Today In History
Today is Saturday, April 17, the 107th day of 2021. There are 258 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
› 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.
ON THIS DATE
› 1492: A contract was signed by Christopher Columbus and a representative of Spain’s King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, giving Columbus a commission to seek a westward ocean passage to Asia.
› 1895: The Treaty of Shimonoseki ended the first Sino-Japanese War.
› 1905: The U.S. Supreme Court, in Lochner v. New York, struck down, 5-4, a New York State law limiting the number of hours that bakers could be made to work. (This ruling was effectively overturned in 1937 by the high court’s West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish decision.)
› 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.
› 1973: Federal Express (later FedEx) began operations as 14 planes carrying 186 packages took off from Memphis International Airport, bound for 25 U.S. cities.
› 1991: The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 3,000 for the first time, ending the day at 3,004.46, up 17.58.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS
Actor David Bradley is
79. Composer-musician Jan Hammer is 73. Actor Olivia Hussey is 70. Actor Clarke Peters is 69. Rapper Afrika Bambaataa is
64. Actor Sean Bean is
62. Former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason is
60. Actor Joel Murray is
59. Rock singer Maynard James Keenan is 57. Actor Lela Rochon is 57. Actor William Mapother is 56. Actor Leslie Bega is 54. Actor Henry Ian Cusick is
54. Actor Kimberly Elise is 54. Singer Liz Phair is
54. Director/producer Adam McKay is 53. Rapper-actor Redman is 51. Actor Jennifer Garner is 49. Country musician Craig Anderson is 48. Singer Victoria Beckham is 47. Actor Nicholas D’Agosto is 41. Actor Charlie Hofheimer is 40. Actor Rooney Mara is 36. Actor Jacqueline MacInnes Wood is 34. Actor Paulie Litt is 26. Actor Dee Dee Davis is 25.