ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC
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Today is the 114th day of 2019 and the 36th day of spring.
TODAY'S HISTORY: In 1898, Spain declared war on the United States.
In 1916, the Irish Republican Brotherhood began the Easter Rising in Dublin, Ireland, seizing several key locations and proclaiming Irish independence.
In 1980, the United States launched Operation Eagle Claw, an unsuccessful attempt to free American hostages in Iran that resulted in the deaths of eight U.S. servicemen.
In 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched from the space shuttle Discovery.
TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Willem de Kooning (1904-1997), artist; Robert Penn Warren (1905-1989), novelist/poet; Richard Donner (1930- ), filmmaker; Shirley MacLaine (1934- ), actress; Sue Grafton (1940-2017), author; Barbra Streisand (1942- ), singer/actress; Cedric the Entertainer (1964- ), comedian/actor; Djimon Hounsou (1964- ), actor; Aidan Gillen (1968- ), actor; Damon Lindelof (1973- ), TV writer/executive; Kelly Clarkson (1982- ), singer-songwriter.
TODAY'S FACT: The Hubble Space Telescope's successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, is scheduled for launch in 2020. NASA estimates that Hubble will make its natural atmospheric re-entry between 2030 and 2040.
TODAY'S SPORTS: In 1901, the first American League game was played. The Chicago White Stockings defeated the Cleveland Blues, 8-2.
TODAY'S QUOTE: "I've been to a lot of places and done a lot of things, but writing was always first. It's a kind of pain I can't do without." -- Robert Penn Warren
TODAY'S NUMBER: $300 million -- price reportedly paid by hedge fund manager Kenneth C. Griffin for the Willem de Kooning painting "Interchange" in a private sale in September 2015. It was the highest known price paid for a painting until November 2017, when da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi" sold for $450.3 million.
TODAY'S MOON: Between full moon (April 19) and last quarter moon (April 26).