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From: Mary Minnich< >
Subject: [FOLKLORE-L] Today in History - April 14th
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 07:19:58 -0400


Today is Wednesday, April 14th, the 104th day of 1999.
There are 261 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:
On April 14th, 1865, President Lincoln was shot and mortally wounded by John
Wilkes Booth while attending the comedy "Our American Cousin" at Ford's
Theater in Washington. (Lincoln died the following morning.)

On this date:
In 1759, composer George Frideric Handel died in London.

In 1828, the first edition of Noah Webster's "American Dictionary of the
English Language" was published.

In 1902, J.C. Penney opened his first store, in Kemmerer, Wyoming.

In 1912, the British liner Titanic collided with an iceberg in the North
Atlantic and began sinking.

In 1931, King Alfonso the 13th of Spain went into exile, and the Spanish
Republic was proclaimed.

In 1939, the John Steinbeck novel "The Grapes of Wrath" was first published.

In 1939, the motion picture "Wuthering Heights," starring Merle Oberon and
Laurence Olivier, premiered in New York.

In 1981, the first test flight of America's first operational space shuttle,
the Columbia, ended successfully with a landing at Edwards Air Force Base in
California.

In 1986, Americans got first word of a US air raid on Libya (because of the
time difference, it was the early morning of April 15th where the attack
occurred.)

Ten years ago: Testimony concluded in the Iran-Contra trial of former
National Security Council staff member Oliver L. North. Former winery worker
Ramon Salcido went on a rampage in Sonoma County, California, killing seven
people, including his wife and daughters; he is currently on death row.

Five years ago: Two American F-15 warplanes inadvertently shot down two US
helicopters over northern Iraq, killing 26 people, including 15 Americans.
The chiefs of the nation's seven largest tobacco companies spent more than
six hours being grilled by the House Energy and Commerce health subcommittee
about the effects of smoking.

One year ago: Despite international pleas for leniency, the state of
Virginia executed Angel Francisco Breard, a Paraguayan convicted of murder.
President Clinton moderated a town meeting on race with an all-star panel of
sports figures. The Grand Forks (North Dakota) Herald won the 1998 Pulitzer
Prize for public service; author Philip Roth received the Pulitzer fiction
award, his first, for "American Pastoral."

Today's Birthdays:
Actor Sir John Gielgud is 95.
Actor Rod Steiger is 74.
Actor Bradford Dillman is 69.
Actor Jay Robinson ("The Robe") is 69.
Country singer Loretta Lynn is 64.
Actress Julie Christie is 59.
Baseball's all-time hit leader, Pete Rose, is 58.
Actor John Shea is 50.
Actor Brad Garrett is 39.
Rock singer-musician John Bell (Widespread Panic) is 37.
Rock musician Barrett Martin is 32.
Actor Anthony Michael Hall is 31.
Rapper DaBrat is 25.
Actress Sarah Michelle Gellar is 22.

Thought for Today:

"The Constitution does not provide for first and second class citizens."
-- Wendell L. Willkie, American politician (1892-1944).

(Copyright 1999 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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