1861, After months of escalating tension, Major Robert Anderson refused to evacuate Fort Sumter at Charleston, South Carolina, which started the first major engagement of the American Civil War.
1963, Police used dogs and cattle prods on peaceful civil rights demonstrators in Birmingham, Alabama.
1964, Arnold Palmer won his fourth Masters title and became the first golfer to earn career earnings of $506,496.00.
1964, Philadelphia singer Chubby Checker married former Miss World Catherina Lodders.
1966, Emmett Ashford became the first African-American major league umpire.
1981, The space shuttle Columbia blasted off from Cape Canaveral on its first test flight.
1983, Chicagoans went to the polls to elect Harold Washington the city’s first black mayor.
1984, Astronauts aboard the ill-fated Challenger made the first satellite repair in orbit by returning a healthy Solar Max satellite to space. The satellite had been circling the Earth for three years with all circuits dead before repairs were made.
1985, Senator Jake Garn of Utah became the first senator to fly into space as the shuttle Discovery lifted off.
1985, Federal inspectors declared that four animals of the Ringling Brothers And Barnum & Bailey Circus were not unicorns as the circus said, but goats with horns which had been surgically implanted.
1989, Radical activist Abbie Hoffman was found dead at his home in New Hope, Pennsylvania, at age 52.
1989, Former middleweight boxing champion Sugar Ray Robinson died in Culver City, California, at age 67.
1989, In its first meeting, East Germany’s first democratically elected parliament acknowledged responsibility for the Nazi Holocaust, and asked the forgiveness of Jews and others who had suffered.
1992, Euro Disneyland opened in France.
1998, Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams appealed to Irish Republican Army supporters to accept Northern Ireland’s compromise peace accord.
1999, A jury in Little Rock, Arkansas, acquitted Susan McDougal of obstructing Independent CounselKenneth Starr‘s Whitewater inquiry and deadlocked on two other charges, causing a mistrial.
1999, US District Judge Susan Webber Wright cited President Clinton for contempt of court, concluding that the president had lied about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky in a deposition in the Paula Jonescase.
2000, Attorney General Janet Reno met in Miami with the U.S. relatives of Elian Gonzalez, after which she ordered them to bring the six-year-old boy to an airport the next day so he could be taken to a reunion with his father in Washington. Elian was seized by federal agents 10 days after Reno’s order to turn him over.
2001, After urging from U.S. President George W. Bush, China agreed to release 24 crew members of a U.S. spy plane held by Beijing for 11 days.

CBS

• THE BIG BANG THEORY (repeat)
• RULES OF ENGAGEMENT – Jeff realizes Audrey uses sex to get what she wants; Timmy and Russell make a commercial for their soup spoon.
• THE BIG BANG THEORY (repeat)
• 2 BROKE GIRLS (repeat)
• PERSON OF INTEREST (repeat)

NBC

• COMMUNITY – Britta asks her friends to help keep her away from her visiting ex.
• 30 ROCK – Liz encourages Jack to open up to his ailing mother; Jenna dates a musician.
• THE OFFICE – Robert forces the office to throw a welcome party for Nellie.
• UP ALL NIGHT – (season finale) When Reagan loses her engagement ring, Chris uses the opportunity to propose again.
• AWAKE – Britten’s interest in a tip linked to a case he was investigating before the accident worries Capt. Harper.

FOX

• AMERICAN IDOL – The finalists face elimination; Jennifer Hudson, Ne-Yo and Rock Ross are slated to perform.
• TOUCH – Martin becomes involved in a young woman’s quest for vengeance.

ABC

• MISSING – Becca tries to uncover clues about Michael’s location; Michael plans his escape.
• GREY’S ANATOMY – Cristina makes Owen tell her about the intimate details of his affair; Mark takes his authority very seriously when he steps in as chief for the day.
• SCANDAL – Olivia must protect a new client who is under investigation; Quinn runs into trouble.

CW

• THE VAMPIRE DIARIES (repeat)
• THE SECRET CIRCLE (repeat)

MTV

• PUNK’D – Hayden Panettierre; Dianna Agron; Zac Efron; Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi.
• THE PAULY D PROJECT – Pauly deflects sloppy woman in Las Vegas.

• David Letterman (Late night TV host) (65)
• Ed O’Neill (actor, Married…With Children‘s Al Bundy) (66)
• David Cassidy (actor-singer, The Partridge Family, Celebrity Apprentice) (62)
• Shannen Doherty (actress, Beverly Hills 90210, Charmed) (41)
• Andy Garcia (actor, The Untouchables, The Godfather: Part III, Things To Do In Denver When You’re Dead) (56)
• Tom Clancy (author, The Hunt For Red October, Patriot Games, Clear And Present Danger) (65)
• Scott Turow (author, Presumed Innocent) (63)
• Claire Danes (actress, Romeo + Juliet, Little Women, The Hours, Evening, Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines) (33)
• Vince Gill (country singer) (55)
• Herbie Hancock (jazz musician, wrote the pop instrumental “Rockit”) (72)
• John Kay (lead singer, Steppenwolf) (68)
• Tom Clancy (writer, ‘The Hunt for Red October,’ ‘Patriot Games,’ ‘Clear and Present Danger’) (65)
• Marley Shelton (actress, The Sandlot, Pleasantville, Sugar & Spice, Uptown Girls, Sin City, Grindhouse, W.) (38)
• Saoirse Ronan (actress, Atonement, The Lovely Bones, Hanna, The Way Back) (18)
• Brooklyn Decker (model-actress, Just Go With It) (25)

CHRIS NOTH TIES THE KNOT: Chris Noth is a married man. The Sex and the City star exchanged vows with his longtime girlfriend Tara Wilson in Hawaii last Friday (April 6th). A source told the National Enquirer, “Chris and Tara married in the most romantic setting possible. Tara was beaming and Chris had a smile on his face the entire time.” The two have been dating for ten years and have a four-year-old son named Orion together — who served as their ring bearer.

FORMER MISS USA STRIKES PLEA DEAL: Former Miss USA Rima Fakih struck a plea deal in her DUI case on Wednesday just hours before she was due to stand trial. TMZ.com reported that Fakih pled no contest to misdemeanor driving while visibly impaired, stemming from her December arrest. Prosecutors then dropped the more serious charge of operating while intoxicated. Fakih will be sentenced in May and faces up to 93 days in jail.

PETRA NEMCOVA SPLITS FROM FIANCE: Petra Nemcova is back on the market. A rep for the supermodel confirmed that she and her fiance Kamie Belman have called off their engagement. The rep said, “Petra Nemcova and Jamie Belman confirm their separation. They remain close friends and thank their families for their continued support during this time. There will be no further comment on the matter.” The couple began dating in 2010 and got engaged eight months later.

KIM KARDASHIAN NOT PRESSING CHARGES: Kim Kardashian has decided not to file a police report against the women who threw a flour bomb at her last month on the red carpet. Although Kim originally wanted to pursue legal action, a source told RadarOnline.com, “What Kim could have done is filed a formal complaint or a police report and then that would have been turned over to prosecutors to determine if there was enough evidence to charge Cho. Kim is already going through exhausting and taxing divorce proceedings, she doesn’t want to get involved in yet another legal drama.”

MICHAEL WEATHERLY IS A DAD AGAIN: Michael Weatherly and his wife Bojana Jankovic welcomed a daughter on Tuesday, April 10. The NCIS actor announced on Twitter, “Gentlefolk of Twitter and elsewhere, Bojana and I are proud to announce the arrival yesterday of Olivia Weatherly! #SpecialAgentWeatherly.” Weatherly has a 16-year-old son named August from a previous marriage.