On April 19, 1995, a truck bomb exploded outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people and injuring 500. (Timothy McVeigh was later convicted of federal murder charges and executed.)
On April 19, 1883, Getulio Vargas, the Brazilian president who used dictatorial powers to modernize his country, was born. Following his death on Aug. 24, 1954, his obituary appeared in The Times.
On This Date
| 1775 | The American Revolutionary War began with the battles of Lexington and Concord. |
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| 1897 | The first Boston Marathon was run. |
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| 1933 | The United States went off the gold standard. |
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| 1943 | Tens of thousands of Jews living in the Warsaw Ghetto began an uprising against Nazi forces. |
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| 1951 | Gen. Douglas MacArthur, relieved of his command by President Harry S. Truman, bid farewell to Congress, quoting a line from a ballad: "Old soldiers never die; they just fade away." |
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| 1961 | The Federal Communications Commission authorized regular FM stereo broadcasting starting on June 1, 1961. |
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| 1993 | A 51-day siege at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, ended when fire destroyed the structure after federal agents smashed their way in. Dozens of people, including sect leader David Koresh, were killed. |
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| 1994 | A Los Angeles jury awarded $3.8 million to beaten motorist Rodney King. |
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| 2001 | The Mel Brooks musical "The Producers" opened on Broadway. |
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| 2005 | Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany was elected pope and took the name Benedict XVI. |
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Current Birthdays
Actor James Franco ("Milk," "Spider-Man") turns 33 years old today.
AP Photo/Dan Steinberg
Tennis player Maria Sharapova turns 24 years old today.
AP Photo/Evan Agostini
| 1937 | Elinor Donahue, Actress ("Father Knows Best"), turns 74 |
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| 1942 | Alan Price, Rock musician (The Animals), turns 69 |
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| 1946 | Tim Curry, Actor, turns 65 |
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| 1947 | Mark "Flo" Volman, Singer (The Turtles, Flo and Eddie), turns 64 |
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| 1952 | Tony Plana, Actor ("Ugly Betty"), turns 59 |
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| 1965 | Suge Knight, Record company executive (Tha Row), turns 46 |
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| 1968 | Ashley Judd, Actress, turns 43 |
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| 1979 | Kate Hudson, Actress, turns 32 |
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| 1981 | Hayden Christensen, Actor, turns 30 |
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| 1981 | Catalina Sandino Moreno, Actress, turns 30 |
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| 1981 | Troy Polamalu, Football player, turns 30 |
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Historic Birthdays
Getulio Vargas4/19/1883 - 8/24/1954Brazilian president (1930-45, 1951-54).Go to obituary »
| 72 | Roger Sherman 4/19/1721 - 7/23/1793
American statesman and signer of the Declaration of Independence |
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| 84 | Jose Echegaray y Eizaguirre 4/19/1832 - 9/4/1916
Spanish mathematician, statesman, and Nobel Prize-winning dramatist (1904) |
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| 86 | Lucretia Garfield 4/19/1832 - 3/14/1918
American first lady (1881) |
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| 57 | Ole Evinrude 4/19/1877 - 7/12/1934
Norwegian-American inventor |
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| 70 | Richard von Mises 4/19/1883 - 7/14/1953
Austrian-born American mathematician and aerodynamicist |
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| 54 | Eliot Ness 4/19/1903 - 5/16/1957
American crime fighter; headed the "Untouchables" in Chicago |
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| 85 | Sir Thomas Hopkinson 4/19/1905 - 6/20/1990
English editor and pioneering photojournalist |
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| 87 | Glenn T. Seaborg 4/19/1912 - 2/25/1999
American Nobel Prize-winning nuclear chemist (1951) |
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| 34 | Jayne Mansfield 4/19/1933 - 6/29/1967
American motion picture actress |
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