Today is Tuesday, April 16th, the 107th day of the year. There are 259
days remaining until the end of the year.
HOLIDAYS and OBSERVANCES National Autism Awareness Month,
National Child Abuse Prevention Month, National Humor Month, Lawn
and Garden Month, International Guitar Month, National Pecan Month,
Stress Awareness Month, Sexual Assault Awareness Month, National
Poetry Month, Organize Your Files Week, National Librarian Day,
National Stress Awareness Day, Emancipation Day (Wash., D.C.)
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 77, basketball legend
Martin Lawrence, 59, comedian
Walt Williams, 54, basketball player
Akon, 51, singer
Keon Clark, 49, basketball player
Jonathan Vilma, 43, football player
Boris Diaw, 42, basketball player
Luol Deng, 39, basketball player
Chance The Rapper, 31, rapper
HISTORIC BIRTHDAYS
Dick “Night Train” Lane, 97, football player (d. 2002)
Roy Hamilton, 95, singer (d. 1969)
Ed Townsend, 95, songwriter/producer (d. 2003)
DEATHS
Ralph Ellison, 1994, author (b. 1913)
Victims in the Va. Tech Massacre, 2007
ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY
1724 – 1st Easter observed.
1862 – The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, a
bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia, becomes law.
1869 – Ebenezer Bassett, 1st Black U.S. diplomat, begins service in
Haiti.
1963 – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. pens his “Letter From A Birmingham
Jail” while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting
against segregation.
1965 – Major General B.O. Davis Jr. becomes Lt. General, highest
rank held by a Black in the U.S. Armed Forces.
1977 – Alex Haley finds his “Roots” in Juffure, Gambia.
1980 – Arthur Ashe retires from professional tennis.
1987 – August Wilson’s “Fences” wins the Pulitzer Prize for drama.
1993 – Jury reaches guilty verdict in Federal case against police
officer who beat Rodney King, but the verdict is not read until
April 17th.
2003 – Michael Jordan plays his last NBA game.
2007 – Virginia Tech massacre: the deadliest mass shooting in
modern American history. The gunman, Seung-Hui Cho, kills
32 people and injures 23 others before committing suicide.
HOROSCOPE
Being an Aries born on April 16th, your optimism and generosity are amongst your most defining qualities. You are definitely a people person, which is assisted by your ability to see the best in everyone you meet. This same positive attitude can be witnessed in all aspects of your life, as you can always see the “silver lining” in the most seemingly bleak situations. Your friends and family often marvel at your optimism, but it may be your generosity that they appreciate the most. You are a natural giver and would do just about anything to help a loved one in need.
