Today in History

Today is Sunday, April 9, the 99th day of 2023. 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 1939, Marian Anderson performed a concert at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., after the Black singer was 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, during World War II, some 75,000 Philippine and American defenders on Bataan surrendered to Japanese troops, who forced the prisoners into what became known as the Bataan Death March; thousands died or were killed en route.

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 1968, funeral services, private and public, were held for Martin Luther King Jr. at the Ebenezer Baptist Church and Morehouse College in Atlanta, five days after the civil rights leader was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.

In 1979, officials declared an end to the crisis involving the Three Mile Island Unit 2 nuclear reactor in Pennsylvania, 12 days after a partial core meltdown.

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 2003, jubilant Iraqis celebrated the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime, beheading a toppled statue of their longtime ruler in downtown Baghdad and embracing American troops as liberators.

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

In 2010, Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens announced his retirement. (His vacancy was filled by Elena Kagan.)

In 2021, Britain's Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, died at the age of 99; he was Britain's longest-serving consort.

Ten years 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 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; a suspect was later sentenced to 48 years in prison. Connecticut's women's basketball team won its eighth NCAA championship with a 93-60 rout of Louisville at New Orleans Arena.

Five years ago: Federal agents raided the office of President Donald Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, seizing records on matters including a $130,000 payment made to porn actress Stormy Daniels. Opening statements began in the retrial of Bill Cosby, charged with drugging and molesting Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home. (Cosby was convicted and sentenced to three to 10 years in prison, but the state's Supreme Court would later throw out the conviction.) Facebook began alerting some users that their data had been swept up in the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal.

One year ago: Civilian evacuations moved forward in patches of battle-scarred eastern Ukraine, a day after a Russian missile strike killed at least 52 people and wounded more than 100 at a train station where thousands clamored to leave before an expected Russian onslaught. Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Dwayne Haskins was killed in an auto accident in Florida. Community activists in South Florida sprang into action after West Point cadets on spring break were sickened by fentanyl-laced cocaine at a house party. They blitzed beaches and warned spring breakers of a surge in recreational drugs cut with the dangerous synthetic opioid.

Today's Birthdays: Satirical songwriter and mathematician Tom Lehrer is 95. Actor Michael Learned is 84. Country singer Margo Smith is 81. Actor Dennis Quaid is 69. Comedian Jimmy Tingle is 68. Country musician Dave Innis (Restless Heart) is 64. Talk show host Joe Scarborough is 60. Actor-sports reporter Lisa Guerrero is 59. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey is 59. Actor Mark Pellegrino is 58. Actor-model Paulina Porizkova is 58. Actor Cynthia Nixon is 57. TV personality Sunny Anderson is 48. Rock singer Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance) is 46. Actor Keshia Knight Pulliam is 44. Rock musician Albert Hammond Jr. (The Strokes) is 43. Actor Charlie Hunnam is 43. Actor Ryan Northcott is 43. Actor Arlen Escarpeta is 42. Actor Jay Baruchel is 41. Actor Annie Funke is 38. Actor Jordan Masterson is 37. Actor Leighton Meester is 37. Actor-singer Jesse McCartney is 36. R&B singer Jazmine Sullivan is 36. Actor Kristen Stewart is 33. Actor Elle Fanning is 25. Rapper Lil Nas X is 24. Actor Isaac Hempstead Wright is 24. Classical crossover singer Jackie Evancho is 23.