U.S. stock indices closed mostly higher Thursday, led by an advance in energy stocks as the price of oil climbed, according to the Associated Press. The Dow was virtually unchanged at 18,285.74, the NASDAQ closed 19.05 points (0.38%) higher at 5,090.79, and the S&P 500 increased 4.97 points (0.23%) to 2,130.82. The Russell 2000 decreased 1.01 points (0.08%) to 1,256.72, and the Wilshire 5000 was up 44.36 points (0.20%) at 22,495.55.

On the NYSE, 3.2 billion shares changed hands, with 1.2 advancing issues for every declining issue. On the NASDAQ, 2.8 billion shares traded, with a nearly even split between advancers and decliners.

The price of the 10-year Treasury note increased 18/32, bringing its yield down to 2.187%. The price of the 30-year Treasury bond climbed 1 7/32, decreasing its yield to 2.987%.

ON THIS DATE: In 1802, President George Washington’s widow and the nation’s first First Lady, Martha Dandridge Custis Washington, died at her Mt. Vernon home. In 1841, Henry Kennedy received a patent for the first reclining chair. In 1843, a massive wagon train, made up of 1,000 settlers and 1,000 head of cattle, set off down the Oregon Trail from Independence, Missouri. It was known as the “Great Emigration.” In 1900, the Associated Press was incorporated as a non-profit news cooperative in New York. In 1906, the Wright brothers received a patent for their flying machine. In 1967, “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” premiered on PBS. In 1992, Johnny Carson hosted NBC’s “Tonight Show” for the last time. He had been host for 30 years. In 2002, in Birmingham, Alabama, a jury convicted former Ku Klux Klansman Bobby Frank Cherry of murder in the 1963 church bombing that killed four girls.

And now it’s time for FRIDAY FILES!

In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, incumbent Councilwoman Barbara Daly Danko defeated her opponent, Caroline Mitchell, 5,575 to 4,015, for a seat on the Allegheny County Council. However, Daly Danko died from cancer May 6. “It was a sympathy vote for Daly Danko,” said Nancy Mills, chair of the Allegheny County Democratic Committee, according to Reuters. Jared Barker, the county council’s chief clerk and director of legislative services, said the council is expected to appoint someone in the next month to fill Daly Danko’s seat until November, when voters will pick someone to fill the remainder of her term.

In Sarasota, Florida, a woman awoke one morning to find a strange man asleep on the couch in her living room. She asked what he was doing there and threatened to call police. The man apologized and left. According to the Associated Press, the woman then noticed her wallet, driver’s license, credit and debit cards and some checks were missing from a table in the living room. She called police, who were able to arrest the man a short time later.

In Camas, Washington, police were called to a lake when someone saw an SUV cruising around with a large tiger on its roof. When an officer arrived, he found the tiger was stuffed. The driver said he saw another car dump some trash and the tiger and thought it would be a fun joke to put it on the roof of his car. According to the Associated Press, the driver said he and the officer traded jokes and photos and the officer left.

In Levittown, Pennsylvania, a man and his wife were holding a Sweet 16 birthday party for his stepdaughter with about 40 guests. He said the party was ruined when apparent human waste fell from the sky. “Out of nowhere, from the sky, comes a bunch of fe.ces, lands on her,” the man told WTXF-TV. A canopy was the main target of the dump, but it landed on the birthday girl and some guests. The birthday girl’s sister used a smartphone app to discover there were three airplanes in the sky near the party at the time of the incident, according to UPI. The Federal Aviation Administration said the incident is being investigated.

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