UPI Almanac for Saturday, April 13, 2024

Today is Saturday, April 13, the 104th day of 2024 with 262 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 British anti-government conspirator Guy Fawkes in 1570; Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States, in 1743; Frank Woolworth, founder of the five-and-dime stores, in 1852; outlaw Butch Cassidy in 1866; novelist Nella Larsen in 1891; Alfred Butts, inventor of the game Scrabble, in 1899; Irish playwright Samuel Beckett in 1906; author Eudora Welty in 1909; atheist activist Madalyn Murray O'Hair in 1919; actor Lyle Waggoner in 1935; actor Edward Fox in 1937 (age 87); Irish poet Seamus Heaney in 1939; actor Paul Sorvino in 1939; musician Bill Conti in 1942 (age 82); musician Jack Casady (Jefferson Airplane) in 1944 (age 80); actor Tony Dow in 1945; musician Al Green in 1946 (age 78); author/critic Christopher Hitchens in 1949; actor Ron Perlman in 1950 (age 74); actor William Sadler in 1950 (age 74); musician Peabo Bryson in 1951 (age 73); actor Peter Davison in 1951 (age 73); Max Weinberg, band leader/Bruce Springsteen drummer, in 1951 (age 73); musician Jimmy Destri, born James Mollica, (Blondie) in 1954 (age 70); chess champion Garry Kasparov in 1963 (age 61); actor Caroline Rhea in 1964 (age 60); musician Lisa Umbarger (Toadies) in 1965 (age 59); musician Marc Ford (Black Crowes) in 1966 (age 58); actor Rick Schroder in 1970 (age 54); musician Aaron Lewis (Staind) in 1972 (age 52); actor Bokeem Woodbine in 1973 (age 51); musician Lou Bega, born David Lubega Balemezi, in 1975 (age 49); actor Jonathan Brandis in 1976; actor Glenn Howerton in 1976 (age 48); actor Kelli Giddish in 1980 (age 44); musician Ty Dolla $ign, born Tyrone William Griffin Jr., in 1982 (age 42); actor Allison Williams in 1988 (age 37).

On this date in history:

In 1742, George Frideric Handel's "Messiah" made its world premiere.

In 1873, a mob of former Confederate soldiers and Ku Klux Klan members killed dozens of Black militia men occupying the Grant Parish, La., courthouse after a contested gubernatorial election. The deadly confrontation came to be known as the Colfax massacre.

In 1932, Democrats at a Jefferson Day luncheon accused the Hoover administration of wrecking the economy, plunging millions into misery and engulfing the government in debt due to extravagance.

In 1943, the Jefferson Memorial was dedicated in Washington on the 200th anniversary of Thomas Jefferson's birth.

In 1964, Sidney Poitier became the first Black American to win an Oscar for Best Actor, honored for his work in Lilies of the Field.

In 1970, an oxygen tank exploded aboard Apollo 13 en route to a planned moon landing and one of the three astronauts aboard, Jack Swigert, the command module pilot, famously said, "Houston, we've had a problem." The mission was aborted and the craft, also carrying James Lovell, the commander, and Fred Haise, the lunar module pilot, returned safety to Earth April 17 after some harrowing moments.

In 1972, the first Major League Baseball strike ended, eight days after it began.

In 1984, Christopher Wilder, the FBI's "most wanted man," accidentally killed himself as police moved in to arrest him in New Hampshire. Wilder was a suspect in the deaths, rapes and disappearances of 11 young women in eight states.

In 1987, the Population Reference Bureau reported the world's population had exceeded 5 billion.

In 1997, Tiger Woods, 21, won the Masters, the youngest golfer to accomplish that feat and the first Black American to win any of the four men's major professional golf tournaments. Woods also won the Masters in 2001, 2002, 2005 and 2019.

In 2005, as part of a deal to avoid the death penalty, Eric Rudolph pleaded guilty to four bombings that killed two people and injured more than 120. Among the attacks were bombings at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and two abortion clinics. Rudolph was sentenced to life in prison.

In 2009, music producer Phil Spector was found guilty of second-degree murder by a Los Angeles jury in his second trial for the 2003 slaying of Lana Clarkson, an actress and club hostess. He was sentenced to 19 years-to-life in prison.

In 2013, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis appointed eight cardinals to look into ways of reforming the Roman Catholic Church.

In 2023, Tropical Cyclone Isla made landfall in Western Australia with sustained winds of 160 mph, the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane.

A thought for the day: "Teach success before teaching responsibility. Teach them to believe in themselves. Teach them to think, 'I'm not stupid.' No child wants to fail. Everyone wants to succeed." - American singer Al Green