Today is Tuesday, April 21, the 111th day of 2026. There are 254 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On April 21, 2016, Prince, one of the most inventive and influential musicians of modern times, was found dead at his home in suburban Minneapolis from an accidental fentanyl overdose; he was 57.
Also on this date:
In 1836, an army of Texans, led by Sam Houston, defeated the Mexican Army, led by Antonio López de Santa Anna, in the Battle of San Jacinto, the final battle of the Texas Revolution.
In 1910, author Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, died in Redding, Connecticut, at age 74.
In 1918, German Air Force pilot Manfred von Richthofen, nicknamed “The Red Baron,” was killed at age 25 after being shot during a World War I air battle over Vaux-sur-Somme, France. He was credited with 80 air combat victories.
In 1930, fire broke out inside the overcrowded Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus, killing 322 inmates in the deadliest prison disaster in U.S. history.
In 1975, with Communist forces closing in on Saigon, South Vietnamese President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu resigned after nearly 10 years in office, fleeing the country five days later.
In 1980, Rosie Ruiz was the first woman to finish at the Boston Marathon, but was later exposed as having cheated by entering the racecourse less than 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) before the finish line. (Canadian Jacqueline Gareau was named the actual winner.)
In 2015, an Egyptian criminal court sentenced ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi to 20 years in prison over the killing of protesters in 2012. (Morsi collapsed and died during trial on espionage charges in June 2019.)
In 2021, an Indonesian navy submarine went missing north of the resort island of Bali and was found days later to have sunk and cracked open, killing its 53 crewmembers.
In 2025, Pope Francis, who charmed the world with his humble style and concern for the poor but alienated conservatives with critiques of capitalism and climate change, died at 88. Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Argentina, he became the Catholic Church’s first Latin American pontiff when he was elected in 2013.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor-comedian-filmmaker Elaine May is 94. Author-activist Sister Helen Prejean is 87. Singer Iggy Pop is 79. Actor Patti LuPone is 77. Actor Tony Danza is 75. Actor Andie MacDowell is 68. Musician Robert Smith (The Cure) is 67. Actor Rob Riggle is 56. Actor James McAvoy is 47. Former NFL quarterback Tony Romo is 46. Actor Gugu Mbatha-Raw is 43. Actor Thomas Doherty is 31.