Born On This Day:

• Thomas Hobbes, 1588
• Joseph Lister, 1827
• Algernon Charles Swinburne, 1837
• Booker T. Washington, 1856
• La Mistinguette (Jeanne Bougeeois), 1871
• Spencer Tracy, 1900
• Chester Bowles, 1901
• Melvyn Douglas, 1901
• Bette Davis, 1908
• Herbert von Karajan, 1908
• Mary Hemingway, 1908
• Gregory Peck, 1916
• Arthur Hailey, 1920
• Gail Storm, 1922
• Roger Corman, 1926
• Frank Gorshin, 1934
• Colin Powell, 1937
• Peter Greenaway, 1942
• Michael Moriarty, 1942
• Max Gail, 1943
• Jane Asher, 1946

Died On This Day:

• George Savile, 1st marquess of Halifax, 1695
• Edward Young, 1765
• Chauncey Depew, 1928
• Vincent Youmans, 1946
• General Douglas MacArthur, 1964
• Mischa Elman, 1967
• Igor Stravinsky, 1971
• Chiang Kai-Shek, 1975
• Howard Hughes, 1976
• Abe Fortas, 1982
• Kurt Cobain suicide, 1994
• Sol Hurok, 1994
• Allen Ginsberg, 1997
• Saul Bellow, 2005
• Gene Pitney, 2006
• Charlton Heston, 2008
• Richard Dysart, 2015

Today's Events:

• 2348 BC - Traditional date that Noah's Ark touched dry land.
• 1614 - Native American Princess Pocahontas marries Virginia colonist John Rolfe.
• 1722 - First Europeans, led by Dutch captain Jacob Roggeveen, discover Easter Island on Easter Sunday; 800 amazing statues viewed for the first time.
• 1792 - George Washington becomes first president to veto a Congressional bill - the Apportionment Bill.
• 1815 - Volcano begins erupting in Tambora Sumbawa, Indonesia; death toll 92,000.
• 1862 - Month-long Civil War Battle of Yorktown begins in Virginia.
• 1874 - Johann Strauss's lyric opera Die Fledermaus (The Bat) is a sensation at its Vienna premiere.
• 1881 - Treaty of Pretoria-Britain recognizes Transvaal independence.
• 1915 - Jess Willard KO's Jack Johnson for World Heavyweight boxing Championship in Havana, Cuba.
• 1933 - First lung removal performed by Dr. Evarts Ambrose Graham in St. Louis.
• 1943 - Tragic WWII American bombing mistake: 936 civilians including 209 schoolchildren killed in bombing of Minerva car factory in Antwerp, Belgium.
• 1951 - Ethel and Julius Rosenberg sentenced to death for spying for Russia.
• 1955 - 81 year-old Winston Churchill resigns; Anthony Eden becomes British Prime Minister.
• 1962 - Herb Gardner's 'A Thousand Clowns' opens on Broadway at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre.
• 1976 - Harold Wilson resigns as British Prime Minister.
• 1980 - World's rarest stamp, the one-cent British Guiana 1856 magenta, auctioned for $850,000 in NY.
• 1984 - Basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar beats Wilt Chamberlain's all time scoring record-31,419 points.
• 1986 - West Berlin disco bombed by Libyan terrorists provoking U.S. bombing retaliation on April 14.
• 1992 - Largest demonstration in Washington DC history - 700,000 march in support of abortion rights.
• 1998 - Largest suspension bridge in the world opens in Japan - the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge joining Honshu and Shikoku.

Feast Day of Saint:

• Vincent Ferrer (died today in 1419)

Holiday:

• Day of Avalokiteshvara-God of Mercy in Tibetan Buddhism.

Non-Specific Holiday:

• PESACH or Passover (Jewish), begins 15th day of lunar month Nisan thru 22nd
• PALM SUNDAY, Sunday before Easter and first day of Holy Week.
• MAUNDY THURSDAY, Thursday before Easter
• GOOD FRIDAY, Friday before Easter
• EASTER (SUNDAY) (March to May) the first Sunday after the first full moon after the veral equinox (March 22-April 25) in Western churches;
• EASTER MONDAY, Monday after Easter.
• CH'ING MING, Festival of Pure Brightness in China (Beginning of second moon (about March 21)
• NAEFELSERFAHRT, Swiss pilgrimage the first Thursday in April to Näfels
• BAISAKHI (in India) or VOISHU (in Kerala) or BOHAG BIHU (in Assam) - (Hindu New Year Festival)
• VESAK (Commemoration of birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha) celebrated Southeast Asia.
• MOTHER'S DAY (U.S.), second Sunday in May
• FESTIVAL OF JOAN OF ARC in France, second Sunday in May
• MEMORIAL DAY (U.S.), Last Monday in May
• MAHAVIR JAYANTI, Indian festival celebrating birth of Lord Mahavira, celebrated early April
• AKSHAYA TRITIYA, Hindu Festival, celebrated late April
• DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME - begins first Sunday in April - clocks forward
• Arbor Day - last Friday in April