On This Date By The Associated Press 1513 Explorer Juan Ponce de Leon claimed Florida for Spain. 1913 The 17th amendment to the Constitution, providing for the popular election of U.S. senators, was ratified. 1918 First lady Betty Ford was born Elizabeth Bloomer in Chicago. 1935 The Works Progress Administration was approved by Congress. 1952 President Harry S. Truman seized the steel industry to avert a nationwide strike. 1970 The Senate rejected President Richard Nixons nomination of G. Harrold Carswell to the Supreme Court. 1973 Artist Pablo Picasso died at age 91. 1977 The Clashs self-titled debut album was released in Britain. 1990 Ryan White, an AIDS patient whose battle for acceptance gained national attention, died at age 18. 1992 Tennis player Arthur Ashe announced that he had AIDS. 1994 Rock singer-musician Kurt Cobain of Nirvana was found dead in Seattle at age 27 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. 2002 Suzan-Lori Parks became the first African-American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for drama for her play Topdog/Underdog. 2005 World leaders joined pilgrims and prelates in St. Peters Square for the funeral of Pope John Paul II. 2009 Somali pirates hijacked the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama. (The crew retook the cargo ship, and Navy sharpshooters killed two pirates holding the ships American captain.) 2011 Congressional and White House negotiators struck a last-minute budget deal ahead of a midnight deadline, averting a federal shutdown and cutting billions in spending.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Apr 2014 18:41:09 +0000