On this date in history

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On this date in history



Today is Saturday, April 14, the 104th day of 2007 with 261 to follow.
The moon is waning. The morning stars are Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. The evening stars are Venus and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aries. They include Dutch physicist Christian Huygens, founder of the wave theory of light, in 1629; Anne Sullivan, the "miracle worker" who taught a blind and deaf Helen Keller, in 1866; English historian Arnold Toynbee in 1889; British actor John Gielgud in 1904; Haitian dictator Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier in 1907; actors Rod Steiger in 1925 and Bradford Dillman in 1930 (age 77); country singer Loretta Lynn in 1935 (age 72); former New York City police detective Frank Serpico in 1936 (age 71); actress Julie Christie and former baseball star and manager Pete Rose, both in 1941 (age 66); and actors Robert Carlyle in 1961 (age 46); Anthony Michael Hall in 1968 (age 39) and Sarah Michelle Gellar ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer") in 1977 (age 30).


On this date in history:

In 1828, Noah Webster published his "American Dictionary of the English Language." It was the first dictionary of American English to be published.

In 1861, the flag of the Confederacy was raised over Fort Sumter, S.C., as Union troops there surrendered in the early days of the Civil War.

In 1865, John Wilkes Booth shot U.S. President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theater in Washington. Lincoln died the next morning. He was succeeded by Vice President Andrew Johnson.

In 1983, U.S. President Ronald Reagan denied he was trying to overthrow the leftist Nicaraguan government.

In 1986, U.S. warplanes struck Libya in the biggest U.S. airstrike since the Vietnam War. Libya claimed 40 people were killed.

In 1991, U.S. troops began withdrawing from southern Iraq into buffer zones.

Also in 1991, in a short-lived art theft, 20 major paintings by Van Gogh were stolen from an Amsterdam museum by two gunmen. The paintings were found abandoned 35 minutes later.

In 1992, a federal appeals court in New York ruled that hotel magnate Leona Helmsley, 71, must go to prison for tax evasion.

In 1993, 12 top former Communist officials went on trial charged with treason in the August 1991 coup attempt that hastened the fall of the Soviet Union.

Also in 1993, violence raged throughout South Africa as hundreds of thousands of blacks protested the slaying of popular Communist Party Chief Chris Hani.

In 1994, executives representing seven major tobacco companies told a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee that they did not believe cigarettes were addictive.

Also in 1994, in what was called a tragic mistake, two U.S. warplanes shot down two U.S. Army helicopters in northern Iraq's so-called "no fly" zone. All 26 people aboard, including 15 Americans, were killed.

In 1997, comedian Ellen DeGeneres revealed she was a lesbian in an interview with Time magazine. Her ABC-TV sitcom did not long survive her revelation.

In 2000, the Dow Jones industrial index fell 7.3 percent for the week in its worst performance since 1989.

In 2002, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell met with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in an unsuccessful effort to ease tensions with Israel and stop a wave of suicide bombings.

In 2003, U.S. military officials declared that the principal fighting in Iraq was over after Marines captured Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's home town.

Also in 2003, as looting became widespread in Iraq, U.S. Marines and Iraqi policemen began joint security patrols in Baghdad.

In 2004, U.S. President George W. Bush said he will meet the June 30 deadline to transfer sovereignty to Iraq but warned the going may become more difficult.

In 2005, several indictments were handed down in the U.N. oil-for-food program. A U.S. oil trader was charged with making kickbacks to Iraqis to win contracts.

Also in 2005, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration began enforcing a ban on all types of lighters on planes and in the secure areas of airports.

And, a wave of violence in several parts of Iraq killed about 30 people over the next three days, focusing mostly on police officers.

In 2006, despite growing criticism against U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his role in the Iraq war, including calls for his resignation from several retired generals, President George Bush said Rumsfeld still had his full support. His leadership, the president said, is "critical."


A thought for the day: Abraham Lincoln said, "If there is anything that a man can do well, I say let him do it. Give him a chance."

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On this date in history


Today is Sunday, April 15, the 105th day of 2007 with 260 to follow.
The moon is waning. The morning stars are Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. The evening stars are Venus and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aries. They include Italian painter and inventor Leonardo da Vinci in 1452; British polar explorer James Clark Ross in 1800; author Henry James in 1843; painter Thomas Hart Benton in 1889; actress Marian Jordan, who played "Molly" in the long-running "Fibber McGee and Molly" radio show, in 1897; Harold Washington, the first black mayor of Chicago, in 1922; country singer Roy Clark in 1933 (age 74); actresses Elizabeth Montgomery in 1933, Claudia Cardinale in 1938 (age 69), and Amy Wright in 1950 (age 57); newspaper columnist Heloise Cruse Evans ("Hints from Heloise") in 1951 (age 56); and actress Emma Thompson in 1959 (age 48).


On this date in history:

In 1817, the first U.S. public school for the deaf, Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons (now the American School for the Deaf), was founded at Hartford, Conn.

In 1861, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln sent Congress a message recognizing a state of war with the Southern states and calling for 75,000 volunteer soldiers.

In 1865, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln died of an assassin's bullet. Vice President Andrew Johnson was sworn in as chief executive.

In 1912, the luxury liner "Titanic" sank in the northern Atlantic Ocean off Newfoundland after striking an iceberg the night before. Some 1,500 lives were lost.

In 1955, the first franchised McDonald's was opened in Des Plaines, Ill., by Ray Kroc, who got the idea from a hamburger restaurant in San Bernardino, Calif., run by the McDonald brothers.

In 1985, U.S. officials in Seattle indicted 23 members of a neo-Nazi group for robbery and murder. Ten gang members were convicted and sentenced to 40 to 100 years in prison.

In 1991, the European Community lifted its remaining economic sanctions against South Africa, allowing the import of gold coins, iron and steel -- despite pleas by the African National Congress to continue the sanctions.

In 1996, Tokyo and Washington agreed on a gradual return of U.S. military bases on Okinawa to Japan.

In 1998, Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge leader who presided over a reign of terror in Cambodia in the late 1970s, died at a jungle outpost near the Cambodian-Thailand border.

In 1999, astronomers announced they had discovered evidence of a planetary system in the constellation Andromeda. At the time it was the only known such system other than our own.

