Today In History
Today is Thursday, April 16, the 106th day of 2015. There are 259 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
1945: During World War II, a Soviet submarine in the Baltic Sea torpedoed and sank the MV Goya, which Germany was using to transport civilian refugees and wounded soldiers; it’s estimated that up to 7,000 people died.
ON THIS DATE
1789: President-elect George Washington left Mount Vernon, Virginia, for his inauguration in New York.
1879: Bernadette Soubirous, who’d described seeing visions of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes, died in Nevers, France.
1889: Comedian and movie director Charles Chaplin was born in London.
1912: American aviator Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly across the English Channel, leaving Dover, England, and arriving near Calais, France, in 59 minutes.
1935: The radio comedy program “Fibber McGee and Molly” premiered on NBC’s Blue Network.
1940: Major League Baseball’s first (and, to date, only) opening day no-hitter took place as Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians pitched a no-no against the Chicago White Sox, 1-0, at Comiskey Park.
1963: Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” in which he said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
1986: Dispelling rumors he was dead, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi appeared on television to condemn the U.S. raid on his country and to say that Libyans were “ready to die” defending their nation.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS
Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI is 88. Actor Peter Mark Richman is 88. Singer Bobby Vinton is 80. Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II is 75. Basketball Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is 68. Ann Romney is 66. NFL coach Bill Belichick is 63. Rock singer and former politician Peter Garrett is 62. Actress Ellen Barkin is 61. Rock musician Jason Scheff (Chicago) is 53. Singer Jimmy Osmond is 52. Rock singer David Pirner (Soul Asylum) is 51. Actor-comedian Martin Lawrence is 50. Actor Jon Cryer is 50. Actor Peter Billingsley is 44. Actor Lukas Haas is 39. Figure skater Mirai Nagasu is 22.