Today is Saturday, April 8, the 98th day of 2017. There are 267 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History:
On April 8, 1952, President Harry S. Truman seized the American steel industry to avert a nationwide strike. (The Supreme Court later ruled that Truman had overstepped his authority, opening the way for a seven-week strike by steelworkers.)
On this date:
In 1820, the Venus de Milo statue was discovered by a farmer on the Greek island of Milos.
In 1864, the United States Senate passed, 38-6, the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolishing slavery. (The House of Representatives passed it in Jan. 1865; the amendment was ratified and adopted in Dec. 1865.)
In 1904, Longacre Square in Manhattan was renamed Times Square after The New York Times.
In 1913, the 17th Amendment to the Constitution, providing for popular election of U.S. senators (as opposed to appointment by state legislatures), was ratified. President Woodrow Wilson became the first chief executive since John Adams to address Congress in person as he asked lawmakers to enact tariff reform.
In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Emergency Relief Appropriations Act, which provided money for programs such as the Works Progress Administration.
In 1946, the League of Nations assembled in Geneva for its final session.
In 1961, a suspected bomb exploded aboard the passenger liner MV Dara in the Persian Gulf, causing it to sink; 238 of the 819 people aboard were killed.
In 1973, artist Pablo Picasso died in Mougins (MOO'-zhun), France, at age 91.
In 1974, Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hit his 715th career home run in a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, breaking Babe Ruth's record.
In 1987, Al Campanis, vice president of player personnel for the Los Angeles Dodgers, resigned after saying on ABC's "Nightline" that blacks might lack some of the "necessities" for becoming baseball managers.