In 2003, more than 100 Iraqis protested in Baghdad against what they called the U.S. military occupation, shouting "Death to America ... Death to Bush."

In 2004, the U.S. Department of Defense announced it was extending the tours of duty of some 21,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, going back on a promise made last year to keep deployments to 12 months.

In 2005, investigators in Paris say the early morning hotel fire that killed 20 people was accidental. At least 50 people were injured.

In 2006, British Prime Minister Tony Blair reportedly warned U.S. President Bush not to count on Britain for any military help for an attack on Iran.

Also in 2006, an Iraqi reporter in a Baghdad religious complex for a story interview was allegedly killed in a controversial raid conducted by U.S. and Iraqi troops.


A thought for the day: "The reason that there are so few good books written is that so few people who write know anything." Walter Bagehot said that.

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On this date in history

Today is Monday, April 16, the 106th day of 2007 with 259 to follow.
The moon is waning. The morning stars are Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. The evening stars are Venus and Saturn.

Those born this date are under the sign of Aries. They (Dustijam-ts4ms)
include French writer Anatole France in 1844; aviation pioneer Wilbur Wright in 1867; movie legend Charlie Chaplin in 1889; British actor Peter Ustinov in 1921; composer/conductor Henry Mancini in 1924; jazz flutist Herbie Mann in 1930; singer Bobby Vinton in 1935 (age 72); former basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1947 (age 60); actors Ellen Barkin in 1954 (age 53) and Jon Cryer and Martin Lawrence, both in 1965 (age 42); and Tejeno singer Selena (Quintanilla) in 1971.





On this date in history:

In 1862, the U.S. Congress abolished slavery in the District of Columbia.

In 1947, in Texas City's port on Galveston Bay, a fire aboard the French freighter Grandcamp ignited ammonium nitrate and other explosive materials in the ship's hold, causing a massive blast that destroyed much of the city and claimed nearly 600 lives.

In 1972, Apollo 16 blasted off on an 11-day moon mission with three U.S. astronauts aboard.

In 1975, the government of Cambodia asked communist insurgents for a cease-fire and offered to turn power over to them.

In 1991, the first Jewish settlement under the Israeli government opened in the occupied territories, defying a U.S. request to stop such settlement activity in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In 1992, the U.S. House of Representatives ethics committee released the names of more than 300 check-bouncers, ending an inquiry into the House bank scandal that rocked the U.S. Congress and raised havoc in election campaigns.

Also in 1992, the FDA ruled silicone breast implants may be returned to market, but only with severe restrictions limiting them to women who have urgent need.

In 1998, tornadoes killed 10 people in Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee.

In 1999, hockey legend Wayne Gretzky announced his retirement from the NHL after 21 years.

In 2002, the premier and members of his Dutch government resigned after a report faulted them, along with the United Nations, for a 1995 massacre of 7,500 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica, Bosnia.

In 2005, Sudan said initial oil drilling operations in the troubled Darfur region indicate there is abundant oil in the area.

In 2006, Iranian officials said they had 40,000 suicide bombers ready to attack U.S. and British targets in the Middle East if Iran's nuclear facilities are attacked.


A thought for the day: cartoon character Ziggy advises, "You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses."

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On this date in history


Today is Tuesday, April 17, the 107th day of 2007 with 258 to follow.
The moon is new. The morning stars are Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. The evening stars are Venus and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aries. They include American industrialist and financier J.P. Morgan in 1837; Danish author Karen Blixen ("Out of Africa"), who wrote under the name Isak Dinesen, in 1885; Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in 1894; novelist and playwright Thornton Wilder in 1897; actor William Holden in 1918; television journalist Harry Reasoner in 1923; music promoter Don Kirshner in 1934 (age 73), and actress Olivia Hussey in 1951 (age 56).


On this date in history:

In 1421, the sea broke the dikes at Dort, Holland, drowning an estimated 100,000 people.

In 1521, Martin Luther was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church after refusing to admit to charges of heresy.

In 1524, Italian navigator Giovanni Verrazano discovered New York Harbor.

In 1790, American statesman, printer, scientist and writer Benjamin Franklin died in Philadelphia at age 84.

In 1961, a force of anti-Castro Cuban rebels began what was to end as the ill-fated "Bay of Pigs" attempt to overthrow Cuba's new Communist government.

In 1964, Jerrie Mock of Columbus, Ohio, became the first woman to complete a solo flight around the world.

In 1970, with the world anxiously watching via television, Apollo 13, a U.S. lunar spacecraft that suffered a severe malfunction on its journey to the moon, safely returned to Earth.

In 1989, the Polish labor union Solidarity was granted legal status after nearly a decade of struggle and suppression, clearing the way for the downfall of Poland's Communist Party.

In 1991, the Dow Jones industrial average closed above 3,000 for the first time, at 3,004.46.

In 1993, a federal court jury convicted two Los Angeles police officers of violating Rodney King's civil rights in the black motorist's 1991 arrest and beating. Two other officers were acquitted.

In 1997, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich announced that former Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., would lend him the money to pay his fines after the Georgia Republican admitted to using tax-exempt donations for political activities.

In 2000, with an eye toward China, the Clinton administration decided not to sell Taiwan all the weapons it had requested.

In 2001, Mississippi voters, by a 2-1 ratio, decided to keep their state flag, which includes the Confederate battle cross in the upper left-hand corner.

In 2003, billionaire philanthropist John Paul Getty Jr. died at a London hospital. Getty, who was being treated for a chest infection, was 70.

Also in 2003, EU leaders called on the United Nations to be given a "central role" in the post-war rebuilding of Iraq.

In 2004, the General Accounting Office, looking into the oil-for-food program, administered by the U.N. for Iraq, estimated the Saddam Hussein regime collected more than $11 billion in kickbacks and illegal sales.

Also in 2004, the Israeli army confirmed it had killed the new Hamas leader, Abdel Aziz Rantissi, who had headed the militant group less than a month after his predecessor also was assassinated.

In 2005, 115 Roman Catholic cardinals gathered in the Vatican to begin the secret selection of a new pope.

In 2006, former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, a Republican, was convicted of 18 felony counts, including racketeering conspiracy and tax and mail fraud.

