Today is Friday, April 13, 2017 the 103rd day of the year with 262 days remaining.
- Sunrise: 6:37am
- Sunset: 7:44pm
...giving us 13 hours and 6 minutes of daylight. 11% of the moon will be visible, setting at 5:29pm.
Tides at the Golden Gate
- High: 10:43am/11:20pm
- Low: 4:37am/4:40pm
Special international celebrations today…
- Cosmonaut's Day - Russia
- National Redemption Day - Liberia
It’s also…
- American Immigration Lawyers Association Day of Action
- Blame Someone Else Day
- National Donate Life (Blue and Green) Day
- Make Lunch Count Day
- National Peach Cobbler Day
- National Scrabble Day
On this day in…
1598 - King Henry IV of France signed the Edict of Nantes which granted political rights to French Protestant Huguenots.
1742 - George Frideric Handel's "Messiah" was first performed publicly, in Dublin, Ireland.
1759 - The French defeated the European allies in Battle of Bergen.
1775 - Lord North extended the New England Restraining Act toSouth, Carolina,Virginia,Pennsylvania,New Jersey andMaryland. The act prohibited trade with any country other than Britain and Ireland.
1782 - Washington,NC, was incorporated as the first town to be named for George Washington.
1796 - The first known elephant to arrive in theUnited States from Bengal, India.
1808 - William "Juda" Henry Lane perfected the tap dance.
1829 - The English Parliament granted freedom of religion to Catholics.
1849 - The Hungarian Republic was proclaimed.
1860 - The first mail was delivered via Pony Express when a westbound rider arrived in Sacremento, CA from St. Joseph, MO.
1861 - After 34 hours of bombardment, the Union-held Fort Sumter surrenders to Confederates.
1870 - The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in New York City.
1916 - The first hybrid, seed corn was purchased for 15-cents a bushel by Samuel Ramsay.
1933 - The first flight over Mount Everest was completed by Lord Clydesdale.
1941 - German troops captured Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
1943 -U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the Jefferson Memorial.
1945 - Vienna fell to Soviet troops.
1949 - Philip S. Hench and associates announced that cortizone was an effective treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.
1954 - Hank Aaron debuted with the Milwaukee Braves.
1959 - A Vatican edict prohibited Roman Catholics from voting for Communists.
1960 - The first navigational satellite was launched into Earth's orbit.
1961 - The U.N. General Assembly condemned South Africa due to apartheid.
1962 - In the U.S., major steel companies rescinded announced price increases. The John F. Kennedy administration had been applying pressure against the price increases.
1963 - Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds got his first hit in the major leagues.
1964 - Sidney Poitier became the first black to win an Oscar for best actor. It was for his role in the movie "Lilies of the Field."
1970 - An oxygen tank exploded on Apollo 13, preventing a planned moon landing.
1972 - The first strike in the history of major league baseball ended. Players had walked off the field 13 days earlier.
1976 - TheU.S. Federal Reserve introduced $2 bicentennial notes.
1979 - The world's longest doubles ping-pong match ended after 101 hours.
1981 - Washington Post reporter Janet Cooke received a Pulitzer Prize for her feature about an 8-year-old heroin addict named "Jimmy." Cooke relinquished the prize two days later after admitting she had fabricated the story.
1984 -U.S. President Reagan sent emergency military aid to El Salvador without congressional approval.
1984 - Christopher Walker was killed in a fight with police inNew Hampshire. Walker was wanted as a suspect in the kidnappings of 11 young women in several states.
1990 - The Soviet Union accepted responsibility for the World War II murders of thousands of imprisoned Polish officers in the Katyn Forest. The Soviets had previously blamed the massacre on the Nazis.
1997 - Tiger Woods became the youngest person to win the Masters Tournament at the age of 21. He also set a record when he finished at 18 under par.
1998 - NationsBank and BankAmerica announced a $62.5 billion merger, creating the country's first coast-to-coast bank.
1998 - Dolly, the world's first cloned sheep, gave natural birth to a healthy baby lamb.
