On this date in history:

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Today is Friday, Sept. 8, the 251st day of 2006 with 114 to follow.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Saturn and Venus. The evening stars are Neptune, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Pluto.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Virgo. They include England's King Richard I, "Richard the Lion Hearted," in 1157; composer Antonin Dvorak in 1841; country music pioneer Jimmie Rodgers, "The Singing Brakeman," in 1897; U.S. Sen. Claude Pepper, D-Fla., in 1900; comedian Sid Caesar in 1922 (age 84); actor Peter Sellers in 1925; country music singer Patsy Cline in 1932; former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga., in 1938 (age 68); and actors Henry Thomas ("E.T. -- The Extra-Terrestrial") in 1971 (age 35) and Jonathan Taylor Thomas ("Home Improvement") in 1981 (age 25).


On this date in history:

In 1565, the first permanent European settlement in what is now the continental United States was founded on the site of the present St. Augustine, Fla.

In 1900, more than 6,000 people were killed when a hurricane and tidal wave struck Galveston, Texas.

In 1935, an assassin shot autocratic U.S. Sen. Huey P. Long, D-La., at the Capitol building in Baton Rouge, La. Long died two days later.

Also in 1935, 19-year-old Frank Sinatra launched his singing career when he appeared with a group called The Hoboken Four on the Major Bowes Amateur Hour radio talent show.

In 1966, "Star Trek" premiered on NBC-TV.

In 1974, U.S. President Gerald Ford granted former U.S. President Richard Nixon full pardon for any and all offenses he may have committed during his years in office.

In 1993, the Senate approved U.S. President Bill Clinton's national-service bill, which would give participants grants for taking part in community service work.

In 1994, a U.S. Airways jetliner crashed near Pittsburgh, killing 132 people. The accident became the subject of the longest aircraft investigation in the history of the National Transportation Safety Board.

In 1998, the U.S. Justice Department opened a preliminary inquiry into U.S. President Bill Clinton's participation in Democratic fundraising for the 1996 re-election campaign.

In 2004, CBS reported that newly discovered documents bolstered claims that U.S. President George Bush failed to meet his responsibilities with the Texas National Guard in the 1970s. But, serious doubts soon arose as to validity of the documents.

In 2005, U.S. President George Bush paid a visit to the hurricane-stricken Gulf Coast and signed a $51.8 billion bill for additional Katrina relief funds.

Also in 2005, the probe into Iraq's oil-for-food program found that U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's son Kojo used his father's position to profit from the project. Investigators say there was no evidence Annan knew of his son's involvement, however.

And, more than 1,000 mourners attended the Washington funeral of the late U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who died of thyroid cancer just shy of his 81st birthday. He was buried in a private ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.


A thought for the day: in "Middlemarch," English novelist Mary Anne Evans (George Eliot) wrote, "...men know best about everything, except what women know better."

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Today is Saturday, Sept. 9, the 252nd day of 2006 with 113 to follow.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Mercury, Mars and Saturn. The evening stars are Neptune, Jupiter, Uranus, Venus and Pluto.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Virgo. They include( Mike – ts4ms - Location: Janesville, WI ) the Duc de Richelieu, French statesman and Roman Catholic cardinal, in 1585; Capt. William Bligh of the HMS Bounty, in 1754; Russian author Leo Tolstoy in 1828; Alf Landon, the Kansas Republican who lost the 1936 presidential election to Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt, in 1887; Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Harland Sanders in 1890; composer Arthur Freed in 1894; oddsmaker Jimmy "the Greek" Snyder in 1919; actor Cliff Robertson in 1925 (age 81); rhythm & blues singer Otis Redding in 1941; and actors Tom Wopat in 1951 (age 55), Angela Cartwright in 1952 (age 54), Hugh Grant in 1960 (age 46), and Adam Sandler in 1966 (age 40).



On this date in history:

In 1776, the second Continental Congress officially changed the new American nation's name from "United Colonies" to "United States."

In 1850, California became the 31st state.

In 1956, rock 'n' roll singer Elvis Presley appeared on national television for the first time, on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

In 1971, more than 1,000 convicts took over the state prison at Attica, N.Y. and held 35 convicts hostage. Four days later, 28 convicts and nine hostages were killed as state police reclaimed the prison.

In 1976, Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong died at age 82.

In 1990, U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev met in a quickly arranged summit in Helsinki, Finland, to present a united front against Iraq.

Also in 1990, Liberian President Samuel Doe was captured and killed by Prince Johnson's rebels after visiting the headquarters of West African peacekeeping forces in Monrovia.

In 1991, Iraq grounded foreign helicopters carrying U.N. weapons-plant inspectors.

In 1993, in a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, the PLO recognized the right of the state of Israel to exist in peace and security. In turn, Rabin declared the PLO the representative of the Palestinian people.

In 1994, the United States and Cuba reached an agreement aimed at discouraging Cubans from trying to flee to the U.S. by rafts or other vessels.

In 1995 sports, Steffi Graf of Germany defeated Monica Seles to win her fourth U.S. Open women's singles title in Seles' first appearance since a fan stabbed her in 1993.

In 1998, independent counsel Kenneth Starr sent to the U.S. House his report on his investigation into U.S. President Bill Clinton. He said it contained "substantial and credible information ... that may constitute grounds" for impeachment.

In 1999, more than 90 people died in the bombing of a Moscow apartment building. The blast was blamed on terrorists from the breakaway republic of Chechnya.

In 2001 sports, Venus Williams defeated her sister Serena for the U.S. Open tennis championship, 6-2, 6-4, the first time since 1884 that sisters had met in a Grand Slam finale.

In 2003, The Roman Catholic archdiocese of Boston and lawyers for about 550 victims of sexual abuse by priests reached an agreement that could run as high as $85 million.

In 2004, U.S. President George Bush urged the United Nations and the international community to put a stop to the violence in Sudan where reported genocide in the Darfur region led to the deaths of an estimated 50,000 people over the previous 18 months.

In 2005, Michael Brown, the embattled director of FEMA, roundly criticized for its slow response to Hurricane Katrina, was replaced as hurricane relief coordinator with Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen.


A thought for the day: former Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca said, "A country's competitiveness starts not on the factory floor or in the engineering lab. It starts in the classroom."

