Saturday, April 8, 2023

Today is the 98th day of 2023 and the 20th day of spring.

TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1904, Britain and France signed the Entente Cordiale, a series of agreements that formalized peace between the two countries.

In 1935, Congress approved the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act, establishing the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

In 2005, more than 4 million mourners gathered in Rome for the funeral of Pope John Paul II.

In 2010, President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the New START nuclear arms control treaty.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Harvey Cushing (1869-1939), surgeon; Mary Pickford (18921979), actress; Sonja Henie (1912-1969), ice skater; Betty Ford (1918-2011), first lady; Shecky Greene (1926- ), comedian; Kofi Annan (1938-2018), diplomat; Gary Carter (19542012), baseball player/sportscaster; Robin Wright (1966), actress; Patricia Arquette (1968- ), actress; Katee Sackhoff (1980- ), actress; Felix Hernandez (1986- ), baseball player.

TODAY’S FACT: Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes discovered superconductivity during experiments with mercury wire immersed in liquid helium on this day in 1911.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1975, Frank Robinson of the Cleveland Indians made his debut as Major League Baseball’s first African American manager. Robinson also continued to play for the team, hitting a home run in his first at-bat of the day.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “Education is, quite simply, peacebuilding by another name. It is the most effective form of defense spending there is.” -- Kofi Annan TODAY’S NUMBER: 755 career home runs for Hank Aaron, second only to Barry Bonds’ all-time record of 762. Aaron hit his 715th career home run on this day in 1974, breaking the record previously held by Babe Ruth.

TODAY’S MOON: Between full moon (April 5) and last quarter moon (April 13).

Sunday, April 9, 2023

Today is the 99th day of 2023 and the 21st day of spring.

TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1865, Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia, effectively ending the Civil War.

In 1940, Germany launched Operation Weseruebung, invading Norway and Denmark.

In 1959, NASA announced the selection of the first astronauts, whom the media dubbed the “Mercury Seven.”

In 2003, Iraqis celebrating the collapse of Saddam Hussein’s regime destroyed a 20-foot statue of Hussein in Baghdad’s Firdaus Square.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Charles Baudelaire (18211867), poet; Curly Lambeau (1898-1965), football player/ coach; Paul Robeson (18981976), athlete/actor/singer; Hugh Hefner (1926-2017), publisher; Carl Perkins (1932-1998), singer-songwriter; Peter Gammons (1945- ), sportswriter; Dennis Quaid (1954- ), actor; Joe Scarborough (1963- ), TV personality; Jeffrey Zucker (1965- ), TV executive; Cynthia Nixon (1966- ), actress; Keshia Knight Pulliam (1979- ), actress; Jay Baruchel (1982- ), actor; Kristen Stewart, (1990), actress; Elle Fanning (1998), actress.

TODAY’S FACT: The “Mercury Seven” were Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard and Donald Slayton.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1965, the Astrodome in Houston, Texas, hosted the first Major League Baseball game to be played indoors. The Astros defeated the New York Yankees in the exhibition game by a score of 2-1.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “Genius is no more than childhood recaptured at will, childhood equipped now with man’s physical means to express itself, and with the analytical mind that enables it to bring order into the sum of experience, involuntarily amassed.” -- Charles Baudelaire, “The Painter of Modern Life and Other Essays” TODAY’S NUMBER: $277 million -- estimated cost of the Mercury program (19591963), NASA’s first human spaceflight project.

TODAY’S MOON: Between full moon (April 5) and last quarter moon (April 13).

Monday, April 10, 2023

Today is the 100th day of 2023 and the 22nd day of spring.

TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1866, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) was founded in New York City.

In 1938, a referendum made Nazi Germany’s annexation of Austria official.

In 1972, famed comic actor and director Charlie Chaplin received an honorary Oscar at the 44th Annual Academy Awards, after a 12-minute standing ovation.

In 2003, Congress approved the Amber Alert system, which alerts the public to child abductions.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: William Hazlitt (1778-1830), writer; William Booth (18291912), Salvation Army founder; Joseph Pulitzer (18471911), publisher; Harry Morgan (1915-2011), actor; Max von Sydow (1929-2020), actor; Omar Sharif (1932-2015), actor; John Madden (19362021), football coach/broadcaster; Steven Seagal (1952), actor; Babyface (1959- ), singer-songwriter/producer; David Harbour (1975- ), actor; Charlie Hunnam (1980- ), actor; Mandy Moore (1984- ), actress/singer-songwriter; Haley Joel Osment (1988- ), actor; Daisy Ridley (1992- ), actress.

TODAY’S FACT: According to estimates from the CIA, residents of the 0.76-squaremile principality of Monaco enjoy the longest life expectancy in the world, at an average of 89.6 years.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1947, the Brooklyn Dodgers announced the purchase of Jackie Robinson’s contract from the Montreal Royals, a minor-league club.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “Books let us into their souls and lay open to us the secrets of our own.” -- William Hazlitt, “The Sick Chamber” TODAY’S NUMBER: 1,127 children rescued specifically because of Amber Alert as of Jan. 2, 2023.

TODAY’S MOON: Between full moon (April 5) and last quarter moon (April 13).