1999 - Jack Kervorkian was sentenced in Pontiac, MI, to 10 to 25 years in prison for the second-degree murder of Thomas Youk. Youk's assisted suicide was videotaped and shown on "60 Minutes" in 1998.
2000 - Richard Gordon was charged with trying to extort $250,000 from Louie Anderson in exchange for not telling the tabloid media about Anderson once asking him for sex. Gordon was held without bail pending a court hearing.
2000 - It was announced that 69 people had died when the Arlahada, a Philippine ferry, capsized. 70 people were rescued.
2002 - Twenty-five Hindus were killed and about 30 were wounded when grenades were thrown by suspected Islamic guerrillas near Jammu-Kashir.
2002 - Venezuela's interim president, Pedro Carmona, resigned a day after taking office. Thousands of protesters had supported over the ousting of president Hugo Chavez.
Today’s birthday celebrants include (or included)...
- John Hanson 1721 - Merchant and public official in Maryland, signed the Articles of Confederation
- Thomas Jefferson 1743 - 3rd U.S. President
- Frank W. Woolworth 1852 - Merchant, created the five and ten cent store, head of F.W. Woolworth & Co.
- Butch Cassidy (Robert LeRoy Parker) 1866 - American train robber, bank robber and leader of the Wild Bunch Gang
- Olga Rudge 1895 - Violinist
- Alfred Butts 1899 - Architect, game inventor (Scrabble)
- Bud Freeman 1906 - Jazz musician, tenor sax player
- Samuel Beckett 1906 - Author, critic, playwright
- Eudora Welty 1909 - Poet
- Howard Keel 1919 - Actor ("Dallas"), singer
- Madalyn Murray O’Hair 1919 - Author ("Why I Am an Atheist")
- Stanley Donen 1924 - Movie director
- Jules Irving 1925 - Actor
- Don Adams (Donald James Yarmy) 1926 - Actor ("Get Smart")
- Teddy Charles (Theodore Charles Cohen) 1928 - Vibraphonist, songwriter, composer, arranger
- Marilynn Smith 1929 - Golfer
- Dan Gurney 1931 - Auto racer
- Lyle Waggoner 1935 - Actor ("The Carol Burnett Show", "Wonder Woman")
- Edward Fox 1937 - Actor ("The Big Sleep", "Portrait of a Lady")
- Lanford Wilson 1937 - Playwright
- Paul Sorvino 1939 - Actor ("Law and Order", "Dick Tracy")
- Seamus Heaney 1939 - Poet
- Lester Chambers 1940 - Singer, musician (The Chambers Brothers)
- Bill Conti 1942 - Composer
- Brian Pendleton 1944 - Musician (The Pretty Things)
- Jack Casady 1944 - Musician (Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna)
- Lowell George 1945 - Musician (Little Feat)
- Tony Dow 1945 - Actor ("Leave it to Beaver")
- Al Greene 1946 - Singer, songwriter
- Roy Loney 1946 - Musician (Flamin' Groovies)
- Ron Perlman 1950 - Actor ("Beauty and the Beast" series)
- Peabo Bryson 1951 - Singer
- Max Weinberg 1951 - Musician (E Street Band)
- Sam Bush 1952 - American bluegrass mandolin player
- Jimmy Destri 1954 - Musician (Blondie)
- Gary Kroeger 1957 - Actor
- Saundra Santiago 1957 - Actress ("Miami Vice")
- Joey Mazzola 1961 - Musician (Sponge)
- Hillel Slovak 1962 - Musician (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
- Garry Kasparov 1963 - Chess champion
- Page Hannah 1964 - Actress
- Caroline Rhea 1964 - Actress, comedian
- Davis Love III 1964 - Golfer
- Lisa Unbarger 1965 - Musician (Toadies)
- Rick Schroder 1970 - Actor ("Silver Spoons", "NYPD Blue")
- Jonathan Brandis 1976 - Actor ("seaQuest DSV")
- Courtney Peldon 1981 - Actress
