TODAY IN HISTORY
the 107th day of 2018. There are 258 days left in the year. On this date in 1961, some 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in an attempt to topple Fidel Castro, whose forces crushed the incursion by the third day.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus and a representative of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain signed a contract giving Columbus a commission to seek a westward ocean passage to Asia.
In 1521, Martin Luther went before the Diet of Worms to face charges stemming from his religious writings. (Luther was later declared an outlaw by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.)
In 1861, the Virginia State Convention voted to secede from the Union.
In 1895, the Treaty of Shimonoseki ended the first Sino-Japanese War.
In 1937, cartoon character Daffy Duck made his debut in the Warner Bros. animated short “Porky’s Duck Hunt.”
In 1964, Ford Motor Co. unveiled the Mustang at the New York World’s Fair. The first game was played at New York’s Shea Stadium; the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Mets, 4-3.
In 1970, Apollo 13 astronauts James A. Lovell, Fred W. Haise and Jack Swigert splashed down safely in the Pacific, four days after a ruptured oxygen tank crippled their spacecraft while en route to the moon.
In 1972, the Boston Marathon allowed women to compete for the first time; Nina Kuscsik was the first officially recognized women’s champion, with a time of 3:10:26.
In 1993, a federal jury in Los Angeles convicted two former police officers of violating the civil rights of beaten motorist Rodney King; two other officers were acquitted. Turkish President Turgut Ozal died at age 66.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actor David Bradley is 76. Composer-musician Jan Hammer is 70. Actress Olivia Hussey is 67. Actor Clarke Peters is 66. Rapper Afrika Bambaataa is 61. Actor Sean Bean is 59. Former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason is 57. Actor William Mapother is 53. Actresses Leslie Bega and Kimberly Elise, actor Henry Ian Cusick and singer Liz Phair are 51. Rapper-actor Redman is 48. Actress Jennifer Garner is 46. Country musician Craig Anderson is 45. Singer Victoria Adams Beckham is 44. Actor Tate Ellington is 39. Actor Charlie Hofheimer is 37. Actress Rooney Mara is 33. Actress Jacqueline MacInnes Wood is 31. Actor Paulie Litt is 23. Actress Dee Dee Davis is 22.