[goofywife]

Sorry Ladies, things got crazy at the convention. I missed a few days.

1969: Robert Kennedy assassin found guilty

Sirhan B. Sirhan was found guilty of first degree murder today for assassinating Senator Robert F. Kennedy, the brother of slain President John F. Kennedy. After winning the California Democratic presidential primary, Robert Kennedy was shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles in June of 1968.

"When the verdict was announced, Sirhan, who had been nervously chewing at his fingers, stared straight ahead and showed no emotion," reported the Syracuse Herald Journal on April 17, 1969. "After a one-day recess, the same jurors will hear arguments as to whether Sirhan's fate should be life in prison or a sentence to the gas chamber at San Quentin."

NOTE: On April 23, 1969, Sirhan was sentenced to death in the gas chamber. His sentence was later commuted to life in prison, a sentence he is still serving.

1990: Civil rights activist Ralph Abernathy dies

Rev. Ralph Abernathy, the man who cradled Martin Luther King Jr.'s head after he was shot to death on the balcony of a Memphis motel in 1968, died today in an Atlanta hospital. "As King's chief lieutenant, Abernathy was at his side almost every key battle of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and '60s and took his place as leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference after King's 1968 assassination. But the fame and adulation enjoyed by King never quite extended to Abernathy," an obituary in The Valley Independent read on April 18, 1990. NOTE: In 1989, Abernathy released his autobiography And the Walls Came Tumbling Down, which prompted a firestorm of protest when the book reported on King's extramarital affairs.

1970: Apollo 13 crew returns safely

"Apollo 13's astronauts blazed back to the safety of their home planet today with a pinpoint landing in the Pacific Ocean, bringing a successful conclusion to America's most perilous space adventure," informed The Daily Times News. NOTE: The spacecraft was forced to abandon its mission after an April 13 oxygen tank explosion damaged the craft.

1964: Jerrie Mock completes pioneer flight

Jerrie Mock, 38, of Columbus, Ohio, became the first woman to fly solo around the world today. "She landed her single-engine Cessna at Port Columbus at 9:36 p.m., 29 days after takeoff. She descended into a throng of well-wishers," reported Oshkosh Daily Northwestern on April 18, 1964. NOTE: The following day, Jerrie Mock Day was announced in Columbus, Ohio, in honor of her achievement.

1961: Cuban exiles invade Bay of Pigs

Today, a group of 1,500 Cuban exiles invaded the Bay of Pigs on the southern coast of Cuba in an attempt to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro. "As the government acted to fight off the invaders, Cuba charged in the United Nations that the attack was waged by 'mercenaries' from bases in Florida and Guatemala," explained The Lima News on April 17, 1961. "In Washington, Secretary of State Dean Rusk denied that the invasion came from American soil, but said the United States is sympathetic with the invaders' aims." NOTE: The exiles were easily defeated by the Cuban government. Although the U.S. State Department initially denied any involvement in the attack, President Kennedy later confessed to funding and supplying the exiles and took full responsibility for the invasion.

1861: Virginia State Convention votes to secede

The Virginia State Convention voted to secede from the Union today. "There seems to be no room to doubt that the Virginia Convention have voted to secede, but as the Ordinance was passed in secret session, its exact terms are not yet known," reported The New York Times on April 20, 1861. NOTE: The northwest portion of Virginia subsequently seceded from Virginia, joining the Union as West Virginia on June 20, 1863.