Today is Tuesday, April 13, the 103rd day of 2010. There are 262 days left in the year.

On this date:

In 1742, Handel's "Messiah" was first performed publicly, in Dublin, Ireland.

In 1743, the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, was born in Shadwell, Va.

In 1860, the Pony Express completed its inaugural run from St. Joseph, Mo., to Sacramento, Calif., in 10 days.

In 1870, the Metropolitan Museum of Art was incorporated in New York. The original museum opened in 1872.

In 1958, American Van Cliburn, 23, won the first International Tchaikovsky Competition for piano in Moscow; Russian Valery Klimov won the violin competition.

In 1960, the US Navy's Transit 1B navigational satellite was successfully launched into orbit.

In 1970, Apollo 13, four-fifths of the way to the moon, was crippled when a tank containing liquid oxygen burst. The astronauts managed to return safely.

In 1986, Pope John Paul II visited the Great Synagogue of Rome in the first recorded papal visit to a Jewish house of worship.

Thought for Today:

"Go on failing. Go on. Only next time, try to fail better." — Samuel Beckett, Irish playwright and author born this date in 1906, died in 1989.