Today in Hystery

(An occasional feature)

By BRUCE LOWITT

April 17

In 1961, some 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in an attempt to topple Fidel Castro, whose forces crushed the incursion by the third day. An estimated 2,000 pigs also died in the battle, leading to the largest barbecue in Cuban history.

In 1521, Martin Luther went before the Diet of Worms (vohrms) to face charges stemming from his religious writings. (Luther was later declared an outlaw by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. He changed his name to Luther the Kid and began robbing banks throughout Germany.)

In 1964, Ford Motor Co. unveiled the Mustang at the New York World’s Fair. Seventeen people were injured when the horse, surprised by the sudden removal of the blanket covering him, bolted and ran through the exhibit.

In 1970, Apollo 13 astronauts James A. Lovell, Fred W. Haise and Jack Swigert splashed down safely in the Pacific, four days after a ruptured oxygen tank crippled their spacecraft while en route to the moon. The spacecraft splashed down 25 minutes after the astronauts, narrowly missing them.

In 1973, Federal Express (later FedEx) began operations as 14 planes carrying 186 packages took off from Memphis International Airport, bound for 25 U.S. cities. Ninety-three of the packages are still unaccounted for.

In 1986, at London’s Heathrow Airport, a bomb was discovered in the bag of Anne-Marie Murphy, a pregnant Irishwoman about to board an El Al jetliner to Israel; she’d been tricked into carrying the bomb by her Jordanian fiance, Nezar Hindawi. She called off the wedding and he was unable to get a refund of the 7,500 dinars he had paid to rent a hall in Amman and had to use a public defender, who managed to get him only a 45-year prison sentence.

One year ago: A container ship the length of more than three football fields was pried from the muddy bottom of the Chesapeake Bay more than a month after it ran aground. The three football fields bound for the University of Maryland were damaged beyond repair.

(With thanks to The Associated Press)