On this date in history

[Faust Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Faust]

On this date in history


Today is Wednesday, May 2, the 122nd day of 2007 with 243 to follow.
The moon is full. The morning stars are Mercury, Mars, Uranus, Jupiter and Neptune. The evening stars are Venus and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include Catherine the Great, empress of Russia, in 1729; Gen. Henry Robert, author of "Robert's Rules of Order," in 1837; pioneer Zionist Theodor Herzl in 1860; Broadway composer Lorenz Hart in 1895; child care specialist Dr. Benjamin Spock in 1903; singer/actor Theodore Bikel in 1924 (age 83); singer Engelbert Humperdinck, born Arnold Dorsey, in 1936 (age 71); activist/singer Bianca Jagger in 1945 (age 62); pop singer Leslie Gore in 1946 (age 61); country singer Larry Gatlin in 1948 (age 59); and actress Christine Baranski in 1952 (age 55).



On this date in history:

In 1519, Leonardo da Vinci, Italian artist, scientist and inventor, died at age 67.

In 1611, a new translation of the Bible in England, popularly called the King James Bible after King James I, was published.

In 1863, Confederate Gen. Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson was mistakenly shot by his own soldiers. He died eight days later.

In 1941, the Federal Communications Commission approved the regular scheduling of commercial television broadcasts.

In 1933, the modern legend of the Loch Ness monster surfaced when a sighting made the local news. There had been accounts of an aquatic beast living in Scotland's Loch Ness date back 1,500 years.

In 1972, 91 people were killed in a mine fire in Kellogg, Idaho.

Also in 1972, J. Edgar Hoover died after nearly five decades as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In 1989, some 60 Chinese students rode bicycles into Beijing to present demands for democratic reforms to Chinese leaders.

In 1993, Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic signed an internationally mediated peace plan to end the Bosnian conflict.

Also in 1993, a U.S. sailor pleaded guilty to murder charges in the 1992 beating death of a homosexual shipmate in a park restroom near Sasebo Naval Base in southwestern Japan.

In 1994, Nelson Mandela claimed victory in the South African elections held in late April. He was inaugurated as the country's first black president eight days later.

Also in 1994, a Wayne County, Mich., jury acquitted "Dr. Death" Jack Kevorkian of violating a state law forbidding assisted suicides.

In 1995, the Clinton administration announced that Cuban boat people seeking asylum would be henceforth returned to Cuba.

In 1999, a meeting between the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic led to the release of three U.S. soldiers captured a month earlier by Serbian troops.

In 2002, Israeli forces pulled out of the West Bank city of Ramallah allowing Yasser Arafat to leave his compound.

In 2003, India announced it was restoring diplomatic relations and transportation connections with Pakistan, which reciprocated a few days later.

In 2004, Nigerian Christian militants attacked the Muslim town of Yelwa with firearms and machetes. The Nigerian Red Cross put the death toll at 630.

In 2005, U.S. Army Pvt. Lynndie England pleaded guilty to seven counts related to alleged mistreatment of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

In 2006, already taking flak over high gasoline prices, U.S. Senate Republicans yanked a wide-ranging tax proposal that had been added to the pending energy bill.

Also in 2006, U.S. President George Bush's popular approval rating was at 33 percent in a new poll.



A thought for the day: Anatole France said, "To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe."

[Faust Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Faust]

On this date in history


Today is Thursday, May 3, the 123rd day of 2007 with 242 to follow.
The moon is waning. The morning stars are Mercury, Mars, Uranus, Jupiter and Neptune. The evening stars are Venus and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include Italian political philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli in 1469; British explorer John Speke, who discovered the source of the Nile, in 1827; French perfume maker Francois Coty in 1874; Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir in 1898; singer/actor Bing Crosby in 1903; actress Mary Astor in 1906; Broadway gossip columnist Earl Wilson in 1907; folk singer Pete Seeger in 1919 (age 88); boxer Sugar Ray Robinson, born Walker Smith Jr., in 1921; singers James Brown in 1933, and Frankie Valli in 1937 (age 70); TV personality Greg Gumbel in 1946 (age 61); magician Doug Henning in 1947; and singer/songwriter Christopher Cross in 1951 (age 56).



On this date in history:

In 1919, U.S. airplane passenger service began when pilot Robert Hewitt flew two women from New York to Atlantic City, N.J.

In 1946, the International Military Tribunals for the Far East began hearing the case in Tokyo against 28 Japanese military and government officials accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during World War II.

In 1948, the "CBS Evening News" premiered, with Douglas Edwards as anchor.

In 1952, a ski-modified U.S. Air Force C-47 piloted by Lt. Col. Joseph O. Fletcher of Oklahoma and Lt. Col. William P. Benedict of California became the first aircraft to land at the North Pole.

In 1968, the United States and North Vietnam agreed to open peace talks in Paris.

In 1979, Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative Party won the British general election, making her the first woman prime minister of a major European nation.

In 1989, Chinese leaders rejected students' demands for democratic reforms as some 100,000 students and workers marched in Beijing.

Also in 1989, former national security aide Oliver North was found guilty on three charges but innocent of nine others in the Iran-Contra scandal.

In 1990, U.S. President George H.W. Bush canceled the modernization of NATO short-range nuclear missiles and artillery, accelerating the pace of the removal of U.S. and Soviet ground-based nuclear weapons from "the transformed Europe of the 1990s."

In 1993, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi attacked Muslim fundamentalists, saying they should be killed "like dogs."

In 1994, a U.S. district judge in Seattle struck down Washington state's assisted-suicide law.

In 1997, a standoff by armed separatists near Fort Davis, Texas, ended with the surrender of six people, including leader Richard McLaren. Two escaped on foot; one was shot to death by police two days later.

In 1999, 76 tornadoes tore across the U.S. Plains states, killing about 50 people and injuring more than 700 more.

In 2000, the trial of two Libyan men accused in the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, began in the Netherlands.

In 2002, the finance council of the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Boston withdrew from an agreement to settle claims by 86 alleged sexual abuse victims against a former priest. The council said the archdiocese could not afford the anticipated costs of up $30 million.

