Today is Friday, April 16, the 106th day of 2010. There are 259 days left in the year.

On this date:

In 1789, President-elect George Washington left Mount Vernon, Va., for his inauguration in New York.

In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia.

In 1917, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin returned to Russia after years of exile.

In 1960, shortly before midnight, rock-and-roll performer Eddie Cochran, 21, was fatally injured in a taxi crash in Chippenham, Wiltshire, England; he died the next day.

In 1972, Apollo 16 blasted off on a voyage to the moon.

Thought for Today:

"Do not wait; the time will never be 'just right.' Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along. " — George Herbert, English author, 1593-1633.