THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Today is Monday, April 16, the 106th day of 2018. There are 259 days left in the year.

IN THE NATION

1963: Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” in which the civil rights activist responded to a group of local clergymen who had criticized him for leading street protests; King defended his tactics, writing, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

1862: During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia. The Confederacy conscripted all white men between the ages of 18 to 35.

2007: In one of America’s worst school attacks, a Korean-born college senior killed 32 people on the campus of Virginia Tech before taking his own life.

IN THE WORLD

1972: Apollo 16 blasted off on a voyage to the moon with astronauts John W. Young, Charles M. Duke Jr. and Ken Mattingly on board.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

Singer Bobby Vinton is 83. Basketball Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is 71. Alaska Gov. Bill Walker is 67. NFL coach Bill Belichick is 66. Rock singer and former politician Peter Garrett is 65. Actress Ellen Barkin is 64. Rock musician Jason Scheff (Chicago) is 56. Singer Jimmy Osmond is 55. Rock singer David Pirner (Soul Asylum) is 54. Actor-comedian Martin Lawrence is 53. Actor Jon Cryer is 53. Actor Peter Billingsley is 47. Actor Lukas Haas is 42. Figure skater Mirai Nagasu is 25.