In 2004, the U.S. military commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, reprimanded six commissioned and non-commissioned officers who supervised the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, where many reported abuses occurred.

In 2005, as violence continued, the Iraqi Cabinet was sworn in, more than three months after the elections.

In 2006, an Armenian A-320 aircraft plunged into the Black Sea off Russia's southern coast, killing all 113 people aboard. Officials said bad weather was the probable cause.

Also in 2006, Amnesty International accused the U.S. government of "creating a climate in which torture and other ill-treatment can flourish."


A thought for the day: Gore Vidal said, "Apparently, a democracy is a place where numerous elections are held at great cost without issues and with interchangeable candidates."

[Faust Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Faust]

On this date in history



Today is Friday, May 4, the 124th day of 2007 with 241 to follow.
The moon is waning. The morning stars are Jupiter, Mars, Neptune and Uranus. The evening stars are Mercury, Venus and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include educator Horace Mann in 1796; English biologist and agnostic Thomas Huxley in 1825; American landscape painter Frederick Church in 1826; New York Roman Catholic Cardinal Francis Spellman in 1889; Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in 1928 (age 79); musician Maynard Ferguson in 1928; actress Audrey Hepburn in 1929; opera singer Roberta Peters in 1930 (age 77); editor/columnist George Will in 1941 (age 66); singer Nickolas Ashford in 1942 (age 65); actress Pia Zadora in 1954 (age 53); and country singer Randy Travis in 1959 (age 48).



On this date in history:

In 1494, on his second expedition to the New World, Columbus discovered Jamaica.

In 1886, four police officers were killed when a bomb was thrown during a meeting of anarchists in Chicago's Haymarket Square protesting labor unrest. Four leaders of the demonstration, which became known as the Haymarket Square Riot, were convicted and hanged.

In 1942, the Battle of the Coral Sea began. It was a turning point in World War II, with Japan losing 39 ships and the United States one.

In 1970, National Guardsmen killed four students at Kent State University in Ohio during a demonstration against the Vietnam War.

In 1980, President Joseph Broz Tito of Yugoslavia died at age 87.

In 1982, an Argentine jet fighter sank the British destroyer HMS Sheffield during the Falkland Islands war.

In 1987, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 7-0 to uphold a California law requiring the state's all-male Rotary Clubs to admit women.

In 1990, Latvia became the third and last of the Baltic republics to take steps toward secession from the Soviet Union.

In 1991, U.S. President H.W. Bush suffered a shortage of breath while jogging at Camp David, Md. He was diagnosed as suffering from Graves' disease.

In 1993, jeans giant Levi Strauss said it would sever most ties with Chinese contractors because of alleged human rights violations in the communist nation.

In 1994, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO chief Yasser Arafat signed an agreement, establishing the terms of limited Palestinian self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho.

In 1997, FBI Director Louis Freeh indicated that "catastrophic mechanical failure" was the most likely cause of the crash of TWA Flight 800 the previous July.

In 1998, a federal judge ruled U.S. President Bill Clinton could not invoke executive privilege or attorney-client privilege to prevent aides from testifying in the investigation into the Monica Lewinsky affair.

In 2000, the "I Love You" computer virus crashed computers around the world.

In 2001, Pope John Paul II flew to Greece to begin a journey retracing the steps of the Apostle Paul through historic lands.

In 2004, the U.S. Army said it was conducting 35 criminal investigations into the treatment of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan. Twenty-five of those are said to involve deaths of prisoners, including 13 possible homicides.

In 2005, two days after U.S. Army Pvt. Lynndie England pleaded guilty to charges related to alleged prisoner abuse at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison the judge threw out the plea and declared a mistrial. The judge said it was not clear whether the Army reservist knew at the time she was acting illegally.

In 2006, confessed terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui was sentenced to life in prison without parole. The 37-year-old Moroccan, who implicated himself in the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the United States, could have received the death penalty.


A thought for the day: Michel de Montaigne said, "There is no conversation more boring than the one where everybody agrees."

[Faust Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Faust]

On this date in history


Today is Saturday, May 5, the 125th day of 2007 with 240 to follow.
The moon is waning. The morning stars are Mars, Neptune, Uranus and Jupiter. The evening stars are Venus, Mercury and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include (jackio-ts4ms); Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard in 1813; German political theorist Karl Marx in 1818; hatmaker John Stetson in 1830; crusading journalist Nelly Bly in 1864; author Christopher Morley in 1890; radio actor Freeman Gosden, Amos of "Amos and Andy," in 1899; actor Tyrone Power in 1914; singer/actress Alice Faye in 1915; actor Michael Murphy in 1938 (age 69); singer Tammy Wynette in 1942; and actors Michael Palin ("Monty Python's Flying Circus") in 1943 (age 64), Lance Henriksen ("Millennium"), in 1940, (age 67) and Tina Yothers ("Family Ties") in 1973 (age 34).



On this date in history: In 1821, Napoleon Bonaparte died in exile on the island of St. Helena.

In 1847, the American Medical Association was founded in Philadelphia.

In 1862, Mexican troops, outnumbered 3-1, defeated the invading French forces of Napoleon III.

In 1893, Wall Street stock prices took a sudden drop, sparking the second-worst economic crisis in U.S. history.

In 1904, Cy Young pitched major league baseball's first perfect game to lead the Boston Americans to a 3-0 win over Philadelphia.

In 1925, biology teacher John Scopes was arrested for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution in violation of Tennessee state laws.

In 1945, Allied troops liberated the Netherlands from Nazi Germany.

Also in 1945, Elsie Mitchell and five neighborhood children were killed in Lakeview, Ore., when a Japanese balloon they had found in the woods exploded. They were listed as the only known World War II civilian fatalities in the continental United States.

In 1961, astronaut Alan Shepard became the United States' first man in space in a brief, sub-orbital flight from Cape Canaveral.

In 1981, imprisoned Irish-Catholic militant Bobby Sands died after refusing food for 66 days in protest of his treatment as a criminal rather than a political prisoner by British authorities.

In 1985, U.S. President Ronald Reagan ignored an international uproar and visited a cemetery at Bitburg, West Germany, that contained the graves of World War II Nazi S.S. storm troopers.

