THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 2008

Today is Thursday, April 24, the 115th day of 2008. There are 251 days left in the year.

1792 _ ``La Marseillaise" composed by Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle

1871 _ Giuseppe Verdi's opera ``Aida" is produced (Cairo)

1916 _ Easter rebellion of Irish against British occupation begins

1950 _ President Harry Truman denies there are communists in U.S. government

1953 _ Winston Churchill knighted by Queen Elizabeth II

1955 _ Gaullists lose elections in France

1961 _ JFK accepts ``sole responsibility" following Bay of Pigs

1969 _ General Lin Piao succeeds Mao, is seriously wounded

1980 _ U.S. military operation to save 52 hostages in Iran, fails, eight die

1981 _ U.S. ends grain embargo against USSR