It's National Garlic Day! Today is Wednesday, April 19, 2017 the 108th day of the year with 256 days remaining.
- Sunrise: 6:28am
- Sunset: 7:50pm
...giving us 13 hours and 21 minutes of daylight. 56% of the waning moon will be visible, setting at 12:48pm.
Tides at the Golden Gate
- High: 5:41am/8:13pm
- Low: 12:19am/12:34pm
Special international celebrations today…
- Birthday of the Sultan of Perak - Malaysia
- Landing of the 33 Patriots - Uruguay
- Mov. Precursor de la Independencia - Venezuela
- Republic Day - Sierra Leone
- Dia do Indio (Day of The Indian) - Brazil
It’s also…
- Bicycle Day
- Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Action Day
- Education & Sharing Day
- John Parker Day
- National Garlic Day
- National Amaretto Day
- National Hanging Out Day
- National Stress Awareness Day
- National Wear Your Pajamas To Work Day
- Oklahoma City Bombing Commemoration Day
On this day in…
1012 - Aelfheah was murdered by Danes who had been ravaging the south of England. Aelfhear became the 29th Archbishop of Canterbury in 1005.
1539 - Emperor Charles V reached a truce with German Protestants at Frankfurt, Germany.
1587 - English admiral Sir Francis Drake entered Cadiz harbor and sank the Spanish fleet.
1689 - Residents of Boston ousted their governor, Edmond Andros.
1713 - Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI issued the Pragmatic Sanction, which gave women the rights of succession to Hapsburg possessions.
1764 - The English Parliament banned the American colonies from printing paper money.
1770 - Captain James Cook discovered New South Wales, Australia. Cook originally named the land Point Hicks.
1775 - The American Revolution began as fighting broke out at Lexington, MA.
1782 - The Netherlands recognized the new United States.
1794 - Tadeusz Kosciuszko forced the Russians out of Warsaw.
1802 - The Spanish reopened the New Orleans port to American merchants.
1839 - The Kingdom of Belgium was recognized by all the states of Europe when the Treaty of London was signed.
1852 - The California Historical Society was founded.
1861 - Thaddeus S. C. Lowe sailed 900 miles in nine hours in a hot air balloon from Cincinnati, OH, to Unionville, SC.
1861 - The Baltimore riots resulted in four Union soldiers and nine civilians killed.
1861 -U.S. President Lincoln ordered a blockade of Confederate ports.
1892 - The Duryea gasoline buggy was introduced in the U.S. by Charles and Frank Duryea.
1897 - The first annual Boston Marathon was held. It was the first of its type in the U.S.
1927 - In China, Hankow communists declared war on Chaing Kai-shek.
1933 -U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a proclamation that removed the U.S. from the gold standard.
1938 - General Francisco Franco declared victory in the Spanish Civil War.
1939 - Connecticut approved the Bill of Rights for the U.S. Constitution after 148 years.
1943 - The Warsaw Ghetto uprising against Nazi rule began. The Jews were able to fight off the Germans for 28 days.
1951 - General Douglas MacArthur gave his "Old Soldiers" speech before the U.S. Congress after being relieved by U.S. President Truman. In the address General MacArthur said that "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away."
1951 - Shigeki Tanaka won the Boston Marathon. Tanaka had survived the atomic blast at Hiroshima, Japan during World War II.
1956 - Actress Grace Kelly became Princess Grace of Monaco when she married Prince Rainier III of Monaco. The civil ceremony took place on April 18.
1960 - Baseball uniforms began displaying player's names on their backs.
1967 - Surveyor 3 landed on the moon and began sending photos back to the U.S.
1971 - Russia launched the Salyut into orbit around Earth. It was the first space station.
1975 - India launched its first satellite with aid from the USSR.
1977 - Alex Haley received a special Pulitzer Prize for his book "Roots."
1981 - In Davao, Philippines, thirteen people were killed when members of the New People's Army threw hand grenades into the Roman Catholic cathedral during Easter services.
1982 - NASA named Sally Ride to be first woman astronaut.
1982 - NASA named Guion S. Bluford Jr. as the first African-American astronaut.
1982 - The U.S. announced a ban on U.S. tourist and business traval to Cuba. The U.S. charged the Cuban government with subversion in Central America.
