Today in History: Prince found dead
Today is Monday, April 21, the 111th day of 2025. There are 254 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On April 21, 2016, Prince, one of the most inventive and influential musicians of modern times, was found dead at his home in suburban Minneapolis from an accidental fentanyl overdose; he was 57.
Also on this date:
In 1836, an army of Texans, led by Sam Houston, defeated the Mexican Army, led by Antonio López de Santa Anna, in the Battle of San Jacinto, the final battle of the Texas Revolution.
In 1910, author Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, died in Redding, Connecticut, at age 74.
In 1918, German Air Force pilot Manfred von Richthofen, nicknamed 'The Red Baron,' was killed at age 25 after being shot during a World War I air battle over Vaux-sur-Somme, France.
In 1930, fire broke out inside the overcrowded Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus, killing 322 inmates in the deadliest prison disaster in U.S. history.
In 1975, with Communist forces closing in, South Vietnamese President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu resigned after nearly 10 years in office, fleeing the country five days later.
In 1980, Rosie Ruiz was the first woman to cross the finish line at the Boston Marathon, but was later exposed as having cheated by entering the racecourse less than 1 mile before the finish line. (Canadian Jacqueline Gareau was named the actual winner of the women's race.)
In 2015, an Egyptian criminal court sentenced ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi to 20 years in prison over the killing of protesters in 2012. (Morsi collapsed and died during trial on espionage charges in June 2019.)
Today's Birthdays: Actor-comedian-filmmaker Elaine May is 93. Author-activist Sister Helen Prejean is 86. Singer Iggy Pop is 78. Actor Patti LuPone is 76. Actor Tony Danza is 74. Actor Andie MacDowell is 67. Musician Robert Smith (The Cure) is 66. Actor Rob Riggle is 55. Actor James McAvoy is 46. Former NFL quarterback Tony Romo is 45. Actor Gugu Mbatha-Raw is 42.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Insider
2 hours ago
- Business Insider
Anthropic's Claude plays 'for peace over victory' in a game of Diplomacy against other AI
Earlier this year, some of the world's leading AI minds were chatting on X, as they do, about how to compare the capabilities of large language models. Andrej Karpathy, one of the cofounders of OpenAI, who left in 2024, floated the idea of games. AI researchers love games. "I quite like the idea of using games to evaluate LLMs against each other, instead of fixed evals," Karpathy wrote. Everyone knows the usual benchmarks are a bore. Noam Brown, a research scientist at OpenAI, suggested the 75-year-old geopolitical strategy game, Diplomacy. "I would love to see all the leading bots play a game of Diplomacy together." Karpathy responded, "Excellent fit I think, esp because a lot of the complexity of the game comes not from the rules / game simulator but from the player-player interactions." Elon Musk, OpenAI's famously erstwhile cofounder, probably busy with DOGE at the time, managed a "Yeah" in response. DeepMind's Demis Hassabis, perhaps riding high off his Nobel Prize, chimed in with enthusiasm: "Cool idea!" Then, an AI researcher named Alex Duffy, inspired by the conversation, took them up on the idea. Last week, he published a post titled, "We Made Top AI Models Compete in a Game of Diplomacy. Here's Who Won." Diplomacy is a strategic board game set on a map of Europe in 1901 — a time when tensions between the continent's most powerful countries were simmering in the lead-up to World War I. The goal is to control the majority of the map, and participants play by building alliances, making negotiations, and exchanging information. "This is a game for people who dream about power in its purest form and how they might effectively wield it," journalist David Klion once wrote in Foreign Policy. "Diplomacy is famous for ending friendships; as a group activity, it requires opt-in from players who are comfortable casually manipulating one another." Duffy, who leads AI training for a consultancy called Every, said he built a modified version of the game he calls "AI Diplomacy," in which he pitted 18 leading models — seven at a time per the rules — to compete to "dominate a map of Europe." He also open-sourced the results and has a Twitch livestream for anyone who wants to watch the models play in real time. Duffy found that the leading LLMs are not all the same. Some scheme, some make peace, and some bring theatrics. "Placed in an open-ended battle of wits, these models collaborated, bickered, threatened, and even outright lied to one another," Duffy wrote. OpenAI's o3, which OpenAI calls "our most powerful reasoning model that pushes the frontier across coding, math, science, visual perception, and more," was the clear winner. It navigated the game largely by deceiving its opponents. Google's Gemini 2.5 also won a few games largely by "making moves that put them in position to overwhelm opponents." Anthropic's Claude was less successful largely because it tried too hard to be diplomatic. It often opts for "peace over victory," Duffy said. But Duffy's takeaway from the exercise goes past basic comparison. It shows that benchmarks do need an upgrade — or some inspiration. Evaluating AI with a range of methods and mediums is the best way to prepare it for real-world use. "Most benchmarks are failing us. Models have progressed so rapidly that they now routinely ace more rigid and quantitative tests that were once considered gold-standard challenges," he wrote.