Also in 2006, at least 63 people were killed when a bus full of Mexican tourists plunged nearly 800 feet off a cliff in eastern Mexico between Vera Cruz and Mexico City.


A thought for the day: Rudyard Kipling wrote, "Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind."

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On this date in history



Today is Friday, April 20, the 110th day of 2007 with 255 to follow.
The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. The evening stars are Venus and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include French Emperor Napoleon III in 1808; sculptor Daniel Chester French, creator of "The Minute Man" statue, in 1850; Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler in 1889; silent film comedian Harold Lloyd and Spanish surrealist painter Joan Miro, both in 1893; U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens in 1920 (age 87); actress Nina Foch in 1924 (age 83); actor Ryan O'Neal in 1941 (age 66); actress Jessica Lange in 1949 (age 58); singer Luther Vandross in 1951; and actors Carmen Electra in 1972 (age 35) and Joey Lawrence in 1976 (age 31).



On this date in history:

In 735 B.C., according to the Roman historian Varro, Romulus founded the city of Rome.

In 1653, Oliver Cromwell -- Puritan, revolutionary and Lord Protector of England -- dissolved Parliament to rule by decree.

In 1871, the U.S. Congress passed the Third Force Act, popularly known as the Ku Klux Act, authorizing President Ulysses S. Grant to declare martial law, impose heavy penalties against terrorist organizations and use military force to suppress the Klan.

In 1902, Marie and Pierre Curie isolated radioactive radium salts from the mineral pitchblende in their laboratory in Paris.

In 1976, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal courts could order low-cost housing for minorities in a city's white suburbs to ease racial segregation.

In 1987, Karl Linnas, sentenced to death by the Soviets in 1962 for running a World War II concentration camp, became the first Nazi war criminal returned by the United States to the Soviet Union against his will.

In 1990, Pete Rose, banished from baseball for gambling, pleaded guilty to two felony counts alleging he concealed nearly $300,000 in income from the Internal Revenue Service.

In 1991, U.S. Marines crossed into northern Iraq to set up camps for Kurds seeking refuge from Iraqi civil strife.

Also in 1991, the United States announced plans to open a temporary office in Hanoi to investigate the unresolved cases of 2,278 U.S. military personnel listed as MIAs and POWs.

In 1992, Madonna signed a multimillion-dollar deal with Time Warner to form an entertainment company that would make her the highest paid female pop star in the world.

In 1998, a federal jury in Chicago awarded more than $85,000 in damages to two women's health clinics that had accused abortion opponents of threats and extortion in an effort to shut them down.

In 1999, two teenage boys killed 12 fellow students and a teacher at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., before turning their guns on themselves.

In 2001, the opening session of the Summit of the Americas was delayed as protesters massed in the streets of Quebec City, Canada. They were demonstrating against a proposed hemisphere-wide free trade area.

Also in 2001, a U.S. missionary and her infant daughter were killed when their plane was fired on by the crew of a Peruvian jetfighter that thought the aircraft was carrying illegal drugs.

In 2002, Pope John Paul II, speaking on the sex scandal that had rocked the Roman Catholic clergy, said bishops must "diligently investigate accusations" against priests who broke their vows of celibacy.

In 2003, the Chinese government admitted it had substantially understated its total of SARS cases.

In 2004, some 21 Iraqi detainees were killed at Abu Ghraib prison, largest facility used by U.S. troops to detain Iraqis, by mortar rounds apparently fired by anti-coalition insurgents. Many others were hurt.

In 2005, more than 50 bodies, believed to be those of hostages, were found in Iraq's Tigris River and another 20 soldiers shot to death were found near Baghdad.

Also in 2005, the trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic at The Hague was interrupted by the former leader's "dangerously high" blood pressure.

In 2006, the United States was reported spending nearly $10 billion a month to sustain the military in Iraq and Afghanistan, up from $8.2 billion a year earlier.

Also in 2006, U.S. President Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao discussed various issues in a Washington meeting, including working against nuclear proliferation and trade imbalance but reached no agreements.


A thought for the day: Richard L. Evans said, "Don't let life discourage you; everyone who got where he is had to begin where he was."

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On this date in history



Today is Saturday, April 21, the 111th day of 2007 with 254 to follow.
The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune and Pluto. The evening stars are Venus and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include (maryk-ts4ms); (emba2005-ts4ms); (dshep-ts4ms); German educator Friedrich Froebel, who established the concept of the kindergarten, in 1782; English novelist Charlotte Bronte in 1816; James Starley, English inventor of the geared bicycle, in 1830; naturalist and author John Muir in 1838; German sociologist Max Weber in 1864; actor Anthony Quinn in 1915; Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in 1926 (age 81); comedian, actress and director Elaine May in 1932 (age 75); actor/director Charles Grodin in 1935 (age 72); rock singer Iggy Pop in 1947 (age 60); actress/singer Patti LuPone in 1949 (age 58); actor Tony Danza in 1951 (age 56); and actress Andie MacDowell in 1958 (age 49).





On this date in history:

In 1836, with the battle cry, "Remember the Alamo!" Texan forces under Sam Houston defeated the army of Mexican Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna at San Jacinto, Texas, opening the door to Texas independence.

In 1918, the notorious German World War I flying ace, Manfred von Richthofen, known as "The Red Baron," was killed by Allied fire over Vauz sur Somme, France.

In 1954, U.S. Air Force planes began flying French troops to Indochina to reinforce Dien Bien Phu. The city later fell to communist Viet Minh forces.

In 1967, a Greek army coup in Athens sent King Constantine into exile in Italy.

In 1975, Nguyen Van Thieu resigned as president of South Vietnam after denouncing the United States as untrustworthy. His replacement, Tran Van Huong, prepared for peace talks with North Vietnam as communist forces advanced on Saigon.

In 1987, the bombing of a bus terminal in Colombo, Sri Lanka, killed 127 people and wounded 288.

In 1992, killer Robert Alton Harris became the first person executed in California's gas chamber in 25 years.

Also in 1992, gas explosions ripped through the historic center of Guadalajara, Mexico, killing more than 200 people and injuring hundreds more.

Also in 1993, the 11-day siege at a prison near Lucasville, Ohio, ended. 10 people died.

In 1995, Timothy McVeigh, 27, arrested 90 minutes after the Oklahoma City federal building explosion because he was driving without license plates, was charged in the bombing.

