TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS SUNDAY, APRIL 30, the 120th day of 2023. There are 245 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:

On April 30, 1945, as Soviet troops approached his Berlin bunker, Adolf Hitler took his own life, as did his wife of one day, Eva Braun.

In 1789, George Washington took the oath of office in New York as the first president of the United States.

In 1803, the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France for 60 million francs, the equivalent of about $15 million.

In 1900, engineer John Luther “Casey” Jones of the Illinois Central Railroad died in a train wreck near Vaughan, Mississippi, after staying at the controls in a successful effort to save the passengers.

In 1973, President Richard Nixon announced the resignations of top aides H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, Attorney General Richard G. Kleindienst and White House counsel John Dean, who was actually fired.

In 1975, the Vietnam War ended as the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to Communist forces.

In 1983, blues singer and guitarist Muddy Waters died in Westmont, Illinois, at age 68.

In 2004, Arabs expressed outrage at graphic photographs of naked Iraqi prisoners being humiliated by U.S. military police; President George W. Bush condemned the mistreatment of prisoners, saying “that’s not the way we do things in America.”

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Singer Willie Nelson is 90. Actor Burt Young is 83. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden is 77. Singer Merrill Osmond is 70. Basketball Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas is 62. Actor Adrian Pasdar is 58. Country singer Carolyn Dawn Johnson is 53. Actor Lisa Dean Ryan is 52. R&B singer Akon is 51. R&B singer Jeff Timmons (98 Degrees) is 50. Actor Johnny Galecki is 48. Actor Sam Heughan is 43. Actor Kunal Nayyar is 42. Rapper Lloyd Banks and actor Kirsten Dunst are 41. Country singer Brandon Lancaster is 34.