On this date in history

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Today is Tuesday, June 19, the 170th day of 2007 with 195 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Gemini. They include (skydvtmj-ts4ms); James VI of Scotland, later James I of England, in 1566; French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal in 1623; the Duchess of Windsor, born Bessie Wallis Warfield, in 1896; Moe Howard, leader of the "Three Stooges," in 1897; bandleader Guy Lombardo in 1902; baseball legend Lou Gehrig in 1903; former Sen. Alan Cranston, D-Calif., in 1914; film critic Pauline Kael in 1919; actresses Nancy Marchand in 1928 and Gena Rowlands in 1930 (age 77); author Salman Rushdie in 1947 (age 60); actress Phylicia Rashad in 1948 (age 59); singer Ann Wilson of Heart in 1950 (age 57); actress Kathleen Turner in 1954 (age 53); and singer Paula Abdul in 1962 (age 45).





On this date in history:

In A.D. 325, the early Christian church opened the general council of Nicaea, which settled on rules for computing the date of Easter.

In 1787, the U.S. Constitutional Convention voted to strike down the Articles of Confederation and form a new government.

In 1846, two amateur baseball teams played under new rules at Hoboken, N.J., planting the first seeds of organized baseball. The New York Nine beat the Knickerbockers, 23-1.

In 1856, the first Republican national convention ended in Philadelphia with the nomination of explorer John Charles Fremont of California for president. James Buchanan, a Federalist nominated by the Democrats, was elected.

In 1867, Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, installed as emperor of Mexico by French Emperor Napoleon III in 1864, was executed on the orders of Benito Juarez, the president of the Mexican Republic.

Also in 1867, the first running of the Belmont Stakes took place at Jerome Park, N.Y.

In 1905, Pittsburgh showman Harry Davis opened the world's first nickelodeon, showing the silent Western film "The Great Train Robbery." The storefront theater boasted 96 seats and charged 5 cents and prompted the advent of movie houses across the nation.

In 1943, World War II's Battle of the Philippine Sea began, as Japan tried unsuccessfully to prevent further Allied advancement in the South Pacific.

In 1945, one of the most famous -- and funniest -- of all comedy sketches, Abbott and Costello's "Who's on first?" routine, made its movie debut in "The Naughty Nineties."

In 1953, convicted spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed.

In 1977, Elvis Presley made his final live concert recordings, at a series of appearances in Nebraska. He died two months later

In 1987, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the 1981 Louisiana law that required schools to teach the creationist theory of human origin espoused by fundamentalist Christians.

In 1991, the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a plan to prohibit the export of military supplies to Iraq.

In 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that prayers led by students at public high school football games are not permitted under the constitutional separation of church and state.

In 2003, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft said an Ohio truck driver, Iyman Faris, had pleaded guilty to taking part in a terrorist plot to blow up the Brooklyn Bridge.

In 2004, federal prosecutors planned to seek a grand jury indictment of former Enron Chairman Ken Lay on charges stemming from the energy giant's collapse in 2001, largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.

In 2005, a suicide bomber killed at least 23 people, including some Iraqi police officers, in a crowded Baghdad restaurant. The next day saw suicide car bombers kill a reported 26 policemen and security forces in Baghdad and Irbil.

Also in 2005, opponents of Syrian domination won a majority of seats in the final round of Lebanon's parliamentary elections.

In 2006, Japan threatened "severe action" if North Korea launches a long-range missile as it was believed preparing to do. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called the test firing a "very serious matter."



A thought for the day: Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote of cheerfulness, "the more it is spent, the more of it remains."

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Today is Wednesday, June 20, the 171st day of 2007 with 194 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Gemini. They include(jebow-ts4ms); author-playwright Lillian Hellman in 1905; actor Errol Flynn in 1909; World War II hero Audie Murphy in 1924; actors Martin Landau and Olympia Dukakis, both in 1931 (age 76), Danny Aiello in 1933 (age 74), and John Mahoney ("Frasier") in 1940 (age 67); songwriter Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys in 1942 (age 65); singer Anne Murray in 1945 (age 62); TV handyman Bob Vila and concert pianist Andre Watts, both in 1946 (age 61); singer Lionel Richie in 1949 (age 58); actor John Goodman in 1952 (age 55); and actors Nicole Kidman in 1967 (age 40) and Michael Landon Jr. in 1964 (age 43).



On this date in history:

In 1893, a jury in Fall River, Mass., found Lizzy Borden not guilty in the ax murders of her father and stepmother.

In 1898, the U.S. Navy seized Guam, the largest of the Mariana Islands in the Pacific, during the Spanish-American War. The people of Guam were granted U.S. citizenship in 1950.

In 1900, in response to widespread foreign encroachment upon China's national affairs, Chinese nationalists launched the so-called Boxer Rebellion in Peking.

In 1963, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to establish a hot line communications link between Washington and Moscow.

In 1967, the American Independent Party was formed to back George Wallace of Alabama for president.

In 1977, oil began to flow through the $7.7 billion, 789-mile Alaska pipeline.

In 1990, U.S. President George H.W. Bush broke off U.S. diplomatic contact with the Palestine Liberation Organization after the PLO refused to act against a factional leader who plotted to attack Israel.

Also in 1990, South African nationalist Nelson Mandela began a triumphant U.S. fundraising tour in New York.

In 1991, the German parliament voted to move its capital from Bonn to Berlin.

In 1994, O.J. Simpson pleaded "100 percent not guilty" to charges he killed his ex-wife and her friend.

In 1995, a military court acquitted Air Force Capt. James Wang of charges in the April 1994 downing of two U.S Army helicopters over Iraq. He was the senior director of an AWACS plane that failed to warn two U.S. jets that the choppers were friendly.

In 1997, four major U.S. tobacco companies and several state attorneys general, after months of negotiations, agreed to a $368.5 billion settlement to recover the costs of smoking-related illnesses.