In 1996, the Olive Tree coalition, including many former communists, won more than a third of all the seats in the lower house of the Italian parliament.

In 2003, Iraq's interim leader, retired U.S. Gen. Jay Garner, arrived in Baghdad amid international debate over how long U.S.-led forces should remain in Iraq.

Also in 2003, China announced an additional four deaths and 109 cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome, indicating SARS was continuing to spread in the country where 86 deaths and close to 2,000 cases already had been reported.

In 2004, a series of coordinated car bombings at police buildings in Basra, Iraq, killed more than 50 people, including about 20 school children.

In 2005, the U.S. Senate approved the nomination of John Negroponte to be the nation's first national intelligence director.

Also in 2005, insurgents shot down a civilian helicopter north of Baghdad, killing all 11 aboard including six U.S. contractors.

And, Brazil granted asylum to former Ecuadorian President Lucio Gutierrez after he was ousted from office.

In 2006, U.S. oil prices hit a record high, topping $75 a barrel, and the cost of regular gasoline at the pump soared to more than $3 gallon in some parts of the nation.

Also in 2006, King Gyanendra, Nepal's embattled monarch, agreed to restore a democratic government to his country.


A thought for the day: it was Marshall McLuhan who said, "There are no passengers on spaceship earth. We are all crew."

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On this date in history



Today is Sunday, April 22, the 112th day of 2007 with 253 to follow.
The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. The evening stars are Venus and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include(Arkansas Winger-ts4ms );( eden62-ts4ms); Spanish Queen Isabella I, who funded the first voyage of Christopher Columbus to the New World, in 1451; English novelist Henry Fielding in 1707; German philosopher Immanuel Kant in 1724; Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, leader of Russia's 1917 Communist revolution, in 1870; pioneer nuclear physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer in 1904; actor Eddie Albert in 1906; violin virtuoso Yehudi Menuhin in 1916; jazz bass player Charles Mingus in 1922; actress Charlotte Rae in 1926 (age 81); TV producer Aaron Spelling in 1923; singer Glen Campbell in 1936 (age 71); actor Jack Nicholson in 1937 (age 70); filmmaker John Waters in 1946 (age 61); pop singer Peter Frampton in 1950 (age 57); actor Ryan Stiles in 1959 (age 48); comedian/TV host Byron Allen in 1961 (age 46); and actor Chris Makepeace in 1964 (age 43).



On this date in history:

In 1500, Brazil was discovered by Pedro Alvarez Cabral.

In 1509, Henry VIII became king of England.

In 1889, some 20,000 homesteaders massed along the border of the Oklahoma Territory, awaiting the signal to start the Oklahoma land rush.

In 1914, Babe Ruth made his professional baseball debut, as a pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles.

In 1915, during World War I, German forces became the first to use poison gas on the Western Front.

In 1972, Apollo 16 astronauts John Young and Charles Duke walked and rode on the surface of the moon for 7 hours, 23 minutes.

In 1985, Jose Sarney was sworn in as Brazil's first civilian president in 21 years.

In 1987, a divided U.S. Supreme Court said capital punishment does not discriminate against blacks.

In 1990, Muslim extremists in Lebanon freed a U.S. hostage for first time in more than three years, releasing college professor Robert Polhill after 39 months in captivity.

In 1991, at least 70 people were killed and 500 more injured when an earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale struck Costa Rica.

In 1993, Gov. Guy Hunt, Alabama's first Republican governor since the Reconstruction, was removed from office after being convicted of felony ethics violations.

In 1994, Richard Nixon, the 37th U.S. president and the only U.S. president to resign his office, died four days after suffering a stroke. He was 81.

In 1997, a 126-day standoff at the Japanese Embassy in Lima ended when Peruvian commandos stormed the building and freed 72 hostages held by the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement. All 14 rebels were killed.

In 2000, in a predawn raid, armed U.S. immigration agents broke into the Miami house where Elian Gonzalez had been staying and took charge of the 6-year-old Cuban refugee, flying him to Washington to be reunited with his Cuban father.

In 2003, hundreds of thousands of Shiites journeyed to Karbala for annual religious observances banned under Saddam Hussein and many called on Americans to go home.

In 2004, former NFL star Pat Tillman, who turned down a lucrative contract with the Arizona Cardinals to join the Army rangers, was killed in Afghanistan. The U.S. military said later he was a victim of friendly fire.

In 2005, Zacarias Moussaoui, the only man charged in the United States in connection with the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, pleaded guilty and could face the death penalty.

In 2006, Iraq's Parliament ratified the selection of Nouri al-Maliki as prime minister, ending a four-month political deadlock.

Also in 2006, incumbent Mayor Ray Nagin was the top vote getter in a field of 21 as New Orleans voters held their first post-Katrina election. He later won a runoff with Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu.


A thought for the day: Confusius said, "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand

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On this date in history



Today is Monday, April 23, the 113th day of 2007 with 252 to follow.
The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. The evening stars are Venus and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include English playwright William Shakespeare in 1564; James Buchanan, 15th president of the United States, in 1791; Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev in 1891; novelist Vladimir Nabokov in 1899; actress/diplomat Shirley Temple Black in 1928 (age 79); singer Roy Orbison in 1936; actors Lee Majors and David Birney, both in 1939 (age 68), Herve Villechaize in 1943; and actresses Sandra Dee in 1942, Joyce DeWitt in 1949 (age 58), Jan Hooks ("Saturday Night Live") in 1957 (age 50), Valerie Bertinelli in 1960 (age 47) and Melina Kanakaredes in 1967 (age 40).


On this date in history:

In 1635, the first public school in America, the Boston Latin School, opened.

In 1898, the first movie theater opened at Koster and Bials Music Hall in New York City.

In 1898, the U.S. government asked for 125,000 volunteers to fight against Spain in Cuba.

In 1965, more than 200 U.S. planes struck North Vietnam in one of the heaviest raids of the Vietnam War.

In 1985, former U.S. Sen. Sam Ervin died at age 88. The North Carolina Democrat directed the Senate Watergate investigation that led to U.S. President Richard Nixon's resignation.

In 1987, an apartment building under construction in Bridgeport, Conn., collapsed, killing 28 construction workers.

