April 11 Birthday
On April 11, 1970, Apollo 13 launched from Kennedy Space Center. The mission was the third intended to land on the Moon. Fifty-five hours and fifty-four minutes into the flight, oxygen tank number two exploded. The command module's oxygen supply was vented into space. The lunar module became a lifeboat. The crew — Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert — orbited the Moon and used its gravity to slingshot back to Earth. They had to jury-rig a carbon dioxide filter using a plastic bag, cardboard, and duct tape — instructions were radioed from Houston. They splashed down on April 17, cold, dehydrated, but alive. The mission was a failure that became a triumph. The explosion was caused by a damaged Teflon-coated wire inside the oxygen tank, which had been dropped during installation years earlier. Napoleon abdicated on April 11, 1814, at the Palace of Fontainebleau. He had been defeated by the Sixth Coalition and was surrounded. His marshals refused to continue fighting. He attempted to poison himself but the poison was old and only made him sick. He abdicated unconditionally and was exiled to the Mediterranean island of Elba, which he was given sovereignty over. He remained there for 300 days before escaping and returning to France for the Hundred Days. The British, having learned their lesson, exiled him to Saint Helena, 1,200 miles from the nearest land, where he died in 1821. President Truman relieved General Douglas MacArthur of his commands on April 11, 1951, during the Korean War. MacArthur had publicly advocated expanding the war into China and using nuclear weapons, directly contradicting Truman's policy of limited war. Truman's decision was controversial — MacArthur was a national hero, and Truman's approval ratings dropped to 24%, the lowest of any president. But Truman was right. MacArthur's strategy would have triggered World War III. Truman told Congress: "I believe that we must try to limit the war to Korea for these vital reasons: to make sure that the precious lives of our fighting men are not wasted; to see that the security of our country and the free world is not needlessly jeopardized." Thomas Harris, born this day in 1940, created Hannibal Lecter. A former crime reporter, he spent years researching his novels, attending FBI training, and interviewing serial killers. He has published only six novels in forty years. Silence of the Lambs won the Oscar for Best Picture — one of only three horror films ever nominated. People born on April 11 fall under the zodiac sign of Aries. The birthstone is Diamond and the birth flower is Daisy. Historical events on April 11 include 1814: Napoleon Bonaparte abdicates and is exiled to Elba, 1951: President Truman relieves General MacArthur of his commands, 1970: Apollo 13 launches from Kennedy Space Center. Famous people born on April 11 include Ethel Kennedy (1928), Joel Grey (1932), Thomas Harris (1940).