ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC
Today is the 104th day of 2024 and the 26th day of spring.
TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1870, the Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in New York City.
In 1941, the Soviet Union and Japan signed a five-year nonaggression pact.
In 1964, Sidney Poitier became the first African American to win the Academy Award for best actor, for his performance in “Lilies of the Field.”
In 1970, an oxygen tank exploded on Apollo 13, crippling the spacecraft, which was on its way to the moon.
In 2005, Eric Rudolph pleaded guilty to four bombings between 1996 and 1998, including a blast at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), third U.S. president; Samuel Beckett (1906-1989), playwright; Eudora Welty (1909-2001), author; Howard Keel (1919-2004), actor/singer; Seamus Heaney (1939-2013), poet/playwright; Paul Sorvino (1939-2022), actor; Al Green (1946- ), singer-songwriter; Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011), journalist/author; Ron Perlman (1950- ), actor; Garry Kasparov (1963- ), chess player; Glenn Howerton (1976- ), actor; Nellie McKay (1982- ), singer-songwriter/actress.
TODAY’S FACT: The first African American and first person of color to win the Academy Award for best actress was Halle Berry, for the 2001 film “Monster’s Ball.”
TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1997, Tiger Woods became the first African American and the youngest player to win the Masters Tournament, at age 21.
TODAY’S QUOTE: “The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new.” — Samuel Beckett, “Murphy”
TODAY’S NUMBER: 24 — days George Frideric Handel worked to complete the music for “Messiah.” The oratorio was performed for the first time in Dublin on this day in 1742.
TODAY’S MOON: Between new moon (April 8) and first quarter moon (April 15).