Today in history
Today is Friday, April 29, the 120th day of 2016. There are 246 days left in the year.
On this date in the SCV: In 1989, some Sutter’s Pointe residents inhaled dangerous quantities of the pesticide Phosdrin from a nearby helicopter spraying by Boskovich Farms, neighbors and county officials confirmed. The county’s Agricultural Commission concluded that it had erred in not supervising sprayings, and promised to supervise all future pesticide runs by Boskovich. The residents at risk lived adjacent to the Saugus Rehabilitation Center, where Boskovich leased land from the city of Los Angeles to grow parsley. But neighbors agree that the pesticide had drifted onto their land, even if the tests did not prove their contention. Many neighbors described the floating mists causing a foul smell and sometimes illness. Today’s Highlight in History: On April 29, 1991, a cyclone began striking the South Asian country of Bangladesh; it ended up killing more than 138,000 people, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Ten years ago: Tens of thousands of protesters marched through lower Manhattan to demand an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Liberal economist John Kenneth Galbraith died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at age 97.
Five years ago: Britain’s Prince William and Kate Middleton were married in an opulent ceremony at London’s Westminster Abbey amid pomp, circumstance — and elaborate hats. President Barack Obama visited Tuscaloosa, Alabama, one of the sites of deadly tornadoes two days earlier, saying he had “never seen devastation like this.” One year ago: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe offered condolences for Americans killed in World War II in the first address by a Japanese leader to a joint meeting of Congress, but stopped short of apologizing for wartime atrocities. In what was believed to be the first major league game played without fans in attendance, Chris Davis hit a three-run homer in a six-run first inning and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox 8-2. (The gates at Camden Yards were locked because of concern for fan safety following recent rioting in Baltimore.) Calvin Peete, 71, who became the most successful black player on the PGA Tour before the arrival of Tiger Woods, died in Atlanta. On this date: In 1429, Joan of Arc entered the besieged city of Orleans to lead a French victory over the English. In 1798, Joseph Haydn’s oratorio “The Creation” was rehearsed in Vienna, Austria, before an invited audience. In 1861, the Maryland House of Delegates voted 5313 against seceding from the Union. In Montgomery, Alabama, President Jefferson Davis asked the Confederate Congress for the authority to wage war. In 1913, Swedish-born engineer Gideon Sundback of Hoboken, New Jersey, received a U.S. patent for a “separable fastener” — later known as the zipper. In 1916, the Easter Rising in Dublin collapsed as Irish nationalists surrendered to British authorities. In 1945, during World War II, American soldiers liberated the Dachau concentration camp.