ANDREWS MCMEEL ALMANAC
Today is the 114th day of 2021 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 October 2021. 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: "Everything happens for a reason, but that doesn't mean there's a point." -- Sue Grafton, "C is for Corpse"
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 first quarter moon (April 20) and full moon (April 26).