This Day in History
1775: The British fire the "shot heard 'round the world" in the Battle of Lexington and Concord, starting the American Revolution .
1897: The first running of the Boston Marathon is won by John J. McDermott of New York.
1943: A revolt begins by Jewish residents of Poland's Warsaw Ghetto against German troops.
1988: On his way to the Democratic presidential nomination, Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis defeats Jesse Jackson and Al Gore in the New York primary.
1993: A 51-day siege of the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, TX, ends when the compound burns down, leaving more than 70 cult members dead.
1995: A truck bomb explodes outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, OK, killing 168.
2005: The Roman Catholic Church's College of Cardinals elects Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany to succeed Pope John Paul II.
Today's Birthdays
1697: Canaletto, Italian painter (Venice, Italy; died 1768)
1883: Getúlio Dornelles Vargas, Brazilian dictator-president (São Borja, Brazil; died 1954)
1912: Glenn T. Seaborg, chemist and discoverer of plutonium (Ishpeming, MI; died 1999)
1925: Hugh O'Brien, actor (Rochester, NY)
1935: Dudley Moore, actor (London, England; died 2002)
1937: Elinor Donahue, actress (Tacoma, WA)
1942: Alan Price, singer/songwriter (Fairfield, England)
1944: James J. Heckman, American economist, educator, and Nobel laureate (Chicago, IL)
1946: Tim Curry, actor (Cheshire, England)
1962: Al Unser Jr., auto racer (Albuquerque, NM)
1965: Natalie Dessay, opera soprano (France)
1968: Ashley Judd, actress (Los Angeles, CA)
1978: James Franco, actor (Palo Alto, CA)
1979: Kate Hudson, actress (Los Angeles, CA)
1981: Hayden Christensen, actor (Vancouver, British Columbia)
