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Today in History

Staff
Monday April 08, 2002

Today is Monday, April 8, the 98th day of 2002. There are 267 days left in the year. 

 

Highlight in History: 

On April 8, 1974, Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hit his 715th career home run in a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, breaking Babe Ruth’s record. 

 

On this date: 

In 1513, explorer Juan Ponce de Leon claimed Florida for Spain. 

In 1935, the Works Progress Administration was approved by Congress. 

In 1946, the League of Nations assembled in Geneva for the last time. 

In 1950, ballet dancer Vaslav Nijinsky died in London. 

In 1952, President Truman seized the steel industry to avert a nationwide strike. 

In 1970, the Senate rejected President Nixon’s nomination of G. Harold Carswell to the U.S. Supreme Court. 

In 1973, artist Pablo Picasso died at his home near Mougins, France, at age 91. 

In 1981, Gen. Omar N. Bradley died in New York at age 88. 

In 1990, Ryan White, the teen-age AIDS patient whose battle for acceptance gained national attention, died in Indianapolis at age 18. 

In 1994, Kurt Cobain, singer and guitarist for the grunge band Nirvana, was found dead in Seattle from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound; he was 27. 

Ten years ago: Tennis great Arthur Ashe announced at a New York news conference that he had AIDS, saying he was forced to go public because a newspaper had inquired about his health. (Ashe died in February 1993 of AIDS-related pneumonia at age 49.) 

Five years ago: The space shuttle Columbia returned to Earth, ending a mission cut three-quarters short by a defective generator. The Vatican chose Archbishop Francis George of Portland, Ore., to head the Archdiocese of Chicago, succeeding the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin. Singer-songwriter Laura Nyro died in Danbury, Conn., at age 49. 

One year ago: U.S. officials said President Bush was sending a letter to the wife of a missing Chinese fighter pilot as a humanitarian gesture. (The pilot’s plane had collided with a U.S. spy plane, forcing the spy plane to make an emergency landing in China.) Tiger Woods won the Masters for his fourth straight major title in a span of 294 days. 

 

Today’s Birthdays:  

Former first lady Betty Ford is 84. Opera singer Franco Corelli is 79. Comedian Shecky Greene is 76. Lyricist Fred Ebb is 69. Actor Klaus Lowitsch is 66. Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh is 65. Basketball Hall-of-Famer John Havlicek is 62. Singer J.J. Jackson is 61. Singer Peggy Lennon (The Lennon Sisters) is 61. Actor Hywel Bennett is 58. Actor Stuart Pankin is 56. Rock musician Steve Howe (Yes) is 55. Actor John Schneider is 48. All-Star catcher Gary Carter is 48. Rock musician Izzy Stradlin is 40. Singer Julian Lennon is 39. Rock singer-musician Donita Sparks (L7) is 39. Rapper Biz Markie is 38. Actress Robin Wright Penn is 36. Actress Patricia Arquette is 34. Rock singer Craig Honeycutt (Everything) is 32. Rock musician Darren Jessee (Ben Folds Five) is 31. Actor Taran Noah Smith is 18. Actress Kirsten Storms (“Days of Our Lives”) is 18.