended successfully with a landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
In 1986, Americans got word of a U.S. air raid on Libya. Because of the time difference, it was the early morning of April 15 where the attack occurred.
In 1994, two U.S. Air Force F-15 warplanes mistakenly shot down two U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopters over northern Iraq, killing 26 people, including 15 Americans. Turner Classic Movies made its cable debut; the first film it aired was Ted Turner’s favorite, “Gone with the Wind.”
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Country singer Loretta Lynn is 86. Actress Julie Christie is 78. Retired MLB All-Star Pete Rose is 77. Actor-turned-race car driver Brian Forster and actor Brad Garrett are 58. Actor Robert Carlyle is 57. Rock singer-musician John Bell (Widespread Panic) is 56. Actor Lloyd Owen and Baseball Hall-of-Famer Greg Maddux are 52. Rock musician Barrett Martin is 51. Actor Anthony Michael Hall is 50. Actor Adrien Brody and classical singer David Miller (Il Divo) are 45. Actor Antwon Tanner is 43. Actress Sarah Michelle Gellar, actor-producer Rob McElhenney and roots singer JD McPherson are 41. Rock singer Win Butler (Arcade Fire) and actress Claire Coffee are 38. Actress Vivien Cardone and actor Graham Phillips are 25. Actress Skyler Samuels is 24. Actress Abigail Breslin is 22.