UPI Almanac for Friday, April 24, 2020

Today is Friday, April 24, the 115th day of 2020 with 251 to follow.

The moon is waxing. Morning stars are Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Neptune and Saturn. Evening stars are Uranus and Venus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include French Roman Catholic St. Vincent de Paul in 1581; British novelist Anthony Trollope in 1815; French Gen. Philippe Petain in 1856; U.S. artist Willem de Kooning in 1904; actor Shirley MacLaine in 1934 (age 86); actor Jill Ireland in 1936; writer Sue Grafton in 1940; singer/actor/filmmaker Barbra Streisand in 1942 (age 78); former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley in 1942 (age 78); fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier in 1952 (age 68); actor Eric Bogosian in 1953 (age 67); actor Michael O'Keefe in 1955 (age 65); actor Cedric the Entertainer, born Cedric Antonio Kyles, in 1964 (age 56); actor Rebecca Mader in 1977 (age 43); singer Kelly Clarkson in 1982 (age 38); actor Joe Keery in 1992 (age 28); singer/actor Jordan Fisher in 1994 (age 26); singer Kehlani Parrish in 1995 (age 25).

On this date in history:

In 1704, the Boston News-Letter became the first U.S. newspaper to be published on a regular basis.

In 1800, the U.S. Congress established the Library of Congress.

In 1913, the Woolworth Building, designed by architect Cass Gilbert, an early proponent of skyscrapers, opened to the public and its tenants.

In 1914, the Easter Rising began. Irish republicans armed themselves in rebellion against the British government. Nearly 500 people died --including more than 250 civilians -- during the six-day skirmish, and the British executed 16 rebels.

In 1957, the Suez Canal was reopened to shipping after being shut for more than five months following a conflict between Egypt, and the trio of Israel, Britain and France.

In 1980, Operation Eagle Claw, the attempt to rescue 52 embassy staff held captive in Tehran, ends with the death of eight servicemen when a helicopter crashed into a transport aircraft.

In 1981, IBM introduced its first personal computer.

In 1983, German endurance racing driver Rolf Stommelen died during a crash at the Riverside International Raceway in California. He was 39.

In 1986, the duchess of Windsor, Wallis Warfield Simpson, for whom Britain's King Edward VIII gave up his throne, died in Paris at age 89.

In 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was released into space by astronauts on the space shuttle Discovery.

In 1991, Freddie Stowers, a World War I corporal, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. He was the first African American to receive the highest medal for valor in combat.

In 1996, the Palestinian National Council voted to drop its official commitment to the destruction of Israel.

In 2005, Benedict XVI was installed in Rome as the 265th Roman Catholic pope.

In 2013, a building that housed clothing factories collapsed in Bangladesh, killing more than 1,000 people.

In 2018, authorities in California arrested the so-called Golden State Killer, Joseph DeAngelo, more than 40 years after the start of a decade-long killing spree throughout the state. Investigators tracked him down by submitting his DNA to an ancestry website.

A thought for the day: "Where there is great love, there are always wishes." -- American author Willa Cather