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Today is Thursday, April 11, the 101st day of 2002. There are 264 days left in the year. 

Highlight in History: 

On April 11, 1951, President Truman relieved Gen. Douglas MacArthur of his commands in the Far East. 

On this date: 

In 1689, William III and Mary II were crowned as joint sovereigns of Britain. 

In 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated as emperor of France and was banished to the island of Elba. 

In 1898, President McKinley asked Congress for a declaration of war against Spain. 

In 1899, the treaty ending the Spanish-American War was declared in effect. 

In 1921, Iowa became the first state to impose a cigarette tax. 

In 1945, during World War II, American soldiers liberated the notorious Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald in Germany. 

In 1968, President Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1968, a week after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. 

In 1970, Apollo 13 blasted off on its ill-fated mission to the moon. (The astronauts managed to return safely). 

In 1979, Idi Amin was deposed as president of Uganda as rebels and exiles backed by Tanzanian forces seized control. 

In 1981, President Reagan returned to the White House from the hospital, 12 days after he was wounded in an assassination attempt. 

Ten years ago: The Russian Congress of People’s Deputies rejected an appeal by Russian President Boris Yeltsin for another six months to carry out his reforms, ordering him to select a new Cabinet by July (however, a compromise was worked out a few days later.) 

Five years ago: The Air Force announced that despite an intensive nine-day search, it couldn’t find a bomb-laden A-10 warplane that had disappeared with its pilot during a training mission over Arizona. (The plane’s wreckage was later found in a Colorado mountainside.) In Italy, fire damaged the 500-year-old San Giovanni Cathedral, home of the Shroud of Turin, which some consider Christ’s burial cloth. 

One year ago: Ending a tense 11-day standoff, China agreed to free the 24 crew members of an American spy plane after President George W. Bush said he was “very sorry” for the death of a Chinese fighter pilot whose plane had collided with the American aircraft. A stampede at a packed soccer stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa, killed 43 people. 

Today’s Birthdays: 

“Brenda Starr” creator Dale Messick is 96. Fashion designer Oleg Cassini is 89. Former New York Gov. Hugh Carey is 83. Ethel Kennedy is 74. Actor Johnny Sheffield is 71. Actor Joel Grey is 70. Actress Louise Lasser is 63. Syndicated columnist Ellen Goodman is 61. Movie writer-director John Milius is 58. Actor Peter Riegert is 55. Actor Bill Irwin is 52. Country singer-songwriter Jim Lauderdale is 45. Songwriter-producer Daryl Simmons is 45. Actor Lucky Vanous is 41. Country singer Steve Azar is 38. Singer Lisa Stansfield is 36. Rock musician Dylan Keefe (Marcy Playground) is 32.