Today in history

Today is the 95th day of 2017 and the 17th day of spring.

TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1792, George Washington cast the first presidential veto, striking down a bill that concerned representative apportionment among the states.

In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order establishing the Civilian Conservation Corps.

In 1955, Winston Churchill resigned as prime minister of Great Britain due to failing health.

In 2010, an explosion at the Upper Big Branch coal mine in West Virginia killed 29 miners.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), philosopher; Booker T. Washington (18561915), writer/educator; Spencer Tracy (19001967), actor; Bette Davis (1908-1989), actress; Gregory Peck (1916-2003), actor; Roger Corman (1926- ), filmmaker; Colin Powell (1937- ), U.S. Army general/ diplomat; Mitch Pileggi (1952- ), actor; Pharrell Williams (1973- ), rapper/producer; Hayley Atwell (1982- ), actress.

TODAY’S FACT: Easter Island, located in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, was given its name by its first recorded European visitor, Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen, who first encountered it on Easter Sunday, on this day in 1722.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1984, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the Los Angeles Lakers scored his 31,420th career point, breaking the NBA’s all-time scoring record.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “In any country, regardless of what its laws say, wherever people act upon the idea that the disadvantage of one man is the good of another, there slavery exists.” -- Booker T. Washington

TODAY’S NUMBER: 2.43 -- length (in miles) of the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, linking the city of Kobe to Awaji Island in Japan. The bridge, which has the longest main span of any suspension bridge in the world, opened to traffic on this day in 1998.

TODAY’S MOON: Between first quarter moon (April 3) and full moon (April 10).