In 1990, the West German government bowed to East German demands and agreed to a 1-1 exchange rate between East and West marks, clearing the path to a planned currency union.

In 1991, Virgilio Pablo Paz Romero was arrested for the 1976 car-bomb murder of Chilean Ambassador Orlando Letelier in Washington.

In 1992, former Washington Mayor Marion Barry was released from prison after serving a six-month term for cocaine possession.

And in 1992, McDonald's opened its first restaurant in Beijing.

In 1993, United Farm Workers founder Cesar Chavez died at age 66 of apparent natural causes.

In 2002, Pope John Paul II met at the Vatican with U.S. cardinals to discuss the sexual abuse scandal that had rocked the Roman Catholic clergy. He expressed an apology to victims of abuse, saying what had happened to them was a crime and "an appalling act in the eyes of God."

In 2003, after a 10-day stalemate, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat reached agreement on a new Cabinet with his choice for prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas.

In 2004, U.S. Marines killed about 30 insurgents in a two-day firefight that began on this date outside Fallujah, Iraq.

In 2005, public health officials in Vietnam said they feared the South Asian outbreak of bird flu was likely to spawn a pandemic.

In 2006, Hungary's Socialist-Liberal coalition recaptured government control by a comfortable majority in parliamentary elections.

Also in 2006, the Roman Catholic Church and the Chinese Communist Party reportedly were moving slowly toward normal relations for the first time.



A thought for the day: Douglas Adams observed, "I may not have gone where I intended to go but I think I have ended up where I intended to be."

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On this date in history



Today is Tuesday, April 24, the 114th day of 2007 with 251 to follow.
The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. The evening stars are Venus and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include(jlfernandez5);English novelist Anthony Trollope in 1815; artist Willem DeKooning in 1904; U.S. poet laureate Robert Penn Warren in 1905; actresses Shirley MacLaine in 1934 (age 73) and Jill Ireland in 1936; singer, actress and director Barbra Streisand in 1942 (age 65); Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley in 1942 (age 65); and actors Eric Bogosian in 1953 (age 54) and Michael O'Keefe in 1955 (age 52).





On this date in history:

In 1704, the Boston News Letter became the first American newspaper to be published on a regular basis.

In 1800, the U.S. Congress established the Library of Congress.

In 1877, U.S. troops moved out of New Orleans, ending the North's military occupation of the South following the Civil War.

In 1981, IBM introduced its first personal computer.

In 1986, the Duchess of Windsor, Wallis Warfield Simpson, for whom England's King Edward VIII gave up his throne, died in Paris at age 89.

In 1987, genetically altered bacteria, designed to prevent frost damage, were sprayed on a California strawberry field in the first test of such biotechnology in nature.

In 1991, the first U.N. peacekeeping forces were deployed along the Kuwait-Iraq border.

Also in 1991, Freddie Stowers, a World War I corporal, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor to become the first African-American to receive the highest medal for valor in combat.

In 1993, an IRA bomb blast rocked London's financial district, injuring at least 35 people.

In 1995, the "UNAbomber" struck again: a mail bomb killed Gilbert Murray, president of the California Forestry Association, in Sacramento.

In 1996, U.S. President Bill Clinton signed into law a bill to fight terrorism.

Also in 1996, the Palestinian National Council voted to drop its official commitment to the destruction of Israel.

In 1997, with ratification by the U.S. Senate, the United States became the 75th country to approve the Chemical Weapons Convention.

In 1998, after threats from Russian President Boris Yeltsin and two negative votes, the Russian parliament approved Yeltsin's nomination of Sergei Kiriyenko as the nation's premier.

In 2003, North Korea announced it had nuclear weapons and had begun making bomb-grade plutonium.

n 2004, Greek Cypriot voters overwhelmingly rejected a U.N. plan for the reunification of the divided Mediterranean island.

In 2005, Benedict XVI was installed in Rome as the 265th pope, promising to continue the policies of John Paul II.

In 2006, three coordinated bomb blasts shattered part of the popular Egyptian resort town of Dahab, killing a reported 30 people and injuring more than 115 others.

Also in 2006, police in Kansas and Alaska report breaking up two plots by middle school and high school students for school massacres hours before they were to begin.


A thought for the day: Erica Jong wrote, "Everyone has a talent. What is rare is the courage to nurture it in solitude and to follow the talent to the dark places where it leads."

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On this date in history



Today is Wednesday, April 25, the 115th day of 2007 with 250 to follow.
The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. The evening stars are Venus and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include Oliver Cromwell, lord protector of England, in 1599; Guglielmo Marconi, inventor of the radio telegraph, in 1874; U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Brennan in 1906; pioneer broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow in 1908; singer Ella Fitzgerald in 1917; former Harlem Globetrotters basketball player George "Meadowlark" Lemon III in 1932 (age 75); and actors Al Pacino in 1940 (age 67), Talia Shire in 1946 (age 61), Hank Azaria in 1964 (age 43) and Renee Zellweger in 1969 (age 38).



On this date in history:

In 1507, German geographer and mapmaker Martin Waldseemuller published a book in which he named the newly discovered continent of the New World "America" after the man he mistakenly thought had discovered it, Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci.

In 1859, ground was broken for the Suez Canal at Port Said, Egypt.

In 1862, Union forces captured New Orleans during the Civil War.

In 1898, the U.S. Congress formally declared war on Spain in the battle over Cuba.

In 1901, New York became the first state to require license plates on automobiles.

In 1945, delegates of 46 countries gathered in San Francisco to organize a permanent United Nations.

In 1967, the first law legalizing abortion in the United States was signed into law by Colorado Gov. John Arthur Love.

In 1982, Israel turned over the final third of the occupied Sinai Peninsula to Egypt under the Camp David peace agreement.

In 1990, space shuttle Discovery astronauts released the $1.5 billion Hubble Space Telescope into orbit. The telescope was later determined to be flawed, prompting another space mission to repair it.

Also in 1990, Violeta Chamorro assumed the Nicaraguan presidency, ending more than a decade of leftist Sandinista rule.

In 1991, the United States announced its first financial aid to Hanoi since the 1960s: $1 million to make artificial limbs for Vietnamese disabled during the war.