In 1993, the self-declared Bosnian-Serb parliament rejected the international peace plan that was supposed to end the yearlong war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Also in 1994, civil war erupted in Yemen.

In 1996, Jose Maria Aznar became prime minister of Spain.

In 2003, a wave of tornadoes killed 40 people in Kansas, Missouri and Tennessee.

Also in 2003, India and Pakistan agreed to renew diplomatic ties but India turned down Pakistan's offer of bilateral nuclear disarmament.

In 2004, Republican senators sought an investigation into charges that Iraq misused revenue from the U.N. oil-for-food program. A report estimated the Saddam Hussein regime collected $10.7 billion in illegal oil revenues.

In 2005, British Prime Minister Tony Blair was elected to a third term.

In 2006, 10 U.S. soldiers were killed in the crash of their helicopter in Afghanistan near the Pakistan border.


A thought for the day: "Nobody really cares if you're miserable, so you might as well be happy." Cynthia Nelms said that.

[Faust Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Faust]

On this date in history


Today is Sunday, May 6, the 126th day of 2007 with 239 to follow.
The moon is waning. The morning stars are Mars, Neptune, Uranus and Jupiter. The evening stars are Venus, Mercury and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include French revolutionary Maximilien Robespierre in 1758; Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud and Arctic explorer Robert Peary, both in 1856; silent screen star Rudolph Valentino in 1895; actor Stewart Granger in 1913; actor-director-writer Orson Welles and author Theodore White, both in 1915; baseball legend Willie Mays in 1931 (age 76); rock musician Bob Seger in 1945 (age 62); British Prime Minister Tony Blair in 1953 (age 54); Tom Bergeron in 1955 (age 52); and actors George Clooney in 1961 (age 46) and Roma Downey ("Touched by an Angel") in 1960 (age 47).



On this date in history:

In 1527, German troops sacked Rome, killing some 4,000 people and looting works of art and literature as part of a series of wars between the Hapsburg Empire and the French monarchy.

n 1863, Confederate forces commanded by Gen. Robert E. Lee routed Union troops under Gen. Joseph Hooker at the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia.

In 1915, Babe Ruth of the Boston Red Sox hit his first major league home run in a game against the New York Yankees in New York.

In 1935, in the depths of the Depression, the Works Progress Administration was established to provide work for the unemployed.

In 1937, the German dirigible Hindenburg burst into flames while docking in Lakehurst, N.J., killing 36 people.

In 1941, Josef Stalin became official leader of the Soviet government.

In 1954, 25-year-old British medical student Roger Bannister cracked track and field's most notorious barrier, the 4-minute mile, during a meet at Oxford, England. His time: 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds.

In 1975, U.S. President Gerald Ford broadcast an appeal to Americans to welcome the thousands of Vietnamese refugees pouring into the United States.

In 1992, legendary actress Marlene Dietrich died at her Paris home at age 90.

In 1993, two postal workers, both apparently bitter over their treatment at work, allegedly shot co-workers in separate incidents in post offices in Michigan and California, leaving at least three dead and three wounded.

In 1994, Paula Jones accused U.S. President Bill Clinton of making an unwanted sexual advance during a meeting in a hotel room in 1991, when he was governor of Arkansas. It was believed to be the first lawsuit of its kind against a sitting president.

Also in 1994, the U.N. Security Council voted to impose a tougher trade embargo on Haiti if the nation's military rulers did not step down within two weeks.

And in 1994, the Channel Tunnel, a railway under the English Channel connecting Britain and France, was officially opened.

In 1997, U.S. President Bill Clinton and Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon signed an agreement for a broader mutual effort to fight drug trafficking.

In 2001, Pope John Paul II became the first pope to enter a mosque -- the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria.

In 2003, as civil disorder continued in Iraq, U.S. President George W. Bush named retired diplomat Paul Bremer III as his envoy to Iraq, making him the chief U.S. figure in the reconstruction.

Also in 2003, U.S. health officials reported 63 cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, but no deaths.

In 2004, the International Red Cross said it had found evidence of widespread mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by coalition forces in prisons across Iraq.

Also in 2004, as violence continued, U.S. forces in Iraq seized the governor's office in Najaf, a stronghold of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, and installed a new governor.

In 2005, a suicide bomber killed at least 58 people in a vegetable market south of Baghdad.

In 2006, the largest rebel group in Sudan's Darfur region and the government of Sudan signed a peace agreement ending their armed conflict in a 3-year civil war that claimed an estimated 200,000 lives. However, two smaller rebel groups declined to sign an agreement.

And, unbeaten Barbaro won the 2006 Kentucky Derby by 6.5 lengths.


A thought for the day: "England and America are two countries separated by the same language." George Bernard Shaw said that.

[Faust Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Faust]

On this date in history



Today is Friday, May 11, the 131st day of 2007 with 234 to follow.
The moon is waning. The morning stars are Mars, Neptune, Uranus and Jupiter. The evening stars are Venus, Mercury and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include Ottmar Mergenthaler, inventor of the Linotype typesetting machine, in 1854; songwriter Irving Berlin in 1888; dancer/choreographer Martha Graham in 1893; Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dali in 1904; comic actor Phil Silvers in 1911; comedian "Doodles" Weaver, in 1911; actor Denver Pyle in 1920; actor Bernard Fox and satirist Mort Sahl, both in 1927 (age 80); the Rev. Louis Farrakhan, Nation of Islam leader, in 1933 (age 74); artificial heart developer Dr. Robert Jarvik in 1946 (age 61); actor Doug McClure in 1935; and actress Natasha Richardson in 1963 (age 44).


On this date in history:

In 1858, Minnesota, dubbed the "Land of 10,000 Lakes," joined the United States as the 32nd state.

In 1862, the Confederate navy destroyed its iron-clad vessel Merrimac to prevent it from falling into the hands of advancing Union forces.

In 1910, Glacier National Park in Montana was created by an act of Congress.

In 1928, the first regularly scheduled television programs were begun by station WGY in Schenectady, N.Y.

In 1969, in one of the more infamous and bloody battles of the Vietnam War, U.S. troops seized Dong Ap Bia mountain, commonly known as "Hamburger Hill."

