By The Associated Press
                      - Today is Monday, April 12, the 102nd day of 1999. There are 263 days
                        left in the year.

                      - On April 12, 1861, the American Civil War began as Confederate
                        forces fired on Fort Sumter in South Carolina.
                      - In 1934, "Tender Is the Night" by F. Scott Fitzgerald was first
                        published.
                      - In 1945, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died of a cerebral
                        hemorrhage at age 63; he was succeeded by Vice President Harry S.
                        Truman.
                      - In 1955, the Salk vaccine against polio was declared safe and
                        effective.
                      - In 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to fly
                        in space, orbiting the Earth once before making a safe landing.
                      - In 1981, the space shuttle Columbia blasted off from Cape Canaveral
                        on its first test flight.
                      - In 1983, Chicagoans went to the polls to elect Harold Washington the
                        city's first black mayor.
                      - In 1985, Sen. Jake Garn of Utah became the first senator to fly in
                        space as the shuttle Discovery lifted off.
                      - In 1992, Euro Disneyland opened in France.
                      - Ten years ago: Radical activist Abbie Hoffman was found dead at his
                        home in New Hope, Penn., at age 52; former middleweight boxing
                        champion Sugar Ray Robinson died in Culver City, Calif., at age 67.
                      - Five years ago: Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell declined to
                        be nominated to the Supreme Court. Playwright Edward Albee won his
                        third Pulitzer prize for "Three Tall Women;" the Pulitzer prize for
                        fiction went to E. Annie Proulx for "The Shipping News;" the
                        gold-medal award for public service journalism went to the Akron
                        Beacon-Journal of Ohio.
                      - One year ago: Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams appealed to IRA
                        supporters to accept Northern Ireland's compromise peace accord.
                        Golfer Mark O'Meara won the Masters title in Augusta, Ga.

                      *Happy Birthday*
                      - Bandleader Lionel Hampton is 91.
                      - Actress-dancer Ann Miller is 76.
                      - Country singer Ned Miller is 74.
                      - Actress Jane Withers is 73.
                      - Opera singer Montserrat Caballe is 66.
                      - Actor Charles Napier is 63.
                      - Jazz musician Herbie Hancock is 59.
                      - Rock singer John Kay (Steppenwolf) is 55.
                      - Actor Ed O'Neill is 53.
                      - Actor Dan Lauria is 52.
                      - Talk show host David Letterman is 52.
                      - Author Scott Turow is 50.
                      - Singer David Cassidy is 49.
                      - Actor Andy Garcia is 43.
                      - Country singer Vince Gill is 42.
                      - Country singer Deryl Dodd is 35.
                      - Folk-pop singer Amy Ray (Indigo Girls) is 35.
                      - Actress Shannen Doherty is 28.
                      - Actress Claire Danes is 20.