Today In History
Today is Wednesday, April 7, the 97th day of 2021. There are 268 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
› 1915: Jazz singersongwriter Billie Holiday, also known as “Lady Day,” was born in Philadelphia.
ON THIS DATE
› 1862: Union forces led by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant defeated the Confederates at the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee.
› 1927: The image and voice of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover were transmitted live from Washington to New York in the first successful long-distance demonstration of television.
› 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.)
› 1957: Shortly after midnight, the last of New York’s electric trolleys completed its final run from Queens to
Manhattan.
› 1984: The Census Bureau reported Los Angeles had overtaken Chicago as the nation’s “second city” in terms of population.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS
Country singer Bobby Bare is 86. R&B singer Charlie Thomas (The Drifters) is 84. Former California Gov. Jerry Brown is 83. Movie director Francis Ford Coppola is 82. Actor Roberta Shore is 78. Singer Patricia Bennett (The Chiffons) is 74. Singer John Oates is 73. Former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels is 72. Singer Janis Ian is 70. Country musician John Dittrich is 70. Actor Jackie Chan is 67. College and Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett is 67. Actor Russell Crowe is
57. Christian/jazz singer Mark Kibble (Take 6) is
57. Actor Bill Bellamy is
56. Rock musician Dave “Yorkie” Palmer (Space) is 56. Actor Heather Burns is 46. Christian rock singer-musician John Cooper (Skillet) is
46. Actor Kevin Alejandro is 45. Retired baseball infielder Adrian Beltre is 42. Actor Sian Clifford is 39. Rock musician Ben McKee (Imagine Dragons) is 36. Christian rock singer Tauren Wells is 35. Actor Ed Speleers is 33. Actor Conner Rayburn is 22.