In 1999, NATO formally ended its bombing campaign of Yugoslavia as Serb forces completed their withdrawal from Kosovo.

In 2000, Taiwan's new president invited his Chinese counterpart to take part in a peace effort similar to one begun by North and South Korea.

In 2003, a top lieutenant to Saddam Hussein told U.S. interrogators that the Iraqi leader and his two sons survived the war in Iraq. Saddam was later captured and, in a separate incident, his sons killed in a raid.

Also in 2003, up to 200 illegal immigrants were feared dead after their boat capsized off the coast of Tunisia on its way to Italy.

In 2004, Pakistan and India reached agreement on banning nuclear testing.

In 2006, former White House official David Saravian was convicted on four counts of lying to investigators and obstruction of justice in dealings with lobbyist Jack Abramoff.


A thought for the day: Plutarch felt that "Character is simply habit long continued."

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Today is Tuesday, Dec. 27, the 361st day of 2005 with four to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Capricorn. They include(Carl C Bruce-ts4ms); German astronomer Johannes Kepler in 1571; English engineer George Cayley, father of the science of aerodynamics, in 1773; French bacteriologist Louis Pasteur in 1822; actress Marlene Dietrich in 1901; news correspondent Cokie Roberts in 1943 (age 62); French actor Gerard Depardieu in 1948 (age 57); and former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon in 1951 (age 54).



On this date in history:

In 1932, Radio City Music Hall opened in New York City.

In 1941, Japanese warplanes bombed Manila in the Philippines, even though it had been declared an "open city."

In 1947, the first "Howdy Doody" show, under the title "Puppet Playhouse," was telecast on NBC.

In 1968, the Apollo 8 astronauts returned to Earth after orbiting the moon 10 times, paving the way for later moon-landing missions.

In 1985, terrorists killed 20 people and wounded 110 in attacks on passengers of the Israeli airline El Al at the Rome and Vienna airports. President Reagan blamed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

In 1991, a Scandinavian Airlines jet with 129 aboard crashed and broke apart after taking off from Stockholm. No one was killed.

In 1992, a U.S. jet shot down an Iraqi fighter over southern Iraq's "no-fly" zone in the first such incident since the Persian Gulf War.

In 1997, Britain's Windsor Castle was reopened to the public following restoration work. One hundred rooms of the palace were damaged in a 1992 fire.

In 1998, the smallest of the Chukwu octuplets, born earlier in the month in Houston, died.

In 2001, Arab TV played a tape of fugitive terrorist leader Osama bin Laden in which he said he wanted to destroy the U.S. economy.

In 2002, Chechen rebels, seeking independence from Russia, killed 52 people with two vehicle bombs at pro-Russian government offices.

In 2003, the search continued for bodies in the aftermath of the Christmas Day mudslide in California's San Bernardino Mountains. At least a dozen people were feared dead.

Also in 2003, the Italian government took control of Parmalat, the dairy conglomerate, and arrested its chairman in a major accounting scandal.

In 2004, the death toll jumped to 23,500 in the Asian tsunami with hundreds of thousands reported hurt and many thousands more still missing.


A thought for the day: an anonymous saying goes, "Education is what you have left over after you have forgotten everything you have learned."

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Today is Friday, June 22, the 173rd day of 2007 with 192 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include English adventure novelist H. Rider Haggard ("King Solomon's Mines," "She") in 1856; German novelist Erich Remarque ("All Quiet on the Western Front") in 1898; movie director Billy Wilder ("Some Like It Hot") in 1906; author Anne Morrow Lindbergh, wife of aviator Charles Lindbergh, in 1906; movie producer Mike Todd in 1907; fashion designer Bill Blass in 1922; Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., in 1933 (age 74); singer/actor Kris Kristofferson in 1936 (age 71); TV reporter Ed Bradley in 1941; actresses Meryl Streep and Lindsay Wagner, both in 1949; actor Freddie Prinze in 1954; pop singer Cyndi Lauper in 1953 (age 54); and actress Tracy Pollan in 1960 (age 47).


On this date in history:

In 1807, the U.S frigate Chesapeake was fired upon and then boarded by the crew of the British battleship Leopold about 40 miles east of Chesapeake Bay.

In 1918, 53 circus performers and many circus animals were killed when an empty troop train rear-ended the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus train, which was stopped in Ivanhoe, Ind., to fix its brakes.

In 1937, Joe Louis knocked out Jim Braddock in the eighth round to become the world heavyweight boxing champion. He was the first African-American champ since Jack Johnson lost his title in 1915.

In 1940, France fell to Germany in World War II.

In 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union.

In 1965 movie mogul David O. Selznick, producer of "Gone With The Wind," died at age 62.

In 1969, show business legend Judy Garland died of an overdose of sleeping pills. She was 47.

In 1973, U.S. President Richard Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev signed a pledge to try to avoid nuclear war.

In 1977, John Mitchell became the first former U.S. attorney general to go to jail when he entered a federal prison to serve time for Watergate crimes.

In 1990, South African police tightened security around President de Klerk and detained 11 right-wing activists after a published report detailed an alleged plot to assassinate de Klerk and black nationalist Nelson Mandela.

In 1991, the South African government, Inkatha Freedom party and ANC met for the first time in Johannesburg to discuss a way to end factional violence.

In 2003, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said that the United States isn't planning any invasion of Iran even though the country supports terrorists and is developing nuclear weapons.

Also in 2003, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon offered to cede responsibility for security in some West Bank and Gaza Strip areas to the Palestinians.

In 2004, a South Korean translator was beheaded by kidnappers in Iraq after his country refused to pull its troops.

Also in 2004, former U.S. President Bill Clinton's autobiography "My Life" was published to an awaiting audience of readers so great the publisher ordered a second printing the next day.

