DAILY ALMANAC
Today is Wednesday, April 21, the 111th day of 2021. There are 254 days left in the year.
On this date in:
1649: The Maryland Toleration Act, providing for freedom of worship for all Christians, was passed by the Maryland assembly.
1789: John Adams was sworn in as the first vice president of the United States.
1816: Charlotte Bronte, author of “Jane Eyre,” was born in Thornton, England.
1836: An army of Texans led by Sam Houston defeated the Mexicans at San Jacinto, assuring Texas independence.
1910: Author Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, died in Redding, Connecticut, at age 74.
1918: Manfred von Richthofen, 25, the German ace known as the “Red Baron” who was believed to have downed 80 enemy aircraft during World War I, was himself shot down and killed while in action over France.
1926: Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II was born in Mayfair, London; she was the first child of The Duke and Duchess of York, who later became King George VI and the Queen Mother.
1930: Fire broke out inside the overcrowded Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus, killing 332 inmates.
1975: With Communist forces closing in, South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu resigned after nearly 10 years in office and fled the country.
1976: Clinical trials of the swine flu vaccine began in Washington, D.C.
1977: The musical play “Annie,” based on the “Little Orphan Annie” comic strip, opened on Broadway, beginning a run of 2,377 performances.
1980: Rosie Ruiz was the first woman to cross the finish line at the Boston Marathon; however, she was later exposed as a fraud. (Canadian Jacqueline Gareau was named the actual winner of the women’s race.)
2015: An Egyptian criminal court sentenced ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi to 20 years in prison over the killing of protesters in 2012.
Actor Elaine May is 89. Actor Charles Grodin is 86. Singer Iggy Pop is 74. Actor Patti Lupone is 72. Actor Tony Danza is 70. Actor James Morrison (“24”) is 67. Actor Andie Macdowell is 63. Singer Robert Smith of The Cure is 62. Guitarist Michael Timmins of Cowboy Junkies is 62. Actor-director John
Cameron Mitchell (“Hedwig and the Angry Inch”) is 58. Rapper Michael Franti of Spearhead is 55. Actor Leslie Silva (“In the Dark,” “Providence”) is 53. Actor Toby Stephens (“Die Another Day”) is 52. Singer Glen Hansard is 51. Comedian Rob Riggle is 51. Comedian Nicole Sullivan
(“King of Queens”) is 51. Guitarist David Brenner
of Theory of a Deadman is 43. Actor James Mcavoy (“The Last King of Scotland,” “The Chronicles of Narnia”) is 42. Actor Terrence J (“Think Like a Man”) is 39. Actor Christoph Sanders
(“Last Man Standing”) is 33. Actor Frank Dillane (“Fear the Walking Dead”) is 30. Singer Sydney Sierota of Echosmith is 24.