Today’s Highlights

On April 8, 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 home run record that had stood since 1935.

On this date

1820: The Venus de Milo statue, likely dating to the 2nd century B.C.E., was discovered by a farmer on the Greek island of Milos.

1864: The U.S. Senate passed, 38-6, the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolishing slavery. (The House of Representatives passed it in January 1865; the amendment was ratified and adopted in December 1865.)

1911: An explosion at the Banner Coal Mine in Littleton, Alabama, claimed the lives of 128 men, most of them convicts leased out from prisons.

1913: The 17th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, providing for election of U.S. senators by state residents as opposed to state legislatures.

1962: Cuba announced that 1,200 Cuban exiles tried for their roles in the failed Bay of Pigs invasion were convicted of treason and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

1990: Ryan White, the teenager whose battle with AIDS drew national attention and led to greater understanding and de-stigmatization of those suffering from the disease, died in Indianapolis at age 18.

Today’s birthdays

Journalist Seymour Hersh is 88. Songwriter-producer Leon Huff is 83. Rock musician Steve Howe is 78. Sports broadcaster Jim Lampley is 76. Author Barbara Kingsolver is 70. Actor John Schneider is 65. Guitarist Izzy Stradlin (Guns N’ Roses) is 63. Singer Julian Lennon is 62. Actor Robin Wright is 59.