In 2005, China's largest state-controlled oil company made a unsolicited $18.5 billion bid for U.S. oil giant Unocal. Forty-one members of Congress, from both parties, urged an investigation.

In 2006, a New York Times report said the U.S. government had for years used a database of international financial transactions to trace money going to terrorists.

Also in 2006, reports said flooding and landslides on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi claimed at least 195 lives with another 128 people missing.


A thought for the day: George Jean Nathan wrote, "artist and censor differ ... the first is a decent mind in an indecent body ... the second is an indecent mind in a decent body."

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Today is Saturday, June 23, the 174th day of 2006 with 191 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include the Duke of Windsor, Britain's King Edward VIII, in 1894; pioneer sex researcher Alfred Kinsey, also in 1894; Alan Turing, computer scientist, in 1912; former U.S. Secretary of State William Rogers in 1913; director/choreographer Bob Fosse in 1927; singer June Carter Cash in 1929; runner and U.S. Olympic gold medalist Wilma Rudolph in 1940; Metropolitan Opera conductor James Levine in 1943 (age 64); U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in 1948 (age 59); and actors Ted Shackelford in 1946 (age 61), Bryan Brown in 1947 (age 60), and Frances McDormand in 1957 (age 50).



On this date in history:

In 1845, the Congress of the Republic of Texas agreed to annexation by the United States.

In 1865, the last Confederate holdouts formally surrendered in the Oklahoma Territory.

In 1947, The U.S. Congress enacted the Taft-Hartley labor act over the veto of President Harry Truman.

In 1956, Gamel Abdel Nasser was elected first president of the Republic of Egypt.

In 1967, the U.S. Senate censured Sen. Thomas Dodd, D-Conn., for misusing campaign funds.

In 1984, an auction of John Lennon's possessions raised $430,000, including $19,000 for a guitar used while Lennon with the Beatles. Lennon was killed by a deranged fan in 1980.

In 1985, an Air India Boeing 747 from Toronto crashed off the Irish coast, killing all 329 people aboard in the world's worst commercial air disaster at sea.

In 1991, the Group of Seven industrialized democracies agreed to offer the Soviet Union associate membership in the International Monetary Fund.

In 1992, the largest study of its kind found that eating a large bowl of oat bran cereal each day leads to a "modest" drop in cholesterol.

In 1993, U.N.-imposed oil and arms sanctions against Haiti took effect.

In 1994, a U.N.-approved French intervention force crossed into civil war-torn Rwanda.

In 2001, despite church opposition, Pope John Paul II began a Ukrainian visit.

Also in 2001, Yvonne Dionne, one of the Canadian quintuplets whose 1934 birth was hailed as a medical miracle, died at age 67 in Montreal.

In 2002, two major Arizona wildfires merged and by the next day had consumed 330,000 acres and moved close to the town of Show Low (population 8,000) that had been evacuated.

In 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld affirmative action in a University of Michigan case by a 5-4 vote. The high court also upheld the Children's Internet Protection Act, under which federally funded libraries must block obscene material from computers to which minors have access.

In 2004, al-Qaida threatened to kill the Iraqi interim prime minister as it said it had done to a former head of the Iraqi governing council.

Also in 2004, a U.S. lawyer sued Germany in a New York court for $18 billion as compensation for victims of the Holocaust.

In 2005, U.S, Vice President Dick Cheney said again in a TV interview that the Iraq insurgency was in its "last throes."

Also in 2005, U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., called on U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign, accusing him of mismanaging the Iraq war. Rumsfeld said he had tried twice to quit but was rebuffed.

In 2006, seven men, described by the FBI as "homegrown" terrorists, were held in Miami in an alleged plot against Chicago's Sears Tower and five federal buildings.


A thought for the day: Wernher von Braun said, "We can lick gravity, but sometimes the paperwork is overwhelming."

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Today is Sunday, June 24, the 175th day of 2007 with 190 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include(sincerity-ts4ms);( jeffmelpsl-ts4ms); French Empress Josephine, wife of Napoleon, in 1763; clergyman Henry Ward Beecher in 1813; writer and satirist Ambrose Bierce in 1842; heavyweight boxing champ Jack Dempsey in 1895; band leader Phil Harris in 1904; author/editor Norman Cousins in 1915; musician Mick Fleetwood, co-founder of Fleetwood Mac, in 1942 (age 65); actors Michele Lee in 1942 (age 65) and Peter Weller in 1947 (age 60); and actress Nancy Allen in 1950 (age 57).



On this date in history:

In 1812, Napoleon's army entered Russia.

In 1901, Pablo Picasso's artwork was given its first exhibition, in Paris.

In 1948, Soviet forces blockaded the western zones of Berlin, setting the stage for the Berlin airlift to support the 2 million people of the divided German city.

In 1975, an Eastern Airlines Boeing 727 en route from New Orleans crashed at New York's Kennedy International airport, killing 114 people.

In 1986, actress Raquel Welch won a $10.8 million verdict against MGM, which she claimed ruined her career by firing her from the 1980 movie "Cannery Row."

In 1987, comedian/actor Jackie Gleason died at the age of 71.

In 1991, on the eve of the 41st anniversary of the start of the Korean War, the U.S. and North Korea agreed on returning the remains of missing soldiers; 11 sets of remains were shipped.

In 1992, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that health warnings on cigarette packs don't necessarily exempt tobacco companies from false advertising lawsuits if they continue to tell consumers that smoking is safe.

In 1993, the FBI arrested eight men in an alleged plot to bomb several sites in New York City. A ninth was arrested six days later.

Also in 1993, Kurdish militants, seeking to call attention to their nine-year struggle to form an independent Kurdish state, attacked Turkish diplomatic missions and businesses in more than two-dozen European cities.

In 1998, AT&T announced plans to acquire Tele-Communications Inc., a cable TV company.

In 2002, U.S. President George W. Bush said publicly for the first time that the United States would not support a Palestinian state so long as Yasser Arafat was in command.

