TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Friday, April 29, the 119th day of 2022. There are 246 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On April 29, 1946, 28 former Japanese officials went on trial in Tokyo as war criminals; seven ended up being sentenced to death.
On this date:
• In 1429, Joan of Arc entered the besieged city of Orleans to lead a French victory over the English.
• In 1916, the Easter Rising in Dublin collapsed as Irish nationalists surrendered to British authorities.
• In 1945, during World War II, American soldiers liberated the Dachau (DAH’-khow) concentration camp. Adolf Hitler married Eva Braun inside his “Fuhrerbunker” and designated Adm. Karl Doenitz (DUHR’-nihtz) president.
• In 1957, the SM-1, the first military nuclear power plant, was dedicated at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
• In 1967, Aretha Franklin’s cover of Otis Redding’s “Respect” was released as a single by Atlantic Records.
• In 1991, a cyclone began striking the South Asian country of Bangladesh; it ended up killing more than 138,000 people, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
• In 1992, a jury in Simi Valley, California, acquitted four Los Angeles police officers of almost all state charges in the videotaped beating of motorist Rodney King; the verdicts were followed by rioting in Los Angeles resulting in 55 deaths.
• In 1997, a worldwide treaty to ban chemical weapons went into effect.
• In 2008, Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama denounced his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, for what he termed “divisive and destructive” remarks on race.
• In 2010, the U.S. Navy officially ended a ban on women serving on submarines, saying the first women would be reporting for duty by 2012. The NCAA’s Board of Directors approved a 68-team format for the men’s basketball tournament beginning the next season.
• In 2011, Britain’s Prince William and Kate Middleton were married in an opulent ceremony at London’s Westminster Abbey.
• In 2020, scientists announced the first effective treatment against the coronavirus, the experimental antiviral medication remdesivir, which they said could speed the recovery of COVID-19 patients.
Ten years ago: Despite past differences, President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton began a summer fundraising blitz with an event in McLean, Virginia. An out-of-control SUV plunged more than 50 feet off the side of a New York City highway overpass and landed on the grounds of the Bronx Zoo, killing all seven people aboard, including three children.
Five years ago: President Donald Trump marked his 100th day in office with a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. A white suburban Dallas policeman fired into a moving car carrying five Black teenagers, killing 15-year-old Jordan Edwards. (Balch Springs officer Roy Oliver would be convicted of murder and sentenced to 15 years in prison.)
One year ago: Brazil became the second country to officially top 400,000 COVID-19 deaths. Police in Los Angeles said the woman who had returned Lady Gaga’s stolen French bulldogs was among five people arrested in connection with the theft and the shooting of the music superstar’s dog walker. The Jacksonville Jaguars made Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence the first pick in the NFL draft; the first three selections were all quarterbacks.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Keith Baxter is 89. Conductor Zubin Mehta is 86. Pop singer Bob Miranda (The Happenings) is 80. Country singer Duane Allen (The Oak Ridge Boys) is 79. Singer Tommy James is 75. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., is 72. Movie director Phillip Noyce is 72. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is 68. Actor Leslie Jordan is 67. Actor Kate Mulgrew is 67. Actor Daniel Day-Lewis is 65. Actor Michelle Pfeiffer is 64. Actor Eve Plumb is 64. Rock musician Phil King is 62. Country singer Stephanie Bentley is 59. Actor Vincent Ventresca is 56. Singer Carnie Wilson (Wilson Phillips) is 54. Actor Paul Adelstein is 53. Actor Uma Thurman is 52. International Tennis Hall of Famer Andre Agassi is 52. Rapper Master P is 52. Actor Darby Stanchfield is 51. Country singer James Bonamy is 50. Gospel/R&B singer Erica Campbell (Mary Mary) is 50. Rock musician Mike Hogan (The Cranberries) is 49. Actor Tyler Labine is 44. Actor Megan Boone is 39. Actor-model Taylor Cole is 38. NHL center Jonathan Toews is 34. Pop singer Foxes is 33.