Today is Sunday, April 15, the 105th day of 2007. There are 260 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
In the early hours of April 15, 1912, the British luxury liner Titanic sank in the North Atlantic off Newfoundland, less than three hours after striking an iceberg. Some 1,500 people died.
On this date:
In 1850, the city of San Francisco was incorporated.
In 1861, three days after the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, S.C., President Abraham Lincoln declared a state of insurrection and called out Union troops.
In 1865, President Lincoln died, several hours after being shot at Ford’s Theater in Washington by John Wilkes Booth. Andrew Johnson became the nation’s 17th president.
In 1945, during World War II, British and Canadian troops liberated the Nazi concentration camp Bergen-Belsen.
In 1947, Jackie Robinson, baseball’s first black major league player, made his official debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers on opening day. (The Dodgers defeated the Boston Braves, 5-3.)
In 1980, existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre died in Paris at the age of 74.
In 1986, the United States launched an air raid against Libya in response to the bombing of a discotheque in Berlin on April 5; Libya says 37 people, mostly civilians, were killed.
In 1989, 96 people died in a crush of soccer fans at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England.
In 1990, actress Greta Garbo died in New York at age 84.
In 1998, Pol Pot, the notorious leader of the Khmer Rouge, died at age 73, evading prosecution for the deaths of two million Cambodians.
Ten years ago: The Justice Department inspector general reported that FBI crime lab agents produced flawed scientific work or inaccurate testimony in major cases such as the Oklahoma City bombing. In Saudi Arabia, fire destroyed a tent city outside Mecca, killing at least 343 Muslim pilgrims. Jackie Robinson’s number 42 was retired 50 years after he became the first black player in major league baseball.
Five years ago: Four U.S. soldiers were killed in Afghanistan when rockets they were trying to destroy accidentally blew up. The Vatican announced that Pope John Paul II was summoning American cardinals to Rome for talks about sex abuse scandals in the U.S. church. A Chinese jetliner crashed in South Korea, killing 122 people. Retired Supreme Court Justice Byron R. White died at age
84. Rodgers Rop led a Kenyan sweep of the Boston Marathon, winning in 2:09:02; Margaret Okayo, also of Kenya, won the women’s race in 2:20:43.
One year ago: A U.S. airstrike aimed at militants holed up in eastern Kunar province in Afghanistan mistakenly killed seven civilians.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Michael Ansara is 85. Country singer Roy Clark is 74. Rock singer-guitarist Dave Edmunds is 63. Actress Lois Chiles is 60. Writer-producer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason is 60. Actress Amy Wright is 57. Columnist Heloise is 56. Actress-screenwriter Emma Thompson is 48. Singer Samantha Fox is
41. Rock musician Ed O’Brien (Radiohead) is 39. Actor Flex Alexander is 37. Actor Danny Pino is 33. Actress Emma Watson is 17.
Thought for Today: “If you haven’t had at least a slight poetic crack in the heart, you have been cheated by nature.” — Phyllis Battelle, American journalist.