Right this moment is Saturday, April 12, the 102nd day of 2025. There are 263 days left within the 12 months.
Right this moment in historical past:
On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin grew to become the primary human in house, orbiting the earth as soon as earlier than touchdown safely by way of parachute after a deliberate ejection from his house capsule.
Additionally on this date:
In 1861, the U.S. Civil Struggle started as Accomplice forces opened fireplace on Fort Sumter in South Carolina.
In 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Heat Springs, Georgia, at age 63; he was succeeded by Vice President Harry S. Truman.
In 1954, Invoice Haley and His Comets recorded “Rock Across the Clock,” a music usually cited as bringing rock ‘n’ roll music into the mainstream when it was popularized within the movie “The Blackboard Jungle” the next 12 months.
In 1955, the polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk was declared protected and efficient following practically a 12 months of area trials undertaken by about 1.8 million American baby volunteers dubbed “polio pioneers.”
In 1963, civil rights chief the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and jailed in Birmingham, Alabama, charged with contempt of court docket and parading with no allow. (Throughout his time behind bars, King wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”)
In 1981, the NASA Area Shuttle program started as Area Shuttle Columbia, the world’s first reusable spacecraft, lifted off from the Kennedy Area Middle.
Right this moment’s Birthdays:
- Musician Herbie Hancock is 85.
- Musician John Kay (Steppenwolf) is 81.
- Actor Ed O’Neill is 79.
- TV host David Letterman is 78.
- Creator Scott Turow is 76.
- Actor Andy Garcia is 69.
- Film director Walter Salles (SAL’-ihs) is 69.
- Nation musician Vince Gill is 68.
- Actor-comedian Retta is 55.
- Actor Claire Danes is 46.
- Actor Jennifer Morrison is 46.
- Director of Nationwide Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is 44.
- Mannequin-actor Brooklyn Decker is 38.
- Actor-comedian Ilana Glazer is 38.
- Actor Saoirse (SUR’-shuh) Ronan is 31.