TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 2011

Today is Tuesday, April 19, the 109th day of 2011. There are 256 days left in the year.

607 ― Comet 1P/607 H1 (Halley) approaches within 0.0898 astronomical units (AUs) of Earth

1529 ― Second Parliament of Spiers bans Lutheranism

1770 ― Captain James Cook first sees Australia

1919 ― Leslie Irvin of U.S. makes first parachute jump and free fall

1932 ― President Herbert Hoover suggests five-day workweek

1933 ― FDR announces U.S. will leave the gold standard

1951 ― General Douglas MacArthur ends his military career

1967 ― Beatles sign a contract to stay together for 10 years (they don't)

1982 ― Sally Ride announced as first woman astronaut

1984 ― Nemesis, death star of dinosaurs, first appears in print (Nature magazine)