Today's Highlight in History:
On April 7, 1862, Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant defeated the Confederates at the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee.
On this date:
In 30 C.E., by many scholars' reckoning, Jesus of Nazareth was crucified in Jerusalem.
In 1199, King Richard I of England (also known as The Lion-Heart) died in the Limousin region of France at age 41 after being mortally wounded by an arrow.
In 1795, the meter was adopted as basic measure of length by France.
In 1859, Walter Camp, the "Father of American Football," was born in New Britain, Conn.
In 1860, Will Keith Kellogg, founder of cereal maker Kellogg Co., was born in Battle Creek, Mich.
In 1927, the image and voice of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover were transmitted live from Washington to New York in the first successful long-distance demonstration of television.
In 1939, Italy invaded Albania, which was annexed less than a week later.
In 1948, The World Health Organization was founded.
In 1953, the U.N. General Assembly elected Dag Hammarskjold of Sweden to be secretary-general. He served until his death in a 1961 plane crash.
In 1969, the Supreme Court, in Stanley v. Georgia, unanimously struck down laws prohibiting private possession of obscene material.
In 1976, China's leadership deposed Deputy Prime Minister Deng Xiaoping.
In 1978, President Jimmy Carter announced he was deferring development of the neutron bomb, a high-radiation weapon.
In 1983, space shuttle astronauts Story Musgrave and Don Peterson took the first U.S. space walk in almost a decade as they worked in the open cargo bay of Challenger for nearly four hours.
In 1990, a display of Robert Mapplethorpe photographs opened at Cincinnati's Contemporary Arts Center, the same day the center and its director were indicted on obscenity charges (both were acquitted). An arson fire aboard a ferry en route from Norway to Denmark killed 158 people.
UPI Version: Suspected arson fires aboard the ferry Scandinavian Star killed at least 75 people in Scandinavia's worst post-war maritime disaster.
Former national security adviser John M. Poindexter was convicted of five counts at his Iran-Contra trial. (A federal appeals court later reversed the convictions.)
AP Highlight in History:
On April 7, 1994, civil war erupted in Rwanda, a day after a plane crash claimed the lives of the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi.
In 2000, Attorney General Janet Reno met in Washington with the father of Elian Gonzalez; Reno later told reporters that officials would arrange for Juan Miguel Gonzalez to reclaim his son, but she gave Elian's Miami relatives one more chance to drop their resistance and join in a peaceful transfer.
In 2001, NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft took off on a six-month, 286-million-mile journey to the red planet. An unarmed black man wanted on 14 misdemeanor warrants was fatally shot by a white police officer in Cincinnati, sparking three days of riots.
In 2003, U.S. troops in more than 100 U.S. armored vehicles rumbled through downtown Baghdad and seized one of Saddam Hussein's opulent palaces.
In 2004, Mounir el Motassadeq, the only Sept. 11 suspect ever convicted, was freed after a Hamburg, Germany, court ruled that the evidence was too weak to hold him pending a retrial.
In 2005, the blockbuster painkiller Bextra was taken off the market, and the FDA said all similar prescription drugs should strongly warn about possible risk of heart attacks and strokes. Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shiite, was named Iraq's interim prime minister; Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani was sworn in as interim president. Historic bus service began between the two parts of Kashmir, one controlled by India, the other by Pakistan.
In 2006, three suicide bombers set off explosives in a Baghdad mosque, killing at least 90 people and injuring an estimated 175. Also in 2006, the United States and the European Union suspended financial aid to the Palestinian Authority because its ruling Hamas party refuses to recognize Israel.
In 2007, a published report said the United States allowed Ethiopia to buy arms secretly from North Korea in January, three months after the U.N. imposed sanctions on North Korea for its nuclear program.
In 2008, as the disputed presidential election in Zimbabwe rocked along with no settlement in sight, opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai, who claimed victory over incumbent Robert Mugabe, left the country, saying he feared for his life. Anti-China protesters disrupted the Olympic torch relay in Paris, at times forcing Chinese organizers to put out the flame and take the torch onto a bus to secure it. Kansas won the NCAA championship, defeating Memphis 75-68. Coach Pat Riley, Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, Adrian Dantley and broadcaster Dick Vitale were among those selected to Basketball's Hall of Fame.
In 2009, President Barack Obama capped his eight-day European trip by addressing college students in Istanbul, Turkey; he then made an unannounced trip to Baghdad where he visited with U.S. troops and Iraqi officials. Vermont became the fourth state (after Connecticut, Massachusetts and Iowa) to legalize gay marriage. Three members of the Congressional Black Caucus met with former Cuban President Fidel Castro in Havana. Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori was sentenced to 25 years in prison by a Lima court for death squad killings and kidnappings during his struggle against Shining Path insurgents. Connecticut routed Louisville 76-54 to capture its sixth women's basketball title. Sally Mae, the U.S. government-backed student loan lender, announced it would bring back to the United States some 2,000 jobs based overseas, such as some call centers and technology positions. Also in 2009, Kim Jong-il, the North Korea leader, was re-elected to a third five-year term despite failing health since his reported stroke in August 2008.
Today's Birthdays: Actor R.G. Armstrong is 93. Sitar player Ravi Shankar is 90. Actor James Garner is 82. Country singer Cal Smith is 78. Actor Wayne Rogers is 77. Media commentator Hodding Carter III is 75. Country singer Bobby Bare is 75. Rhythm-and-blues singer Charlie Thomas (The Drifters) is 73. California Attorney General Jerry Brown is 72. Movie director Francis Ford Coppola is 71. TV personality David Frost is 71. Singer Patricia Bennett (The Chiffons) is 63. Singer John Oates is 61. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels is 61. Singer Janis Ian is 59. Country musician John Dittrich is 59. Actor Jackie Chan is 56. Football Hall-of-Famer Tony Dorsett is 56. Actor Russell Crowe is 46. Christian/jazz singer Mark Kibble (Take 6) is 46. Actor Bill Bellamy is 45. Rock musician Dave "Yorkie" Palmer (Space) is 45. Former football player-turned-analyst Tiki Barber is 35. Actress Heather Burns is 35. Actor Kevin Alejandro (TV: "Southland") is 34.
Extra Birthdays: Missionary St. Francis Xavier (1506); English poet William Wordsworth (1770); baseball Hall of Fame member John McGraw (1873); CIA Director Allen Dulles (1893); gossip columnist Walter Winchell (1897); conductor Percy Faith (1908); & singer Billie Holiday (1915).
7 April In Entertainment
In 1949, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "South Pacific" opened on Broadway. It ran for more than 1,900 performances.
In 1962, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards met future Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones at a London blues club.
In 1970, "Midnight Cowboy" was named best picture at the Academy Awards. John Wayne won the best actor award for "True Grit."
In 1975, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple. He went on to form Rainbow.
In 1995, models Elle Macpherson, Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell opened the Fashion Cafe in New York. It has since closed.
In 1997, singer Liam Gallagher of Oasis married actress Patsy Kensit in a secret civil ceremony in London.
In 1998, singer George Michael was arrested for committing a lewd act in a park restroom in Beverly Hills, California. Also in 1998, drummer Tommy Lee of Motley Crue pleaded no contest to felony spousal abuse. He was accused of kicking his wife, actress Pamela Anderson Lee, while she held their son. Lee was sentenced to six months in jail.
In 2003, actor Russell Crowe married Danielle Spencer in Australia.
Thought for Today: "Lying is done with words and also with silence." — Adrienne Rich, American poet.
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