Today is Friday, April 26, the 117th day of 2024 with 249 to follow.
The moon is waning. Morning stars are Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn and Venus. Evening star is Jupiter.
Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius in 121; Scottish philosopher David Hume in 1711; naturalist John James Audubon in 1785; French artist Eugene Delacroix in 1798; landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted in 1822; singer Ma Rainey, born Gertrude Pridgett, in 1886; author Anita Loos in 1889; Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler’s deputy, in 1894; inventor Charles Richter, responsible for the Richter scale of earthquake measurement, in 1900; writer A.E. van Vogt in 1912; writer Bernard Malamud in 1914; architect I.M. Pei in 1917; actor/comedian Carol Burnett in 1933 (age 91); guitarist Duane Eddy in 1938 (age 86); pop singer Bobby Rydell in 1942; actor Giancarlo Esposito in 1958 (age 66); musician Roger Taylor (Duran Duran) in 1960 (age 64); actor Joan Chen in 1961 (age 63); actor Jet Li, born Li Lianjie, in 1963 (age 61); actor Kevin James in 1965 (age 59); actor Marianne Jean-Baptiste in 1967 (age 57); musician T-Boz, born Tionne Watkins, (TLC) in 1970 (age 54); model/former first lady Melania Trump in 1970 (age 54); musician Jay DeMarcus (Rascal Flatts) in 1971 (age 53); musician Jose Pasillas (Incubus) in 1976 (age 48); actor Tom Welling in 1977 (age 47); actor Jason Earles in 1977 (age 47); actor Pablo Schreiber in 1978 (age 46); actor Stana Katic in 1978 (age 46); actor Nyambi Nyambi in 1979 (age 45); actor Channing Tatum in 1980 (age 44); actor Jordana Brewster in 1980 (age 44); actor Emily Wickersham in 1984 (age 40); TV personality Sean Evans in 1986 (age 38); actor Luke Bracey in 1989 (age 35); actor Riley Voelkel in 1990 (age 34); Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva in 2006 (age 18).
On this day in history:
In 1607, the first British colonists to establish a permanent settlement in America landed at Cape Henry, Va.
In 1933, Nazi Germany’s secret police, better known as the Gestapo, is formed by Hermann Goering. The Allies declared the Gestapo a criminal organization during the Nuremberg trials and sentenced Goering to die.
In 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, German-made planes destroyed the Basque town of Guernica, Spain.
In 1964, Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged, forming the country of Tanzania.
In 1982, Argentina surrendered to British forces on South Georgia Island amid a dispute over the Falkland Islands.
In 1986, a fire and explosion at the Soviet Union’s Chernobyl nuclear reactor north of Kiev, Ukraine, resulted in the world’s worst civilian nuclear disaster. About 30 deaths were reported in the days following the accident. It is believed that hundreds of people eventually died from high doses of radiation from the plant and that thousands of cases of cancer could be linked to the crisis.
In 1993, Indian Airlines Flight 491 slammed into a parked truck during takeoff and crashed minutes later near the western Indian city of Aurangabad, killing 56 people.
In 1994, South Africans began going to the polls in the country’s first election that was open to all. Four days of voting would elect Nelson Mandela president.
In 2002, a German youth who had been expelled from the Gutenberg school in Erfurt, Germany, returned to the school and shot 16 people to death.
In 2005, the last of Syria’s troops left Lebanon, ending a 29-year military presence.
In 2010, longtime Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir, sought by the International Criminal Court in connection with reputed crimes against humanity in the Darfur section of western Sudan, was re-elected president in a controversial vote.
In 2012, a U.N.-backed court convicted former Liberian President Charles Taylor of war crimes, including murder, acts of terrorism, rape, sexual slavery and use of child soldiers, for aiding rebels in neighboring Sierra Leone. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
In 2018, a Pennsylvania jury found actor Bill Cosby guilty on charges he drugged and sexually assaulted Andrea Constand in 2004. He was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison.
In 2020, the 23rd victim of the Aug. 3, 2019, shooting at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart died from his injuries.
In 2021, Kanye West’s Nike Air Yeezy 1 Prototype shoes sold for a record-breaking $1.8 million through a private sale facilitated by Sotheby’s. It was the first recorded sneaker sale for more than $1 million.
A thought for the day: “Knowing what you cannot do is more important than knowing what you can do. In fact, that’s good taste.” — American comedian/actor Lucille Ball