April 29th

Today's Highlight in History:
On April 29th, 1945, American soldiers liberated the Dachau concentration camp; that same day, Adolf Hitler married Eva Braun and designated Admiral Karl Doenitz his successor.

On this date:
In 1429, Joan of Arc entered the besieged city of Orleans to lead a victory over the English.

In 1861, Maryland's House of Delegates voted against seceding from the Union.

In 1862, New Orleans fell to Union forces during the Civil War.

In 1899, jazz legend Duke Ellington was born in Washington DC.

In 1916, the Easter Rising in Dublin collapsed as Irish nationalists surrendered to British authorities.

In 1946, 28 former Japanese leaders were indicted as war criminals.

In 1974, President Nixon announced he was releasing edited transcripts of some secretly made White House tape recordings related to Watergate.

In 1981, truck driver Peter Sutcliffe admitted in a London court to being the "Yorkshire Ripper," the killer of 13 women in northern England during a five-year period.

In 1983, Harold Washington was sworn in as the first black mayor of Chicago.

In 1992, deadly rioting erupted in Los Angeles after a jury in Simi Valley, California, acquitted four Los Angeles police officers of almost all state charges in the videotaped beating of Rodney King.

Ten years ago: The space shuttle "Discovery" landed safely at Edwards Air Force Base in California after a mission which included the deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Five years ago: Rescue workers in Oklahoma City continued the grim task of searching for bodies and pulling debris from the bombed-out Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, where the remains of more than 120 of the 168 victims had been recovered.

One year ago: Yugoslavia filed World Court cases against ten alliance members, including the United States, claiming their bombing campaign breached international law. The Reverend Jesse Jackson arrived in Belgrade on a mission to win freedom for three American POW's held by Yugoslavia.

"News is history shot on the wing."

-- Gene Fowler, American journalist (1890-1960).