In 1993, an estimated 300,000 people took part in a gay rights march on the National Mall in Washington.

In 1994, the Japanese Diet elected Tsutomu Hata as prime minister.

In 1995, regular season play by major league baseball teams got under way, the first official action since the longest strike in sports history began in August 1994.

In 1997, a federal district court in Greensboro, N.C., ruled the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had the power to regulate the distribution, sale and use of tobacco products.

In 2000, Vermont approved a measure legalizing "civil unions" among same sex couples becoming the first state in the nation to give homosexual couples the same legal status as heterosexual married couples.

In 2001, the Japanese Diet elected Junichiro Koizumi, a former Health and Welfare minister, as the country's prime minister.

In 2002, Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia presented U.S. President George W. Bush with an Israeli-Palestinian peace proposal and reportedly warned that the United States must do more to stop Israeli incursions in Palestinian territory.

In 2003, Chinese health officials closed a second hospital and ordered about 4,000 people in Beijing to stay home as the number of cases and deaths from severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, continued to surge in the country.

Also in 2003, Farouk Hijazi, the former director of external operations for Iraqi intelligence and a former ambassador to Tunisia and Turkey, was arrested as a suspect in an alleged 1993 Kuwait plot to assassinate former U.S. President George H.W. Bush in Kuwait.

In 2004, hundreds of victims in the North Korea train explosion were reported being treated in an ill-equipped hospital lacking beds and medical equipment. At least 161 people were reported killed and about 1,300 others were wounded.

In 2005, U.S. President George W. Bush and Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia met with skyrocketing oil prices topping the agenda.

Also in 2005, the crash of a Japanese commuter train near Osaka killed more than 70 people and injured more than 300 others.

In 2006, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was greeted in Athens by masked rioters throwing gasoline bombs and stones to protest her arrival.



A thought for the day: U.S. President John F. Kennedy said, "History is a relentless master. It has no present, only the past rushing into the future. To try to hold fast is to be swept aside."

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On this date in history


Today is Thursday, April 26, the 116th day of 2007 with 249 to follow.
The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. The evening stars are Venus and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include naturalist John James Audubon in 1785; landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted in 1822; author Anita Loos in 1893; Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler's deputy, in 1894; inventor Charles Richter, responsible for the Richter scale of earthquake measurement, in 1900; novelist Bernard Malamud in 1914; architect I.M. Pei in 1917 (age 90); actress/comedian Carol Burnett in 1933 (age 74); influential pop guitarist Duane Eddy in 1938 (age 69); pop singer Bobby Rydell in 1942 (age 65); and actors Giancarlo Esposito in 1958 (age 49) and Kevin James in 1965 (age 42).


On this day in history:

In 1607, the first British colonists to establish a permanent settlement in America landed at Cape Henry, Va.

In 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, German-made planes destroyed the Basque town of Guernica, Spain.

In 1986, a fire at the Soviet Union's Chernobyl nuclear reactor north of Kiev resulted in the world's worst nuclear disaster.

In 1992, powerful aftershocks rattled Northern California following a 6.9 earthquake that injured at least 65 people.

In 1993, a domestic Indian airliner slammed into a parked truck during takeoff and crashed near Aurangabad, killing at least 55 of the 118 people aboard.

Also in 1993, gunmen seized the Costa Rica Supreme Court, holding 17 judges and five other people hostage. The assailants freed their hostages three days later and were captured en route to the airport.

And, the U.S. Holocaust Museum opened in Washington.

In 1994, South Africans began going to the polls in the country's first election that was open to all. Four days of voting would elect Nelson Mandela president.

In 1996, an auction of the belongings of Jackie Onassis yielded $34 million, about seven times what Sotheby's auction house had estimated.

In 2002, a German youth who had been expelled from the Gutenberg school in Erfurt, Germany, returned to the school and shot 16 people to death.

In 2003, U.S. officials said a large munitions dump at a coalition-controlled Iraqi army base exploded, sending an errant missile into a neighborhood and killing at least six Iraqi civilians and injuring many more.

In 2005, the last of the Syrian troops left Lebanon, ending a 29-year military presence.

In 2006, solemn commemorative events in Ukraine and Russia marked the 20th anniversary of the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl. The United Nations said about 9,000 people died from the accident but environmental groups claim the real toll is at least 10 times higher.

Also in 2006, U.S. President George Bush appointed Fox News commentator Tony Snow as his press secretary, replacing Scott McClellan.


A thought for the day: "The best proof of love is trust." Dr. Joyce Brothers said that.

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On this date in history



Today is Friday, April 27, the 117th day of 2007 with 248 to follow.
The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. The evening stars are Venus and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include (PerryM-ts4ms) ; English historian Edward Gibbon in 1737; Samuel F.B. Morse, American artist and inventor of magnetic telegraphy, in 1791; Ulysses S. Grant, Civil War general and 18th president of the United States, in 1822; Wallace Carothers, inventor of nylon, in 1896; English poet C. Day Lewis in 1904; actor Jack Klugman in 1922 (age 85); Coretta Scott King, widow of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., in 1927; radio/TV host Casey Kasem in 1932 (age 75), actress Sandy Dennis in 1937; and pop singer Sheena Easton in 1959 (age 48).




On this date in history:

In 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan was killed by natives of the Philippine islands as he attempted to be the first to circumnavigate the world. His co-leader, Juan Sebastian de Elcano, completed the voyage in 1522.

In 1850, the American-owned steamship "The Atlantic" began regular trans-Atlantic passenger service. It was the first U.S. vessel to challenge what had been a British monopoly.

In 1865, the steamship Sultana, heavily overloaded with an estimated 2,300 passengers, most of them Union soldiers en route home, exploded on the Mississippi River just north of Memphis. The death toll in the worst maritime disaster in U.S. history was set at 1,450.

In 1937, the first Social Security payment was made in the United States.

In 1984, an 11-day siege ended at Libya's London embassy that began with the shooting of a policewoman. Britain broke diplomatic relations with Libya over the incident.

In 1987, U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese barred Austrian President Kurt Waldheim from the United States, citing the alleged role of the former U.N. secretary-general in Nazi war crimes.

In 1991, an estimated 70 tornadoes hit Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa, killing 23 people and leaving thousands homeless.