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Today is Sunday, Sept. 10, the 253rd day of 2006 with 112 to follow.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Saturn and Venus. The evening stars are Neptune, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Pluto.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Virgo. They include English scientist and clergyman John Needham in 1713; physicist Arthur Holly Compton in 1892; English critic Cyril Connolly in 1903; film director Robert Wise in 1914; golfer Arnold Palmer in 1929 (age 77); television journalist Charles Kuralt and baseball star Roger Maris, both in 1934; singer Jose Feliciano in 1945 (age 61); musician Joe Perry in 1950 (age 56), and actors Amy Irving in 1953 (age 53), Colin Firth in 1960 (age 46), and Clark Johnson ("Homicide: Life on the Street") in 1954 (age 52).


On this date in history:

In 1813, U.S. naval units under the command of Capt. Oliver Perry defeated a British squadron in the Battle of Lake Erie.

In 1823, Simon Bolivar, who led the wars for independence from Spain in Venezuela, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, was named president of Peru, with dictatorial powers.

In 1846, Elias Howe received a patent for the sewing machine.

In 1963, blacks entered the white public schools of Birmingham, Tuskegee and Mobile, Ala., after U.S. President John Kennedy federalized the state's National Guard.

In 1996, the United Nations approved the new nuclear test ban treaty, 158-3.

Also in 1996, Hurricane Hortense hit Puerto Rico and Hispaniola, killing 20 people.

In 1998, Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams had face-to-face talks with David Trimble, leader of Northern Ireland's Protestant Unionists, for the first time.

In 2000, the U.S. government agreed to drop virtually all charges against Chinese-American scientist Wen Ho Lee, accused of stealing nuclear secrets from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.

In 2002, Switzerland and Timor Leste joined the United Nations, expanding the membership roll to 191.

In 2003, the former treasurer of bankrupt Enron was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to criminal wire fraud and ordered to give up close to $1 million in profits from his illegal transaction.

In 2004, top U.S. forensic document specialists said papers described by CBS News as proving U.S. President George Bush shirked military duty may have been faked.

In 2005, a Newsweek poll found that 38 percent of those asked said they approve of the job U.S. President George Bush is doing, a record low for Bush in the survey. Newsweek said it was further evidence the president's popularity was being hurt by government response to Hurricane Katrina.

Also in 2005, the Pentagon drafted a new policy under which the military would request presidential approval for pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons.

And, in 2005, Hurricane Katrina's disruption has pushed gas prices in European countries to staggering levels. British drivers were reported paying the equivalent of $7 a gallon.


A thought for the day: LaRochefoucauld wrote, "Absence diminishes small passions and increases great ones, as wind blows out candles and fans fire."

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Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Today is Wednesday, Sept. 13, the 256th day of 2006 with 109 to follow.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Mercury, Venus and Saturn. The evening stars are Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Mars and Pluto.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Virgo. They include U.S. Army bacteriologist Walter Reed in 1851; Gen. John "Black Jack" Pershing, hero of World War I, in 1860; author Sherwood Anderson in 1876; English author J.B. Priestly in 1894; actress Claudette Colbert in 1903; Bill Monroe, the "father of bluegrass" music, in 1911; Author Roald Dahl in 1916; singer Mel Torme in 1925; TV producer Fred Silverman in 1937 (age 69); "Miss Manners" Judith Martin in 1938 (age 68); actor Richard Kiel in 1939 (age 67); singer/songwriter Peter Cetera in 1944 (age 62); actress Jacqueline Bisset in 1944 (age 62); singer/actress Nell Carter in 1948; and actors Jean Smart in 1951 (age 55) and Ben Savage in 1980 (age 26), and Olympic track gold medalist Michael Johnson in 1967 (39).


On this date in history:

In 1759, in the French and Indian War, the British defeated the French near the city of Quebec.

In 1788, Congress authorized the first U.S. national election, to be held "the first Wednesday in January next (1789)."

In 1814, during the British attack on Fort McHenry, Md., Francis Scott Key wrote the lyrics of "The Star-Spangled Banner."

In 1922, the temperature at El Azizia, Libya, reached 136 degrees F., generally accepted as the world's highest recorded atmospheric temperature.

In 1971, New York state forces stormed and regained control of Attica state prison in a riot that killed 42 people.

In 1991, the United States and Soviet Union declared they would cease arms sales to Afghanistan.

In 1992, comedian Bill Cosby topped Forbes magazine's sixth annual list of the world's highest-paid entertainers.

In 1993, in a dramatic ceremony at the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat signed a declaration of principles for Palestinian self-rule.

In 1996, the Dow closed at more than 5,838, a record high.

In 1998, George Wallace, former Alabama governor, presidential candidate and one of the most controversial politicians in U.S. history, died in Montgomery, Ala., at the age of 79.

In 1999, at least 118 people were killed in the bombing of a Moscow apartment building. The blast was the latest in a series of explosions blamed on terrorists from the breakaway republic of Chechnya.

In 2000, Los Alamos scientist Wen Ho Lee, accused of stealing sensitive nuclear weapons data, was freed after serving nine months in prison.

In 2001, airports closed after the terrorist attacks began reopening, but Logan Airport in Boston, where two of the hijacked planes took off, and Reagan National in Washington remained closed.

In 2002, two U.S. Air Force pilots whose bombs had killed four Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan were charged with involuntary manslaughter and assault.

In 2003, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell flew to Iraq for his first official visit to meet with the new 25-member Governing Council.

In 2004, reports from Moscow said racist attacks against dark-skinned people in Russia have risen sharply since the terrorist attacks on a school, two aircraft and a subway station.

In 2005, the owners of a New Orleans-area nursing home where 34 residents died during Katrina flooding were charged with 34 counts of negligent homicide. Officials said the residents apparently had been left to fend for themselves against the rising waters.

Also in 2005, U.S. President George Bush said he took responsibility for "serious problems" in the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina. He said he wanted to look forward to recovery and do assessments later.


A thought for the day: Washington Irving said, "There is a certain relief in change, even though it be from bad to worse; as I have found in traveling in a stagecoach, that it is often a comfort to shift one's position and be bruised in a new place."

