GOOD MORNING – TODAY IS SATURDAY, April 12, the 102nd day of 2014 with 262 to follow. Sunrise in the Boston area is @ 6:08 and sunset is @ 7:21. The moon is waxing. The morning stars are stars are Mercury, Neptune, Saturn & Venus. The evening stars are Mars & Jupiter.

ON THIS DAY IN: 1606 – Great Britain adopted the Union Jack as its flag.

1861 – The American Civil War began as Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter inSouth Carolina.

1877 – The catcher’s mask was first used in a baseball game.

1934 – The highest velocity natural wind ever recorded occurred at Mount Washington, New Hampshire — 231 mph.

1955 – The polio vaccine of Dr. Jonas Salk was termed “safe, effective and potent.”

1961 – Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, aboard Vostok 1, became the first man to fly in space, orbiting the earth once and landing safely.

1966 – Emmett Ashford became the first African-American major league umpire.

1981 – The space shuttle Columbia was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, becoming the first reusable manned spacecraft to travel into space.

1992 – Euro Disneyland opened in Marne-La-Vallee, France.