This Day in History

By The Associated Press - 04/01/2008

Today Wednesday, April 2, the 93rd day of 2008. There are 273 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight: In 1968,the influential science-fiction film “2001: A Space Odyssey,’’ produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, had its world premiere in Washington.

On this date: In 1513, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon landed in present-day Florida.

In 1917, President Wilson asked Congress to declare war against Germany, saying, “The world must be made safe for democracy.’’ (Congress declared war four days later.) In 1982, Argentina seized the disputed Falkland Islands from Britain. (Britain took back the islands the following June.) In 2005, Pope John Paul II, who’d led the Roman Catholic Church for 26 years, died in his Vatican apartment at age 84.

Birthdays Actress Linda Hunt is 63. Singer Emmylou Harris is 61. Singer Keren Woodward (Bananarama) is 47. Country singer Billy Dean is 46. Rock musician Jesse Carmichael (Maroon 5) is 29. Worth repeating...

``No artist is ahead of his time. He is his time. It is just that others are behind the time.’’

— Martha Graham, modern dance pioneer (1894-1991)