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Today is Friday, Sept. 29, the 272nd day of 2006 with 93 to follow.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Venus and Saturn. The evening stars are Mercury, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Mars and Pluto.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Libra. They include Spanish poet-novelist Miguel de Cervantes, author of "Don Quixote," in 1547; British naval hero Adm. Horatio Nelson in 1758; pioneer nuclear physicist Enrico Fermi in 1901; singing cowboy Gene Autry in 1907; film directors Michelangelo Antonioni in 1912 (age 94) and Stanley Kramer in 1913; actor Trevor Howard in 1913; actress Anita Ekberg in 1931 (age 75); rock 'n' roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis in 1935 (age 71); actor Larry Linville ("M*A*S*H") in 1939; singer/actress Madeline Kahn in 1942; Polish leader Lech Walesa in 1943 (age 63); and TV personality Bryant Gumbel in 1948 (age 58).


On this date in history:

In 1789, the U.S. War Department organized the United States' first standing army -- 700 troops who would serve for three years.

In 1923, Britain began to govern Palestine under a League of Nations mandate.

In 1936, in the presidential race between Franklin D. Roosevelt and Alf Landon, both parties used radio for the first time.

In 1941, the Babi Yar massacre of nearly 34,000 Jewish men, women and children began on the outskirts of Kiev in the Nazi-occupied Ukraine.

In 1986, the Soviet Union freed U.S. journalist Nicholas Daniloff, whom Moscow accused of spying.

In 1988, Stacy Allison of Portland, Ore., became the first American woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

In 1991, sharing power for first time in 26 years, Zaire's President Mobuto Sese Seko named opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi prime minister.

In 1992, Brazil's President Collor became the first Latin American leader to be impeached.

Also in 1992, Earvin "Magic" Johnson announced he was returning to the Los Angeles Lakers less than a year after he retired because he had the AIDS virus.

In 2003, a published report says the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency has concluded that most of the information provided by Iraqi defectors was worthless.

Also in 2003, electricity was restored in Italy after a weekend blackout put 57 million people in the dark.

In 2004, a Saudi suspected of being an associate of Osama bin Laden and a Yemeni militant were sentenced to death for the bombing of the USS Cole four years earlier in which 17 U.S. sailors were killed.

Also in 2004, TV icon Martha Stewart was ordered to serve her 5-month prison sentence in West Virginia for obstructing justice.

In 2005, John Roberts Jr. easily won confirmation by the full Senate to become chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He was sworn in later in the day, succeeding the late William Rehnquist.

Also in 2005, New York Times reporter Judith Miller was released from jail after being held for 86 days for refusing to identify a source in a federal investigation into the disclosure of a CIA agent's name.

And in 2005, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that would have legalized same-sex marriage in his state.


A thought for the day: British statesman Edmund Burke said, "Superstition is the religion of feeble minds."

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On this date in history:

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Today is Saturday, Sept. 30, the 273rd day of 2006 with 92 to follow.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Venus and Saturn. The evening stars are Mercury, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Mars and Pluto.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Libra. They include (Steve – TS4MS>COM) German physicist Hans Geiger, co-inventor of the Geiger counter, in 1882; film director Lewis Milestone ("All Quiet on the Western Front") in 1895; singer Kenny Baker in 1912; former Georgia Gov. Lester Maddox in 1915; drummer Buddy Rich in 1917; novelist Truman Capote in 1924; actresses Deborah Kerr in 1921 (age 85) and Angie Dickinson in 1931 (age 75); singers Johnny Mathis in 1935 (age 71) and Marilyn McCoo in 1943 (age 63); singer Frankie Lymon in 1942; actress Victoria Tennant in 1950 (age 56); actor Eric Stoltz in 1961 (age 45); actress/singer Crystal Bernard in 1961 (age 45); and actresses Fran Drescher ("The Nanny") in 1957 (age 49) and Jenna Elfman ("Dharma and Greg") in 1971 (age 35); and tennis star Martina Hingis in 1980 (age 26).


On this date in history:

In 1452, the first section of the Guttenberg Bible, the first book printed from movable type, was published in Germany.

In 1630, John Billington, one of the first pilgrims to land in America was hanged for murder -- becoming the first criminal to be executed in the American colonies.

In 1846, a dentist in Charleston, Mass., extracted a tooth with the aid of an anesthetic -- ether. It was the first time an anesthetic had been used.

In 1938, Germany, France, Britain and Italy met in Munich, Germany, for a conference after which British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain predicted "peace for our time." But, World War II began less than one year later.

In 1946, the verdicts were handed down in the Nuremberg war crimes trial. Twelve Nazi leaders were sentenced to death by hanging.

In 1954, the USS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear submarine, was commissioned by the Navy.

In 1955, movie idol James Dean died in a car crash at age 24.

In 1962, James H. Meredith, an African-American, was escorted onto the University of Mississippi campus by U.S. marshals, setting off a riot during which two men were killed before the racial violence was quelled by more than 3,000 soldiers. Meredith enrolled the next day.

In 1991, Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was overthrown in a military coup.

In 1992, the United States returned most of the Subic Bay Naval Base to the Philippine government after more than a century of use.

In 1993, the U.S. Treasury Dept. issued a report sharply criticizing top officials at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms for their handling of the February raid on the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas.

In 1999, an accident at a nuclear power plant 70 miles northeast of Tokyo released high levels of radiation in Japan's worst nuclear accident.

Also in 1999, Russia sent troops into the breakaway republic of Chechnya.

By this date in 2001, about 500 people in the United States and elsewhere had been arrested or detained in connection with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

In 2003, the U.S. Justice Department opened an investigation into the leaking of the name of a CIA operative to the media and charges that the name was divulged in an effort to discredit the agent's husband, a prominent critic of U.S. President George Bush's Iraq policy.

Also in 2003, three people working at the U.S. Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba, including a Muslim chaplain, were arrested on espionage charges.

In 2004, more than 40 people were killed, including about 35 children, when three bombs exploded in Iraq as U.S. soldiers were handing out candy.

Also in 2004, Merck & Co. announced a voluntary worldwide withdrawal of the arthritis and pain medication drug Vioxx. Clinical trials showed an increased risk of heart attack and stroke after 18 months of use.

In 2005, amid joy, sadness and speculation about the future, thousands of New Orleans residents returned home to a hobbled city, one month after Hurricane Katrina dealt them a devastating blow.

Also in 2005, a U.N. health official said bird flu could spread to humans at any time, killing anywhere from 5 million to 150 million people.