Axios
3 hours ago
- Axios
Things to do this weekend in Metro Detroit: June 6-8
⚾ The Tigers host the Chicago Cubs this weekend for a three-game homestand starting Friday at 7:10pm. Tickets are going fast, so you might want to check out the secondary market, where prices start at about $45. 🛍️ Shed 5 Flea, Eastern Market's monthly summer shopping series, starts Sunday and runs from 10am to 4pm. The market will encompass architectural salvage, handmade, home decor, fashion, vintage clothing and more. 🥯 Rotating DJs will be spinning chill house beats at The Congregation for Bagels & Beats on Sunday from 11am-2pm. Free! 🎸 Celebrate Prince's birthday at Soul on Ice on Livernois Avenue, where The Purple One's hits will be playing on Saturday from 7pm to midnight. Tickets start at $10. 🛹 Get extreme at the Geary Park Skate Jam in Ferndale on Saturday from 11am-3pm. The city's skate park will host competitions in four categories — skateboarding, inline skating, BMX and scootering. Vendors, music, games and food trucks will also be on hand. Stop by Geary Park for free, register for a contest for $10. 🎉 Bloc Party's tour to celebrate its debut album, "Silent Alarm," arrives at the Fox Theatre on Saturday at 7pm. Tickets start at $67. 🎻 Chandler Park Sounds of Summer, featuring members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, is Saturday at 2pm at the park's old tennis courts near the corner of Frankfort and Gray streets.
Black America Web
5 hours ago
- Black America Web
Happy Birthday: A Soft Spoken Prince Said Just Enough In This List Of His Most Memorable Moments
Happy Birthday to the legendary musician, Prince! Fans remember the icon for his unforgettable music, style and presence. Prince was a no-nonsense type of man, and he made sure those in close proximity to him understood that. He created some of the most memorable interviews and moments throughout his career, because he remained unapologetically himself no matter the environment. It is truly hard to forget the influence Prince had on the music industry. The record-breaking artist responsible for hits like Purple Rain and When Doves Cry passed on April 16, 2016. Before his passing, the musician created over 30 albums and won seven Grammy Awards throughout his 40-year career. Prince was supposed to be every child's father according to every Black mom across the world. He had a sex appeal that women simply could not resist. We strongly believe his demeanor and flair added to women's desires for the extremely gifted musician. Prince simply was the moment. Though Prince remained a mystery until he left us in the physical world, he was always prepared to share exactly how he felt when he was good and ready. In celebration of Prince's birthday, we collected some of his most memorable moments to reminisce on his unforgettable personality. Happy Birthday: A Soft Spoken Prince Said Just Enough In This List Of His Most Memorable Moments was originally published on 1. Guitar Solos, Interviews & More Source:Loudwire In this video series, Prince showcases a number of guitar solos. He also breaks up with someone's girlfriend on live television and dishes out facts on the music industry. He was never afraid to publicly say what he believed to be true and sincere. 2. Many Musical Accomplishments Source:cnn Prince accomplished so much within music from being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to his unbelievable performance at the Super Bowl. The man is truly an icon! 3. Little To No Press Source:Access Hollywood Prince didn't stop for the press too often, but Access Hollywood shared some of their favorite moments when he did consider speaking. He often refused to answer certain questions, but in this series of clips he discusses his relationship with his wife, why the media can be detrimental to the psyche and some of his song's inspiration. 4. Prince's First Motion Picture Source:movie clips classic trailers Purple Rain, the film, debuted in 1984 and it's timeless. Prince The movie description is that of a young man with a talent for music, played by Prince, has begun a career with much promise. He meets an aspiring singer, Apollonia (Apollonia Kotero), and finds that talent alone isn't all that he needs. A complicated tale of repeating his father's self destructive behavior, losing Apollonia to another singer (Morris Day), and his coming to grips with his own connection to other people ensues. Today's the perfect day to watch this classic. 5. Prince Was A Character Source:JazzMJFAN This fan created a video of clips from interviews and appearances where Prince is his most genuine self. Though he was soft spoken and said very little beyond the music, Prince was sure to say exactly what he wanted to in each moment.