In 1987, Emmanuel Vitria died in Marseilles in southern France at age 67, some 18 years after receiving a transplanted human heart. He was the longest-surviving heart transplant patient.

In 1994, Joseph Hazelwood, captain of the Exxon Valdez, told a federal court in Anchorage, Alaska, he'd had three vodkas just hours before the tanker ran aground, spilling 11 million gallons of oil into Prince William Sound in 1989.

In 1996, a ValuJet airliner crashed in the Florida Everglades, killing 110 people.

In 1997, world chess champion Gerry Kasparov was defeated by a computer, IBM's Deep Blue, in a six-game match in New York.

In 1998, India conducted the first of five underground nuclear tests.

In 2000, five pharmaceutical companies offered to negotiate cuts in the price of AIDS drugs for Africa and other poor regions.

In 2003, The New York Times devoted four pages to a story documenting major inaccuracies and deceptions by one of its reporters, Jayson Blair, in a scandal that cost the paper's two top editors their jobs.

Also in 2003, more than 50 Democratic members of the Texas House of Representatives crossed over into Oklahoma to leave the House without a quorum and block action on a redistricting bill unfavorable to their party.

In 2004, a video showing the beheading of a U.S. civilian was posted on the Web site of an Islamic militant group believed to be linked to al-Qaida. The victim, Nick Berg of Philadelphia, had been repairing Iraq telecommunications infrastructure. His body had been found a few days before the video appeared.

In 2005, about 50 Iraqis were reported killed and dozens wounded in a string of bombings that rocked several Iraqi regions.

In 2006, a published report, in USA Today, said the National Security Agency had obtained government-requested records of phone calls made by millions of Americans since late 2001.

Also in 2006, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told students in Indonesia that Israel was an "evil regime" that would soon be "annihilated."


A thought for the day: Anatole France said, "To imagine is everything, to know is nothing at all."

[Faust Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Faust]

On this date in history



Today is Saturday, May 12, the 132nd day of 2007 with 233 to follow.
The moon is waning. The morning stars are Mars, Neptune, Uranus and Jupiter. The evening stars are Venus, Mercury and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include (chiara – ts4ms); English painter and writer of limericks and nonsense poems Edward Lear in 1812; nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale in 1820; French composer Jules Emile Massenet in 1842; lawmaker and author Henry Cabot Lodge in 1850; novelist Philip Wylie in 1902; actress Katharine Hepburn in 1907; orchestra leader Gordon Jenkins and jazz trombonist Jack Jenney in 1910; newscaster Howard K. Smith in 1914; convicted spy Julius Rosenberg in 1918; baseball Hall of Fame member Yogi Berra in 1925 (age 82); composer Burt Bacharach in 1928 (age 79); TV personality Tom Snyder and artist Frank Stella, both in 1936 (age 71); comedian George Carlin in 1937 (age 70); and actors Gabriel Byrne in 1950 (age 56), Bruce Boxleitner ("Babylon 5") in 1950 (age 57), Ving Rhames in 1959 (age 48), Emilio Estevez in 1962 (age 45), Stephen Baldwin in 1966 (age 41), Kim Fields in 1969 (age 38); and Jason Biggs in 1978 (age 29).








On this date in history:

In 1922, the magazine "Radio Broadcast" commented, "The rate of increase in the number who spend at least part of an evening listening to radio is almost incomprehensible."

In 1937, George VI was crowned king of England, succeeding his brother Edward, who abdicated to marry U.S. divorcee Wallis Simpson.

In 1949, Soviet authorities announced the end of a land blockade of Berlin. The blockade lasted 328 days but was neutralized by the Allies' Berlin airlift.

In 1970, the U.S. Senate confirmed U.S. President Richard Nixon's nomination of U.S. District Judge Harry A. Blackmun to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1975, a Cambodian gunboat fired on the U.S. cargo ship Mayaguez and forced it into a Cambodian port. All 39 crewmen aboard were freed but a number of U.S. servicemen died during a rescue mission two days later.

In 1991, Operation Sea Angel sent 8,000 U.S. troops to Bangladesh to distribute relief packages to cyclone victims.

In 1992, CIA Director Robert Gates said he had begun declassifying all relevant information on the U.S. President John Kennedy assassination to end the "insidious, perverse notion" that the CIA was involved.

In 1999, U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin announced he was resigning. Rubin's policies were credited with contributing to the roaring U.S economy.

In 2002, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter began a visit to Cuba. He was the first president, in or out of office, to visit the island since communists took over in 1959.

In 2003, U.S. officials in Iraq reported the capture of Rihab Rashjid Taha, nicknamed Dr. Germ, who played a major role in Iraq's biological weapons program.

Also in 2003, at least 59 died and six apartment houses were destroyed when a truck laden with explosives blew up in a town in Chechnya where a revolt against Russia continued.

In 2004, a Massachusetts-based Roman Catholic order has been sued by nine former students of one of its schools, the Boston School for the Deaf, for alleged abuse that happened as long as 60 years ago.

In 2005, U.S. President George Bush was asked to explain a secret British memo that cast doubt on the legality of going to war with Iraq in 2002. The letter to Bush from 89 congressional Democrats asked for clarification of details from minutes of a secret British meeting that said U.S. "intelligence and facts were being fixed" to support the invasion of Iraq.

In 2006, as many as 200 people were killed in a Nigerian gasoline pipeline explosion that officials said apparently was set off by vandals siphoning fuel.

Also in 2006, Daniel Biechele, a man whose fireworks touched off the 2003 nightclub fire in West Warwick, R.I., that killed 100 people, was sentenced to four years in prison. The judge said there was no sign of criminal intent.


A thought for the day: Mark Twain remarked, "I never let schooling interfere with my education."

[Faust Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Faust]

On this date in history



Today is Sunday, May 13, the 133rd day of 2007 with 232 to follow.
This is Mother's Day.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include composer Arthur Sullivan, of Gilbert and Sullivan, in 1842; French cubist painter Georges Braque in 1882; English novelist Daphne Du Maurier in 1907; heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis in 1914; singer Mary Wells in 1943; actors Beatrice Arthur in 1923 (age 84) and Harvey Keitel in 1939 (age 68); singer Stevie Wonder, born Steveland Hardaway, in 1950 (age 57); former pro basketball star Dennis Rodman in 1961 (age 46); and actress Julianne Phillips in 1960 (age 47).



