Today in History

Today is Saturday, April 9, the 100th day of 2016. There are 266 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On April 9, 1865, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia.

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 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 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.

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 1940, during World War II, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway.

In 1942, 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, Arizona.

In 1965, the newly built Astrodome in Houston featured its first baseball game, an exhibition between the Astros and the New York Yankees, with President Lyndon B. Johnson in attendance. (The Astros won, 2-1, in 12 innings.)

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

In 1991, the Georgian Parliament declared the republic's independence.

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.)

Ten years ago: The White House sought to dampen the idea of a military strike on Iran, saying the United States was conducting "normal defense and intelligence planning" in response to Tehran's nuclear ambitions. More than half a million people in ten states rallied for immigrant rights. Phil Mickelson won his second Masters tournament.

Five years ago: A man armed with several weapons opened fire in a crowded shopping mall in the Netherlands, killing six people before committing suicide. Minnesota Duluth won a 3-2 victory over Michigan in the NCAA men's ice hockey championship game, the first national title for the Bulldogs. Sidney Lumet, the award-winning director of such American film classics as "Network," ''Serpico," ''Dog Day Afternoon" and "12 Angry Men," died in New York at age 86.

One year ago: President Barack Obama briefly visited Jamaica, where he met with Caribbean leaders and spoke at a town hall of young leaders; the president then flew to Panama City for a summit of Western Hemisphere nations and a historic encounter with Cuban President Raul Castro. Canadian-born filmmaker Paul Almond, 83, died in Los Angeles.

Today's Birthdays: Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner is 90. Satirical songwriter and mathematician Tom Lehrer is 88. Naturalist Jim Fowler is 86. Actor Jean-Paul Belmondo is 83. Actress Michael Learned is 77. Country singer Margo Smith is 74. Country singer Hal Ketchum is 63. Actor Dennis Quaid is 62. Comedian Jimmy Tingle is 61. Country musician Dave Innis (Restless Heart) is 57. Talk show host Joe Scarborough (TV: "Morning Joe") is 53. Actress-sports reporter Lisa Guerrero is 52. Actor Mark Pellegrino is 51. Actress-model Paulina Porizkova is 51. Actress Cynthia Nixon is 50. Rock singer Kevin Martin (Candlebox) is 47. TV personality Sunny Anderson (TV: "The Kitchen") is 41. Rock singer Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance) is 39. Actress Keshia Knight Pulliam is 37. Rock musician Albert Hammond Jr. (The Strokes) is 36. Actor Charlie Hunnam is 36. Actor Ryan Northcott is 36. Actor Arlen Escarpeta is 35. Actor Jay Baruchel is 34. Actress Leighton Meester is 30. Actor-singer Jesse McCartney is 29. Rhythm-and-blues singer Jazmine Sullivan is 29. Actress Kristen Stewart is 26. Actress Elle Fanning is 18. Actor Isaac Hempstead Wright is 17. Classical crossover singer Jackie Evancho is 16.

Thought for Today: "Thinking is like loving or dying. Each of us must do it for ourselves." -- Josiah Royce, American philosopher (1855-1916).

Copyright 2016, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.