Today in History, April 15th
Published 1:30 am Monday, April 15, 2019
Today is Monday, April 15, the 105th day of 2019. There are 260 days left in the year.
Today’s highlight:On April 15, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln died nine hours after being shot the night before by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater in Washington; Andrew Johnson became the nation’s 17th president.
On this date:
In 1912, the British luxury liner RMS Titanic foundered in the North Atlantic off Newfoundland more than 2 1/2 hours after hitting an iceberg; 1,514 people died, while less than half as many survived.
In 1943, the Ayn Rand novel “The Fountainhead” was first published by Bobbs-Merrill Co.
In 1985, South Africa said it would repeal laws prohibiting sex and marriage between whites and non-whites.
In 1998, Pol Pot, the notorious leader of the Khmer Rouge, died at age 72, evading prosecution for the deaths of two million Cambodians.
Today’s Birthdays: Actress Claudia Cardinale is 81. Author and politician Jeffrey Archer is 79. Rock singer-guitarist Dave Edmunds is 76. Actor Michael Tucci is 73. Actress Lois Chiles is 72. Writer-producer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason is 72. Actress Amy Wright is 69. Columnist Heloise is 68. Actor Sam McMurray is 67. Actress-screenwriter Emma Thompson is 60. Bluegrass musician Jeff Parker is 58. Singer Samantha Fox is 53. Olympic gold, silver and bronze medal swimmer Dara Torres is 52.
Thought for Today: “We do not know what we want and yet we are responsible for what we are — that is the fact.” — Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher (born 1905, died this date in 1980).
—Associated Press