On this date in history:

In 1607, Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in North America, was founded near the James River in Virginia.

In 1846, the United States declared war on Mexico.

In 1981, Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca wounded Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square. The pope later, from his hospital bed, forgave his assailant.

In 1985, 11 people died when a Philadelphia police helicopter bombed the fortified house of a radical organization, MOVE, to end a 24-hour siege. The ensuing fire destroyed 53 homes.

In 1989, U.S. President George H.W. Bush called for the overthrow of Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega.

In 1991, Winnie Mandela was convicted of being an accessory in the assault of four youths who had been kidnapped and taken to her Soweto, South Africa, home in 1988.

In 1992, astronauts from the shuttle Endeavour made an unprecedented three-man spacewalk to salvage an errant communications satellite.

In 1993, U.S. Defense Secretary Les Aspin announced that research on the Strategic Defense Initiative -- a missile defense project better known as "Star Wars" -- was being discontinued.

In 1994, U.S. President Bill Clinton nominated Judge Stephen Breyer to succeed Justice Harry A. Blackmun on the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1998, as India conducted more nuclear test blasts, U.S. President Bill Clinton announced he would impose economic sanctions against New Delhi as required by the 1994 Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Act.

In 2002, the sex abuse scandal involving Roman Catholic clergy grew violent when a Baltimore priest accused of molesting a youth years earlier was shot by the alleged victim. The following day, a Connecticut priest hanged himself at a Maryland treatment center for priests accused of molestation.

Also in 2002, U.S. President George W. Bush signed a bill that would increase federal payments to farmers by at least $83 billion over 10 years. Congressional critics called it a budget buster.

And, U.S. President George Bush announced that he and Russian President Putin would sign a treaty committing the United States and Russia to a two-thirds reduction in their nuclear arsenal over 10 years.

In 2003, suicide bombers, in four coordinated attacks, killed 34 people in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

In 2004, suspended South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun was restored to power after the Constitutional Court rejected his impeachment.

In 2005, the Pentagon recommended closing 33 major U.S. military bases and installations that will cost 29,000 military and civilian jobs. Another 775 smaller bases would be either shuttered or realigned under the plan.

Also in 2005, Colombian authorities said they made the biggest drug bust in the nation's history when they grabbed 12 tons of cocaine valued at $300 million.

And, government troops in Uzbekistan put down an uprising they blame on Islamic militants. Opponents say the troops fired into crowds and killed hundreds of people.

In 2006, health officials said the virulent bird flu that raised fears of a human pandemic mostly had been snuffed out in Southeast Asia where it claimed its first victims.


A thought for the day: E.B. White wrote, "The trouble with the profit system has always been that it was highly unprofitable to most people."

[Faust Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Faust]

On this date in history


Today is Monday, May 14, the 134th day of 2007 with 231 to follow.
The moon is waning. The morning stars are Mars, Neptune, Uranus and Jupiter. The evening stars are Venus, Mercury and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include English portrait painter Thomas Gainsborough in 1727; Scottish reformer Robert Owen in 1771; opera coloratura soprano Patrice Munsel in 1925 (age 82); singer Bobby Darin in 1936; filmmakers George Lucas ("Star Wars") in 1944 (age 63) and Robert Zemeckis ("Forrest Gump") in 1952 (age 55); and actor Tim Roth in 1961 (age 46).



On this date in history:

In 1643, King Louis XIV, who would be known as "The Sun King," became ruler of France.

In 1796, Dr. Edward Jenner, a rural England physician, tested his smallpox vaccine on a healthy 8-year-old boy.

In 1804, one year after the United States doubled its territory with the Louisiana Purchase, the Lewis and Clark expedition left St. Louis on a mission to explore the Northwest from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean.

In 1904, the Olympic Games were held in the United States for the first time, in St. Louis.

In 1942, the U.S. Congress established the WAACs, the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps, for World War II duty.

In 1948, Jewish Agency Chairman David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the State of Israel, establishing the first Jewish state in 2,000 years.

In 1973, the United States launched Skylab, its first manned orbiting laboratory.

In 1988, a church bus hit a pickup truck going the wrong way near Carrollton, Ky., killing 27 bus passengers, mostly teenagers.

In 1990, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev ruled illegal Estonia's and Latvia's declarations of transition toward independence.

In 1991, U.S. President George H.W. Bush nominated Robert M. Gates for director of the CIA, a position he was denied four years earlier due to the Iran-Contra investigation.

In 1992, Lyle Alzado, NFL lineman-turned-actor/businessman, died of brain cancer, which he had blamed on steroid abuse.

In 1997, Russia and the NATO nations agreed on a treaty that cleared the way for NATO expansion to the east.

In 1998, Frank Sinatra died after suffering a heart attack. He was 82.

Also in 1998, a U.S. judge dismissed involuntary manslaughter charges against a former FBI agent in the 1992 shooting at the cabin of white separatist Randy Weaver in Ruby Ridge, Idaho.

In 2000, hundreds of thousands of mothers and other gun-control advocates marched in Washington and several other cities, demanding "sensible" gun laws and mourning the loss of children to gun violence. It was known as the "Million Mom March."

In 2002, three gunmen killed 34 people in Jammu, capital of India's disputed state of Kashmir. A Pakistan-based militant group was blamed.

In 2003, sheriff's deputies in Victoria, Texas, found as many as 100 people stuffed into a truck operated by smugglers of illegal aliens. Nineteen had died of the heat.

Also in 2003, the second bombing in two days in Chechnya killed 16 people.

In 2004, U.S. authorities released 315 Iraqi prisoners from Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison amid the investigation into prisoner abuse by U.S. soldiers.

Also in 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to block gay marriages in Massachusetts, making it the only state at the time to allow same-sex weddings.

In 2006, convicted Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui began serving his life sentence at a maximum-security federal prison in Colorado.

