UPI Almanac for Friday, April 16, 2021

Today is Friday, April 16, the 106th day of 2021 with 259 to follow.

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

Those born this date are under the sign of Aries. They include artist Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun in 1755; French writer Anatole France in 1844; aviation pioneer Wilbur Wright in 1867; movie legend Charlie Chaplin in 1889; writer Kingsley Amis in 1922; composer/conductor Henry Mancini in 1924; Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in 1927 (age 94); football Hall of fame member Dick "Night Train" Lane in 1927; jazz flutist Herbie Mann in 1930; singer Bobby Vinton in 1935 (age 86); singer Dusty Springfield in 1939; Danish Queen Margrethe II in 1940 (age 81); basketball Hall of Fame member Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1947 (age 74); NFL coach Bill Belichick in 1952 (age 69); actor Ellen Barkin in 1954 (age 67); actor Jon Cryer in 1965 (age 56): actor Martin Lawrence in 1965 (age 56); actor Peter Billingsley in 1971 (age 50); Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla in 1971; singer Akon, born Aliaume Damala Badara Akon Thiam, in 1973 (age 48); actor/MMA fighter Gina Carano in 1982 (age 39); actor Claire Foy in 1984 (age 37); Chance the Rapper, born Chancellor Jonathan Bennett, in 1993 (age 28); Mirai Nagasu, first female figure skater to land a triple axel at the Olympics, in 1993 (age 28); actor Anya Taylor-Joy in 1996 (age 25); actor Sadie Sink in 2002 (age 19).

On this date in history:

In 1862, the U.S. Congress abolished slavery in the District of Columbia.

In 1912, as crowds gathered outside its New York City offices, the White Star Line denied that it was withholding information on the sinking of RMS Titanic.

In 1947, a fire aboard the French freighter Grandcamp in the Texas City, Texas, port on Galveston Bay ignited ammonium nitrate and other explosive materials in the ship's hold, causing a massive blast that destroyed much of the city and killed nearly 600 people.

In 1963, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote "Letter from Birmingham Jail" while imprisoned in Alabama for protesting segregation.

In 1972, Apollo 16 blasted off on an 11-day moon mission with three astronauts aboard.

In 1990, Dr. Jack Kevorkian helped in his first assisted suicide. In December, he was charged with murder for the death of a woman with Alzheimer's disease, who died using his so-called suicide machine in June.

In 1991, the first Jewish settlement under the Israeli government opened in the occupied territories, defying a U.S. request to stop settlement activity in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In 1999, hockey legend Wayne Gretzky announced his retirement from the NHL after 21 years. He was inducted into the NHL Hall of Fame in November without having to go through the usual three-year waiting period.

In 2002, Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok and members of his government resigned after a report faulted them, along with the United Nations, for failing to prevent the 1995 massacre of 7,500 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica, Bosnia.

In 2007, Seung-Hui Cho, a senior at Virginia Tech, went on a campus shooting rampage, killing 32 people before killing himself.

In 2011, a vicious rash of tornadoes tore through 14 U.S. states, leaving more than 40 people dead and many others homeless.

In 2018, Kendrick Lamar became the first rapper to win the Pulitzer Prize for music for his album Damn.

In 2019, the Seattle Seahawks agreed to a four-year contract extension with quarterback Russell Wilson, making him the highest-paid player in the NFL.

A thought for the day: "If 50 million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing." -- French writer Anatole France