Today is Saturday, April 16, the 106th day of 2022. There are 259 days left in the year.
Today in history
On April 16, 1945, a Soviet submarine in the Baltic Sea torpedoed and sank the MV Goya, which Germany was using to transport civilian refugees and wounded soldiers; it’s estimated that up to 7,000 people died.
Also on this date:
In 1789, President-elect George Washington left Mount Vernon, Va., for his inauguration in New York.
In 1889, comedian and movie director Charles Chaplin was born in London.
In 1945, In his first speech to Congress, President Harry S. Truman pledged to carry out the war and peace policies of his late predecessor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
In 1947, the cargo ship Grandcamp, carrying ammonium nitrate, blew up in the harbor in Texas City, Texas; a nearby ship, the High Flyer, which was carrying ammonium nitrate and sulfur, caught fire and exploded the following day; the blasts and fires killed nearly 600 people.
In 1972, Apollo 16 blasted off on a voyage to the moon with astronauts John W. Young, Charles M. Duke Jr. and Ken Mattingly on board.
In 1977, Alex Haley, author of the best-seller “Roots,” visited the Gambian village of Juffure, where, he believed, his ancestor Kunte Kinte was captured as a slave in 1767.
Fun facts
Ergophobia is a fear of the workplace, including a fear of finding or losing employment.
They eat what?!
Pandas absorb less than 30% of the nutrition from their food (bamboo), and the remaining 70% of the nutrients is passed out in their feces, making tea grown in panda dung full of nutrients. Panda dung tea is consumed in China.
Trending words
“Opportune:” adjective; (ah-per-TOON). Definition: Suitable or convenient for a particular situation, or occurring at an appropriate time.
— Merriam-Webster
Today’s birthdays
Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI is 95. Singer Bobby Vinton is 87. Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II is 82. Basketball Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is 75. Former Massachusetts first lady Ann Romney is 73. NFL coach Bill Belichick is 70. Rock singer and former politician Peter Garrett is 69. Actor Ellen Barkin is 68. Actor Michel Gill is 62. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is 60. Rock musician Jason Scheff (Chicago) is 60. Singer Jimmy Osmond is 59. Rock singer David Pirner (Soul Asylum) is 58. Actor-comedian Martin Lawrence is 57. Actor Jon Cryer is 57. Actor Peter Billingsley is 51. Actor Lukas Haas is 46. Actor-singer Kelli O’Hara is 46. Actor Claire Foy (“The Crown”) is 38. Figure skater Mirai Nagasu is 29. Actor Sadie Sink is 20.
The Edge is compiled by Dallas Marshall. She can be contacted at dmarshall@lmtribune.com.