Also in 2006, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia would not return to Cold War policies but would instead patiently develop relations with the West.



A thought for the day: William Hazlitt said, "Spleen can subsist on any kind of food."

[Faust Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Faust]

On this date in history

Today is Tuesday, May 15, the 135th day of 2007 with 230 to follow.
The moon is waning. The morning stars are Mars, Neptune, Uranus and Jupiter. The evening stars are Venus, Mercury and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include(csmith113-ts4ms) author L. Frank Baum ("The Wizard of Oz") in 1856; French chemist Pierre Curie in 1859; author Katherine Anne Porter in 1890; former Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley in 1902; actors Joseph Cotten in 1905 and James Mason in 1909; country singer Eddy Arnold in 1918 (age 89); actress Anna Maria Alberghetti in 1936 (age 71); former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in 1937 (age 70); singers Trini Lopez in 1937 (age 70) and Lainie Kazan in 1940 (age 67); filmmaker David Cronenberg in 1943 (age 64); and actor Chazz Palminteri in 1951 (age 56).





On this date in history:

In 1918, the first regular U.S. air mail service was established between Washington and New York City.

In 1930, Ellen Church became the first airline stewardess, flying on a United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Cheyenne, Wyo.

In 1940, nylon stockings went on sale in U.S. stores for the first time.

In 1941, the jet-propelled Gloster-Whittle E 28/39 aircraft flew over Cranwell, England, in the first successful test of an Allied aircraft using jet propulsion.

In 1962, Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper was launched into space atop an Atlas rocket and completed 22 orbits.

In 1969, Justice Abe Fortas, under fire for a money deal with jailed financier Louis Wolfson, resigned from the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1972, Alabama Gov. George Wallace was shot and crippled at a presidential campaign rally in Laurel, Md.

In 1988, Soviet forces began their withdrawal from Afghanistan in compliance with the Geneva accords.

In 1990, at an auction, Japanese millionaire Ryoei Saito bid a record $82.5 million for Van Gogh's 1890 "Portrait of Dr. Gachet." Two days later, he spent $78.1 million for Renoir's 1876 "Au Moulin De La Galette," also a record.

n 1991, Edith Cresson, a Socialist and former trade minister, became the first woman prime minister of France.

In 1992, the United States warned Saddam Hussein that allied military forces may "respond" if his troops attempted to repress Kurdish elections in northern Iraq.

In 2000, in a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated a federal law allowing victims of rape, domestic violence, etc., to sue their attackers in federal court.

In 2002, the White House said that President George W. Bush had received a CIA briefing in August 2001, the month before the terrorist attack on New York and Washington, warning that Osama bin Laden planned to hijack airplanes but nothing was said about possibly crashing them into buildings.

In 2003, authorities arrested several people who allegedly had planned attacks on the U.S. Embassy and other targets in Lebanon.

Also in 2003, New York scientists uncovered a natural cancer-fighting mechanism that could help make tumors more vulnerable to radiation therapy.

In 2004, the State Department warned that tensions in Iraq had increased the potential threat to U.S. citizens and interests abroad.

In 2005, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a surprise visit to Iraq to voice support for its new government and urge involvement of more Sunnis.

Also in 2005, Uzbek security forces were reported to have sealed off the center of Andijan where as many as 450 people may have been killed during anti-government protests.

In 2006, the U.S. State Department said it would restore diplomatic relations with Libya for the first time since 1980 and remove the country from its terrorism sponsors list.


A thought for the day: Samuel Butler said, "The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself, too."

[Faust Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Faust]

On this date in history



Today is Wednesday, May 16, the 136th day of 2007 with 229 to follow.
The moon is new. The morning stars are Mars, Neptune, Uranus and Jupiter. The evening stars are Venus, Mercury and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include ((bigfrank-ts4ms);( melschey-ts4ms); William Seward, secretary of State whose purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million was called "Seward's Folly," in 1801; banker Levi Morton, U.S. vice president under Benjamin Harrison, in 1824; David Hughes, inventor of the microphone, in 1831; actor Henry Fonda in 1905; author Studs Terkel in 1912 (age 95); bandleader Woody Herman in 1913; entertainer Liberace in 1919; former New York Yankees manager Billy Martin in 1928; actor Pierce Brosnan in 1953 (age 54); Olympic gold medal gymnast Olga Korbut and actress Debra Winger, both in 1955 (age 51); actress Mare Winningham in 1959 (age 48); singer Janet Jackson in 1966 (age 41); actress Tracey Gold in 1969 (age 38); tennis player Gabriela Sabatini in 1970 (age 37); and actors David Boreanaz ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Angel") in 1969 (age 38) and Tori Spelling in 1973 (age 34).






On this date in history:
In 1804, the French Senate declared Napoleon Bonaparte emperor.
In 1871, U.S. Marines landed in Korea in an unsuccessful attempt to open the country to foreign trade.
In 1929, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded the first Oscars. "Wings" was named Best Picture.
In 1969, the unmanned Soviet spacecraft Venus-5 landed on the surface of Venus.
In 1988, U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop described nicotine as addictive as heroin or cocaine and called for the licensing of tobacco product vendors.
In 1991, 13 of the 15 Soviet republics agreed on an emergency economic plan to ban strikes while increasing wages and worker productivity.
In 1992, a poll showed 1-in-8 Southern California households were victimized within the last two years by crimes involving firearms.
In 1995, the leader of a Japanese religious cult was charged with murder and attempted murder in the March nerve-gas attacks in a Tokyo subway that killed 12 people and injured more than 5,000.
In 1997, U.S. President Bill Clinton apologized for the "Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male," which was conducted from 1932-72.
Also in 1997, Mobutu Sese Seko -- who'd ruled Zaire for more than 30 years, allegedly looting it of billions of dollars -- fled the capital as rebel forces advanced. The rebels entered the city the next day and Laurent Kabila declared himself head of state.
In 2003, suicidal terrorists set off five bombs simultaneously in Casablanca, Morocco, killing 41 and injuring about 100.
In 2004, U.S. Border Patrol agents said confusion over U.S. President George Bush's proposed guest-worker program for illegal immigrants fueled a rush at the southwest border from Mexico that threatened to overwhelm the patrol.