Also in 1991, the first group of Kurdish refugees to return to Iraq arrived by U.S. military helicopter at a safe haven near the Turkish border.

In 1993, Kuwait said it had foiled an Iraqi plot to assassinate former President George H.W. Bush during his visit earlier in the month.

Also in 1993, the final vote tallies showed Russia's Boris Yeltsin winning a solid victory in a referendum on his presidency and economic reforms.

In 1994, former U.S. President Richard Nixon was buried at the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda, Calif.

Also in 1994, fighting flared anew in Rwanda only one day after separate cease-fires by rival tribes took effect.

And in 1994, Virginia executed a condemned killer in the first case in which DNA testing was used to obtain a conviction.

In 2000, New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani announced he had prostate cancer but said he hoped to continue is campaign for the U.S. Senate. He later dropped out of the race.

In 2001, 65 demonstrators were arrested on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques as they protested its use by the U.S. Navy for bombing exercises.

In 2003, Taiwan said it would bar visitors from China, Hong Kong, Canada and Singapore to prevent the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome, widely known as SARS.

In 2004, U.S. congressional Democrats rolled out a plan for winning the war on terror, calling for an intelligence czar and a "Marshall Plan" for the Middle East.

Also in 2004, U.S. military units moved into positions once held by Spanish troops outside the holy city of Najaf, sparking fighting that killed some 40 insurgents.

In 2005, the U.S. State Department said the number of major international terrorist incidents more than tripled to 655 the previous year.

In 2006, a seven-month U.S. Senate committee inquiry said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was "in shambles" and should be replaced with a new agency.

Also in 2006, a senior Israeli intelligence official said Iran has purchased missiles from North Korea with a 1,200-mile range, capable of reaching Europe.

A thought for the day: it was Laurence J. Peter who said, "Fortune knocks but once, but misfortune has much more patience."

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On this date in history



Today is Saturday, April 28, the 118th day of 2007 with 247 to follow.
The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. The evening stars are Venus and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include (sstamm-ts4ms) James Monroe, fifth president of the United States, in 1758; actor Lionel Barrymore in 1878; novelist Harper Lee ("To Kill a Mockingbird") in 1926 (age 81); former Secretary of State James Baker in 1930 (age 77); former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in 1937; actors Carolyn Jones in 1933, Madge Sinclair in 1938 (age 69), Ann-Margret in 1941 (age 66), Marcia Strassman in 1948 (age 59) and Bruno Kirby in 1949; "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno in 1950 (age 57); and actress Penelope Cruz in 1974 (age 33).




On this date in history:

In 1788, Maryland ratified the Constitution, becoming the seventh state of the Union.

In 1789, the most famous of all naval mutinies took place aboard the HMS Bounty en route from Tahiti to Jamaica.

In 1945, fascist leader Benito Mussolini, his mistress and several of his friends were executed by Italian partisans.

In 1975, the last U.S. civilians were evacuated from South Vietnam as North Vietnamese forces tightened their noose around Saigon.

In 1986, the Soviet Union announced the Chernobyl nuclear reactor fire had killed two people, with 197 hospitalized. Nine months later, it reported 31 had died and 231 suffered radiation sickness.

In 1988, an Aloha Airlines Boeing 737 lost an 18-foot chunk of fuselage at 24,000 feet between Hilo and Honolulu, Hawaii, killing a flight attendant. The pilot landed on Maui with the remaining 94 passengers and crew, 61 of them injured.

In 1993, U.S. Defense Secretary Les Aspin opened combat aircraft to military service women and sought a change in the law to allow women to serve on naval combat vessels.

In 1994, the U.S. Navy expelled 24 midshipmen from the U.S Naval Academy in what was said to be the biggest cheating scandal in Annapolis history.

Also in 1994, former CIA officer Aldrich Ames pleaded guilty to spying for the Soviet Union.

In 1996, U.S. President Bill Clinton testified via videotape as a defense witness in the Whitewater land trial.

Also in 1996, a rampage by a gunman in Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia, killed 35 people.

In 2000, 17 U.S. states joined with the federal government in asking a federal judge in the Microsoft anti-trust case to break the company into two parts.

In 2001, California businessman Dennis Tito became the first tourist in space. He reportedly paid Russia's cash-strapped space agency as much as $20 million to give him a ride to the International Space Station.

In 2003, Iraqis said 15 people were killed and about 65 wounded when U.S. soldiers opened fire on a group holding an anti-America rally. U.S. officials said the soldiers were responding to gunfire.

Also in 2003, the SARS outbreak in Beijing escalated rapidly during April with the number of cases reaching 1,199 by month's end.

In 2004, about 100 people were killed when armed insurgents stormed several police stations in southern Thailand.

In 2005, the U.S. Congress approved a $2.56 trillion federal budget for 2006.

Also in 2005, a Shiite-led Cabinet was approved by Iraq's National Assembly for its first freely elected government.

And, the Japanese train wreck death toll hit 106. An express train derailed and smashed into an apartment near Osaka.

In 2006, the U.S. Army officer in charge of Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison in 2003 was charged with taking part in prisoner abuse.

Also in 2006, the United States and Bulgaria signed an agreement to station American troops at three Bulgarian military bases.


A thought for the day: H. Jackson Brown Jr. said, "Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking."

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On this date in history



Today is Monday, April 30, the 120th day of 2007 with 245 days to follow.
The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. The evening stars are Venus and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include (tsj-ts4ms); German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss in 1777; Hungarian composer Franz Lehar, who wrote the operetta "The Merry Widow," in 1870; actresses Eve Arden in 1908 and Cloris Leachman in 1926 (age 81); country singer Willie Nelson in 1933 (age 74); actor Gary Collins in 1938 (age 69); actress Jill Clayburgh in 1944 (age 63); Sweden's King Carl Gustav XVI in 1946 (age 61); actor Perry King in 1948 (age 59); film director Jane Campion ("The Piano") in 1954 (age 53); and actors Johnny Galecki ("Roseanne") in 1975 (age 32) and Kirsten Dunst in 1982 (age 25).





On this date in history:

In 1789, George Washington was inaugurated as the first president of the United States.

In 1803, the United States more than doubled its land area with the Louisiana Purchase. It obtained all French territory west of the Mississippi River for $15 million.

