1937Saddam Hussein, dictator of Iraq for decades is born in a village near the desert town of Tikrit. A US-led invasion topples Saddam from power in 2003. He is executed more than three years later.

1967Heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali refuses to be inducted into the U.S. army during the Vietnam War. Ali is stripped of his title and barred from boxing for three and a half years. The U.S. Supreme Court later overturns his conviction for refusing induction.

2001California businessman Dennis Tito becomes the world’s first space tourist. Tito lifts off on a Russian rocket with two cosmonauts on a journey to the International Space Station.

And 1950Jay Leno, comedian and a host of NBC's “The Tonight Show”, is born in New Rochelle, New York. Today in History, April 28th, Sandy Kozel, the Associated Press.