Today is Sunday, April 29, the 119th day of 2018. There are 246 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On April 29, 1968, the counterculture rock musical “Hair” heralding the “Age of Aquarius” opened at Broadway’s Biltmore Theater following limited engagements off-Broadway, beginning a run of 1,750 performances.
On this date:
In 1429, Joan of Arc entered the besieged city of Orleans to lead a French victory over the English.
In 1798, Joseph Haydn’s oratorio “The Creation” was rehearsed in Vienna, Austria, before an invited audience.
In 1861, the Maryland House of Delegates voted 53-13 against seceding from the Union. In Montgomery, Alabama, President Jefferson Davis asked the Confederate Congress for the authority to wage war.
In 1916, the Easter Rising in Dublin collapsed as Irish nationalists surrendered to British authorities.
In 1945, during World War II, American soldiers liberated the Dachau (DAH’-khow) concentration camp. Adolf Hitler married Eva Braun inside his “Fuhrerbunker” and designated Adm. Karl Doenitz (DUHR’-nihtz) president.
In 1957, the SM-1, the first military nuclear power plant, was dedicated at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
In 1967, Aretha Franklin’s cover of Otis Redding’s “Respect” was released as a single by Atlantic Records.
In 1977, Pope Paul VI and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Donald Coggan, participated in a Christian unity service in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel.
In 1983, Harold Washington was sworn in as the first black mayor of Chicago.
In 1992, a jury in Simi Valley, California, acquitted four Los Angeles police officers of almost all state charges in the videotaped beating of motorist Rodney King; the verdicts were followed by rioting in Los Angeles resulting in 55 deaths.
In 1993, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II announced that for the first time, Buckingham Palace would be opened to tourists to help raise money for repairs at fire-damaged Windsor Castle.
In 2011, Britain’s Prince William and Kate Middleton were married in an opulent ceremony at London’s Westminster Abbey.
Ten years ago: Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama denounced his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, for what he termed “divisive and destructive” remarks on race. Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann, the discoverer of LSD, died in Burg im Leimental, Switzerland, at age 102.
Five years ago: Opening statements took place in Los Angeles in a wrongful death lawsuit brought by Michael Jackson’s mother, Katherine Jackson, against concert giant AEG Live, claiming it had failed to properly investigate a doctor who cared for Jackson and was later convicted of involuntary manslaughter in his 2009 death. (The jury determined in October 2013 that AEG Live was not liable.) Syria’s prime minister, Wael al-Halqi, narrowly escaped an assassination attempt when a bomb went off near his convoy in Damascus. NBA veteran center Jason Collins became the first male professional athlete in the major four American sports leagues to come out as gay in a first-person account posted on Sports Illustrated’s website.
One year ago: President Donald Trump marked his 100th day in office with a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Severe weather broke out over much of the Midwest and South, with seven tornadoes in East Texas resulting in four direct fatalities, according to the National Weather Service. A white suburban Dallas policeman fired into a moving car carrying five black teenagers, killing one of them; Balch Springs officer Roy Oliver was later charged with murdering 15-year-old Jordan Edwards. Anthony Joshua stopped Wladimir Klitschko in the 11th round of their fight at Wembley Stadium in London to retain his heavyweight titles.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Keith Baxter is 85. Bluesman Otis Rush is 83. Conductor Zubin Mehta is 82. Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff is 80. Pop singer Bob Miranda (The Happenings) is 76. Country singer Duane Allen (The Oak Ridge Boys) is 75. Singer Tommy James is 71. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., is 68. Movie director Phillip Noyce is 68. Country musician Wayne Secrest (Confederate Railroad) is 68. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is 64. Actor Leslie Jordan is 63. Actress Kate Mulgrew is 63. Actor Daniel Day-Lewis is 61. Actress Michelle Pfeiffer is 60. Actress Eve Plumb is 60. Rock musician Phil King is 58. Country singer Stephanie Bentley is 55. Actor Vincent Ventresca is 52. Singer Carnie Wilson (Wilson Phillips) is 50. Actor Paul Adelstein is 49. Actress Uma Thurman is 48. International Tennis Hall of Famer Andre Agassi is 48. Rapper Master P is 48. Actor Darby Stanchfield is 47. Country singer James Bonamy is 46. Gospel/rhythm-and-blues singer Erica Campbell (Mary Mary) is 46. Rock musician Mike Hogan (The Cranberries) is 45. Actor Tyler Labine is 40. Actress Megan Boone is 35. Actress-model Taylor Cole is 34. Actor Zane Carney is 33. Pop singer Amy Heidemann (Karmin) is 32. Pop singer Foxes is 29. Actress Grace Kaufman is 16.
Thought for Today: “An intellectual hatred is the worst.” — William Butler Yeats, Irish poet and playwright (1865-1939).