A thought for the day: Spanish nun, mystic and reformer St. Theresa said, "Whenever conscience commands anything, there is only one thing to fear, and that is fear."

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Today is Sunday, Oct. 1, the 274th day of 2006 with 91 to follow.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Venus and Saturn. The evening stars are Mercury, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Mars and Pluto.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Libra. They include Navy Capt. James Lawrence, hero of the War of 1812, in 1781; novelist Faith Baldwin in 1893; pianist Vladimir Horowitz in 1903; Jimmy Carter, 39th president of the United States, in 1924 (age 82); U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, also in 1924; former major league batting champion Rod Carew in 1945 (age 61); actors Walter Matthau in 1920, James Whitmore in 1921 (age 85), Tom Bosley in 1927 (age 79), George Peppard in 1928, Laurence Harvey in 1928, Richard Harris in 1930, Julie Andrews in 1935 (age 71), Stella Stevens in 1936 (age 70), Stephen Collins in 1947 (age 59) and Randy Quaid in 1950 (age 56); and former baseball star Mark McGwire in 1963 (age 43).


On this date in history:

In 1903, the first World Series opened in Boston. The Boston Pilgrims of the American League defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League in the eighth game of a best-of-nine series.

In 1908, Henry Ford introduced the Model-T automobile.

In 1949, Mao Zedong and other communist leaders formally proclaimed establishment of the People's Republic of China.

In 1974, former U.S. Attorney General John Mitchell and four other Nixon administration officials went on trial on Watergate coverup charges.

In 1991, the United States suspended economic aid to Haiti and refused to recognize the military junta that ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

In 1992, Dallas billionaire Ross Perot formally announced his candidacy for the presidency. He called his group the Reform Party.

Also in 1992, a missile accidentally fired by the U.S.S. Saratoga struck a Turkish destroyer in the Aegean Sea, killing nine Turkish sailors.

In 1995, 10 Muslims were convicted of conspiring to conduct a terrorist campaign in the New York City area aimed at forcing the United States to drop its support of Egypt and Israel.

In 1996, U.S. President Bill Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat met for two days in Washington but without major progress toward peace.

In 2000, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said peace talks were "on the shelf" and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat called for an emergency Arab summit as renewed violence between Israelis and Palestinians continued.

In 2001, about 40 people were killed when a militant Muslim group attacked the legislative assembly building in the Indian province of Jammu and Kasmir.

In 2003, a report said hostility to the United States "has reached shocking levels" among Muslims and Arabs.

In 2004, the U.S. army said it killed 109 Sunni insurgents in a major offensive with Iraqi national guards against the city of Samara.

In 2005, a reported 36 people, mostly foreign tourists, died in explosions at two resort restaurants on the island of Bali. More than 100 others were reported injured.

Also in 2005, U.S. forces in western Iraq began a massive "Operation Iron Fist" in the town of Sa'da, about 12 miles from the Syrian border.


A thought for the day: the dying words of American naval hero Capt. James Lawrence -- "Don't give up the ship" -- became an honored naval motto.

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Today is Monday, Oct. 2, the 275th day of 2006 with 90 to follow.

This is Yom Kippur.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Venus and Saturn. The evening stars are Mercury, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Mars and Pluto.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Libra. They include England's King Richard III in 1452; Nat Turner, a black slave and leader of the only effective and sustained U.S. slave revolt, in 1800; German statesman Paul von Hindenburg in 1847; French World War I military commander Ferdinand Foch in 1851; Indian independence leader Mohandas Gandhi, known as Mahatma Gandhi, in 1869; comedians Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx in 1890 and Bud Abbott in 1895; child actor George "Spanky" McFarland of "Our Gang" and "Little Rascals" fame, in 1928; movie critic Rex Reed in 1938 (age 68); pop singer Don McLean in 1945 (age 61); fashion designer Donna Karan in 1948 (age 58); rock singer Sting (Gordon Sumner) in 1951 (age 55); and actress Lorraine Bracco in 1955 (age 51).


On this date in history:

In 1780, British spy Maj. John Andre was convicted in connection with Benedict Arnold's treason and was hanged in Tappan, N.Y.

In 1950, the "Peanuts" comic strip by Charles M. Schulz was published for the first time.

In 1967, Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as the first black justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1969, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas resigned after admitting he had made a financial deal with the Louis Wolfson Foundation.

In 1984, Richard Miller became the first FBI agent to be charged with espionage. He was convicted two years later of passing government secrets to the Soviet Union through his Russian lover.

In 1985, actor Rock Hudson died of AIDS. He was 59 years old.

In 1991, the Organization of American States resolved to isolate Haiti's military junta and restore Aristide's government to power.

In 1992, the Clinton and Bush camps agreed to a marathon nine days of four presidential and one vice presidential debates.

Also in 1992, the U.S. of Representatives House failed to override U.S. President George H.W. Bush's veto of a bill that would have reversed the administration's "gag rule" on abortion information.

In 1993, ousted Russian Vice President Aleksandr Rutskoi called for people to take to the streets against President Boris Yeltsin's "dictatorship."

In 2001, NATO said that the United States had shown evidence, sufficient to justify NATO military action, that Osama bin Laden and his organization were responsible for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

In 2002, the first in a series of apparent random sniper attacks that terrorized the Washington area for three weeks occurred on this date with the slaying of a 55-year-old Maryland man.

In 2003, David Kay, the chief U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq, told Congress his team had yet to find conclusive evidence of weapons of mass destruction in that country.

Also in 2003, in a surprise ruling, a federal judge barred prosecutors of accused terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui from seeking the death penalty or linking him with the Sept. 11 attacks because he had not been allowed to interview al-Qaida operatives who might help his case.

In 2004, at least 48 people were killed in a series of attacks across the Indian states of Nagaland and Assam.

In 2005, former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, indicted for allegedly violating Texas state campaign finance laws, said he would continue to press the Republican agenda in Congress and raise millions of dollars despite the indictment.

Also in 2005, 21 people died after a tour boat flipped over on Lake George in New York's Adirondacks.

And, in 2005, Connecticut issued its first licenses for "civil unions," becoming the third state to offer same-sex couples a legal way to unite.


A thought for the day: Queen Elizabeth I of England said, "A fool too late bewares when all the peril is past."

