DAY IN HISTORY

Friday, April 17, 2020

Today is the 108th day of 2020 and the 30th day of spring.

TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1861, Virginia became the eighth state to secede from the Union.

In 1941, Yugoslavia surrendered to Nazi Germany.

In 1961, a group of Cia-trained Cuban exiles launched an unsuccessful invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs.

In 1964, the Ford Mustang debuted at the World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, New York.

In 1970, the crippled Apollo 13 spacecraft landed safely in the Pacific Ocean.

In 2014, NASA’S Kepler space observatory announced the first discovery of an Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of another star, about 490 light-years from Earth.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS:

J.P. Morgan (1837-1913), financier/banker; Senor Wences (1896-1999), ventriloquist; Thornton Wilder, (1897-1975), playwright/novelist; William Holden (1918-1981), actor; Roddy Piper (19542015), wrestler; Nick Hornby (1957- ), author/ screenwriter; Sean Bean (1959- ), actor; Boomer Esiason (1961- ), football player/sportscaster; Maynard James Kennan (1964), singer-songwriter; Redman (1970- ), rapper/ actor; Jennifer Garner (1972- ), actress; Rooney Mara (1985- ), actress.

TODAY’S FACT: In February 2017, NASA announced the discovery of seven Earth-size planets -three of which are located in the habitable zone -- around a single star 40 light-years away in the constellation Aquarius.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1951, 19-year-old Mickey Mantle made his major league debut with the New York Yankees.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “Wherever you come near the human race, there’s layers and layers of nonsense.” — Thornton Wilder, “Our Town”

TODAY’S NUMBER: 11,747 — immigrants processed at the Ellis Island immigration center on this day in 1907, the most ever in a single day.

TODAY’S MOON: Between last quarter moon (April 14) and new moon (April 22).