A thought for the day: From "H.M.S. Pinafore" comes these lines: "Things are seldom what they seem; Skim milk masquerades as cream."

[Faust Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Faust]

On this date in history


Today is Thursday, May 17, the 137th day of 2007 with 228 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include (NativeCracker-ts4ms) English physician Edward Jenner, developer of the smallpox vaccine, in 1749; English writer Robert Surtees in 1805; Schuyler Wheeler, inventor of the electric fan, in 1860; French composer Erik Satie in 1866; Negro League baseball player James "Cool Papa" Bell in 1903; actress Maureen O'Sullivan in 1911; actor/director Dennis Hopper in 1936 (age 71); actors Bill Paxton in 1955 (age 52) and Bob Saget in 1956 (age 51); and boxer Sugar Ray Leonard in 1956 (age 51).






On this date in history:

In 1792, 24 brokers met in New York City and formed the New York Stock Exchange.

In 1875, Aristides was the winner of the first Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.

In 1954, in a major civil rights victory, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.

In 1973, the U.S. Senate Watergate Committee opened hearings into the break-in at Democratic National headquarters in Washington.

In 1987, two Iraqi Exocet missiles hit the frigate USS Stark in the Persian Gulf, killing 37 seamen. Iraq apologized for mistaking the ship's identity and the Stark's top officers were reprimanded and retired.

In 1989, 1 million people demonstrated for democratic reforms in Beijing. The number of students fasting reached 3,000.

In 1994, the U.N. Security Council approved sending troops to secure the airport in the civil war-torn African nation of Rwanda.

Also in 1994, a 30-year dictatorship ended in Malawi with the election of a new president in the African nation.

In 1995, a preliminary report by the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics found "substantial credible evidence" that Sen. Bob Packwood, R-Ore., made unwanted sexual advances toward a number of women.

In 1999, Israel's hawkish prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, lost his bid for re-election as Israeli voters elected Ehud Barak, head of the center-left Israel One coalition, as their new prime minister.

In 2000, prosecutors in Birmingham, Ala., charged two longtime suspects in the deaths of four girls in a church bombing in 1963 that became a watershed event in the civil rights movement. The suspects would be convicted in May 2001.

In 2004, the president of the Iraqi Governing Council, Ezzedine Salim, was assassinated in Baghdad by a suicide bomber.

Also in 2004, Massachusetts became the first state to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

In 2005, Los Angeles voters elected Antonio Villaraigosa as the city's first Hispanic mayor since 1872.

Also in 2005, the White House challenged a leaked high-level British memo that said intelligence was being skewed to support invading Iraq.

In 2006, a $200 billion class action lawsuit accused U.S. telephone companies Verizon, BellSouth and AT&T of allegedly sharing customer calling patterns with the government.


A thought for the day: Frank Lloyd Wright said, "The physician can bury his mistakes but the architect can only advise his clients to plant vines."

[Faust Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Faust]

On this date in history



Today is Friday, May 18, the 138th day of 2007 with 227 to follow.

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


Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include(Glitter ts4ms); English philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell in 1872; German architect Walter Gropius, founder of the Bauhaus, in 1883; film director Frank Capra ("It Happened One Night," "It's a Wonderful Life") in 1897; American composer Meredith Willson ("The Music Man") in 1902; singer Perry Como and director/screenwriter Richard Brooks ("Key Largo," "Elmer Gantry"), both in 1912; ballet dancer Margot Fonteyn in 1919; Pope John Paul II, born Karol Wojtyla, in 1920; actors Pernell Roberts in 1928 (age 79) and Robert Morse in 1931 (age 76); former baseball star Reggie Jackson in 1946 (age 61); country singer George Strait in 1952 (age 55); and actor Chow Yun-Fat in 1955 (age 52).





On this date in history:

In 1860, the Republican Party nominated Abraham Lincoln for U.S. president at its convention in Chicago.

In 1933, the U.S. Congress created the Tennessee Valley Authority for flood control and rural electrification.

In 1944, Allied troops captured Monte Cassino in Italy after one of the longest and bloodiest battles of World War II.

In 1979, a U.S. court jury in Oklahoma City awarded $10.5 million to the estate of Karen Silkwood, a laboratory technician contaminated by radiation at a Kerr-McGee plutonium plant in 1974.

In 1980, Mount St. Helen's in southwestern Washington state erupted, blowing the top off the mountain and killing at least 55 people.

In 1990, East and West Germany signed a treaty for economic, monetary and social union. West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl said the pact marked the "birth of a free and unified Germany."

In 1991, chemist Helen Sharmon became the first Briton in space when she blasted off from the Baikonur Space Center aboard a Soviet spacecraft,

In 1992, bandleader Lawrence Welk, whose bubbly champagne dance music made him a millionaire, died at age 89.

In 1994, the last Israeli soldiers pulled out of the Gaza Strip as Palestinian police took their place.

In 2003, Morocco's King Mohamed VI personally oversaw the investigation into the suicide bombings that killed 41 and wounded another 100 in Casablanca.

In 2004, Sonia Gandhi, a member through marriage of India's dominant political family, declined to accept the post of prime minister after her Indian National Congress party had won an upset victory in parliamentary elections.

In 2004 sports, Randy Johnson, Arizona's 40-year-old lefthander, pitched a perfect game in a 2-0 win over Atlanta. He was the oldest major league pitcher to accomplish that feat.

In 2005, the White House confirmed that a grenade found on May 10 in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi was capable of exploding and had posed a threat to U.S. President George Bush who spoke nearby. Earlier, officials said it was a harmless training device.

In 2006, the U.S. House narrowly passed a $2.7 trillion federal budget bill, similar to a Senate version the day before. The Senate also approved building 370 miles of heavy fencing along the Mexican border for $1 billion.

Also in 2006, a wave of bombings, executions and kidnapping swept Iraq with an many as 26 soldiers, police and civilian killed. Fifteen members of Iraq's tae kwon do Olympic team were reported kidnapped.



A thought for the day: Lewis Mumford wrote, "Our national flower is the concrete cloverleaf."

