Today is Saturday, April 4, the 95th day of 2020. There are 271 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On April 4, 1968, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., 39, was shot and killed while standing on a balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee; his slaying was followed by a wave of rioting (Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Chicago were among cities particularly hard hit.) Suspected gunman James Earl Ray later pleaded guilty to assassinating King, then spent the rest of his life claiming he’d been the victim of a setup.

On this date:

In 1841, President William Henry Harrison succumbed to pneumonia one month after his inaugural, becoming the first U.S. chief executive to die in office.

In 1917, the U.S. Senate voted 82-6 in favor of declaring war against Germany (the House followed suit two days later by a vote of 373-50).

In 1975, Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

In 1983, the space shuttle Challenger roared into orbit on its maiden voyage. (It was destroyed in the disaster of January 1986.)

Today’s Birthdays: Recording executive Clive Davis is 88. Author Kitty Kelley is 78. Actor Craig T. Nelson is 76. Actor Walter Charles is 75. Actress Christine Lahti is 70. Country singer Steve Gatlin (The Gatlin Brothers) is 69. Actress Mary-Margaret Humes is 66. Writer-producer David E. Kelley is 64. Actress Constance Shulman is 62. Actor Phil Morris is 61. Actress Lorraine Toussaint is 60. Actor Hugo Weaving is 60. Rock musician Craig Adams (The Cult) is 58. Talk show host/comic Graham Norton is 57. Actor David Cross is 56. Actor Robert Downey Jr. is 55. Actress Nancy McKeon is 54. Actor Barry Pepper is 50.

Thought for Today: “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” — Martin Luther King Junior (1929-1968).