By The Associated Press

Today in History

Today is Tuesday, April 21, the 112th day of 2020. There are 254 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On April 21, 1976, clinical trials of the swine flu vaccine began in Washington, D.C.

On this date:

In 1509, England’s King Henry VII died; he was succeeded by his 17-year-old son, Henry VIII.

In 1789, John Adams was sworn in as the first vice president of the United States.

In 1816, Charlotte Bronte, author of “Jane Eyre,” was born in Thornton, England.

In 1836, an army of Texans led by Sam Houston defeated the Mexicans at San Jacinto, assuring Texas independence.

In 1910, author Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, died in Redding, Connecticut, at age 74.

In 1918, Manfred von Richthofen, 25, the German ace known as the “Red Baron” who was believed to have downed 80 enemy aircraft during World War I, was himself shot down and killed while in action over France.

In 1926, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II was born in Mayfair, London; she was the first child of The Duke and Duchess of York, who later became King George VI and the Queen Mother.

In 1930, fire broke out inside the overcrowded Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus, killing 332 inmates. In 1989, the baseball fantasy “Field of Dreams,” starring Kevin Costner, was released by Universal Pictures.

In 2009, the sole survivor of a pirate attack on an American cargo ship off the Somali coast, on which Captain Richard Phillips was held for ransom, was charged as an adult with piracy in federal court in New York. (A prosecutor said Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse (AHB’-dih-wah-lee AHB’-dih-kah-dir moo-SAY’) had given wildly varying ages for himself before finally admitting he was 18. Muse later pleaded guilty to hijacking, kidnapping and hostage-taking and was sentenced to more than 33 years in prison.)

In 2016, Prince, one of the most inventive and influential musicians of modern times, was found dead at his home in suburban Minneapolis; he was 57.

Ten years ago: Pope Benedict XVI promised “church action” to confront the clerical abuse scandal. Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was suspended for six games for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy. (Commissioner Roger Goodell handed down the punishment after prosecutors decided not to bring charges in a case involving a 20-year-old college student who’d accused Roethlisberger of sexually assaulting her.) Juan Antonio Samaranch, 89, who’d served as president of the International Olympic Committee for 21 years, died in Barcelona, Spain.