King Richard I(English monarch, called Richard the Lionheart)β
Raphael(artist)β
Tammy Wynette(American country music singer
)β
Victor Argo(actor)β
Niki Sullivan(guitarist for Buddy Holly and the Crickets)β
Prince Rainier III of Monacoβ
Corin Redgrave(actor)β
Thomas Kinkade(painter; often referred to as Painter of Lightββ)β
Mickey Rooney(actor)β
James Best(actor; best known as Rosco P. Coltrane on The Dukes of Hazzard)β
Born
Raphael(artist)β
Gerry Mulligan(jazz musician)β
Billy Dee Williams(actor)β
John Ratzenberger(actor)β
Marilu Henner(actress)β
Bret Boone(baseball player)β
Paul Rudd(actor)β
Lou Merloni(baseball player)β
Zach Braff(actor)β
Peyton List(actress)β
Twin mongoose lemurs(born at Busch Gardens, Tampa, Florida)β
Events
Brigham Young, the Mormon Church leader, married his 27th and last wife β
Snow-melting apparatus patented β
Vancouver, British Columbia, was incorporated β
The first modern Olympic Games opened in Athens, Greece β
Admiral Robert Peary and his African-American assistant Matthew Henson reached what was believed to be the North Pole β
The U.S. declared war on Germany (WW I) β
Bakery manager, Jimmy Dewar, invented a cream filled sponge cake, now known as the Twinkie β
The first Tony Awards were presented at a dinner in the Grand Ballroom at the Waldorf Astoria hotel on Easter Sunday β
Paramount Pictures signed Elvis Presley to a three-movie contract just five days after his first screen test β
Intelsat-1 (nicknamed Early Bird), the world’s first commercial geosynchronous communications satellite, was launched from Cape Kennedy (now Cape Canaveral) in Florida β
Microsoft released Windows 3.1 β
UConn’s women’s basketball team completed a championship sweep for the school by beating Tennessee 70-61 for the NCAA women’s title. The victory followed UConn’s win over Georgia Tech in the men’s championship game the previous night, making Connecticut the first Division I school to sweep both titles β
A magnitude-6.3 earthquake struck central Italy β
Weather
A blizzard in New York and throughout New England brought high winds and up to 30 inches of snow β