Today’s Highlight in History:
On April 13, 1970, Apollo 13, four-fifths of the way to the moon, was crippled when a tank containing liquid oxygen burst. (The astronauts managed to return safely.)
On this date:
In 1743, the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, was born in Shadwell in the Virginia Colony.
In 1861, at the start of the Civil War, Fort Sumter in South Carolina fell to Confederate forces.
In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., on the 200th anniversary of the third American president’s birth.
In 1953, “Casino Royale,” Ian Fleming’s first book as well as the first James Bond novel, was published in London by Jonathan Cape Ltd.
In 1964, Sidney Poitier became the first Black performer in a leading role to win an Academy Award for his performance in “Lilies of the Field.”
In 1980, Musical “Grease” closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC after 3,388 performances.
In 1997, Tiger Woods became the youngest person to win the Masters Tournament and the first player of partly African heritage to claim a major golf title.
In 1999, right-to-die advocate Dr. Jack Kevorkian was sentenced in Pontiac, Michigan, to 10 to 25 years in prison for second-degree murder in the lethal injection of a Lou Gehrig’s disease patient. (Kevorkian ended up serving eight years.)
In 2005, a defiant Eric Rudolph pleaded guilty to carrying out the deadly bombing at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and three other attacks in back-to-back court appearances in Birmingham, Alabama, and Atlanta.
In 2009, music producer Phil Spector was found guilty by a Los Angeles jury of second-degree murder in the shooting of actor Lana Clarkson (he was later sentenced to 19 years to life in prison; he died in prison in January 2021).
In 2011, ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his two sons were detained for investigation of corruption, abuse of power and killings of protesters. A federal jury in San Francisco convicted baseball slugger Barry Bonds of a single charge of obstruction of justice, but failed to reach a verdict on the three counts at the heart of allegations that he’d knowingly used steroids and human growth hormone and lied to a grand jury about it. (Bonds’ conviction for obstruction was ultimately overturned.)
In 2016, the Golden State Warriors became the NBA’s first 73-win team by beating the Memphis Grizzlies 125-104, breaking the 1996 72-win record of the Chicago Bulls. Kobe Bryant of the Lakers scored 60 points in his final game, wrapping up 20 years in the NBA.
In 2020, Charles Thacker Jr., a crew member on the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, died at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Guam, becoming the first active-duty military member to die from the coronavirus. Bernie Sanders urged his progressive supporters to rally behind Joe Biden’s presidential campaign.
Ten years ago: President Barack Obama arrived in Cartagena, Colombia, to attend the Summit of the Americas; however, the visit was overshadowed by a prostitution scandal involving a group of Secret Service agents and officers who had gone to Cartagena to prepare for the president’s trip. North Korea’s much-touted satellite launch ended in a nearly $1 billion failure. (The North succeeded in launching a satellite eight months later.) Jennifer Capriati was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Five years ago: Pentagon officials said U.S. forces in Afghanistan had struck an Islamic State tunnel complex in eastern Afghanistan with “the mother of all bombs,” the largest non-nuclear weapon ever used in combat by the U.S. military.
One year ago: U.S. health officials recommended a “pause” in use of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to investigate reports of rare but potentially dangerous blood clots, setting off a chain reaction worldwide and dealing a setback to the global vaccination campaign. (Officials lifted the pause on vaccinations 11 days later.)
Today’s Birthdays: Former Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., is 89. Actor Edward Fox is 85. Actor Paul Sorvino is 83. R&B singer Lester Chambers is 82. Movie-TV composer Bill Conti is 80. Rock musician Jack Casady is 78. Actor Tony Dow is 77.
Singer Al Green is 76. Actor Ron Perlman is 72. Actor William Sadler is 72. Singer Peabo Bryson is 71. Bandleader/rock musician Max Weinberg is 71. Bluegrass singer-musician Sam Bush is 70. Rock musician Jimmy Destri is 68. Comedian Gary Kroeger is 65. Actor Saundra Santiago is 65. Sen. Bob Casey Jr., D-Pa., is 62. Chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov is 59. Actor Page Hannah is 58. Actor-comedian Caroline Rhea (RAY) is 58. Rock musician Marc Ford is 56. Reggae singer Capleton is 55. Actor Ricky Schroder is 52. Rock singer Aaron Lewis (Staind) is 50. Actor Bokeem Woodbine is 49. Singer Lou Bega is 47. Actor-producer Glenn Howerton is 46. Actor Kyle Howard is 44. Actor Kelli Giddish is 42. Actor Courtney Peldon is 41. Pop singer Nellie McKay (mih-KY’) is 40. Rapper/singer Ty Dolla $ign is 40. Actor Allison Williams is 34. Actor Hannah Marks is 29.
