Today in History

Today is Saturday, April 28, the 119th day of 2012. There are 247 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On April 28, 1789, there was a mutiny on the Bounty as rebelling crew members of the British ship led by Fletcher Christian set Capt. 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 U.S. Constitution.

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 Dec. 2006).

In 1942, pollster George Gallup said most Americans preferred to call the current global conflict "World War II" or "The Second World War" (other suggestions included "Survival War" or "War of World Freedom").

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 General William C. Westmoreland told Congress the U.S. "would prevail in Vietnam."

In 1987, Contra rebels in Nicaragua killed Benjamin Ernest Linder, an American engineer working on a hydroelectric project for the Sandinista government.

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 1992, the Agriculture Department unveiled its pyramid-shaped recommended-diet chart that had cost nearly $1 million to develop. (A revised pyramid was introduced in 2005; a new approach, "MyPlate," replaced the pyramid concept in 2011.)

Ten years ago: Severe weather, including tornadoes in Missouri and Maryland, killed at least six people. Alexander Lebed, the gruff former general who'd helped defeat the 1991 hard-line Soviet coup, was killed in a helicopter crash near the Russian town of Abakan; he was 52.

Five years ago: A suicide car bomber struck in Karbala, Iraq, killing at least 63 people. A suicide attack on Pakistan's Interior Minister (Aftab Khan Sherpao) killed 28 people; the official was slightly hurt. Death claimed "Tonight Show" assistant conductor Tommy Newsom at age 78 and character actor Dabbs Greer at age 90.

One year ago: President Barack Obama reshuffled his national security team, with CIA Director Leon Panetta succeeding Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Gen. David Petraeus replacing Panetta at the CIA. Convicted sex offender Phillip Garrido and his wife, Nancy, pleaded guilty to kidnapping and raping a California girl, Jaycee Dugard, who was abducted in 1991 at the age of 11 and rescued 18 years later. (Phillip Garrido was sentenced to 431 years to life in prison; Nancy Garrido was sentenced to 36 years to life in prison.) Canada's Patrick Chan won the world figure skating championships in Moscow.

Today's Birthdays: Pulitzer Prize-winning author Harper Lee is 86. Former Secretary of State James A. Baker III is 82. Director-actor Richard C. Sarafian is 82. Actress-singer Ann-Margret is 71. Actress Marcia Strassman is 64. Actor Paul Guilfoyle ("CSI") is 63. "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno is 62. Rock musician Chuck Leavell is 60. Actress Mary McDonnell is 59. Rock singer-musician Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth) is 59. Rapper Too Short is 46. Actress Simbi Khali is 41. Actress Bridget Moynahan is 41. Actor Chris Young is 41. Rapper Big Gipp is 39. Actor Jorge Garcia is 39. Actress Elisabeth Rohm is 39. Actress Penelope Cruz is 38. Actor Nate Richert is 34. Actress Jessica Alba is 31. Actor Harry Shum Jr. (TV: "Glee") is 30. Actress Jenna Ushkowitz (TV: "Glee") is 26. Actress Aleisha Allen is 21.

Thought for Today: "We have two lives... the one we learn with and the life we live with after that." -- Bernard Malamud, American author (1914-1986).

Copyright 2012, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.