Today is Thursday, April 9, the 99th day of 2026. There are 266 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On April 9,1942, during World War II, some 75,000 Philippine and American soldiers surrendered to Japanese troops, ending the Battle of Bataan in the Philippines. The prisoners were subsequently forced to march 65 miles (105 kilometers) to POW camps in what is now known as the Bataan Death March; thousands died or were killed en route.
Also on this date:
In 1865, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia to Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at the village of Appomattox Court House in Virginia, effectively ending the American Civil War. (Remaining Confederate units elsewhere would formally surrender by early June of 1865, closing out the bloodiest conflict on American soil without further major combat.)
In 1939, Marian Anderson performed at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., after the Black singer was denied the use of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution.
In 1940, during World War II, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway.
In 1959, NASA introduced the “Mercury Seven,” its first seven astronauts: Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard and Donald “Deke” Slayton.
In 1968, funerals, private and public, were held for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Ebenezer Baptist Church and at Morehouse College in Atlanta, five days after the civil rights leader was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.
In 2003, Baghdad fell to American troops during the Iraq War after six days of fighting.
In 2005, Britain’s Prince Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles, who took the title Duchess of Cornwall.
In 2023, a five-story residential building exploded and collapsed near the port of Marseille in France, leaving at least six people dead and others missing. The predawn collapse occurred in the old quarter of central Marseille, France’s second-largest city.
Today’s Birthdays:
- Satirist-musician Tom Lehrer is 98.
- Actor Michael Learned is 87.
- Drummer Steve Gadd is 81.
- Actor Dennis Quaid is 72.
- Fashion designer Marc Jacobs is 63.
- Model-actor Paulina Porizkova is 61.
- Actor Cynthia Nixon is 60.
- Actor Keshia Knight Pulliam is 47.
- Actor Jay Baruchel is 44.
- Actor Leighton Meester is 40.
- Singer-songwriter Jazmine Sullivan is 39.
- Actor Kristen Stewart is 36.
- Actor Elle Fanning is 28.
- Rapper Lil Nas X is 27.
- Actor Isaac Hempstead Wright is 27.
- Singer Jackie Evancho (ee-VAYN’-koh) is 25.
