Today in History - April 11

Today is Saturday, April 11, the 101st day of 2009. There are 264 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On April 11, 1970, Apollo 13 blasted off on its ill-fated mission to the moon. (The astronauts managed to return safely).

On this date:

In 1689, William III and Mary II were crowned as joint sovereigns of Britain.

In 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated as Emperor of the French and was banished to the island of Elba.

In 1898, as tensions with Spain continued to rise, President William McKinley asked Congress to authorize military intervention in Cuba.

In 1899, the treaty ending the Spanish-American War was declared in effect.

In 1945, during World War II, American soldiers liberated the notorious Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald in Germany.

In 1951, President Harry S. Truman relieved Gen. Douglas MacArthur of his commands in the Far East.

In 1979, Idi Amin was deposed as president of Uganda as rebels and exiles backed by Tanzanian forces seized control.

In 1988, the hijackers of a Kuwait Airways jetliner killed a second hostage, dumping his body onto the ground in Larnaca, Cyprus.

In 1989, Mexican officials began unearthing the remains of victims of a drug-trafficking cult near Matamoros; one of the dead was University of Texas student Mark Kilroy, who had disappeared while on spring break. (Several cult members were later convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to 50 years in prison.)

In 2001, ending a tense 11-day standoff, China agreed to free the 24 crew members of an American spy plane.

Ten years ago: The Justice Department reported that more than a third of the women in state prisons and jails said they were physically or sexually abused as children. Jose Maria Olazabal won the Masters by two shots over Davis Love III.

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