In 2003, author Leon Uris, who wrote "Exodus," the story of the struggle to establish and defend the state of Israel, and other famous novels, died at age 78.

In 2004, more than 100 people died in a series of apparently well-coordinated insurgency attacks on five cities in Iraq.

In 2005, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported the nation's second confirmed case of mad cow disease.

In 2006, Newsweek magazine said a reconciliation plan drafted by the Iraqi government included a timetable for U.S. troop withdrawal and amnesty for some insurgents. U.S. President George Bush and the U.S. Congress steadily have rejected a timetable approach.

Also in 2006, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger rejected a White House request to send another 1,500 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to protect against illegal immigration. The state earlier had agreed to send 1,000 troops to the border.


A thought for the day: Ambrose Bierce said an acquaintance is "A person whom we know well enough to borrow from, but not well enough to lend to."

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Today is Monday, June 25, the 176th day of 2007 with 189 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include(Maggie-ts4ms); French composer Gustave Charpentier in 1860; Broadway producer George Abbott in 1887; English novelist and critic George Orwell, author of "1984," in 1903; movie director Sidney Lumet in 1924 (age 83); actress June Lockhart in 1925 (age 82); civil rights advocate James Meredith in 1933 (age 74); actor Jimmie Walker in 1948 (age 59); and pop singers Carly Simon in 1945 (age 62) and George Michael in 1963 (age 44).




On this date in history:

In 1876, U.S. Army Gen. George Custer and his force of 208 men were annihilated by Chief Sitting Bull's Sioux warriors at Little Big Horn in Montana.

In 1942, U.S. Army Gen. Dwight Eisenhower took command of the U.S. World War II forces in Europe.

In 1950, North Korean forces invaded South Korea.

In 1951, CBS aired the first color television broadcast. At the time, no color TV sets were owned by the public.

In 1962, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision interpreted as barring prayer in public schools.

In 1967, with Mick Jagger, Keith Richard and others singing backup, the Beatles recorded "All You Need Is Love" before an international television audience estimated at 400 million people.

In 1973, White House attorney John Dean told a U.S. Senate committee that U.S. President Richard Nixon joined in a plot to cover up the Watergate break-in.

In 1991, Slovenia and Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia, sparking civil war.

In 1993, with U.S. Vice President Al Gore casting the tie-breaking vote, the Senate passed the budget bill incorporating U.S. President Bill Clinton's deficit-reduction program.

Also in 1993, Kim Campbell was sworn in as Canada's first woman prime minister.

In 1994, Japan's Prime Minister Tsutomu Hata resigned two months after taking office rather than face a no-confidence vote by parliament.

In 1996, a truck bomb killed 19 U.S. military personnel in Saudi Arabia. Several hundred more people were injured.

In 1997, about half of Mir's power supply was knocked out when an unmanned cargo ship collided with the Russian space station and put a hole in it.

Also in 1997, Montserrat's Soufriere Hills Volcano, after lying dormant for 400 years, erupted -- wiping out two-thirds of the Caribbean island and forcing most of the population to relocate.

In 1998, U.S. President Bill Clinton arrived in China for a much-debated visit.

In 2002, WorldCom, the nation's second largest long-distance communication carrier, announced it had overstated its cash flow by $3.8 billion during the past 15 months. The troubled company's stock value had dropped more than 90 percent since the beginning of the year.

In 2003, the Federal Reserve Board lowered the key federal funds rate, the overnight loan rate between banks, to 1.0 percent, lowest since 1958.

In 2004, the film "Fahrenheit 9/11," Michael Moore's critical view of the invasion of Iraq, broke box office records for a documentary in its first few days.

In 2005, religious conservative Tehran Mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected president of Iran in a landslide.

In 2006, Warren Buffett announced plans to give away 85 percent of his shares in his company, about $37 billion, to charity. Most of that -- some $31 billion -- was earmarked for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.


A thought for the day: James H. Boren defined bureaucrats as "the only people in the world who can say absolutely nothing and mean it."

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Today is Tuesday, June 26, the 177th day of 2007 with 188 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include baseball pioneer Abner Doubleday in 1819; British physicist and inventor William Kelvin in 1824; novelist Pearl Buck in 1892; German aircraft designer Willi Messerschmitt in 1898; William Lear, developer of the Lear jet, in 1902; actor Peter Lorre in 1904; "Colonel" Tom Parker, Elvis Presley's manager, in 1910; athlete Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias in 1911; actor/musician Chris Isaak in 1956 (age 51); cyclist Greg LeMond in 1961 (age 46); and actors Chris O'Donnell and Sean P. Hayes ("Will & Grace"), both in 1970 (age 37).


On this date in history:

In 1900, Dr. Walter Reed and his medical team began a successful campaign to wipe out yellow fever in the Panama Canal Zone.

In 1917, the first troops of the American Expeditionary Force reached France in World War I.

In 1939, film censors approved "Gone With The Wind" but fined Producer David O. Selznick $5,000 for objectionable language in Rhett Butler's famous closing line to Scarlett O'Hara: "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."

In 1945, the FCC began development of commercial television by allocating airwaves for 13 TV stations.

Also in 1945, the U.N. Charter was signed by representatives of 50 nations.

In 1959, U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower and Queen Elizabeth II formally opened the St. Lawrence Seaway in Canada.

In 1974, the bar code, allowing for the electronic scanning of prices, was used for the first time on a pack of gum at a supermarket in Troy, Ohio.

In 1976, the CN Tower, the world's tallest freestanding structure (1,815 feet, 5 inches), opened in Toronto.

In 1977, 42 people died in a county jail fire in Columbia, Tenn.

In 1986, the Nicaraguan government closed the nation's last opposition newspaper, La Prensa.

In 1990, U.S. President George H.W. Bush discarded his "no new taxes" campaign pledge, saying "it is clear to me" taxes are needed as part of deficit-reduction package.

