ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC
Today is the 117th day of 2017 and the 39th day of spring.
TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1521, explorer Ferdinand Magellan was killed in the Philippines.
In 1865, the steamboat Sultana exploded in the Mississippi River near Memphis, Tennessee, killing some 1,700 passengers.
In 2006, construction began on the Freedom Tower (later renamed One World Trade Center) at the World Trade Center site in New York City.
In 2014, John XXIII and John Paul II became the first popes to be canonized as saints since 1954.
TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Samuel Morse (1791-1872), Morse code co-inventor; Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885), soldier/18th U.S. president; Rogers Hornsby (1896-1963), baseball player; Enos Slaughter (1916-2002), baseball player; Jack Klugman (1922-2012), actor; Coretta Scott King (1927-2006), activist; Casey Kasem (1932-2014), radio/TV personality; Sandy Dennis (1937-1992), actress; August Wilson (1945-2005), playwright; Herm Edwards (1954- ), football coach/sportscaster; Patrick Stump (1984- ), singer-songwriter.
TODAY'S FACT: In 1667, blind and impoverished poet John Milton sold the copyright to his masterpiece, "Paradise Lost," for 10 pounds (roughly $2,260 in 2017 U.S. currency).
TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1956, 31-year-old boxer Rocky Marciano retired with a perfect 49-0 record, the only heavyweight champion to do so.
TODAY'S QUOTE: "Where the citizen is sovereign and the official the servant, where no power is exercised except by the will of the people, it is important that the sovereign -- the people -- should possess intelligence." -- Ulysses S. Grant
TODAY'S NUMBER: 1,776 -- architectural height (in feet) of One World Trade Center.
TODAY'S MOON: Between new moon (April 26) and first quarter moon (May 2).