UPI Almanac for Friday, April 6, 2018

Today is Friday, April 6, the 96th day of 2018 with 269 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aries. They include Italian painter Raphael in 1483; newspaper editor Joseph Medill in 1823; journalist Lincoln Steffens in 1866; radio commentator Lowell Thomas in 1892; geneticist James Watson in 1928 (age 90); musician Andre Previn in 1929 (age 89); country singer Merle Haggard in 1937; actor Billy Dee Williams in 1937 (age 81); drag racing legend Don "The Snake" Prudhomme in 1941 (age 77); producer/director Barry Levinson in 1942 (age 76); actor John Ratzenberger in 1947 (age 71); actor Marilu Henner in 1952 (age 66); actor Michael Rooker in 1955 (age 63); former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa in 1963 (age 55); rock singer Black Francis, born Charles Thompson IV, (Pixies) in 1965 (age 53); actor Paul Rudd in 1969 (age 49); actor Zach Braff in 1975 (age 43); actor Candace Cameron Bure in 1976 (age 42); model Hilary Rhoda in 1987 (age 31); actor Charlie McDermott in 1990 (age 28).

On this date in history:

In 1830, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, originally known as the Church of Christ, was founded between three groups of followers in Fayette, Manchester and Colesville, N.Y.

In 1851, Portland, Ore., was founded.

In 1896, the first modern Olympics formally opened in Athens, Greece. The Olympics had last been staged 1,500 years earlier.

In 1909, explorers Robert Peary and Matthew Henson reached the North Pole. It would be November of the same year before the National Geographic Society confirmed the accomplishment.

In 1917, the United States declared war on Germany, propelling America into World War I.

In 1938, DuPont researchers Roy Plunkett and Jack Rebok stumbled upon the chemical compound that was later marketed as Teflon.

In 1947, the first Tony Awards, honoring distinguished work in the theater, were presented in New York City.

In 1968, federal troops and National Guardsmen were deployed in Chicago, Washington and Detroit as rioting continued over the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

In 1973, American League baseball teams used a designated hitter for the first time. It hasn't always been a popular rule.

In 1992, science fiction patriarch Isaac Asimov, author of works like The Bicentennial Man and I, Robot, died following a lengthy illness. He was 72.

In 1994, the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi were among those killed when their plane was hit by rockets as it was landing in Kigali, Rwanda. The attack triggered fighting between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups that left hundreds of thousands of people dead in what became known as the Rwandan Genocide.

In 2004, the University of Connecticut became the first school to win both the NCAA Division I men's and women's college basketball championships the same year. The UConn teams did it again in 2014.

In 2005, Prince Rainier III of Monaco, one of Europe's longest-reigning monarchs, died from multiple organ failure at the age of 81. He was succeeded by Prince Albert, one of three children of Rainier and his wife, movie star Grace Kelly, who died in a car crash in 1982.

In 2009, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck central Italy's Abruzzo region, killing 307 people and causing damage throughout the city of L'Aquila.

In 2011, Gov. Chris Gregoire signed a bill under which the state of Washington would acknowledge same-sex marriages in other states as domestic partnerships.

In 2014, Hollywood legend Mickey Rooney died at his home in Los Angeles. He was 93.

A thought for the day: "I won't be happy until we have every boy in America between the ages of 6 and 16 wearing a glove and swinging a bat." -- Babe Ruth