On this day, April 14
1828 The first edition of Noah Webster’s “American Dictionary of the English Language” was published.
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.
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 the loss of 1,514 lives.)
1935 The “Black Sunday” dust storm descended upon the central Plains, turning a sunny afternoon into total darkness.
1938 Using the same gold-plated shovel that started the grading of Grant’s Hill, known locally as the Hump, Mayor Cornelius Scully broke ground for the $1.05-million Buhl Planetarium.
1960 Three Pittsburgh bishops — John Wright, Roman Catholic; Austin Pardue, Protestant Episcopal; and Nicholas T. Elko, Byzantine Catholic — opposed a ballot issue to allow betting on harness racing.
1965 The state of Kansas hanged Richard Hickock and Perry Smith for the 1959 “In Cold Blood” murders of Herbert Clutter, his wife, Bonnie, and two of their children, Nancy and Kenyon.
1970 President Richard Nixon nominated Harry Blackmun to the U.S. Supreme Court. (The choice of Blackmun, who was unanimously confirmed by the Senate a month later, followed the failed nominations of Clement Haynsworth and G. Harrold Carswell.)
1988 The Fifth Avenue Place office building was dedicated on the site of the former Jenkins Arcade.
Some items are from Stefan Lorant’s “Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City” (digital.library.pitt.edu/chronology).
— Compiled by Alyssa Brown
Today’s birthdays: Country singer Loretta Lynn, 89. Actor Julie Christie, 81. Retired MLB All-Star Pete Rose, 80. Rock musician Ritchie Blackmore, 76. Actor John Shea, 73. Actor Peter Capaldi, 63. Actor-turned-race car driver Brian Forster, 61. Actor Brad Garrett, 61. Actor Robert Carlyle, 60. Rock singer-musician John Bell (Widespread Panic), 59. Actor Robert Clendenin, 57. Actor Catherine Dent, 56. Actor Lloyd Owen, 55. Baseball Hall of Famer Greg Maddux, 55. Rock musician Barrett Martin, 54. Actor Anthony Michael Hall, 53. Actor Adrien Brody, 48. Classical singer David Miller (Il Divo), 48. Rapper Da Brat, 47. Actor Antwon Tanner, 46. Actor Sarah Michelle Gellar, 44. Actor-producer Rob McElhenney, 44. Roots singer JD McPherson, 44. Rock singer Win Butler (Arcade Fire), 41. Actor Claire Coffee, 41. Actor Christian Alexander, 31. Actor Nick Krause, 29. Actor Vivien Cardone, 28. Actor Graham Phillips, 28. Actor Skyler Samuels, 27. Actor Abigail Breslin, 25.
Thought for today: “Education ... has produced a vast population able to read but unable to distinguish what is worth reading.”
— George Macaulay Trevelyan, English historian (1876-1962)