Today’s Highlights

On April 24, 1916, Irish republicans launched the Easter Rising, a rebellion against British rule in Ireland. Though the rebels surrendered to British forces six days later, the uprising set the stage for republican victories in the Irish general election of 1918 and the establishment of the Irish Free State via the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1922.

On this date

1960: Rioting erupted in Biloxi, Mississippi, after Black protesters staging a “wade-in” at a whites-only beach were attacked by a crowd of hostile white people.

1980: The United States launched Operation Eagle Claw, an unsuccessful attempt to free 53 American hostages in Iran that resulted in the deaths of eight U.S. service members.

1990: Space Shuttle Discovery blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying the $1.5 billion Hubble Space Telescope.

1995: The final bomb linked to the Unabomber exploded inside the Sacramento, California, offices of the California Forestry Association, killing chief lobbyist Gilbert B. Murray. (Theodore Kaczynski was later sentenced to four lifetimes in prison for a series of bombings that killed three people and injured 23 others.)

Today’s birthdays

Actor Shirley MacLaine is 91. Actor-singer-filmmaker Barbra Streisand is 83. Fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier is 73. Actor Eric Bogosian is 72. Actor Michael O’Keefe is 70. Actor-comedian Cedric the Entertainer is 61. Actor Djimon Hounsou is 61. Actor Aidan Gillen is 57.