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Today is Tuesday, Oct. 3, the 276th day of 2006 with 89 to follow.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Venus and Saturn. The evening stars are Mercury, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Mars and Pluto.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Libra. They include Cherokee Chief John Ross, who led opposition to the forced move of his people to what is now Oklahoma, in 1790; historian George Bancroft in 1800; political cartoonist Herbert Block (Herblock) in 1909; novelists Thomas Wolfe in 1900 and Gore Vidal in 1925 (age 81); rock 'n' roll singer Chubby Checker in 1941 (age 65); singer/songwriter Lindsey Buckingham in 1949 (age 57); actor/singer Jack Wagner in 1959 (age 47); and actress Neve Campbell in 1973 (age 33).

On this date in history:

In 1922, Rebecca Felton, a Georgia Democrat, became the first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate.

In 1932, Iraq won its independence after Britain ended its mandate over the Arab nation following 17 years of British rule.

In 1952, Britain successfully tested its first atomic bomb.

In 1955, the children's show "Captain Kangaroo" with Bob Keeshan in the title role was broadcast for the first time.

In 1967, folksinger and songwriter Woody Guthrie died at the age of 55.

In 1972, U.S. President Richard Nixon and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko signed strategic arms limitation agreements, putting the first restrictions on the two countries' nuclear weapons.

In 1981, IRA prisoners at Maze Prison in Belfast, Northern Ireland, ended a 7-month hunger strike in which 10 men died.

In 1989, troops loyal to Panamanian military leader Manuel Noriega crushed a coup attempt by rebel mid-level officers. Noriega was held briefly by coup plotters but escaped unharmed.

In 1990, formerly communist East Germany merged with West Germany, ending 45 years of post-war division.

In 1992, William Gates III, the college-dropout founder of Microsoft Corp., headed Forbes magazine list of the 400 richest Americans with a net worth of $6.3 billion.

In 1993, fighting erupted in the streets of Moscow between pro- and anti-Yeltsin forces. Sixty-two people died in the violence that ended two days later when the rebel vice president and speaker of parliament surrendered.

In 1995, O.J. Simpson was acquitted of charges that he killed his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman.

Also in 1995, a bomb nearly killed the president of Macedonia, a relatively peaceful part of the former Yugoslavia.

In 2001, amid rising concerns about the use of lethal substances by terrorists, Tommy Thompson, the secretary of Health and Human Services, told a U.S. Senate committee that the government was planning to stockpile 40 million doses of smallpox vaccine.

In 2002, fear escalated in the Washington area as five more people were killed over a 16-hour period in apparent random sniper shootings.

In 2003, the U.S. Labor Department announced 57,000 jobs had been created in September, the first job growth in eight months.

In 2004, church congregations in India had special services after weekend bomb blasts and gun attacks killed at least 56 people and injured 100 others.

In 2005, Harriet Miers, the White House counsel, was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court by U.S. President George Bush to succeed the retiring Sandra Day O'Connor. Meanwhile, the high court opened a new term with a new chief justice, John Roberts.

Also in 2005, a Texas grand jury indicted U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, the former House majority leader, for money laundering. The new indictment was aimed at correcting problems with an earlier charge against him.

And, in 2005, U.N. monitors said Afghanistan's parliamentary elections were marred by significant fraud and voter intimidation.


A thought for the day: American poet Emily Dickinson wrote,

"Behold this little Bane --

"The Boon of all alive --

"As common as it is known

"The name of it is Love."

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Today is Wednesday, Oct. 4, the 277th day of 2006 with 88 to follow.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Mars and Saturn. The evening stars are Mercury, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Venus and Pluto.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Libra. They include (Ann-Marie - TS4MS>COM - Location: Long Island, Interests: Travel, sewing, reading; Occupation: RN). Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th president of the United States, in 1822; Frederic Remington, painter of the American West, in 1861; journalist/author Damon Runyan in 1884; pioneer movie comedian Buster Keaton in 1895; actors Charlton Heston in 1924 (age 82), Clifton Davis in 1945 (age 61), Susan Sarandon in 1946 (age 60), Armand Assante in 1949 (age 57) and Liev Schreiber in 1967 (age 39); authors Jackie Collins and Anne Rice, both in 1941 (age 65); and actresses Alicia Silverstone in 1976 (age 30) and Rachel Leigh Cook in 1979 (age 27).


On this date in history:

In 1777, American forces under Gen. George Washington were defeated by the British in a battle at Germantown, Pa.

In 1890, Mormons in Utah renounced polygamy.

In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first man-made space satellite, Sputnik-1.

In 1965, Pope Paul VI arrived at Kennedy International Airport in New York City on the first visit by a reigning pope to the United States.

In 1976, Earl Butz resigned as U.S. Agriculture secretary with an apology for what he called the "gross indiscretion" of uttering a racist remark.

In 1989, Art Shell was hired as head coach of the Oakland Raiders, the first black coach in the modern NFL.

In 1991, 24 countries, including the United States, signed an agreement banning mineral and oil exploration in Antarctica for 50 years.

In 1992, as many as 250 people were killed when an El Al 747 cargo plane crashed into an apartment building on the outskirts of Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Also in 1992, the Mozambique government and RENAMO rebels signed a historic peace accord, ending 16 years of civil war in the southeast African nation.

In 1993, U.S. President Bill Clinton ordered several hundred more U.S. troops to Somalia one day after the deaths of three Marines in Mogadishu.

In 1997, hundreds of thousands of Christian men gathered on the Mall in Washington to reaffirm their faith and to pledge to preserve the structure of the family.

In 2001, a Siberian Airlines jetliner exploded and plunged into the Black Sea, killing all 64 passengers and 12 crewmembers. The United States said evidence showed the plane had been hit by a missile fired during a Ukrainian military training exercise.

Also in 2001 sports, Rickey Henderson of the San Diego Padres scored his 2,246th run, breaking Ty Cobb's Major League Baseball record.

In 2002, the so-called shoe bomber, Richard Reid, pleaded guilty to charges against him stemming from his alleged effort to detonate explosives hidden in his sneakers during a 2001 Paris-to-Miami flight.

In 2003, a suicide bomber killed herself and 19 other people in an attack on a crowded restaurant in the northern Israeli port of Haifa.

In 2004, SpaceShipOne, the first, privately funded rocket to reach the edge of space, flew to an altitude above 62 miles over the California desert.

