Today is the 96th day of 2023 and the 18th day of spring.

TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1830, Joseph Smith established the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Fayette, New York.

In 1896, the first modern Olympic Games opened in Athens, 1,500 years after the last recorded original games.

In 1917, the United States formally entered World War I by declaring war on Germany.

In 1947, the first Tony Awards were presented for achievement in live Broadway theater.

In 1992, the Bosnian War began in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Lincoln Steffens (1866-1936), journalist; Gil Kane (19262000), illustrator; Gerry Mulligan (1927-1996), jazz musician; Merle Haggard (19372016), singer-songwriter; Billy Dee Williams (1937- ), actor; Barry Levinson (1942- ), director/ producer; John Ratzenberger (1947- ), actor; Michael Rooker (1955- ), actor; Paul Rudd (1969- ), actor; Zach Braff (1975- ), actor.

TODAY’S FACT: American explorer Robert Peary and his team were long believed to be the first humans to reach the North Pole, on this day in 1909. Navigational errors documented in Peary’s journals and analyzed decades later placed the expedition roughly 30 miles outside the Pole.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 2004, the University of Connecticut became the first university to win the NCAA Division I men’s and women’s basketball championships in the same year. UConn repeated the feat in 2014.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “I am an artist no matter what I do. I live for creativity. I think everyone should. It is the antithesis of being destructive. “ -- Billy Dee Williams TODAY’S NUMBER: 19 -- medals won by the United States at the first modern Olympic Games, second only to host nation Greece (45).

TODAY’S MOON: Between full moon (April 5) and last quarter moon (April 13).