Today in History

Today is Sunday, April 7, the 97th day of 2019. There are 268 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On April 7, 1927, the image and voice of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover were transmitted live from Washington to New York in the first successful long-distance demonstration of television.

On this date:

In 1798, the Mississippi Territory was created by an act of Congress, with Natchez as the capital.

In 1862, Union forces led by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant defeated the Confederates at the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee.

In 1915, jazz singer-songwriter Billie Holiday, also known as "Lady Day," was born in Philadelphia.

In 1953, the U.N. General Assembly ratified Dag Hammarskjold of Sweden as the new secretary-general, succeeding Trygve Lie of Norway.

In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower held a news conference in which he spoke of the importance of containing the spread of communism in Indochina, saying, "You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly." (This became known as the "domino theory," although Eisenhower did not use that term.)

In 1959, a referendum in Oklahoma repealed the state's ban on alcoholic beverages.

In 1962, nearly 1,200 Cuban exiles tried by Cuba for their roles in the failed Bay of Pigs invasion were convicted of treason.

In 1966, the U.S. Navy recovered a hydrogen bomb that the U.S. Air Force had lost in the Mediterranean Sea off Spain following a B-52 crash.

In 1978, President Jimmy Carter announced he was deferring development of the neutron bomb, a high-radiation weapon.

In 1983, space shuttle astronauts Story Musgrave and Don Peterson went on the first U.S. spacewalk in almost a decade as they worked in the open cargo bay of Challenger for nearly four hours.

In 1994, civil war erupted in Rwanda, a day after a mysterious plane crash claimed the lives of the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi; in the months that followed, hundreds of thousands of minority Tutsi and Hutu moderates were slaughtered by Hutu extremists.

In 2008, anti-China protesters disrupted the Olympic torch relay in Paris, at times forcing Chinese organizers to put out the flame and take the torch onto a bus to secure it. Kansas won the NCAA championship, defeating Memphis 75-68 in overtime.

Ten years ago: President Barack Obama capped his eight-day European trip by addressing college students in Istanbul, Turkey; he then made an unannounced trip to Baghdad, where he visited with U.S. troops and Iraqi officials. Vermont became the fourth state (after Connecticut, Massachusetts and Iowa) to legalize same-sex marriage. Three members of the Congressional Black Caucus met with former Cuban President Fidel Castro in Havana. Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori was sentenced to 25 years in prison by a Lima court for death squad killings and kidnappings during his struggle against Shining Path insurgents.

Five years ago: Pro-Russian activists barricaded inside government buildings in eastern Ukraine proclaimed their regions to be independent and called for a referendum on seceding from Ukraine, an echo of events that had led to Russia's annexation of Crimea. Alonzo Mourning, a seven-time NBA All-Star, and NCAA championship-winning coaches Nolan Richardson and Gary Williams were voted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Connecticut won its second NCAA men's title in four years, beating Kentucky 60-54 in the championship game. Model and media personality Peaches Geldof was found dead at her home in Wrotham, Kent, England, at age 25.

One year ago: Opposition activists and local rescuers said at least 40 people were killed in a suspected poison gas attack on the last remaining foothold for the Syrian opposition in the eastern suburbs of Damascus. Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was taken into police custody after a showdown with his own supporters, who tried to keep him from surrendering to face prison time for a corruption conviction.

Today's Birthdays: Media commentator Hodding Carter III is 84. Country singer Bobby Bare is 84. Rhythm-and-blues singer Charlie Thomas (The Drifters) is 82. Former California Gov. Jerry Brown is 81. Movie director Francis Ford Coppola is 80. Actress Roberta Shore is 76. Singer Patricia Bennett (The Chiffons) is 72. Singer John Oates is 71. Former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels is 70. Singer Janis Ian is 68. Country musician John Dittrich is 68. Actor Jackie Chan is 65. College and Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett is 65. Actor Russell Crowe is 55. Christian/jazz singer Mark Kibble (Take 6) is 55. Actor Bill Bellamy is 54. Rock musician Dave "Yorkie" Palmer (Space) is 54. Rock musician Charlie Hall (The War on Drugs) is 45. Former football player-turned-analyst Tiki Barber is 44. Actress Heather Burns is 44. Christian rock singer-musician John Cooper (Skillet) is 44. Actor Kevin Alejandro is 43. Retired baseball infielder Adrian Beltre is 40. Rock musician Ben McKee (Imagine Dragons) is 34. Christian rock singer Tauren Wells is 33. Actor Ed Speleers is 31. Actor Conner Rayburn is 20.

"Verba movent, exempla trahunt." (Words move people, examples compel them.) -- Latin proverb.