Today in History

• William and Mary are crowned as monarchs of England (1689)
• The Treaty of Utrecht ends the War of Spanish Succession (1713)
• Napoléon is exiled to Elba (1814)
• The Tokugawa Shogunate (徳川幕府) ends after 268 years (1869)
• Spelman College is founded (1881)
• The Emirate of Transjordan (إمارة شرق الأردن) is founded as part of the British Mandate (1921)
• Buchenwald Concentration Camp is liberated by U.S. troops (1945)
• Truman fires Douglas MacArthur (1951)
• The Stone of Scone is recovered (1951)
• Most Boring Day Since 1900 (1954)
• Trial of Adolf Eichmann begins (1961)
• LBJ signs the Civil Rights Act (1968)
• Apollo 13 lifts off from Cape Kennedy (1973)
• The first Apple computer is introduced (1976)
• Idi Amin is deposed (1979)

Birthdays

• Alessandra Ambrosio, Victoria’s Secret model (1981)
• Mark Teixeria, baseball player (1980)
• Josh Hancock, baseball player (1978)
• Tricia Helfer, actress (1974)
• Jason Varitek, baseball player (1972)
• Trevor Linden, hockey player (1970)
• Mason Reese, actor (1965)
• Bret Saberhagen, baseball player (1964)
• Micheal Ray Richardson, basketball player (1955)
• Louise Lasser, actress (1939)
• Michael Deaver, aide to Ronald Reagan (1938)
• Richard “The Iceman” Kuklinski, serial killer (1935)
• Tony Brown, journalist (1933)
• Joel Grey, actor (1932)
• Anton LaVey, satanist (1930)
• Ethel Kennedy, wife of Bobby Kennedy (1928)
• David Westheimer, author (1917)
• Oleg Cassini, designer (1913)
• Leo Rosten, author (1908)
• Dale Messick, creator of Brenda Starr (1906)
• Dean Acheson, Secretary of State (1893)
• Kasturba Mohandas Gandhi, wife of Mahatma Gandhi (1869)
• Charles Evans Hughes, Chief Justice (1862)

Deaths

• Kurt Vonnegut, author (2007)
• June Pointer, singing sister (2006)
• Harry Secombe, Goon Show comedian (2001)
• Jessica Dubroff, seven-year old pilot trying to set a cross-country record (1996)
• James Brown, Rin-Tin-Tin star (1992)
• Erskine Caldwell, author (1987)
• Primo Levi, chemist and author (1987)
• Dolores del Río, actress (1983)
• John O’Hara, author (1970)
• Luther Burbank, horticulturist (1926)
• Kid Nichols, baseball player (1926)
• Richard Harding Davis, made the clean-shaven look popular (1916)
• Francis P. Church, wrote “Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus (1906)
• James A. Bailey, circus partner (1906)
• Gemma Galgani, saint (1903)
• Joseph Merrick, the Elephant Man (1890)
• Edward Wightman, last person burned at the stake for heresy in England (1612)

Holidays and Celebrations

• Commemoration of Saint Barsanuphius of Tver (Eastern Christianity)
• Feast of Stanislaus of Szcezpanów (Western Christianity)
• Juan Santamaría Day (Costa Rica)
• National Cheese Fondue Day (US food holidays)
• National Pet Day (US)
• National Teach Children to Save Day (American Bar Association Educational Foundation)

Informal and made up holidays include Barbershop Quartet Day (commemorating the establishment of SPEBSQSA on 4/11/38), the Day of Silence, Eight Track Tape Day, and International “Louie Louie” Day. Me gotta go now.

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April 11 is the 101st day of the year (102nd in leap years). There are 264 days remaining until the end of the year.