Will and Kate Fatigue? 10 Things to Pay Attention to Instead of the Royal Wedding

On April 29, NASA will launch their space shuttle Endeavor for the last time ever. Rep. Gabrielle Gifford's astronaut husband Mark Kelly will lead the historic mission that marks the last flight for the shuttle that replaced the Challenger, as well as the penultimate flight of NASA's soon-to-retire shuttle program.


Kelly and ... five other astronauts aboard the Endeavor will depart on a two week mission to the International Space Station during which they will deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (a $2 billion cosmic ray and dark matter detector) and crucial spare parts to the ISS to keep it running for the next decade. Spokespeople for congresswoman Giffords say that she may attend her husband's symbolic launch.


Ironically enough, the flight was originally scheduled for a different date and then postponed due to Russian plans to send a cargo ship to the ISS as well. At least the new conflict that arose is publicity-oriented rather than logistical. And despite royal wedding mania, the launch still drew a fair amount of interest; NASA sold out of viewing tickets quickly.

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Fast Five, the fifth movie in the Fast and the Furious series, will hit theaters April 29, ten years after the first film premiered. Fast Five will be the first of the series to be released in IMAX.

Royal Wedding Day marks the start of something and the end of another. Google will shut down their video hosting service on April 29 and delete all existing videos. Public transportation will get messy surrounding the union of the year, so NewsFeed recommends that Britons and others take the You "Tube." Google bought YouTube in ... 2006, so the end of their namesake video service isn't actually much of a loss.

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Friday marks the 19th anniversary of the start of the Rodney King Uprising: a six-day series of riots in Los Angeles. The riots were sparked when an all-white jury acquitted four white Los Angeles Police Officers for beating black motorist Rodney King in a case that drew significant attention after the broadcast of a video ... depicting King's violent arrest. When the court ruling went public citizens reacted in anger and began protesting persistent institutionalized racism in the city. This picture depicts a burning mini mall: one of over 1,000 buildings that was destroyed during riots that killed 55 people. Listen to Sublime's appropriately named song "April 29" to remember the day's events.


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On April 29, Seinfeld will celebrate his 57th birthday. His actions indicate that he's not too excited about the newlyweds stealing the spotlight: he told a British TV show that Kate and Will "weren't special people" and said the event was a "circus act," describing the public attention surrounding it as "absurd." Watch a few ... "Seinfeld" reruns to humor him--and get a few laughs yourself.

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Okay, so maybe you've never celebrated Arbor Day before. But for most people that's the case for Royal Wedding Day as well and that hasn't seemed to stop anyone. This year Arbor Day--a worldwide celebration that encourages people to plant and care for trees--will occur on April 29.

White Sox Pitcher Jake Peavy has been out since last July as a result of an injury to his lat muscle that required surgery and rehab. It's been a long road back to recovery for Peavy but he's rumored to make his Major League Baseball return in a home game against the Baltimore Orioles on April 29.

On April 29 Matsumoto will meet with Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates as well as representatives from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The leaders from both countries will discuss bilateral cooperation at the meeting that comes just weeks after Clinton's visit to Japan.

On April 29, the second and third rounds of this year's NFL draft will take place. It occurs amid disputes between the league and the players' union which may create a unique atmosphere at this year's event.

If you missed Autism Awareness Day on April 2, don't fret. You still have a few more days left to observe Autism Awareness Month. Autism is the fastest growing developmental disability in the world and affects 1 in every 110 children, making it more common than childhood cancer, juvenile diabetes and pediatric AIDS combined. ... Autism Speaks, the biggest autism science and advocacy organization in the U.S., estimates that 1.5 million people in the country live with autism, highlighting the need for increased research and awareness.

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