NEA DATEBOOK

TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1861, Virginia became the eighth state to secede from the Union.

In 1941, Yugoslavia surrendered to Nazi Germany.

In 1961, a group of CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched an unsuccessful invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs.

In 1964, the Ford Mustang debuted at the World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, New York.

In 1970, the crippled Apollo 13 spacecraft landed safely in the Pacific Ocean.

In 2014, NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope announced the first discovery of an Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of another star, about 490 light-years from Earth.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: J.P. Morgan (1837-1913), financier/banker; Senor Wences (1896-1999), ventriloquist; Thornton Wilder (1897-1975), playwright/novelist; William Holden (1918-1981), actor; Roddy Piper (1954-2015), wrestler; Nick Hornby (1957- ), author/screenwriter; Sean Bean (1959- ), actor; Boomer Esiason (1961- ), football player/sportscaster; Maynard James Keenan (1964- ), singer-songwriter; Redman (1970- ), rapper/actor; Jennifer Garner (1972- ), actress; Rooney Mara (1985- ), actress.

TODAY’S FACT: In February 2017, NASA announced the discovery of seven Earth-size planets — three of which are located in the habitable zone — orbiting a single star 40 light-years away in the constellation Aquarius.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1951, 19-yearold Mickey Mantle made his major league debut with the New York Yankees.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “Being employed is like being loved: You know that somebody’s thinking about you the whole time.” — Thornton Wilder, “The Matchmaker”