Today in History

On April 6, 1917, the United States entered World War I as the House joined the Senate in approving a declaration of war against Germany that was then signed by President Woodrow Wilson.

Also on this date:

In 1830, Joseph Smith and others met in Fayette, New York, to form the Church of Christ — now known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In 1862, the Civil War Battle of Shiloh began in Tennessee as Confederate forces launched a surprise attack against Union troops, who beat back the Confederates the following day.

In 1896, the first modern Olympic Games formally opened in Athens, Greece.

In 1954, Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, R-Wis., responding to CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow’s broadside against him on “See It Now,” claimed in remarks filmed for the program that Murrow had, in the past, “engaged in propaganda for Communist causes.”

In 1968, 41 people were killed by a pair of explosions spurred by a natural gas leak at a sporting goods store in downtown Richmond, Indiana.

In 1994, Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira were killed when the jet they were riding in was shot down by surface-to-air missiles as it attempted to land in Kigali, Rwanda.

In 2009, a powerful predawn earthquake rocked central Italy, leaving more than 300 people dead, more than 1,500 injured and thousands of buildings heavily damaged in the historic city of L’Aquila and surrounding villages.

In 2012, five Black people were shot, three fatally, in Tulsa, Oklahoma; Jake England and Alvin Watts, who admitted to targeting the victims because of their race, pleaded guilty to murder and were sentenced to life in prison without parole.

In 2018, a semitrailer truck collided with a bus carrying a youth hockey team to a playoff game in western Canada, killing 16 people and injuring several others.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Billy Dee Williams is 89. Film director Barry Levinson is 84. Actor John Ratzenberger is 79. Baseball Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven is 75. Actor Marilu Henner is 74. Actor Michael Rooker is 71. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is 62. Football Hall of Famer Sterling Sharpe is 61. Actor Paul Rudd is 57. Actor Zach Braff is 51. Actor Candace Cameron Bure is 50. Musician Robert Glasper is 48. Musician Jack Stauber is 30. Actor Peyton List is 28. Formula 1 driver Oscar Piastri is 25. Actor Casey Simpson is 22.