1987 - In Phoenix, AZ, skydiver Gregory Robertson went into a 200-mph free-fall to save an unconscious colleague 3,500 feet from the ground.
1987 - The last California condor known to be in the wild was captured and placed in a breeding program at the San Diego Wild Animal Park.
1988 - Sonny Bono was inaugurated as the Mayor of Palm Springs, CA.
1989 - A gun turret exploded aboard the USS Iowa. 47 sailors were killed.
1989 - In El Salvador, Attorney General Alvadora was killed by a car bomb.
1993 - The Branch-Davidian’s compound in Waco, TX, burned to the ground. It was the end of a 51-day standoff between the cult and U.S. federal agents. 86 people were killed including 17 children. Nine of the Branch Davidians escaped the fire.
1994 - A Los Angeles jury awarded $3.8 million to Rodney King for violation of his civil rights.
1995 - The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, OK, was destroyed by a bomb. It was the worst bombing on U.S. territory. 168 people were killed including 19 children, and 500 were injured. Timothy McVeigh was found guilty of the bombing on June 2, 1997.
1998 - Wang Dan, a leader of 1989 Tienanmen Square pro democracy protests, was freed by the Chinese government.
2000 - The Oklahoma City National Memorial was dedicated on the fifth anniversary of the bombing in Oklahoma that killed 168 people.
2000 - Letters written by Greta Garbo were put on exhibit. The letters were made public ten years after Garbo's death.
2000 - In the Philippines, Air Philippines GAP 541 crashed while preparing to land. 131 people were killed.
2002 - The USS Cole was relaunched. In Yemen, 17 sailors were killed when the ship was attacked by terrorists on October 12, 2000. The attack was blamed on Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network.
Today’s birthday celebrants include (or included)...
- David Ricardo 1772 - Economist, author
- Ole Evinrude 1877
- Germaine Tailleferre 1892 - Composer
- Eliot Ness 1903
- Tommy Benford 1905 - Musician (Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers)
- Frank Fontaine 1920
- Kenneth Battelle 1927
- Don Barbour 1927 - Singer (The Four Freshmen)
- Alexis Korner 1928 - Musician, singer
- Hugh O'Brian 1930 - Actor ("The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp")
- Alex Webster 1931 - Football player
- Jayne Mansfield (Vera Jane Palmer) 1932 - Actress ("It Takes a Thief")
- Dick Sargent 1933 - Actor ("Bewitched", "Fantasy Island")
- Dickie Goodman (Richard Dorian Goodman) 1934 - Entertainer (Buchanan and Goodman)
- Dudley Moore 1935 - Actor ("Arthur", "Bedazzled")
- Wilfried Martens 1936 - Belgium Prime Minister
- Elinor Donahue 1937 - Actress ("Father Knows Best", "The Andy Griffith Show", "Pretty Woman")
- Bobby Russell 1941
- Alan Price 1942 - Musician (Alan Price Combo, The Animals)
- Larry (Hilario) Ramos Jr. 1942 - Musician, singer (The Association)
- Czeslaw Bartkowski 1943 - Jazz composer, musician
- Eve Graham 1943 - Musician (The New Seekers)
- Mark "Flo" Volman 1944 - Musician (Crossfires, Phlorescent Leech and Eddy, Turtles, Nightriders)
- Tim Curry 1946 - Actor ("Stephen King’s It", "Amadeus", "The Hunt for Red October")
- Paloma Picasso 1949
- Lynn Powis 1949 - Hockey player
- Tony Plana 1952 - Actor ("Ugly Betty")
- Sue Barker 1956 - Tennis player
- Paul Day 1956 - Musician (Iron Maiden)
- Al Unser, Jr. 1962
- Suge Knight 1965 - Record company executive (Tha Row)
- Ashley Judd 1968 - Actress
- Bekka Bramlett 1968
- Luis Miguel (Luis Miguel Gallego Basteri) 1970 - Singer, Luis Miguel Merchandise
- James Franco 1978 - Actor ("Milk", "Spider-Man")
- Kate Hudson 1979 - Actress
- Hayden Christensen 1981 - Actor ("Life as a House," "Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones," "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith")
- Catalina Sandino Moreno 1981 - Actress
- Troy Polamalu 1981 - Football player
- Courtland Mead 1987
- Maria Sharapova 1987 - Tennis player
