By The Associated Press
                - Today is Friday, April 16, the 106th day of 1999. There are 259 days
                  left in the year.

                - On April 16, 1947, America's worst harbor explosion occurred in
                  Texas City, Texas, when the French ship "Grandcamp" blew up; another
                  ship, the "Highflyer," exploded the following day. The blasts and
                  resulting fires killed 576 people.
                - In 1789, President-elect Washington left Mount Vernon, Va., for his
                  inauguration in New York.
                - In 1862, a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia became
                  law.
                - In 1912, Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly across the
                  English Channel.
                - In 1917, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin returned to Russia after years of
                  exile.
                - In 1945, in his first speech to Congress, President Truman pledged
                  to carry out the war and peace policies of his late predecessor,
                  President Roosevelt.
                - In 1945 U.S. troops reached Nuremberg, Germany, during World War II.
                - In 1947, financier and presidential confidant Bernard M. Baruch said
                  in a speech at the South Carolina statehouse, "Let us not be
                  deceived. We are today in the midst of a cold war."
                - In 1962, Walter Cronkite succeeded Douglas Edwards as anchorman of
                  "The CBS Evening News."
                - In 1972, Apollo 16 blasted off on a voyage to the moon.
                - Ten years ago: Spain's ambassador to Lebanon (Pedro Manuel de
                  Aristegui) was killed by shellfire that broke out between Christian
                  militiamen and an alliance of Syrian and Muslim gunners.
                - Five years ago: Bosnian Serbs downed a British Sea Harrier jet near
                  Gorazde; the pilot ejected and was rescued by Bosnian government
                  troops. Ralph Ellison, author of "Invisible Man," died in New York
                  at age 80.
                - One year ago: Paula Jones announced she would ask an appeals court
                  to reinstate her sexual harassment lawsuit against President Clinton
                  after it was thrown out by a federal judge. Tornadoes claimed 11
                  lives in Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky.

                *Happy Birthday*
                - Actor-comedian Spike Milligan is 81.
                - Actor Barry Nelson is 79.
                - Actor-director-author Peter Ustinov is 78.
                - Actor Peter Mark Richman is 72.
                - Actress-singer Edie Adams is 70.
                - Jazz musician Herbie Mann is 69.
                - Singer Bobby Vinton is 64.
                - Queen Margrethe II of Denmark is 59.
                - Basketball Hall-of-Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is 52.
                - Singer Gerry Rafferty is 52.
                - Actor David Graf is 49.
                - Actor Jay O. Sanders is 46.
                - Actress Ellen Barkin is 45.
                - Singer Jimmy Osmond is 36.
                - Rock singer David Pirner (Soul Asylum) is 35.
                - Actor-comedian Martin Lawrence is 34.
                - Actor Jon Cryer is 34.
                - Rock musician Dan Rieser (Marcy Playground) is 33.