THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Today is Friday, April 16, the 106th day of 2021. There are 259 days left in the year.

IN THE NATION

1963: Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” in which the civil rights activist responded to a group of local clergymen who had criticized him for leading street protests; King defended his tactics, writing, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

2007: In one of America’s worst school attacks, a college senior killed 32 people on the campus of Virginia

Tech before taking his own life.

IN THE WORLD

1945: 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.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI is 94. Musician Bobby Vinton is 86. Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II is 81. Basketball Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is

74. NFL coach Bill Belichick is 69. Actorcomedian Martin Lawrence is 56. Actor Jon Cryer is 56. Actor Peter Billingsley is

50. Actor Claire Foy is 37.