In 1991, 120 people drowned after an Indonesian trawler and an unidentified ship collided in the Straits of Malacca.

In 1992, U.S. Navy Secretary H. Lawrence Garrett resigned, accepting responsibility for the "Tailhook" incident involving the harassment of Navy women by naval aviators.

Also in 1992, Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates, the target of public wrath for the Rodney King beating, resigned.

In 1993, in response to an Iraqi plot to assassinate former U.S. President George H.W. Bush during a visit to Kuwait, two U.S. ships in the Persian Gulf fired missiles at Iraq's intelligence complex. The main headquarters building was badly damaged.

In 1995, an attempted assassination of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak failed during his visit to Ethiopia.

In 2000, two rival groups of scientists announced they had deciphered the genetic code, the human genome.

In 2002, the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that the Pledge of Allegiance recited in schools was unconstitutional because of the phrase "under God." The ruling was stayed pending appeal.

In 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court gave a major boost to gay rights advocates by striking down a Texas law forbidding sexual activity between same-sex partners.

In 2005, six months after the Indian Ocean tsunami, the death toll stood at 178,000 in 11 countries with another 50,000 people missing and presumed dead.

In 2006, Israel put on a military show of strength in the Gaza Strip following a bloody Palestinian militant raid on a military post and kidnapping of a soldier.


A thought for the day: Tennessee Williams wrote, "All cruel people describe themselves as paragons of frankness."

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Today is Wednesday, June 27, the 178th day of 2007 with 187 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include(metroside); King Charles XII, Charles the Great, of Sweden in 1682; Irish patriot Charles Stewart Parnell in 1846; poet Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872; blind and deaf author Helen Keller in 1880; "Captain Kangaroo" Bob Keeshan in 1927; H. Ross Perot in 1930 (age 77); fashion designer Norma Kamali in 1945 (age 62); and actors Julia Duffy in 1951 (age 56), Isabelle Adjani in 1955 (age 52), Jason Patric in 1966 (age 41), Christian Kane ("Angel") in 1974 (age 33) and Tobey Maguire in 1975 (age 32).



On this date in history:

In 1801, British forces captured Cairo and the French began withdrawing from Egypt in one of the Napoleonic Wars.

In 1829, English scientist James Smithson leaves will that eventually funds the establishment of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, in a country he never visited.

In 1844, Mormon founder Joseph Smith was slain by a mob at a jail in Carthage, Ill.

In 1847, the first telegraph wire links were established between New York City and Boston.

In 1859, Louisville, Ky., schoolteacher Mildred Hill wrote a tune for her students and called it "Good Morning To You." Her sister, Patty, wrote the lyrics and later added a verse that began "Happy Birthday To You."

In 1893, the "Panic of 1893" began as the value of the U.S. silver dollar fell to less than 60 cents in gold.

In 1950, U.S. President Harry Truman ordered U.S. naval and air forces to help repel the North Korean invasion of South Korea.

In 1979, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled private employers could give special preferences to blacks to eliminate "manifest racial imbalance" in traditionally white-only jobs.

In 1991, Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall announced he was retiring from the U.S. Supreme Court. He was the first African-America to sit on the high court.

Also in 1991, South Africa announced it would sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and agree not to develop nuclear weapons.

In 1992, U.S. President H.W. Bush's only daughter married the former top aide to the House Democratic leader in a private ceremony at Camp David, Md.

In 1993, U.N.-sponsored talks between exiled Haitian President Aristide and the military leaders who ousted him opened in New York.

In 1995, the space shuttle Atlantis blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on a historic mission to dock with the Russian space station Mir. The flight was also the 100th U.S.-piloted space mission.

In 2001, screen legend Jack Lemmon died at the age of 76.

In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court, acting in a Cleveland case, upheld that city's school vouchers program, in which public money goes to help parents pay tuition to non-public schools.

In 2003, the Federal Trade Commission opened a long-awaited nationwide registry for those who want to block unwanted telemarketing calls.

In 2004, two car bombs exploded near a mosque in the southern Iraqi city of Hilla, killing at least 23 Iraqi civilians and wounding 58 others.

In 2005, Wal-Mart heir John Walton, 58, one of America's richest men, was killed in a plane crash near the Jackson, Wyo., airport.

Also in 2005, U.S. crude oil prices closed at a record high of $60 a barrel.

And, Dennis Rader, the so-called "BTK" killer (bind, torture, kill) pleaded guilty to 10 slayings s in the Wichita, Kan., area.

In 2006, a constitutional amendment that would have allowed laws banning flag burning fell one vote short of passage in the U.S. Senate. Two-thirds of the Senate, 67 votes, was required before the measure could be sent on to the states.


A thought for the day: Francis Bacon said, "If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties."

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Today is Thursday, June 28, the 179th day of 2007 with 186 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include English King Henry VIII in 1491; Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens in 1577; English clergyman John Wesley, founder of Methodism, in 1703; French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau in 1712; Italian author Luigi Pirandello in 1867; composer Richard Rodgers and bank robber John Dillinger, both in 1902; spy novelist Eric Ambler in 1909; Lester Flatt, bluegrass mandolin/guitar, part of Flatt and Scruggs team, in 1914; filmmaker and comedian Mel Brooks in 1926 (age 81); actor Pat Morita in 1932; comedian Gilda Radner in 1946; actresses Kathy Bates in 1948 (age 59) and Alice Krige in 1954 (age 53); former football star John Elway in 1960 (age 47); actors John Cusack and Mary Stuart Masterson, both in 1966 (age 41); and actress/singer Danielle Brisebois in 1969 (age 38).


On this date in history:

In 1778, the Continental Army under command of Gen. George Washington defeated the British at Monmouth, N.J.

In 1914, Archduke Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia, an act credited with igniting World War I.

In 1919, World War I officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.