In 1939, Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first U.S. president to appear on television when he was televised on opening day at the New York World's Fair.

In 1945, the burned body of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler was found in a bunker in the ruins of Berlin. Also that day, Soviet troops captured the Reichstag building in Berlin.

In 1948, 21 nations of the Western hemisphere formed the Organization of American States.

In 1967, Muhammad Ali was stripped of his world heavyweight boxing championship title when he refused to be drafted into the military.

In 1970, U.S. President Richard Nixon announced he was sending U.S. troops into Cambodia to destroy the "sanctuaries" from which communist forces from North Vietnam were sending men and material into South Vietnam.

In 1975, South Vietnam unconditionally surrendered to North Vietnam. The communists occupied Saigon and renamed it Ho Chi Minh City.

In 1990, U.S. educator Frank Reed was freed after a 3 1/2-year ordeal as hostage of extremists in Lebanon, becoming the second abducted American freed in Beirut in just more than a week.

Also in 1991, political talks between Roman Catholic nationalists and Protestant unionists in Northern Ireland opened. They were the first such discussions in 15 years.

And in 1991, Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui ended 43 years of emergency rule, authorized elections and renounced the use of force to reunify China.

In 1992, a car driven by an older man crashed into a crowd of schoolchildren on tour at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, killing one child.

In 1993, Monica Seles, the world's No. 1 women's tennis player, was stabbed in the back and wounded by a self-described fan of second-ranked Steffi Graf during a match in Germany.

In 1995, U.S. President Bill Clinton announced the suspension of all U.S. trade with Iran to protest funding of terrorism.

In 1998, a grand jury indicted Webster Hubbell and his wife on tax evasion charges, Hubbell, a close friend and associate of U.S. President Bill Clinton, accused Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth Starr of having him indicted so he would lie about the president.

Also in 1998, the U.S. Senate approved the applications of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland to join NATO.

In 1999, the National Rifle Association had its convention in Denver, despite the Columbine High School shootings in suburban Littleton, Colo., 10 days earlier. The group did shorten the gathering from three days to one.

In 2002, the United States sent 1,000 more troops to eastern Afghanistan along the Pakistan border in an effort to prevent Taliban and al-Qaida forces from regrouping.

In 2003, as of April 30, U.S. forces reported a total of 138 deaths in the Iraq conflict. British troops had 32 dead.

Also in 2003, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said his government would not support the proposed "road map" peace plan until Palestinians stopped anti-Israel violence. But, he said he favored creation of a Palestinian state.

In 2004, the White House condemned alleged mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. troops at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad as intolerable and "despicable."

In 2005, the bodies of 113 people, nearly all women and children, were found in a mass grave in southern Iraq.

Also in 2005, Jennifer Wilbanks, a Georgia woman who attracted national attention when she vanished days before her wedding, turned up in New Mexico, claiming to have been abducted but later admitting she was a "runaway bride."

In 2006, Israel's Prime Minister-designate Ehud Olmert denounced the president of Iran as a psychopath in a newspaper interview and compared him to Adolf Hitler.

Also in 2006, two rebel factions in Sudan rejected a peace agreement in the Darfur conflict. Officials estimate the bloody fighting had killed at least 180,000 and driven more than 2 million from their homes.


A thought for the day: an anonymous wag said, "Bad habits are like a comfortable bed, easy to get into, but hard to get out of."

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On this date in history



Today is Tuesday, May 1, the 121st day of 2007 with 244 to follow.
The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. The evening stars are Venus and Saturn.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. The include Arthur Wellesley, the first duke of Wellington, in 1769; American labor leader Mary Harris "Mother" Jones in 1830; U.S. Army Gen. Mark Clark in 1896; singer Kate Smith in 1907; actor Glenn Ford in 1916; television personality Jack Paar in 1918; author Joseph Heller in 1923; Mercury astronaut Scott Carpenter in 1925 (age 82); and singers Sonny James in 1929 (age 78); Judy Collins in 1939 (age 68), Rita Coolidge in 1945 (age 62) and Tim McGraw in 1967 (age 40).



On this date in history:

In 1884, construction began on the world's first skyscraper -- the 10-story Home Insurance Company building in Chicago.

In 1893, U.S. President Grover Cleveland opened the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

In 1898, during the Spanish-American war, U.S. Navy Adm. George Dewey routed the Spanish fleet in the Philippines.

In 1931, the Empire State Building was dedicated in New York City. It remained the world's tallest building for 40 years.

In 1960, the Soviet Union shot down an American U-2 spy plane flown by Francis Gary Powers, who was captured.

In 1963, James Whittaker of Redmond, Wash., became the first American to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

In 1971, Amtrak, the national passenger rail service that combined the operations of 18 passenger railroads, went into service.

In 1992, U.S. President George H.W. Bush ordered 4,000 military troops into the riot-ravaged streets of Los Angeles.

In 1993, Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa and others in his entourage were killed in a suicide bomb blast.

In 1997, 18 years of Conservative Party rule in Great Britain ended with a Labor Party victory in elections, which allowed party leader Tony Blair to succeed John Majors as prime minister.

In 1999, Charismatic, a 31-1 long shot, won the 125th Kentucky Derby in Louisville. It was the third highest payoff in Derby history.

In 2001, a former member of the Ku Klux Klan was convicted in state court in Birmingham, Ala., in the 1963 church bombing that killed four black girls. He was handed four life sentences.

In 2003, U.S. President George W. Bush, speaking from the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, declared that major combat in Iraq was over.

And, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced the end of major U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan.

Also in 2003, an earthquake killed 176 in Turkey, including scores of children in a school dormitory.

In 2004, the European Union added 10 member countries, including Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, running the total to 25.

In 2004 sports, Smarty Jones won the Kentucky Derby, first unbeaten thoroughbred to do so since 1977.

In 2005, at least 35 Iraqis were killed by insurgents with car bombs at a Kurdish funeral near Mosul.

Also in 2005, five men in Madain, Iraq, confessed to the kidnapping and slaying of British aid worker Margaret Hassan, rights across who was abducted in October.

In 2006, hundreds of thousands of immigrants and their supporters marched and rallied throughout the United States to focus attention on the importance of immigration.


A thought for the day: "Spoon feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon." E.M. Forster said that.