Today in History

Today is Wednesday, April 9, the 99th day of 2014. There are 266 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On April 9, 1914, the Tampico Incident took place as eight U.S. sailors were arrested by Mexican authorities for allegedly entering a restricted area and held for a short time before being released. Although Mexico offered a verbal apology, the U.S. demanded a more formal show of contrition; tensions escalated to the point that President Woodrow Wilson sent a naval task force to invade and occupy Veracruz, which in turn led to the downfall of Mexican President Victoriano Huerta.

On this date:

In 1413, the coronation of England's King Henry V took place in Westminster Abbey.

In 1682, French explorer Robert de La Salle claimed the Mississippi River Basin for France.

In 1865, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia.

In 1913, the first game was played at Ebbets Field, the newly built home of the Brooklyn Dodgers, who lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 1-0.

In 1939, singer Marian Anderson performed a concert at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., after being denied the use of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution.

In 1942, during World War II, American and Philippine defenders on Bataan capitulated to Japanese forces; the surrender was followed by the notorious Bataan Death March.

In 1959, NASA presented its first seven astronauts: Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard and Donald Slayton. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright, 91, died in Phoenix, Ariz.

In 1963, British statesman Winston Churchill was proclaimed an honorary U.S. citizen by President John F. Kennedy. (Churchill, unable to attend, watched the proceedings live on television in his London home.)

In 1983, the space shuttle Challenger ended its first mission with a safe landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

In 1984, "Terms of Endearment" won five Academy Awards, including best picture, best actress for Shirley MacLaine and best supporting actor for Jack Nicholson. Robert Duvall won best actor for "Tender Mercies" while Linda Hunt won best supporting actress for playing a male character in "The Year of Living Dangerously."

In 1996, in a dramatic shift of purse-string power, President Bill Clinton signed a line-item veto bill into law. (However, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the veto in 1998.)

In 2005, Britain's Prince Charles married longtime love Camilla Parker Bowles, who took the title Duchess of Cornwall.

Ten years ago: Four employees of Halliburton subsidiary KBR were killed in an attack on a fuel truck convoy near Baghdad; a U.S. soldier in the convoy, Sgt. Elmer Krause, was found dead weeks later. Four people went missing, including Army Spec. Keith M. Maupin, whose remains were found in 2008. The body of civilian truck driver William Bradley was found in January 2005; Thomas Hamill escaped his captors in May 2004; Timothy Bell remains unaccounted for.

Five years ago: North Korea's rubber-stamp parliament appointed Kim Jong Il to a third term as leader. Los Angeles Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart, 22, and two others were killed in a car crash by a suspected drunken driver. (Andrew Thomas Gallo was convicted of three counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to 51 years to life in prison.)

One year ago: Thirteen people were shot to death during a pre-dawn, house-to-house rampage in the Serbian village of Velika Ivanca; authorities identified the gunman as Ljubisa Bogdanovic, a 60-year-old veteran of the Balkan wars, who took his own life. Fourteen people were injured by a knife-wielding attacker at Lone Star College in Cypress, Texas; suspect Dylan Quick faces trial. Connecticut's women's basketball team won its eighth NCAA championship with a 93-60 rout of Louisville at New Orleans Arena.

Today's Birthdays: Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner is 88. Satirical songwriter and mathematician Tom Lehrer is 86. Naturalist Jim Fowler is 84. Actor Jean-Paul Belmondo is 81. Actress Michael Learned is 75. Country singer Margo Smith is 72. Country singer Hal Ketchum is 61. Actor Dennis Quaid is 60. Humorist Jimmy Tingle is 59. Country musician Dave Innis (Restless Heart) is 55. Actress-sports reporter Lisa Guerrero is 50. Actor Mark Pellegrino is 49. Actress-model Paulina Porizkova is 49. Actress Cynthia Nixon is 48. Rock singer Kevin Martin (Candlebox) is 45. Rock singer Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance) is 37. Actress Keshia Knight Pulliam is 35. Rock musician Albert Hammond Jr. (The Strokes) is 34. Actor Charlie Hunnam is 34. Actor Ryan Northcott is 34. Actor Arlen Escarpeta is 33. Actor Jay Baruchel is 32. Actress Leighton Meester is 28. Actor-singer Jesse McCartney is 27. Rhythm-and-blues singer Jazmine Sullivan is 27. Actress Kristen Stewart is 24. Actress Elle Fanning is 16. Actor Isaac Hempstead Wright (TV: "Game of Thrones") is 15. Classical crossover singer Jackie Evancho is 14.

Thought for Today: "The amount of satisfaction you get from life depends largely on your own ingenuity, self-sufficiency, and resourcefulness. People who wait around for life to supply their satisfaction usually find boredom instead." -- William C. Menninger, American scientist, physician, engineer (1899-1966).

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