1996 Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski is captured by the FBI. He was later convicted of killing three people and wounding 29 others by sending mail bombs over a period of almost eighteen years.

1991 Persian Gulf War ends

1975 Bobby Fischer forfeits the world chess title after refusing to defend it.

1973 Cell Phone The first portable cell phone call is made. General manager of Motorola's Communications Systems Division calls his rival at AT&T's Bell Labs from the streets of New York City.

1969 Jim Morrison The lead singer of The Doors, is arrested for exposing himself in front of a Miami concert audience the previous March. The charges were eventually dropped.

1968 Martin Luther King, Jr proclaims "I have been to the mountain top."

1965 First nuclear reactor in space NASA launches SNAP-10A.

1953 TV Guide The first issue of the popular guide is published.

1947 Juvenile Jury debuts on NBC, hosted by Jack Barry.

1946 Word War II Masaharu Homma, the Japanese General responsible for the Bataan Death March is executed for his war crimes.

1945 Bridge On the River Kwai The wooden railroad bridge in eastern Kanchanaburi is destroyed by an American B-24 bomber. This event was made famous by the book and movie.

1918 The American's Creed by William Tyler Page is accepted by the House of Representatives. "A government of the people, by the people, for the people... established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity." Source: An Almanac of the Christian Church

1889 First bank for and operated by blacks It opens for business in Virginia.

1882 Jesse James The famous outlaw is shot and killed by a member of his own gang to collect his reward of $10,000.

1860 First run of the Pony Express departs from St. Joseph, Missouri arriving in Sacramento, California on April 13.

A.D. 33 Crucifixion The traditional date, as established by Isaac Newton.

1972 Jennie Garth American actress. TV: Beverly Hill, 90210 (Kelly).

1970 Ricky Schroder American actor. TV: Silver Spoons (Ricky Stratton).

1961 Eddie Murphy (Edward Regan Murphy), American comedian. Film: 48 Hours (1982), Trading Places (1983), Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Dr. Dolittle (1998), and Shrek (2001, voice of Donkey). TV: Saturday Night Live.

1959 David Hyde Pierce American Emmy-winning actor. TV: Frasier (Dr. Niles Crane). Film: A Bug's Life (1998, voice of Slim the walking stick).

1958 Alec Baldwin (Alexander Rae Baldwin III), American actor, oldest of the "Baldwin brothers." Film: The Hunt for Red October (1990). TV: Doctors (Billy) and Knots Landing (Joshua).

1949 Lyle Alzado d. 1992 American football player, two-time All-Pro. As an amateur boxer, he fought an exhibition match against Muhammad Ali. He died of brain cancer, which he attributed to steroid abuse.

1944 Tony Orlando (Michael Cassavitis), American singer. Music: Knock Three Times (1971, #1), and Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Ole Oak Tree (1973, #1).

1942 Wayne Newton American cabaret singer, "Mr. Las Vegas". He performed over 25,000 concerts in Las Vegas.

1941 Jan Berry d. 2004 American singer, with Jan and Dean.

1926 Virgil "Gus" Grissom d. 1967 American astronaut, one of the seven original Mercury astronauts and the first astronaut to go into space twice.  He died with two other astronauts when Apollo 1 caught fire on the launch pad during a simulation.

1924 Marlon Brando d. 2004 American Oscar-winning actor. Film: A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), The Wild One (1953), On the Waterfront (1954, Oscar), The Godfather (1972, Don Corleone), and Superman (1978, Superman's father).

1924 Doris Day (Doris von Kappelhoff), American actress. Film: Pajama Game (1957) and Pillow Talk (1959).

1911 Stella Walsh d. 1980 (Stanislawa Walasiewicz), Polish Olympic gold medal winner (1932) and the first woman to run the 100-yard dash in under 11 seconds (10.8 sec., 1930). She received more than 5,000 medals and awards. After her death, it was determined that she was actually a man.

1904 Iron Eyes Cody d. 1999 (Espera DeCorti), American actor. Film: Sitting Bull (1954) and A Man Called Horse (1970). He was featured in the teary-eyed ecology TV commercials.

1893 Leslie Howard d. 1943 (Leslie Stainer), English actor. Film: Gone with the Wind (1939, Ashley Wilkes). He was killed by Nazis who, believing Winston Churchill was aboard, shot down his plane.

1885 Bud Fisher d. 1954 (Harry Conway Fisher), American cartoonist, created Mutt and Jeff (1907).

1861 Reginald De Koven d. 1920 American operatic composer. Music: The Golden Butterfly and Oh, Promise Me.

1823 Boss Tweed d. 1878 (William Marcy Tweed), American politician, boss of Tammany Hall. It is estimated he stole between $30 and  $200 million from New York City. He was portrayed in the film Gangs of New York (2002).

1822 Edward Everett Hale d. 1909 American author. Writings: The Man Without a Country (1863).

1783 Washington Irving d. 1859 American author. Writings: Rip Van Winkle (1819) and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1819). He also wrote under the names Diedrich Knickerbocker, Geoffrey Corson, Anthony Evergreen, and Jonathan Oldstyle.

1721 John Hanson d. 1783 American statesman, first president of U.S. Congress Assembled (1781-82). Because of this he is sometimes called the first president of the U.S.

1367 Henry IV d. 1413 King of England (1399-1413).

1996 Ron Brown b. 1941 American, Democratic National Party chairman, Commerce Secretary (1993-96). He and 34 other people died in a government plane crash, prompting government cover-up theories, based on Brown's being under investigation for corruption and having prepared to negotiate plea bargains implicating President Clinton.

1996 Carl Burton Stokes b. 1927 American politician, TV newscaster. He was the first black elected mayor of a major U.S. city (1967-72, Cleveland, Ohio).

1993 Pinky Lee b. 1914 (Pincus Leff), American children's TV show host, known for his lisp and checkered hat.

1991 Charles H. Goren b. 1901 American bridge expert, columnist, Goren on Bridge.

1988 Milton Caniff b. 1907 American cartoonist, creator of Terry and the Pirates (1934) and Steve Canyon (1947).

1976 David Mathias Dennison b. 1900 American theoretical physicist. He discovered the spin of the proton.

1929 Karl Friedrich Benz b. 1844 German automotive pioneer, built the first car powered by an internal combustion engine.

1897 Johannes Brahms b. 1833 German composer.

1882 Jesse Woodson James b. 1847 American outlaw, fought with Confederate guerrillas during the Civil War. He was shot by a member of his own gang to collect his reward of $10,000.

1287 Honorius IV b. ???? Italian religious leader, 190th Pope (1285-87).

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