In 1969, the clientele of a New York City gay bar, the Stonewall Inn, rioted after the club was raided by police. The event is considered the start of the gay liberation movement.

In 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the use of public funds for parochial schools was unconstitutional.

In 1972, U.S. President Richard Nixon announced that no more draftees would be sent to Vietnam unless they volunteered for service in the Asian nation.

In 1984, Israel and Syria exchanged prisoners for the first time in 10 years; 291 Syrian soldiers were traded for three Israelis.

In 1991, the Yugoslav army was deployed to Slovenia to take control of airports and border posts and to prevent the republic's declared independence.

In 1993, in its last report before disbanding, the White House National Committee on AIDS blasted the Bush administration's response to AIDS and challenged the Clinton administration to do more.

In 1994, U.S. President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary established a legal defense fund to cover legal expenses that would be connected with the Whitewater investigation and the sexual harassment suit brought against the president.

In 1997, Mike Tyson bit the ears of heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield, tearing off a piece of one ear, during a title fight in Las Vegas.

In 2000, Elian Gonzalez and his father returned to Cuba, hours after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from the Cuban refugee's Miami relatives who sought to keep the boy in the United States.

Also in 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Boy Scouts of America had a constitutional right to exclude gay members.

In 2001, a U.S. Appeals Court in Washington unanimously threw out a lower court ruling that the Microsoft Corp. must be broken up.

In 2003, people eager to block telemarketing calls overwhelmed a government Web site that began accepting phone numbers at the national do-not-call registry. The Federal Trade Commission said 735,000 numbers were registered the first day.

In 2004, the U.S.-led coalition formally transferred political power in Iraq to an interim government that would run the country until elections were held.

In 2005, at least 30 people were killed in torrential rains that pounded El Salvador causing flooding and damage to homes.

In 2006, U.S. President Bush criticized newspaper reports exposing government monitoring of banking records in its search for terrorists as "disgraceful" and a "great harm" to national security.


A thought for the day: Bertolt Brecht wrote, "What is robbing a bank compared to founding one?"

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Today is Friday, June 29, the 180th day of 2007 with 185 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include William Mayo, co-founder of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., in 1861; astronomer George Ellery Hale, founder of the Yerkes and Mount Palomar observatories, in 1868; actor/singer Nelson Eddy in 1901; composer/arranger Leroy Anderson in 1908; Broadway songwriter Frank Loesser in 1910; composer/conductor Bernard Herrmann in 1911; actor Slim Pickens in 1919; "black power" advocate Stokely Carmichael in 1941; actor Gary Busey in 1944 (age 63); actor-turned-congressman Fred Grandy in 1948 (age 59); and actress Sharon Lawrence in 1962 (age 45).


On this date in history:

In 1853, the U.S. Senate ratified the $10 million Gadsden Purchase from Mexico, adding more than 29,000 square miles to the territories of Arizona and New Mexico and completing the modern geographical boundaries of the contiguous 48 states.

In 1933, Fatty Arbuckle, the silent film comedian and one of Hollywood's most beloved personalities until a manslaughter charge ruined his career, died while preparing a comeback. He was 46.

In 1941, Isabella Peron took office as president of Argentina.

In 1946, two years before Israel became a nation, British authorities arrested more than 2,700 Jewish Zionists in an effort to stop terrorism in Palestine.

In 1970, the last U.S. troops were withdrawn from Cambodia into South Vietnam.

In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that capital punishment, as then administered by individual states, was unconstitutional.

In 1991, the European Community announced $1.4 billion in aid for the Soviet Union.

In 1992, the U.S. Supreme Court left intact the important aspects of the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision legalizing abortion but upheld most of Pennsylvania's new restrictions on a woman's right to abortion.

Also in 1992, doctors in Pittsburgh reported the world's first transplant of a baboon liver into a human patient. The recipient, a 35-year-old man, survived three months.

And in 1992, the president of Algeria, Mohammed Boudiaf, was assassinated during a speech.

In 1994, the Japanese Diet elected Tomiichi Murayama as prime minister.

Also in 1994, in a taped interview aired on British TV, Prince Charles admitted he'd been unfaithful to his estranged wife, Princess Diana.

In 1995, editors of The New York Times and The Washington Post said they were considering publishing the UNAbomber's manifesto in hopes of ending the bombings.

Also in 1995, the U.S. shuttle Atlantis docked with the Russian space station Mir.

In 1999, a Turkish court convicted Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan of treason and sentenced him to death.

In 2003, Hollywood legend Katherine Hepburn died at the age of 96 after a six-decade career in which she won a record four Oscars for best actress.

In 2004, the U.N. war crime tribunal for the former Yugoslavia reported trouble getting authorities to arrest 20 indicted people, including former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic.

In 2005, the Bush administration has given the new director of national intelligence additional powers, including authority over operations by the FBI and other agencies.

Also in 2005, authorities said the bodies of 13 U.S. troops were recovered from a crashed Chinook helicopter in eastern Afghanistan. Seven others were reported missing.

In 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled U.S. President George Bush didn't have authority to set up military tribunals for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In a 5-3 ruling, the justices also said the tribunals are illegal under both military justice law and the Geneva Convention.


A thought for the day: Walt Whitman wrote, "Whoever degrades another degrades me."

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Today is Saturday, June 30, the 181st day of 2007 with 184 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include English socialist leader Harold Laski in 1893; actress Susan Hayward in 1917, drummer Buddy Rich in 1917, singer Lena Horne in 1917 (age 90); actress Nancy Dussault in 1936 (age 70); singer Florence Ballard of The Supremes in 1943; actors William Atherton in 1947 (age 60) and David Alan Grier in 1955 (age 52); and former heavyweight champion boxer Mike Tyson in 1966 (age 41).



On this date in history:

In 1859, Frenchman Jean Francois Gravelet, known professionally as the Great Blondin, became the first daredevil to walk across Niagara Falls on a tight rope.