Also in 2004, Gordon Cooper, one of the first U.S. astronauts, who logged more than 225 hours in space, died at his California home. He was 77.

In 2005, the U.S. Justice Department said it was investigating claims New Orleans prison inmates were abused during the Hurricane Katrina evacuation.

Also in 2005, a landslide in eastern China triggered by Typhoon Longwang swept away a building housing 80 people, many of them police recruits.


A thought for the day: author Damon Runyan wrote, "... always try to rub up against money, for if you rub up against money long enough, some of it may rub off on you."

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Today is Thursday, Oct. 5, the 278th day of 2006 with 87 to follow.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Mars and Saturn. The evening stars are Mercury, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Venus and Pluto.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Libra. They include ( katie – TS4MS.COM )
French philosopher Denis Diderot in 1713; Chester A. Arthur, 21st president of the United States, in 1829; rocket pioneer Robert Goddard in 1882; restaurant entrepreneur Ray Kroc (McDonald's) and comic Larry Fine of The Three Stooges (the one with the wild wavy hair) in 1902; actor Donald Pleasence in 1919; political activist and defrocked priest Philip Berrigan and actress Glynis Johns, both in 1923 (age 83); actor/comedian Bill Dana in 1924 (age 82); Vaclav Havel, president of the Czech Republic, in 1936 (age 70); rock singer/songwriter Steve Miller in 1943 (age 63); actress Karen Allen in 1951 (age 55); Irish rock musician Bob Geldof, organizer of the 1985 Live Aid famine relief concert, in 1951 (age 55); race car driver Michael Andretti in 1962 (age 44); and actress Kate Winslet in 1975 (age 31).


On this date in history:

In 1813, the Shawnee Indian Chief Tecumseh was killed while fighting on the side of the British during the War of 1812.

In 1918, Germany's Hindenburg Line was broken as World War I neared an end.

In 1965, Pope Paul VI made an unprecedented 14-hour visit to New York to plead for world peace before the United Nations.

In 1973, Egypt and Syria, hoping to win back territory lost to Israel during the third Arab-Israeli war, launched a coordinated attack against Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

In 1975, U.S. Sen. Frank Church, D-Idaho, charged that the CIA tried to kill Cuban President Fidel Castro during the administrations of three U.S. presidents.

In 1986, former U.S. Marine Eugene Hasenfus was captured after a plane carrying arms for the Nicaraguan rebels was shot down over Nicaragua. Nicaragua's Sandinista government later convicted him but then granted a pardon.

In 1989, TV evangelist Jim Bakker was convicted on 24 counts of fraud and conspiracy for fleecing his PTL flock.

Also in 1989, the Dalai Lama, exiled god-king of Tibet, won the Nobel Peace Prize for nonviolent efforts to free his homeland from China.

In 1991, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, responding to unilateral U.S. action, announced cuts in nuclear weapons that would reduce the number of strategic warheads to 5,000 in seven years.

In 1992, for the first time in his administration, the U.S. Congress overrode U.S. President George H.W. Bush's veto of a bill to re-regulate the cable television industry.

Also in 1992, the last of the three pathologists who conducted the autopsy on U.S. President John Kennedy broke his silence and dismissed conspiracy theories.

In 1993, U.S. President Bill Clinton ordered the resumption in nuclear testing after China broke the informal moratorium and exploded a nuclear device beneath its western desert.

In 1994, South African President Nelson Mandela ended two days of talks with U.S. President Bill Clinton at the White House.

Also in 1994, 53 members of a secretive religious cult were found dead -- the victims of murder or suicide -- over a 2-day period in Switzerland and in Quebec, Canada.

In 1995, U.S. President Bill Clinton announced the warring parties in Bosnia had agreed to a cease-fire.

In 1999, MCI WorldCom Inc. announced that it had agreed to buy the Sprint Corp. in a $129 billion deal that would be the largest corporate acquisition ever.

In 2000, hundreds of thousands of Yugoslavians overthrew the Belgrade government, causing Slobodan Milosevic, the defeated presidential incumbent, to resign, ending 13 years of rule.

In 2001, 1,000 U.S. troops were sent to Uzbekistan, a part of the former Soviet Union.

Also in 2001, Robert Stevens, photo editor for America media Inc. of Boca Raton Fla., publisher of the National Enquirer and other tabloids, died after being infected with anthrax.

And in 2001 sports, Barry Bonds hit his 71st home run, most by a player in one season, breaking Mark McGwire's 1998 Major League Baseball record. The San Francisco Giants slugger finished the season with 73 homers.

In 2003, in retaliation to a suicide bombing at a Haifa restaurant the previous day, Israeli planes struck a suspected terrorist training camp in Syria near Damascus.

In 2004, British regulators suspended production of flu vaccine at the Liverpool plant of Chiron, a U.S. company, because of contamination. The action resulted in about a 50-percent reduction in vaccine available for the United States.

In 2005, scientists announced that a form of bird flu that jumped directly to humans was the real cause of a 1918 pandemic that killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide.


A thought for the day: Samuel Longhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) said, "Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest."

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This is Monday, Oct. 9, the 282nd day of 2006 with 83 to follow.

This is Columbus Day.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Venus and Saturn. The evening stars are Mercury, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Mars and Pluto.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Libra. They include French composer Camille Saint-Saens in 1835; Charles Rudolph Walgreen, drug store chain founder, in 1873; American evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson in 1890; Civil War historian Bruce Catton in 1899; convicted Watergate burglar and lecturer E. Howard Hunt Jr. in 1918 (age 88); singer/songwriters John Lennon in 1940 and Jackson Browne in 1948 (age 58); writer/actor Robert Wuhl in 1951 (age 55); and actors Scott Bakula in 1954 (age 52) and Zachery Ty Bryan ("Home Improvement") in 1981 (age 25).


On this date in history:

In 1934, King Alexander of Yugoslavia was assassinated by a Croatian terrorist during a state visit to France.

In 1974, Oskar Schindler, the German businessman credited with saving 1,200 Jews from the Holocaust, died at the age of 66.

In 1975, Andrei Sakharov, father of the Soviet hydrogen bomb, became the first Soviet citizen to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

In 1983, James Watt, facing Senate condemnation for a racially insensitive remark, resigned as U.S. President Ronald Reagan's Interior secretary.