[Faust Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Faust]

On this date in history:

Today is Saturday, May 19, the 139th day of 2007 with 226 to follow.
This is Armed Forces Day.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include American-born Nancy Astor, the first woman member of the British Parliament, in 1879; Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh in 1890; Black Muslim leader Malcolm X in 1925; playwright Lorraine Hansberry ("A Raisin in the Sun") in 1930; journalist Jim Lehrer in 1934 (age 73); actor/TV talk show host David Hartman in 1935 (age 72); actor James Fox in 1939 (age 68); author Nora Ephron in 1941 (age 66); British rock star Pete Townshend in 1945 (age 62); and actress/model/singer Grace Jones in 1952 (age 55).


On this date in history:

In 1536, Anne Boleyn, the second of King Henry VIII's six wives and mother of Queen Elizabeth I, was beheaded.

In 1588, the Spanish Armada, assembled to invade England, set sail from Lisbon.

In 1935, T.E. Lawrence, known as "Lawrence of Arabia," died in a motorcycle accident in England.

In 1964, it was revealed that U.S. diplomats had found at least 40 secret microphones hidden in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.

In 1986, in the first direct talks between China and Taiwan in 37 years, Beijing agreed to return a cargo jet flown to the mainland by a defecting Nationalist pilot.

In 1992, U.S. President George H.W. Bush ordered the creation of a human fetal tissue bank for medical research.

In 1993, the Dow Jones industrial average closed at a record high -- 3,500.03.

Also in 1993, the White House announced that all seven staff members of the White House travel office had been dismissed in the so-called Travel-gate furor.

In 1994, former U.S. first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis died at age 64.

In 2003, President George W. Bush said the administration-backed "road map" for Middle East peace still stood despite a flurry of terrorist attacks in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Also in 2003, the World Health Organization said Taiwan reported 70 new cases of SARS and five more deaths, making it the most rapidly growing outbreak at the time.

In 2004, a staff report of the commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks criticized aspects of the response and rescue efforts, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani defended the overall endeavor but acknowledged that "some terrible mistakes" were made.

In 2005, South Korean researchers said they had developed a highly efficient method for human cloning. The following day, British scientists at Newcastle University announced they had cloned their first human embryo using a method called nuclear transfer.

In 2006, a U.N. committee urged the United States to close all secret "war on terror" detention facilities abroad and at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The White House said that all interrogations at Guantanamo are within U.S. law.


A thought for the day: Lots of people have written that "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," but the first person to write it in precisely those words was Margaret Wolfe Hungerford.

[Faust Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Faust]

On this date in history



Today is Sunday, May 20, the 140th day of 2007 with 225 to follow.
The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Mars, Neptune, Uranus and Jupiter. The evening stars are Venus, Mercury and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include William Thornton, architect of the Capitol building in Washington, in 1759; Dolley Madison, wife of the fourth U.S. president James Madison, in 1768; French novelist Honore de Balzac in 1799; English philosopher and economist John Stuart Mill in 1806; German Emile Berliner, inventor of the flat phonograph record, in 1851; actor James Stewart in 1908; Israeli military commander and politician Moshe Dayan in 1915; comedian George Gobel in 1919; actor Anthony Zerbe in 1936 (age 71); British singer/songwriter Joe Cocker in 1944 (age 63); singer/actress Cher in 1946 (age 61); Ronald Prescott Reagan, son of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, in 1958 (age 49); and actor Bronson Pinchot in 1959 (age 48).




On this date in history:

In 1506, Christopher Columbus died in Spain.

In 1927, Charles Lindbergh took off from New York in his single-engine monoplane, "The Spirit of St. Louis," bound for Paris. He landed 33 1/2 hours later, completing the first solo, non-stop trans-Atlantic flight.

1974, Judge John Sirica ordered U.S. President Richard Nixon to turn over tapes and other records of 64 White House conversations on the Watergate affair.

In 1989, Chinese Premier Li Peng declared martial law in Beijing in response to heightened student demonstrations in Tiananmen Square.

In 1991, national elections in India sparked political violence that left 40 dead and hundreds injured.

In 1992, convicted killer Roger Keith Coleman, who waged an unprecedented media blitz to win a new trial but failed to pass a lie detector test in his final hours, died in Virginia's electric chair for raping and killing his sister-in-law.

In 1993, U.S. President Bill Clinton signed the so-called motor voter bill, making it easier to register to vote.

In 1995, the two-block stretch of Pennsylvania Ave. in front of the White House was closed to traffic.

In 1996, the United Nations agreed to let Iraq sell oil for the first time since the Gulf War if it complied with the terms of the cease-fire.

In 1999, a high school student in Georgia opened fire on his classmates, wounding six of them before surrendering to school authorities. The same day, U.S. President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton met in Littleton, Colo., with students, teachers and families of the victims of the previous month's deadly shootings at Columbine High School.

In 2002, East Timor, a small Pacific Coast nation, gained its independence from Indonesia.

In 2003, North Korea warned that South Korea would suffer an "unspeakable disaster" if it supports Washington's hard-line stance over Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.

In 2004, U.S. forces and Iraqi police raided the Baghdad offices of key U.S. ally and Shiite leader Ahmed Chalabi. He had been accused of having misinformed the Pentagon about the situation in pre-war Iraq and was accused in one report of passing U.S. intelligence to Iran.

In 2005, U.S. first lady Laura Bush opened a Middle East tour in Jordan, followed by appearances in Israel, the West Bank and Egypt. She encountered demonstrators at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

In 2006, in an unprecedented move, the FBI searched the Capitol Hill office of U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., in an ongoing bribery investigation.

Also in 2006, Iraq's Parliament approved a new Cabinet although three key ministerial posts -- Defense, Security and Interior -- were left open so opposing parties could work out a compromise.

In 2006 sports, Barbaro, the unbeaten Kentucky Derby winner, entered the Preakness a heavy favorite but was knocked out of the race shortly after it began when he fractured his left hind leg. It ended his racing career and eventually, led to his death. The race was won by Bernardini, owned by the Dubai royal family.



A thought for the day: Friedrich Nietzsche said, "Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."