Today in History

Today is Monday, April 28, the 118th day of 2014. There are 247 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On April 28, 1789, there was a mutiny on the HMS Bounty as rebelling crew members of the British ship led by Fletcher Christian set the captain, William Bligh, and 18 sailors adrift in a launch in the South Pacific. (Bligh and most of the men with him managed to reach Timor in 47 days.)

On this date:

In 1758, the fifth president of the United States, James Monroe, was born in Westmoreland County, Va.

In 1788, Maryland became the seventh state to ratify the Constitution of the United States.

In 1817, the United States and Britain signed the Rush-Bagot Treaty, which limited the number of naval vessels allowed in the Great Lakes.

In 1918, Gavrilo Princip, the assassin of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and the archduke's wife, Sophie, died in prison of tuberculosis.

In 1937, former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was born in the village of al-Oja near the desert town of Tikrit (he was executed in December 2006).

In 1945, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci, were executed by Italian partisans as they attempted to flee the country.

In 1952, war with Japan officially ended as a treaty signed in San Francisco the year before took effect. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower resigned as Supreme Allied commander in Europe; he was succeeded by Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway.

In 1967, heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali refused to be inducted into the Army, the same day U.S. Army Gen. William C. Westmoreland told Congress the U.S. "would prevail in Vietnam."

In 1974, a federal jury in New York acquitted former Attorney General John Mitchell and former Commerce Secretary Maurice H. Stans of charges in connection with a secret $200,000 contribution to President Richard Nixon's re-election campaign from financier Robert Vesco.

In 1988, a flight attendant was killed and more than 60 persons injured when part of the roof of an Aloha Airlines Boeing 737 tore off during a flight from Hilo to Honolulu.

In 1994, former CIA official Aldrich Ames, who had betrayed U.S. secrets to the Soviet Union and then Russia, pleaded guilty to espionage and tax evasion, and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

In 1996, a man armed with a semiautomatic rifle went on a rampage on the Australian island of Tasmania, killing 35 people; Martin Bryant was captured by police after a 12-hour standoff at a guest cottage. (Bryant is serving a life prison sentence.)

Ten years ago: First photos from the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal were shown on CBS' "60 Minutes II." A Spanish judge indicted Amer Azizi, a Moroccan fugitive, on charges of helping to plan the September 11 hijackings (Azizi remains at large). The U.N. Security Council put terrorists, black marketeers and crooked scientists on notice that they faced punishment for trafficking in weapons of mass destruction. Cable giant Comcast Corp. dropped its two-month-old unsolicited bid for The Walt Disney Co.

Five years ago: Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius won Senate confirmation, 65-31, as health and human services secretary. Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania defected from the Republican Party, joining the Democrats. Country singer Vern Gosdin ("Chiseled in Stone") died in Nashville at age 74.

One year ago: Mohammed Sohel Rana, the fugitive owner of an illegally constructed building in Bangladesh that collapsed and killed at least 1,129 people, was captured by a commando force as he tried to flee into India.

Today's Birthdays: Pulitzer Prize-winning author Harper Lee is 88. Former Secretary of State James A. Baker III is 84. Actor Frank Vincent is 77. Actress-singer Ann-Margret is 73. Actress Marcia Strassman is 66. Actor Paul Guilfoyle is 65. Former "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno is 64. Rock musician Chuck Leavell is 62. Actress Mary McDonnell is 61. Rock singer-musician Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth) is 61. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan is 54. Rapper Too Short is 48. Actress Simbi Khali is 43. Actress Bridget Moynahan is 43. Actor Chris Young is 43. Rapper Big Gipp is 41. Actor Jorge Garcia is 41. Actress Elisabeth Rohm is 41. Actress Penelope Cruz is 40. Actor Nate Richert is 36. Actress Jessica Alba is 33. Actor Harry Shum Jr. (TV: "Glee") is 32. Actress Jenna Ushkowitz is 28. Actress Aleisha Allen is 23.

Thought for Today: "If youth only had a chance or old age any brains." -- Stephen Leacock, Canadian humorist-educator (1869-1944).

Copyright 2014, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.