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From: "Mary" <>
Subject: [FOLKLORE FAMILY] Today in History - April 6th
Date: Fri, 6 Apr 2001 12:01:20 -0400


Today is Friday, April sixth, the 96th day of 2001.
There are 269 days left in the year.


Today's Highlight in History:
On April sixth, 1909, explorers Robert E. Peary and Matthew A. Henson became
the first men to reach the North Pole. (The claim, disputed by skeptics, was
upheld in 1989 by the Navigation Foundation.)

On this date:
In 1830, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was organized by
Joseph Smith in Fayette, New York.

In 1862, the Civil War Battle of Shiloh began in Tennessee.

In 1896, the first modern Olympic games formally opened in Athens, Greece.

In 1917, Congress approved a declaration of war against Germany.

In 1965, the United States launched the Early Bird communications satellite.

In 1971, Russian-born composer Igor Stravinsky died in New York City.

In 1985, William J. Schroeder became the first artificial heart recipient to
be discharged from the hospital as he moved into an apartment in Louisville,
Kentucky.

In 1994, Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun announced his retirement
after 24 years.

In 1994, the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi were killed in a mysterious
plane crash near Rwanda's capital; widespread violence erupted in Rwanda
over claims the plane had been shot down.

In 1998, country singer Tammy Wynette died at her Nashville, Tennessee, home
at age 55.

Ten years ago: Iraq reluctantly agreed to accept United Nations conditions
for ending the Persian Gulf War.

Five years ago: A sorrowful President Clinton was on hand at Dover Air Force
Base in Delaware to greet the arrival of 33 flag-draped caskets carrying the
remains of Commerce Secretary Ron Brown and other victims of a plane crash
in Croatia.
A stolen truck carrying illegal immigrants overturned in Temecula,
California, killing eight people.
Actress Greer Garson died in Dallas at age 92.

One year ago: The father of Elian Gonzalez, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, arrived in
the United States to press for the return of his six-year-old son to Cuba.
A private company mapping the human genetic blueprint announced it had
decoded all of the DNA pieces that make up the genetic pattern of a single
human being.

Today's Birthdays:
Composer-conductor Andre Previn is 72.
Actor Ivan Dixon is 70.
singer Merle Haggard is 64.
Actor Billy Dee Williams is 64.
Actor Roy Thinnes is 63.
Movie director Barry Levinson is 59.
Singer Michelle Phillips is 57.
Actor John Ratzenberger is 54.
Actress Marilu Henner is 49.
Figure skater Janet Lynn is 48.
Actor Michael Rooker is 46.
Actress Ari Meyers is 32.
Actor Paul Rudd is 32.
Actor Jason Hervey is 29.
Actress Candace Cameron is 25.



"To be really cosmopolitan, a man must be at home even in his own country."
-- Thomas Wentworth Higginson, American clergyman-author
(1823-1911).


(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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