Today is the 116th day of 2014 and the 38th day of spring.
TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1865, John Wilkes Booth, President Abraham Lincoln's assassin, was killed by Union troops in Virginia.
In 1937, German planes bombed the city of Guernica in Spain.
In 1986, a reactor ruptured at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in the Soviet Union, spreading radioactive material over much of Europe.
In 2000, Vermont Gov. Howard Dean signed the nation's first bill allowing gay couples to form civil unions.
TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863), artist; Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903), landscape architect; Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951), philosopher; Charles Richter (1900-1985), seismologist; Bernard Malamud (1914-1986), author; I.M. Pei (1917- ), architect; Carol Burnett (1933- ), actress/comedian; Giancarlo Esposito (1958- ), actor; Jet Li (1963- ), actor; Kevin James (1965- ), actor/comedian; Tom Welling (1977- ), actor; Channing Tatum (1980- ), actor.
TODAY'S FACT: The United States has 104 operational nuclear reactors, more than any other nation.
TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1941, the organ, now a staple at Major League Baseball stadiums, made its debut at Wrigley Field, during a game in which the Chicago Cubs lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-2.
TODAY'S QUOTE: "Without heroes we're all plain people and don't know how far we can go." -- Bernard Malamud
TODAY'S NUMBER: 64,000 -- square miles contaminated by radioactive material from the Chernobyl disaster, an area approximately the size of Wisconsin.
TODAY'S MOON: Between last quarter moon (April 22) and new moon (April 28).