In 1986, the Senate convicted imprisoned U.S. District Judge Harry Claiborne of tax cheating, making him the fifth U.S. judge to be impeached and removed from office.

In 1989, the Soviet news agency Tass, under Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of increasing openness in society, reported a flying saucer visit to the Soviet Union.

In 1990, U.S. President George H.W. Bush, having vetoed one budget continuing resolution and allowing the government's spending authority to expire, signed a second measure preventing a virtual government shutdown.

In 1992, NASA announced that the unmanned Pioneer spacecraft was apparently lost after orbiting Venus for 14 years.

In 1995, an Amtrak passenger train derailed in a remote area of Arizona southwest of Phoenix, killing one person and injuring about 100 others in apparent track sabotage.

In 1997, Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi resigned after Communist members of Parliament withdrew their support for his coalition government.

In 2001, the Pentagon reported the destruction of seven terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and, claiming control of the skies over Afghanistan, launched heavy airstrikes against Taliban garrisons and troop encampments.

In 2002, the Washington-area sniper claimed a seventh victim with the slaying of a man at a gas station near Manassas, Va.

Also in 2002, as stock prices continued to fluctuate wildly, the Dow Jones industrials closed at 7,286.27, a 5-year low.

In 2003, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the U.S. budget deficit for the 2003 fiscal year would be $374 billion, the largest ever in dollar terms.

In 2004, the death toll in the double bombings in the central Pakistani city of Multan reached 40 with 100 others injured. The explosions caught a crowd of Sunni Muslims leaving an anniversary gathering.

Also in 2004, John Howard, Australia's prime minister, won a fourth term as his nation's leader. Meanwhile, in Afghanistan's first democratic presidential election, nearly all the candidates, concerned over reported irregularities, boycotted the process even as voters went to the polls.

In 2005, as the 7.6-magnitude earthquake death toll soared near the reported 40,000 mark in Pakistan, a massive relief effort was under way in Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. India reported 650 dead and Afghanistan four.


A thought for the day: in "The Taming of the Shrew," William Shakespeare wrote, "Do as adversaries do in law. Strive mightily, but eat and drink as friends."

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Today is Thursday, Oct. 5, the 278th day of 2006 with 87 to follow.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Mars and Saturn. The evening stars are Mercury, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Venus and Pluto.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Libra. They include ( katie – TS4MS.COM )
French philosopher Denis Diderot in 1713; Chester A. Arthur, 21st president of the United States, in 1829; rocket pioneer Robert Goddard in 1882; restaurant entrepreneur Ray Kroc (McDonald's) and comic Larry Fine of The Three Stooges (the one with the wild wavy hair) in 1902; actor Donald Pleasence in 1919; political activist and defrocked priest Philip Berrigan and actress Glynis Johns, both in 1923 (age 83); actor/comedian Bill Dana in 1924 (age 82); Vaclav Havel, president of the Czech Republic, in 1936 (age 70); rock singer/songwriter Steve Miller in 1943 (age 63); actress Karen Allen in 1951 (age 55); Irish rock musician Bob Geldof, organizer of the 1985 Live Aid famine relief concert, in 1951 (age 55); race car driver Michael Andretti in 1962 (age 44); and actress Kate Winslet in 1975 (age 31).


On this date in history:

In 1813, the Shawnee Indian Chief Tecumseh was killed while fighting on the side of the British during the War of 1812.

In 1918, Germany's Hindenburg Line was broken as World War I neared an end.

In 1965, Pope Paul VI made an unprecedented 14-hour visit to New York to plead for world peace before the United Nations.

In 1973, Egypt and Syria, hoping to win back territory lost to Israel during the third Arab-Israeli war, launched a coordinated attack against Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

In 1975, U.S. Sen. Frank Church, D-Idaho, charged that the CIA tried to kill Cuban President Fidel Castro during the administrations of three U.S. presidents.

In 1986, former U.S. Marine Eugene Hasenfus was captured after a plane carrying arms for the Nicaraguan rebels was shot down over Nicaragua. Nicaragua's Sandinista government later convicted him but then granted a pardon.

In 1989, TV evangelist Jim Bakker was convicted on 24 counts of fraud and conspiracy for fleecing his PTL flock.

Also in 1989, the Dalai Lama, exiled god-king of Tibet, won the Nobel Peace Prize for nonviolent efforts to free his homeland from China.

In 1991, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, responding to unilateral U.S. action, announced cuts in nuclear weapons that would reduce the number of strategic warheads to 5,000 in seven years.

In 1992, for the first time in his administration, the U.S. Congress overrode U.S. President George H.W. Bush's veto of a bill to re-regulate the cable television industry.

Also in 1992, the last of the three pathologists who conducted the autopsy on U.S. President John Kennedy broke his silence and dismissed conspiracy theories.

In 1993, U.S. President Bill Clinton ordered the resumption in nuclear testing after China broke the informal moratorium and exploded a nuclear device beneath its western desert.

In 1994, South African President Nelson Mandela ended two days of talks with U.S. President Bill Clinton at the White House.

Also in 1994, 53 members of a secretive religious cult were found dead -- the victims of murder or suicide -- over a 2-day period in Switzerland and in Quebec, Canada.

In 1995, U.S. President Bill Clinton announced the warring parties in Bosnia had agreed to a cease-fire.

In 1999, MCI WorldCom Inc. announced that it had agreed to buy the Sprint Corp. in a $129 billion deal that would be the largest corporate acquisition ever.

In 2000, hundreds of thousands of Yugoslavians overthrew the Belgrade government, causing Slobodan Milosevic, the defeated presidential incumbent, to resign, ending 13 years of rule.

In 2001, 1,000 U.S. troops were sent to Uzbekistan, a part of the former Soviet Union.

Also in 2001, Robert Stevens, photo editor for America media Inc. of Boca Raton Fla., publisher of the National Enquirer and other tabloids, died after being infected with anthrax.

And in 2001 sports, Barry Bonds hit his 71st home run, most by a player in one season, breaking Mark McGwire's 1998 Major League Baseball record. The San Francisco Giants slugger finished the season with 73 homers.

In 2003, in retaliation to a suicide bombing at a Haifa restaurant the previous day, Israeli planes struck a suspected terrorist training camp in Syria near Damascus.

In 2004, British regulators suspended production of flu vaccine at the Liverpool plant of Chiron, a U.S. company, because of contamination. The action resulted in about a 50-percent reduction in vaccine available for the United States.

