Today is Friday, April 6, the 96th day of 1990. There are 269 days left in the year. Today's highlight in history: On April 6, 1909, American explorer Robert Edwin Peary became the first person to lead an expedition to the North Pole. On this date: In 1830, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized by Joseph Smith at Fayette, N.Y. In 1862, the Civil War Battle of Shiloh began as the Confederates attacked Union forces in Tennessee. In 1892, author and newscaster Lowell Thomas was born in Woodington, Ohio. In 1896, the first modern Olympic Games were formally opened in Athens, Greece. In 1917, Congress approved a declaration of war against Germany. In 1963, the United States and Britain signed an agreement under which the Americans would sell Polaris A-3 missiles to the British. In 1965, the United States launched the Early Bird communications satellite. In 1971, the Russian-born composer Igor Stravinsky died in New York City. In 1984, the space shuttle Challenger blasted off for the fifth time on a weeklong mission. In 1987, the Dow Jones industrial average closed above 2,400 for the first time. In 1988, Tirza Porat, a 15-year-old Israeli girl, was killed in a West Bank melee. (Although Arabs were initially blamed for her death, the Israeli army concluded that Tirza had been accidentally shot by a Jewish settler.) Ten years ago: Easter services were held for the American hostages in Iran, on their 155th day of captivity. Visiting clergymen reported the captives were in good condition. Five years ago: William J. Schroeder became the first artificial heart recipient to be discharged from the hospital when he moved into an apartment in Louisville, Ky. Gaafar Nimeiri, the president of Sudan, was overthrown in a coup. One year ago: Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev met with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in London, holding daylong talks that were characterized as argumentative, but friendly. Today's birthdays: Composer-conductor Andre Previn is 61. Actor Ivan Dixon is 59. Country singer Merle Haggard is 53. Actor Billy Dee Williams is 53. Actor Roy Thinnes is 52. Singer Michelle Phillips is 46. Actor John Ratzenberger is 43. Actress Marilu Henner is 38. Figure skater Janet Lynn is 37. Thought for today: ``Men are not against you; they are merely for themselves.'' _ Gene Fowler, American journalist and author (1890-1960).
