TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Thursday, April 7, the 97th day of 2022. There are 268 days left in the year.
ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY
On April 7, 1984, the Census Bureau reported Los Angeles had overtaken Chicago as the nation’s “second city” in terms of population.
1862 — Union forces led by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell defeated the Confederates at the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee.
1922 — The Teapot Dome scandal had its beginnings as Interior Secretary Albert B. Fall signed a secret deal to lease US Navy petroleum reserves in Wyoming and California to his friends, oilmen Harry F. Sinclair and Edward L. Doheny, in exchange for cash gifts.
1945 — During World War II, American planes intercepted and effectively destroyed a Japanese fleet, which included the battleship Yamato, that was headed to Okinawa on a suicide mission.
1954 — President Dwight D. Eisenhower held a news conference in which he spoke of the importance of containing the spread of communism in Indochina, saying, “You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly.” (This became known as the “domino theory,” although Eisenhower did not use that term.)
1962 — Nearly 1,200 Cuban exiles tried by Cuba for their roles in the failed Bay of Pigs invasion were convicted of treason.
1966 — The US Navy recovered a hydrogen bomb that the US Air Force had lost in the Mediterranean Sea off Spain following a B-52 crash.
2020 — Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly resigned after lambasting the officer he had fired as the captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, which had been stricken by a Coronavirus outbreak; James McPherson was appointed as acting Navy secretary.
Five years ago — President Donald Trump concluded his two-day summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, saying he had developed an “outstanding” relationship with the Chinese leader.
One year ago — Former NFL player Phillip Adams fatally shot six people in Rock Hill, South Carolina, including a prominent doctor, his wife and their two grandchildren, before killing himself.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS
Country singer Bobby Bare is 87. R&B singer Charlie Thomas (The Drifters) is 85. Former California Gov. Jerry Brown is 84. Movie director Francis Ford Coppola is 83. Actor Roberta Shore is 79. Singer Patricia Bennett (The Chiffons) is 75. Singer John Oates is 74. Former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels is 73. Singer Janis Ian is 71. Country musician John Dittrich is 71. Actor Jackie Chan is 68. College and Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett is 68. Actor Russell Crowe is 58. Christian/jazz singer Mark Kibble (Take 6) is 58. Actor Bill Bellamy is 57. Rock musician Dave “Yorkie” Palmer (Space) is 57. Former football player-turned-analyst Tiki Barber is 47. Actor Heather Burns is 47. Christian rock singer-musician John Cooper (Skillet) is 47. Actor Kevin Alejandro is 46. Retired baseball infielder Adrian Beltre is 43. Actor Sian Clifford is 40. Rock musician Ben McKee (Imagine Dragons) is 37. Christian rock singer Tauren Wells is 36.