UPI Almanac for Tuesday, April 9, 2024

Today is Tuesday, April 9, the 100th day of 2024 with 266 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aries. They include French poet Charles Baudelaire in 1821; actor/musician Paul Robeson in 1898; football Hall of Fame member Curly Lambeau in 1898; actor Ward Bond in 1903; Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner in 1926; musician Tom Lehrer in 1928 (age 96); musician Carl Perkins in 1932; actor Jean-Paul Belmondo in 1933; actor Michael Learned in 1939 (age 85); journalist Peter Gammons in 1945 (age 79); golf Hall of Fame member Seve Ballesteros in 1957; actor Dennis Quaid in 1954 (age 70); political commentator Joe Scarborough in 1963 (age 61); fashion designer Marc Jacobs in 1963 (age 61); model Paulina Porizkova in 1965 (age 59); actor Mark Pellegrino in 1965 (age 59); actor Cynthia Nixon in 1966 (age 58); musician Kevin Martin (Candlebox) in 1969 (age 55); TV personality Sunny Anderson in 1975 (age 49); musician/author Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance) in 1977 (age 47); actor Keshia Knight Pulliam in 1979 (age 45); musician Albert Hammond Jr. (Strokes) in 1980 (age 44); actor Jay Baruchel in 1982 (age 42); actor Leighton Meester in 1986 (age 38); musician Jazmine Sullivan in 1987 (age 37); actor/musician Jesse McCartney in 1987 (age 37); actor Kristen Stewart in 1990 (age 34): actor Elle Fanning in 1998 (age 26); actor Isaac Hempstead-Wright in 1999 (age 25); musician Lil Nas X, born Montero Hill, in 1999 (age 25); musician Jackie Evancho in 2000 (age 24).

On this date in history:

In 1413, Henry V was crowned king of England.

In 1816, the first all-black U.S. religious denomination, the AME church, was organized in Philadelphia.

In 1865, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at the Appomattox Court House in Virginia, bringing the Civil War to a close.

In 1866, the U.S. Congress passed the Civil Rights Bill of 1866, which granted African Americans the rights and privileges of U.S. citizenship and formed the basis for the 14th Amendment.

In 1939, on Easter Sunday, African-American contralto Marian Anderson gave a free open-air concert before more than 75,000 people from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington after the Daughters of the American Revolution denied her use of Constitution Hall because of her race.

In 1940, Germany invaded Norway and Denmark.

In 1947, a tornado roared through at least 12 towns in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, killing 169 people. The twister traveled 221 miles across the three states.

In 1959, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration introduced America's first astronauts to the public. The seven men -- military test pilots M. Scott Carpenter, L. Gordon Cooper, John H.Glenn, Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Walter M. "Wally" Schirra, Alan B. Shepard and Donald K. "Deke" Slayton -- were selected from a group of 32 candidates to take part in Project Mercury.

In 1963, by an act of the U.S. Congress, British statesman Winston Churchill became an honorary U.S. citizen.

In 1965, the Astrodome opened in Houston for the first indoor Major League Baseball game.

In 1976, the United States and Soviet Union agreed on the size of nuclear tests for peaceful use.

In 1996, former U.S. Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, D-Ill., pleaded guilty to mail fraud and was sentenced to 17 months in prison.

In 1999, the president of Niger, Ibrahim Bare Mainassara, was assassinated and a military junta led by the commander of the presidential guards took over.

In 2003, Iraqis, with help from Americans, toppled a 20-foot-tall statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad's Firdos Square.

In 2005, Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, married his longtime companion, Camilla Parker Bowles, at Windsor Castle. She took the title duchess of Cornwall.

In 2007, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that his country could produce nuclear fuel on an industrial scale.

In 2010, U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, 11 days shy of 90, announced he would retire after 35 years on the court where he was widely regarded as leader of the liberal bloc.

In 2018, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., became the first sitting senator to give birth. She had a daughter, Maile Pearl Bowlsbey.

In 2021, Prince Philip, the longest-serving consort of a reigning British monarch, died after weeks of illness. He was 99.

A thought for the day: "The artist must take sides. He must elect to fight for freedom or slavery." -- American actor/singer/activist Paul Robeson