TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Wednesday, April 3, the 94th day of 2024. There are 272 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On April 3, 1968, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. delivered what turned out to be his final speech, telling a rally of striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee, that “I’ve been to the mountaintop” and “seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land!” (About 20 hours later, King was felled by an assassin’s bullet at the Lorraine Motel.)
On this date:
In 1865, Union forces occupied the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia.
In 1882, outlaw Jesse James was shot to death in St. Joseph, Missouri, by Robert Ford, a member of James’ gang.
In 1936, Bruno Hauptmann was electrocuted in Trenton, New Jersey, for the kidnap-murder of 20-month-old Charles Lindbergh Jr.
In 1942, during World War II, Japanese forces began their final assault on Bataan against American and Filipino troops who surrendered six days later; the capitulation was followed by the notorious Bataan Death March.
In 1973, the first handheld portable telephone was demonstrated for reporters on a New York City street corner as Motorola executive Martin Cooper called Joel S. Engel of Bell Labs. In 1996, Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski was arrested at his remote Montana cabin.
In 2020, President Donald Trump announced new federal guidelines recommending that Americans wear face coverings when in public to help fight the spread of the coronavirus, but Trump immediately said he had no intention of following that advice himself; he said he could not envision himself covering his face while sitting in the Oval Office greeting world leaders.
Today’s Birthdays: Conservationist Jane Goodall is 90. Actor Marsha Mason is 82. Singer Wayne Newton is 82. Singer Tony Orlando is 80. Blues singer-guitarist John Mooney is 69. Rock musician Mick Mars (Motley Crue) is 68. Actor Alec Baldwin is 66. Actor David Hyde Pierce is 65. Comedian-actor Eddie Murphy is 63. Olympic gold medal ski racer Picabo Street is 53. Actor Jennie Garth is 52. Actor Matthew Goode is 46. Former actor Amanda Bynes is 38.