In 2005, scientists announced that a form of bird flu that jumped directly to humans was the real cause of a 1918 pandemic that killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide.


A thought for the day: Samuel Longhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) said, "Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest."

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Today is Tuesday, Oct. 10, the 283rd day of 2006 with 82 to follow.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Venus and Saturn. The evening stars are Mercury, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Mars and Pluto.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Libra. They include English chemist-physicist Henry Cavendish, discoverer of hydrogen, in 1731; composer Giuseppe Verdi in 1813; actress Helen Hayes in 1900; playwright and Nobel laureate Harold Pinter in 1930 (age 76); entertainer Ben Vereen in 1946 (age 60); actress Jessica Harper in 1949 (age 57); rocker David Lee Roth in 1954 (age 52); country singer Tanya Tucker in 1958 (age 48); and pro football star Brett Favre in 1969 (age 37).


On this date in history:

In 1845, the U.S. Naval Academy was formally opened at Fort Severn, Annapolis, Md., with 50 midshipmen in the first class.

In 1886, Griswold Lorillard of Tuxedo Park, N.Y., fashioned the first tuxedo for men.

In 1963, a dam burst in northern Italy, drowning an estimated 3,000 people.

In 1973, less than a year before Richard Nixon's resignation as president, Spiro Agnew became the first U.S. vice president to resign in disgrace after pleading no contest to income tax evasion.

In 1985, movie legend Orson Welles, whose remarkably innovative "Citizen Kane" of 1941 was named the best American-made picture of all time in a 1998 American Film Institute poll, died of a heart attack at the age of 70.

In 1991, the United States cut all aid to Haiti.

In 1993, Greek voters returned former Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou and his Pan-Hellenic Socialist Movement to power.

In 1994, Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras, commander in chief of the Haitian armed forces, resigned to make way for the return of exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

In 1995, Israel freed some 900 Palestinian prisoners and pulled its troops out of four towns as the second phase of the peace plan was implemented on the West Bank.

In 1997, the major tobacco companies agreed to a settlement in the class-action suit brought against them by 60,000 present and former flight attendants, who claimed second-hand smoke in airplanes had caused them to get cancer and other diseases.

Also in 1997, it was announced that the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize would be awarded to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and its coordinator, Jody Williams of Putney, Vt.

In 2001, representatives of 56 Islamic nations, in an emergency meeting on Qatar, condemned the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

In 2002, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize. He was cited for his efforts to bring peace to the Middle East and his commitment to human rights and democratic values around the world.

In 2003, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Iranian lawyer Shurin Ebadi for her work in promoting democracy and human rights in Iran and beyond. She was the first Muslim woman to win the award and third Muslim.

Also in 2003, Rush Limbaugh, the conservative radio talk show host, admitted addiction to prescription painkillers and said he would enter a rehabilitation facility.

In 2004, a videotape of the beheading of British hostage Kenneth Bigley in Iraq was shown on an Islamic Web site.

Also in 2004, more than 100 people died in flash floods in northeastern India.

In 2005, Angela Merkel became the first woman chancellor of Germany after her Christian Democrats won the parliamentary election. The incumbent, Gerhard Schroeder, said he would play no role in the new governing coalition.


A thought for the day: Queen Elizabeth I said, "I have the heart of a man, not a woman, and I am not afraid of anything."

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Today is Wednesday, Oct. 11, the 284th day of 2006 with 81 to follow.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Venus and Saturn. The evening stars are Mercury, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Mars and Pluto.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Libra. They include (Tug –TS4MS) clergyman Mason Locke Weems, who invented the story of George Washington and the cherry tree, in 1759; Englishman George Williams, founder of the YMCA, in 1821; food industry pioneer Henry John Heinz in 1844; former first lady and author Eleanor Roosevelt in 1884; choreographer Jerome Robbins in 1918; country singer Dottie West in 1932; actor/singer Ron Leibman in 1937 (age 69); singer Daryl Hall in 1946 (age 60); and actors David Morse in 1953 (age 53), Joan Cusack in 1962 (age 44) and Luke Perry in 1965 (age 41).



On this date in history:

In 1811, the first steam-powered ferry in the world started its run between New York City and Hoboken, N.J.

In 1868, Thomas Alva Edison filed papers for his first invention: an electrical vote recorder to rapidly tabulate floor votes in Congress. Members of Congress rejected it.

In 1950, the Federal Communications Commission issued to CBS the first license to broadcast color television.

In 1962, Pope John XXIII opened the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

In 1984, financier Marc Rich agreed to pay the U.S. government nearly $200 million, biggest tax fraud penalty in U.S. history.

In 1991, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution barring Iraq from pursuing any atomic programs.

In 1993, armed demonstrators in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, prevented U.S and Canadian troops from landing.

In 1994, the Pentagon reported that Iraqi troops were withdrawing from the Iraq-Kuwait border. Their deployment had brought the U.S. Navy and Marines to the Persian Gulf less than a week earlier.

Also in 1994, the Colorado Supreme Court struck down a law that barred local governments from enacting laws protecting homosexuals from discrimination in employment and housing.

In 1996, the Nobel Peace Prize went to Jose Ramos-Harta and Carlos Ximenes Belo, who worked for freedom for Timor Leste, where famine and repression had killed one-third of the entire population.

In 2002, Congress gave U.S. President George W. Bush its backing for using military force against Iraq.

In 2003, officials in India arrested more than 1,500 Hindu activists in an effort to ward off violence during a protest planned later this week.

In 2004, Christopher Reeve, who played Superman in the movies and strenuously pushed spinal cord research after he was paralyzed in an accident, died at the age of 52.

Also in 2004, six men were charged in the bombing of a Philippines ferry in which more than 100 people died.

In 2005, desperate Pakistani earthquake survivors ambushed army trucks carrying relief supplies as the reported death toll in Pakistan and India topped 42,000. An Islamic Relief spokesman predicted the number eventually would reach 80,000.

Also in 2005, nine insurgent attacks killed at least 55 people in Iraq, including one suicide bomber who drove into a crowded market in Talafar.


A thought for the day: in her diary, Anne Frank wrote: "If God lets me live, I shall attain more than Mummy ever has done. I shall not remain insignificant. I shall work in the world and for mankind!"