Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Today is Friday, April 12, the 102nd day of 2002 with 263 to follow. The moon is new. Advertisement There are no morning stars. The evening stars are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Those born on this date are under the sign of Aries. They include American statesman Henry Clay in 1777; opera singer Lily Pons in 1904; bandleader Lionel Hampton in 1909; singer Tiny Tim, born Herbert Khaury, in 1922; actress/dancer Ann Miller in 1923 (age 79); jazz keyboard player Herbie Hancock in 1940 (age 62); actor Ed O'Neill in 1946 (age 56); author Tom Clancy, talk show host David Letterman and actor Dan Lauria, all in 1947 (age 55); actor/singer David Cassidy in 1950 (age 52); actor Andy Garcia in 1956 (age 46); country singer Vince Gill in 1957 (age 45); and actresses Shannen Doherty in 1971 (age 31), and Claire Danes in 1979 (age 23). On this date in history: In 1861, the Civil War began when Confederate troops opened fire on Fort Sumter, S.C. Advertisement In 1935, "Your Hit Parade" premiered on radio. In 1945, President Roosevelt died at Warm Springs, Ga. About three hours later, Vice President Harry Truman was sworn in as chief executive. In 1955, federal health officials announced that the polio vaccine developed by Dr. Jonas Salk was "safe, potent and effective." In 1961, the Soviet Union launched the first manned spacecraft. Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit the earth and return safely. In 1981, the first U.S. space shuttle flight was launched. The flight of Columbia was the first U.S. manned space mission since July 1976. In 1990, under pressure from environmentalists, three top U.S. tuna canneries -- H.J. Heinz, Van Camp and Bumblebee -- announced "dolphin-safe" tuna-catching practices. In 1992, the European Community announced that a cease-fire accord had been reached in Europe's newest nation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, a former Yugoslav republic. The truce did not last. In 1993, NATO warplanes began enforcing a no-fly zone over embattled Bosnia-Herzegovina, marking the first time the alliance's forces were used outside its traditional defense area. In 1994, Israel and the PLO agreed that 9,000 Palestinian police would be stationed in Jericho and the Gaza Strip after the Israeli military withdrawal. Advertisement In 1996, President Clinton named trade representative Mickey Kantor to succeed the late Ron Brown as secretary of commerce. In 1999, a federal judge in Little Rock, Ark., found President Clinton in contempt of court for lying during his sworn deposition in Jan. 1998, when he had testified that he had not had sexual relations with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Clinton -- who was fined $1,202, the cost of the judge's trip to Washington to preside over the deposition -- was the first sitting president ever to be held in contempt of court. Also in 1999, the Clintons' Whitewater partner, Susan McDougal, was acquitted of obstruction of justice. A thought for the day: Martha Grimes said, "We don't know who we are until we see what we can do."
