April 14, 2009 - Today In History

Today is Tuesday, April 14, the 104th day of 2009. There are 261 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On April 14, 1865, President Abraham 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, German-born English composer George Frideric Handel died in London at age 74.

In 1775, the first American society for the abolition of slavery was formed in Philadelphia.

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

In 1902, James Cash Penney opened his first store, The Golden Rule, in Kemmerer, Wyo.

In 1909, Armenians in Adana Province in the Ottoman Empire became targets of violence during an uprising by counterrevolutionaries seeking to restore Sultan Abdul Hamid II to power; the number of Armenians killed has been put at up to 30,000.

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

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

In 1949, at the conclusion of the so-called "Wilhelmstrasse Trial," 19 former Nazi Foreign Office officials were sentenced by an American tribunal in Nuremberg to prison terms ranging from four to 25 years.

In 1956, Ampex Corp. demonstrated the first successful videotape recorder at the National Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters Convention in Chicago.

In 1989, former winery worker Ramon Salcido went on a rampage in Sonoma County, Calif., killing seven people, including his wife and two of his daughters; he is currently on death row.

Ten years ago:

Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr told Congress the Watergate-era law that gave him the power
to probe actions of executive branch officials was flawed and should be abolished.

NATO mistakenly bombed a convoy of ethnic Albanian refugees; Yugoslav officials said 75 people
were killed.

British entertainer Anthony Newley died in Jensen Beach, Fla., at age 67.

Five years ago:

In a historic policy shift, President George W. Bush endorsed Israel's plan to hold on to part of the West Bank in any final peace settlement with the Palestinians; he also ruled out Palestinian refugees returning to Israel, bringing strong criticism from the Palestinians.

One year ago:

Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp., announced they were combining.

Kidnapped British journalist Richard Butler was rescued by Iraqi troops from a house in Basra after two months in captivity.

Media billionaire Silvio Berlusconi won a decisive victory in Italy's parliamentary election.

Carme Chacon was sworn into office as Spain's first woman defense minister.

Taylor Swift won video of the year and female video for her smash "Our Song" while newcomer
Kellie Pickler took home three awards during the Country Music Television awards.

Today's Birthdays:

Actor Bradford Dillman is 79.

Actor Jay Robinson is 79.

Country singer Loretta Lynn is 74.

Actress Julie Christie is 69.

Former baseball player Pete Rose is 68.

Rock musician Ritchie Blackmore is 64.

Actor John Shea is 60.

Actor-race car driver Brian Forster is 49.

Actor Brad Garrett is 49.

Actor Robert Carlyle is 48.

Rock singer-musician John Bell (Widespread Panic) is 47.

Actor Robert Clendenin is 45.

Actor Lloyd Owen is 43.

Baseball player Greg Maddux is 43.

Rock musician Barrett Martin is 42.

Actor Anthony Michael Hall is 41.

Actor Adrien Brody is 36.

Classical singer David Miller is 36.

Actor Antwon Tanner is 34.

Actress Sarah Michelle Gellar is 32.

Actor-producer Rob McElhenney is 32.

Thought for Today:

"'History repeats itself' and 'History never repeats itself' are about equally true ...
We never know enough about the infinitely complex circumstances of any past event
to prophesy the future by analogy."

— George Macaulay Trevelyan,
English historian
(1876-1962).