Today in History

Today is Friday, April 28, the 118th day of 2023. There are 247 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On April 28, 1994, former CIA official Aldrich Ames, who had passed U.S. secrets to the Soviet Union and then Russia, pleaded guilty to espionage and tax evasion, and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

On this date:

In 1788, Maryland became the seventh state to ratify the Constitution of the United States.

In 1945, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci, were executed by Italian partisans as they attempted to flee the country.

In 1947, a six-man expedition set out from Peru aboard a balsa wood raft named the Kon-Tiki on a 101-day journey across the Pacific Ocean to the Polynesian Islands.

In 1952, war with Japan officially ended as a treaty signed in San Francisco the year before took effect. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower resigned as Supreme Allied commander in Europe; he was succeeded by Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway.

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered U.S. Marines to the Dominican Republic to protect American citizens and interests in the face of a civil war.

In 1967, heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali was stripped of his title after he refused to be inducted into the armed forces.

In 1980, President Jimmy Carter accepted the resignation of Secretary of State Cyrus R. Vance, who had opposed the failed rescue mission aimed at freeing American hostages in Iran. (Vance was succeeded by Edmund Muskie.)

In 1986, the Soviet Union informed the world of the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl.

In 1990, the musical "A Chorus Line" closed after 6,137 performances on Broadway.

In 2001, a Russian rocket lifted off from Central Asia bearing the first space tourist, California businessman Dennis Tito, and two cosmonauts on a journey to the international space station.

In 2011, convicted sex offender Phillip Garrido and his wife, Nancy, pleaded guilty to kidnapping and raping a California girl, Jaycee Dugard, who was abducted in 1991 at the age of 11 and rescued 18 years later. (Phillip Garrido was sentenced to 431 years to life in prison; Nancy Garrido was sentenced to 36 years to life in prison.)

In 2015, urging Americans to "do some soul-searching," President Barack Obama expressed deep frustration over recurring Black deaths at the hands of police, rioters who responded with senseless violence and a society that would only "feign concern" without addressing the root causes.

Ten years ago: Mohammed Sohel Rana, the fugitive owner of an illegally constructed building in Bangladesh that collapsed and killed more than 1,100 people, was captured by a commando force as he tried to flee into India. A suspected gas explosion ripped off the side of a five-story residential building in France's Champagne country, killing three people and injuring more than a dozen others.

Five years ago: Alfie Evans, the 23-month-old terminally-ill British toddler who was at the center of a legal battle over his treatment, died at a British hospital; doctors had said further treatment for his degenerative brain condition was futile and that he should be allowed to die, but his parents fought for months to take him to the Vatican's children's hospital so he could be kept on life support. Jacob Cartwright, a trucker who was missing in a snow-covered area of Oregon for four days after his GPS device sent him up the wrong road, emerged from the remote and rugged region after walking 36 miles to safety. One year ago: Russia pounded targets from one end of Ukraine to the other, including Kyiv, bombarding the city while the head of the United Nations was visiting in the boldest attack on the capital since Moscow's forces retreated weeks earlier. The Jacksonville Jaguars took Georgia Pass rusher Travon Walker with the first pick in the NFL draft. Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer was suspended for two full seasons without pay by Major League Baseball for violating the league's domestic violence and sexual assault policy, which he denied doing.

Today's Birthdays: Former Secretary of State James A. Baker III is 93. Actor-singer Ann-Margret is 82. Actor Paul Guilfoyle is 74. Former "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno is 73. Rock musician Chuck Leavell is 71. Actor Mary McDonnell is 71. Rock singer-musician Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth) is 70. Actor Nancy Lee Grahn is 67. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan is 63. Rapper Too Short is 57. Actor Bridget Moynahan is 52. Actor Chris Young is 52. Rapper Big Gipp is 51. Actor Jorge Garcia is 50. Actor Elisabeth Rohm is 50. Actor Penelope Cruz is 49. Actor Nate Richert is 45. TV personalities Drew and Jonathan Scott are 45. Actor Jessica Alba is 42. Actor Harry Shum Jr. is 41. Actor Jenna Ushkowitz is 37. Actor Aleisha Allen is 32.