Today is Thursday, April 28, the 118th day of 2022. There are 247 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On April 28, 1994, former CIA official Aldrich Ames, who had passed U.S. secrets to the Soviet Union and then Russia, pleaded guilty to espionage and tax evasion, and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

On this date:

In 1788, Maryland became the seventh state to ratify the Constitution of the United States.

In 1945, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci, were executed by Italian partisans as they attempted to flee the country.

In 1947, a six-man expedition set out from Peru aboard a balsa wood raft named the Kon-Tiki on a 101-day journey across the Pacific Ocean to the Polynesian Islands.

In 1952, war with Japan officially ended as a treaty signed in San Francisco the year before took effect. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower resigned as Supreme Allied commander in Europe; he was succeeded by Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway.

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered U.S. Marines to the Dominican Republic to protect American citizens and interests in the face of a civil war.

In 1967, heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali was stripped of his title after he refused to be inducted into the armed forces.

In 1980, President Jimmy Carter accepted the resignation of Secretary of State Cyrus R. Vance, who had opposed the failed rescue mission aimed at freeing American hostages in Iran. (Vance was succeeded by Edmund Muskie.)

In 1986, the Soviet Union informed the world of the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl.

In 1990, the musical “A Chorus Line” closed after 6,137 performances on Broadway.

Today’s Birthdays: Former Secretary of State James A. Baker III is 92. Actor-singer Ann-Margret is 81. Former “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno is 72. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan is 62. Actor Bridget Moynahan is 51. Actor Chris Young is 51. Actor Penelope Cruz is 48. TV personalities Drew and Jonathan Scott are 44. Actor Jessica Alba is 41.