In 1870, Ada Kepley became the first woman to graduate from an accredited law school in the United States: Union College of Law in Chicago.

In 1908, a spectacular explosion occurred over central Siberia, probably caused by a meteorite. The fireball reportedly could be seen hundreds of miles away.

In 1923, jazz pioneer Sidney Bechet made his first recording. It included "Wild Cat Blues": and "Kansas City Blues."

In 1934, German leader Adolf Hitler ordered a bloody purge of his own political party, assassinating hundreds of Nazis whom he feared might become political enemies some day.

In 1936, Margaret Mitchell's Civil War novel "Gone With the Wind" was published.

In 1950, U.S. troops were moved from Japan to help defend South Korea against the invading North Koreans.

In 1982, the extended deadline for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment expired, three states short of the 38 needed for passage.

In 1971, three Soviet Cosmonauts, crewmembers of the world's first space station, were killed when their spacecraft depressurized during re-entry.

In 1986, Hugh Hefner, calling his Playboy Bunny a "symbol of the past," closed Playboy Clubs in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.

In 1992, Fidel Ramos was inaugurated as the eighth Philippine president in the first peaceful transfer of power in a generation.

In 1994, the U.S. Figure Skating Association stripped Tonya Harding of her 1994 national championship title.

In 1997, Mike Tyson apologized publicly for biting Evander Holyfield's ears during a heavyweight championship boxing match in Las Vegas two days earlier, saying he'd become angered after Holyfield butted him.

In 1998, a casualty of the Vietnam War buried at the Tomb of the Unknown in Arlington, Va., was identified as Air Force Lt. Michael Blassie of St. Louis.

In 1999, for the first time since Nov. 1998, the Federal Reserve Board announced an increase in the prime rate -- the rate banks charge each other on overnight loans -- from 4.75 to 5 percent.

Also in 1999, Clinton crony Webster Hubbell, a former associate U.S. attorney general, pleaded guilty to reduced charges in the Whitewater land deal scandal.

In 2000, the Clinton administration said Iraq had restarted its missile program and had flight-tested a short-range ballistic missile.

Also in 2000, the Presbyterian Church ordered its ministers not to conduct same-sex unions.

In 2002, according to published reports, fugitive terrorist leader Osama bin Laden had written a letter to his operations chief in late December, meaning he survived the U.S. assault on his cave complex in Afghanistan if the reports were authentic.

Also in 2002, Israel announced it had killed a top Hamas bomb-maker, responsible for the deaths of more than 100 Israelis in suicide attacks and had begun work on an electronic fence designed to block off three sides of Jerusalem from the West Bank.

In 2003, after agreeing on a cease-fire with the Palestinians, Israel pulled out of most of the Gaza Strip, ending for the time being a blockade on the main highway that began in 2000.

Also in 2003, with the beginning of the new fiscal year, 12 states reported they faced increased taxes and drastic cuts in civic programs. The nationwide economic slowdown got much of the blame.

In 2004, the Federal Reserve, for the first time in four years, raised its benchmark interest rate from a record low 1 percent to 1.25 percent for overnight loans.

Also in 2004, the Cassini spacecraft, after nearly years in space on a U.S.-European mission, became the first to orbit the planet Saturn.

In 2005, the Federal Reserve raised key interest rates a ninth straight time, noting rising energy prices.

Also in 2005, Israel declared the Gaza Strip a closed military zone. All Israelis, except for residents, service providers and reporters, were barred from entering.

And, Spain became the third country to legalize same-sex marriage.

In 2006, a joint U.S.-Canadian investigation grounded a group accused of using helicopters and planes to ferry drugs from British Columbia across the border. Agents reported arresting 46 people and seizing four tons of marijuana, 800 pounds of cocaine, aircraft and $1.5 million in cash.


A thought for the day: Bertrand Russell argued that "Boredom is a vital problem for the moralist, since at least half the sins of mankind are caused by the fear of it."

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Today is Sunday, July 1, the 182nd day of 2007 with 183 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include German philosopher Gottfried Leibniz in 1646; French novelist George Sand, a pseudonym for Amandine Dupin, in 1804; pioneer aviator Louis Bleriot in 1872; actor Frank Morgan in 1890; actor Charles Laughton in 1899; blues, gospel musician, composer Thomas Dorsey also in 1899; film director William Wyler in 1902; cosmetics executive Estee Lauder in 1908; blues musician Willie Dixon in 1915; actresses Olivia de Havilland in 1916 (age 91) and Leslie Caron in 1931 (age 76); filmmaker Sydney Pollack and actress/writer Jean Marsh and actor Jamie Farr, all in 1934 (age 73); choreographer Twyla Tharp in 1941 (age 66); actresses Karen Black in 1939 (age 68) and Genevieve Bujold in 1942 (age 65); singer Deborah Harry in 1945 (age 62); actor/comedian Dan Aykroyd in 1952 (age 55); Britain's Princess Diana in 1961; and actors Andre Braugher in 1962 (age 45), Pamela Anderson in 1967 (age 40) and Liv Tyler in 1977 (age 30).


On this date in history:

In 1847, the first U.S. postage stamps were issued.

In 1859, the first intercollegiate baseball game was played in Pittsfield, Mass. Amherst beat Williams, 66-32.

In 1867, Canada was granted its independence by Great Britain. It consisted at the time of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and future provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

In 1874, the Philadelphia Zoological Society, the first U.S. zoo, opened to the public.

In 1893, U.S. President Grover Cleveland underwent secret surgery to remove a cancerous growth in his mouth. The operation did not become public knowledge until a newspaper article about it was published on Sept. 22, 1917 -- nine years after Cleveland's death.

In 1898, Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders led the charge up Cuba's heavily fortified San Juan Hill in a key Spanish-American War battle.

