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April 21, 2017

Today is Friday April 21, 2017 The 111th day of 2017-- 254 left Sunrise this morning 6:24 a.m. set: 7:51 p.m. 13:27 hours of daylight Moonrise: 3:40 a.m. set: 2:47 p.m. . SPECIAL CELEBRATIONS TODAY: Today is :Chocolate Covered Cashews Day, Kindergarten Day, NTL Surprise Drug Test Day, Yellow Bat Day, National Day of Silence Day. This day in History: 753 BC - Today is the traditional date of the foundation of Rome. 43 BC - Marcus Antonius was defeated by Octavian near Modena, Italy. 1526 - Mongol Emperor Babur annihilated the Indian Army of Ibrahim Lodi. 1649 - The Maryland Toleration Act was passed, allowing all freedom of worship. 1689 - William III and Mary II were crowned joint king and queen of England, Scotland and Ireland. 1789 - John Adams was sworn in as the first U.S. Vice President. 1836 - General Sam Houston defeated Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto. This battle decided the independence of Texas. 1856 - The Mississippi River was crossed by a rail train for the first time (between Davenport, IA, and Rock Island, IL). 1862 - The U.S. Congress established the U.S. Mint in Denver, CO. 1865 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln's funeral train left Washington. 1892 - The first Buffalo was born in Golden Gate Park. 1895 - Woodville Latham and his sons demonstrated their Panopticon. It was the first movie projector developed in the United States. 1898 - The Spanish-American War began. 1914 - U.S. Marines occupied Vera Cruz, Mexico. The troops stayed for six months. 1916 - Bill Carlisle, the infamous ‘last train robber,’ robbed a train in Hanna, WY. 1918 - German fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen, "The Red Baron," was shot down and killed during World War I. 1940 - "Take It or Leave It" premiered on CBS Radio. 1943 - U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt announced that several Doolittle pilots had been executed by the Japanese. 1953 - In New York, the Sidney Janis Gallery held the Dada exhibition. 1956 - Leonard Ross, age 10, became the youngest prizewinner on the "The Big Surprise". He won $100,000. 1959 - Alf Dean caught a 16-foot, 10-inch white shark that weighed 2,664 pounds. At the time it was the largest catch with a rod and reel. 1960 - Brasilia became the capital of Brazil. 1961 - The French army revolted in Algeria. 1967 - Svetlana Alliluyeva (Svetlana Stalina) defected in New York City. She was the daughter of Joseph Stalin. 1967 - In Athens, Army colonels took over the government and installed Constantine Kollias as premier. 1972 - Apollo 16 astronauts John Young and Charles Duke explored the surface of the moon. 1975 - South Vietnam president, Nguyen Van Thieu, resigned, condemning the United States. 1977 - "Annie" opened on Broadway. 1984 - In France, it was announced that doctors had found virus believed to cause AIDS. 1985 - Manuel Ortega proposed a cease-fire for Nicaragua. 1986 - Geraldo Rivera opened a vault that belonged to Al Capone at the Lexington Hotel in Chicago. Nothing of interest was found inside. 1987 - Special occasion stamps were offered for the first time by the U.S. Postal Service. "Happy Birthday" and "Get Well" were among the first to be offered. 1989 - The Game Boy handheld video game device was released in Japan. 1992 - Robert Alton Harris became the first person executed by the state of California in 25 years. He was put to death for the 1978 murder of two teen-age boys. 1994 - Jackie Parker became the first woman to qualify to fly an F-16 combat plane. 1998 - Astronomers announced in Washington that they had discovered possible signs of a new family of planets orbiting a star 220 light-years away. 2000 - In Sinking Spring, PA, a man chased his estranged girlfriend through town and then forced her car into the path of an oncoming train. The woman and her 3 passengers were killed. 2000 - North Carolina researchers announced that the heart of a 66 million-year-old dinosaur was more like a mammal or bird than that of a reptile. 2000 - The 1998 Children's Online Privacy Protection Act went into effect. 2002 - In the city of General Santos, 14 people were killed and 69 were injured in a bomb attack on a department store. The attack was blamed on Muslim extremists. 2003 - North and South Korea agreed to hold Cabinet-level talks the following week. 2009 - UNESCO launched The World Digital Library. The World Digital Library (WDL) is an international digital library operated by UNESCO and the United States Library of Congress IF TODAY IS YOUR BIRTHDAY YOU SHARE IT WITH: Friedrich Froebel 1782 - Teacher, author, toy maker, invented kindergarten in 1837 Charlotte Bronte 1816 - Author ("Jane Eyre," "The Professor") John Muir 1838 - Conservationist, influential in the creation of the U.S. National Parks System and U.S. foreset conservation, the Muir Woods National Monument in California is named after him Oskar Hertwig 1849 - Zoologist, professor Joe McCarthy 1887 - Baseball manager Anthony Quinn 1915 - Actor ("Viva Zapata! [1952]," "The Guns of Navarone") Don Cornell (Louis Varlaro) 1924 - Singer Clara Ward 1924 - Singer (Clara Ward Gospel Troupe) Elizabeth II (Elisabeth Mary) 1926 - Queen of the United Kingdom Silvana Mangano 1930 - Actress Carl Belew 1931 - Country singer Elaine May 1932 - Actress, comedienne Charles Grodin 1935 - Actor ("Clifford," "Beethoven I," "Beethoven II") Reg Fleming 1935 - Hockey player Iggy Pop (James Newell Osterburg) 1947 - Singer, songwriter (Psychedelic Stooges) John Weider 1947 - Musician (Family) Barbara Park 1947 - Author (Junie B. Jones series) Al Bumbry (Alonza Benjamin Bumbrey) 1947 - Baseball player Paul Davis 1948 - Singer, songwriter Patti LuPone 1949 - Actress ("Evita", "Driving Miss Daisy") Tony Danza 1951 - Actor ("Who’s the Boss," "Taxi," "Angels in the Outfield") Paul Carrack 1951 - Musician (Mike and the Mechanics, Noise to Go, Ace) Andie MacDowell (Rosalie Anderson) 1958 - Actress ("Groundhog Day", "St. Elmo’s Fire," Four Weddings and a Funeral") Robert Smith 1959 - Musician (The Cure) Michael Timmins 1959 - Musician (Cowboy Junkies) John Cameron Mitchell 1963 - Actor, director ("Hedwig and the Angry Inch") Michael Franti 1968 - Musician (Spearhead) Nicole Sullivan 1969 - Actress, comedian ("MadTV," "King of Queens") James McAvoy 1979 - Actor Tony Romo 1980 - Football player Tags: almanac