TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Thursday, April 15, the 105th day of 2021.
Today’s highlight in history
On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson, baseball’s first Black major league player, made his official debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers on opening day.
On this date
In 1452, artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci was born. In 1850, the city of San Francisco was incorporated.
In 1865, President Abraham Lincoln died nine hours after being shot the night before by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater in Washington; Andrew Johnson became the nation’s 17th president.
In 1912, the British luxury liner RMS Titanic foundered in the North Atlantic off Newfoundland more than 2 1⁄2 hours after hitting an iceberg; 1,514 people died, while less than half as many survived.
In 1945, British and Canadian troops liberated the Nazi concentration camp Bergen-Belsen.
In 1989, 96 people died in a crush of soccer fans at Hillsborough Stadium in England. Students in Beijing launched a series of pro-democracy protests; the demonstrations culminated in a government crackdown at Tiananmen Square.
In 2013, two bombs made from pressure cookers exploded at the Boston Marathon finish line, killing two women and an 8-year-old boy and injuring more than 260.
In 2019, fire swept across the top of the Notre Dame Cathedral as the soaring Paris landmark underwent renovations; the blaze collapsed the cathedral’s spire and spread to one of its landmark rectangular towers, but fire officials said the church’s structure had been saved.
Ten years ago: The first of three days of tornadoes to strike the central and southern U.S. began; there were an estimated 177 twisters and at least 38 fatalities.
Today’s birthdays
Actor Claudia Cardinale is 83. Actor Lois Chiles is 74. Columnist Heloise is 70. Actor Sam McMurray is 69. Actor Emma Thompson is 62. Actor Danny Pino is 47. Singer Chris Stapleton is 43. Actor Luke Evans is 42. Actor Seth Rogen is 39. Actor Alice Braga is 38. Actor Samira Wiley is 34. Actor Emma Watson is 31. Actor Maisie Williams is 24.