Today is Saturday, April 3, the 94th day of 2004. There are 272 days left in the year. A reminder: Daylight-Saving Time begins Sunday at 2 a.m. local times. Clocks go forward an hour.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On April 3, 1860, the legendary Pony Express began service between St. Joseph, Mo., and Sacramento, Calif.

On this date:

In 1865, Union forces occupied the Confederate capital of Richmond, Va.

In 1882, outlaw Jesse James was shot to death in St. Joseph, Mo., by Robert Ford, a member of James’ gang.

In 1936, Bruno Hauptmann was electrocuted in Trenton, N.J., for the kidnap-murder of the Lindbergh child.

In 1946, Lt. Gen. Masaharu Homma, the Japanese commander responsible for the Bataan Death March, was executed outside Manila.

In 1948, President Truman signed the Marshall Plan, which allocated more than $5 billion in aid for 16 European countries.

In 1968, the day before he was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “mountaintop” speech to a rally of striking sanitation workers.

In 1968, North Vietnam agreed to meet with U.S. representatives to set up preliminary peace talks.

In 1974, deadly tornadoes struck wide parts of the South and Midwest before jumping across the border into Canada; more than 300 fatalities resulted.

In 1979, Jane M. Byrne was elected mayor of Chicago, defeating Republican Wallace D. Johnson.

In 1996, Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski was arrested.

Ten years ago: In his Easter Sunday address, Pope John Paul II expressed hope that the joy of Christianity would overwhelm the din of violence and hate. A memorial service was held at the site of the Goshen United Methodist Church in Alabama for the 20 people who were killed when a tornado leveled the building a week earlier.

Five years ago: NATO missiles struck downtown Belgrade for the first time, destroying the headquarters of security forces accused of waging a campaign against Kosovo Albanians.

One year ago: Moving with a sense of wartime urgency, the House and Senate separately agreed to give President Bush nearly $80 billion to carry out the battle against Iraq and meet the threat of terrorism. Cuban security forces arrested the hijackers of a passenger ferry, rescuing nearly 50 hostages.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Marlon Brando is 80. Actress-singer Doris Day is 80. Actor Kevin Hagen is 76. Actress Miyoshi Umeki is 75. Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl is 74. Jazz musician Jimmy McGriff is 68. Actor William Gaunt is 67. Singer Jan Berry (Jan and Dean) is 63. Actress Marsha Mason is 62. Singer Wayne Newton is 62. Singer Billy Joe Royal is 62. Singer Tony Orlando is 60. Comedy writer Pat Proft is 57. Singer Richard Thompson is 55. Country musician Curtis Stone (Highway 101) is 54. Rock musician Mick Mars (Motley Crue) is 48. Actor Alec Baldwin is 46. Actor David Hyde Pierce is 45. Comedian-actor Eddie Murphy is 43. Rock singer-musician Mike Ness (Social Distortion) is 42. Rock singer Sebastian Bach is 36. Actress Jennie Garth is 32. Actress Amanda Bynes is 18.

Thought for Today: “I didn’t invent the world I write about – it’s all true.” – Graham Greene, British author (1904-1991).