April eleventh

Today's Highlight in History:
On April eleventh, 1970, Apollo 13 blasted off on its ill-fated mission to the moon. (The astronauts managed to return safely).

On this date:
In 1689, William the Third and Mary the Second were crowned as joint sovereigns of Britain.

In 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated as emperor of France and was banished to the island of Elba.

In 1898, President McKinley asked Congress for a declaration of war against Spain.

In 1899, the treaty ending the Spanish-American War was declared in effect.

In 1921, Iowa became the first state to impose a cigarette tax.

In 1945, during World War Two, American soldiers liberated the notorious Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald in Germany.

In 1951, President Truman relieved General Douglas MacArthur of his commands in the Far East.

In 1968, President Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1968, a week after the assassination of Martin Luther King Junior.

In 1979, Idi Amin was deposed as president of Uganda as rebels and exiles backed by Tanzanian forces seized control.

In 1980, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued regulations specifically prohibiting sexual harassment of workers by supervisors.

Ten years ago: Funeral services were held in Indianapolis for AIDS patient Ryan White, who had died three days earlier at age 18. Among the 15-hundred mourners were first lady Barbara Bush and singers Elton John and Michael Jackson.

Five years ago: President Clinton expressed sympathy for Pakistan's anger over the blocked sale of American fighter jets, telling visiting Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto that it was "not right" for the United States to keep the planes and refuse to give the money back.

One year ago: The Justice Department reported that more than a third of the women in state prisons and jails said they were physically or sexually abused as children. Jose Maria Olazabal won the Masters by two shots over Davis Love the Third.

"Only the vanquished remember history."

-- Marshall McLuhan, Canadian communications theorist (1911-1980).