In 1916, in the worst single day of casualties in British military history, 20,000 soldiers were killed, 40,000 wounded in a massive offense against German forces in France's Somme River region during World War I.

In 1932, the Democrats nominated Franklin Delano Roosevelt for president. FDR eventually was elected to four consecutive terms.

In 1941, NBC broadcast the first FCC-sanctioned TV commercial, a spot for Bulova watches shown during a Dodgers-Phillies game. It cost Bulova $9.

In 1946, the United States conducted its first post-war test of the atomic bomb, at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.

In 1979, Sony introduced the Walkman, known as the Soundabout, in U.S. stores. It sold for about $200.

In 1990, the West and East German economies were united as the deutsche mark replaced the mark as currency in East Germany.

In 1991, the Warsaw Pact ceased to exist.

In 1992, a gunman opened fire in a Fort Worth, Texas, courtroom, killing two lawyers and wounding three other people. He later surrendered at a TV station.

In 1993, the U.S. Congress completed action on an economic stimulus bill that fell far short of what U.S. President Bill Clinton wanted.

Also in 1993, U.S. President Bill Clinton unveiled a plan for logging in federal old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest that would also protect the northern spotted owl.

In 1994, the U.N. Security Council authorized a commission to investigate "acts of genocide" in Rwanda.

In 1996, a dozen members of a paramilitary organization were arrested in Arizona and charged with plotting to bomb government buildings.

In 1997, Hong Kong was returned to China after 99 years as a British territory.

In 2002, cannon fire and bombs from a U.S. Air Force AC-130 struck a town in southern Afghanistan, killing about 50 people, including members of a wedding party. U.S. officials said the plane had been fired on.

Also in 2002, in a rare high-altitude accident, a passenger airliner collided with a cargo plane over Germany, killing all 71 aboard.

In 2003, U.S. President George Bush blamed rogue elements for the daily attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq and claimed coalition forces were making steady progress in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In 2004, former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, looking tired and shaky, appeared before a special tribunal in Baghdad for the first time to face charges of crimes against humanity and genocide.

Also in 2004, dynamic Hollywood legend Marlon Brando died of lung failure. He was 80.

In 2005, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court, announced she planned to retire.

In 2006, a car bomb killed 62 people and injured another 114 at a popular market in a predominantly Shiite neighborhood in northwest Baghdad.

Also in 2006, Israel launched an airstrike that hit the Gaza office of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and set the building on fire. Haniyeh was not in the building but three security guards were reportedly hurt.


A thought for the day: H.L. Mencken wrote that "It is the dull man who is always sure, and the sure man who is always dull."

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Today is Monday, July 2, the 183rd day of 2007 with 182 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include (eal-ts4ms);( caribbean-ts4ms);( VVTrader-ts4ms);( jjking42-ts4ms); German novelist Herman Hesse in 1877; King Olav V of Norway in 1903; former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in 1908; singer/actor Ken Curtis in 1916; civil rights activist Medgar Evers in 1925; Imelda Marcos, wife of former Philippine President Fernando Marcos, in 1929 (age 78); Wendy's fast-food restaurant chain founder Dave Thomas in 1932; actress Polly Holliday and former race car driver Richard Petty, both in 1937 (age 70); actor/director Ron Silver in 1946 (age 51); actor Jimmy McNichol in 1961 (age 46); former baseball star Jose Canseco, first to hit 40 or more home runs and steal 40 or more bases in the same major league season, in 1964 (age 43).




On this date in history:

In 1788, it was announced in the U.S. Congress that the new Constitution had been ratified by the required nine states, the ninth being New Hampshire.

In 1839, African slaves being shipped to Cuba revolted and seized the ship Amistad, leading to an eventual end of the African slave market.

In 1881, U.S. President James Garfield was shot and seriously wounded by Charles Guiteau, a mentally disturbed office-seeker. Garfield died Sept. 19 and was succeeded by Chester Arthur.

In 1900, the world's first rigid airship was demonstrated by Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin in Germany.

In 1917, as many as 75 blacks were killed in rioting in St. Louis.

In 1934, 6-year-old Shirley Temple signed a new contract with Fox Film Corp. and went on to become one of the biggest movie stars of the day.

In 1937, U.S. aviator Amelia Earhart and navigator Frederick Noonan were reported lost over the Pacific Ocean. They were never found.

In 1964, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

In 1974, U.S President Richard Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev agreed during a meeting in Yalta on limitations on underground nuclear testing and on a lower ceiling for defense missiles.

In 1986, the U.S. Supreme Court endorsed numerical hiring goals for minorities, rejecting the Reagan administration view that affirmative action be limited to proven victims of race discrimination.

In 1990, a stampede in a pedestrian tunnel at the Muslim holy city of Mecca during the annual Hajj killed 1,426 pilgrims.

In 1993, Sheik Omar Abdel Rahmen, whose followers were linked to two bombing plots, was taken into U.S. federal custody.

Also in 1993, South African President F.W de Klerk and African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela announced that South Africa's first election open to all races would be April 27, 1994.

In 1994, the Colombian soccer player who inadvertently scored a goal for the United States, contributing to his team's loss in the World Cup competition, was shot to death in Medellin, Colombia.

In 2000, Vicente Fox was elected president of Mexico.

In 2002, after five unsuccessful attempts, American Steve Fossett completed a round-the-world solo flight in a balloon, reaching Queensland in the Australian outback to finish a 13-day, 19,428-mile trip that began in Western Australia.

In 2004, a 21-year-old man opened fire on co-workers at a Kansas City, Kan., plant, fatally wounding five people before turning the gun on himself. Several others were wounded.

Also in 2004, medical reports said post-traumatic stress disorder was appearing in 1-in-6 U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq.

In 2005, Egypt's new ambassador to Iraq was abducted in Baghdad, reportedly by the al-Qaida. He was later slain.

In 2006, Israeli bombs destroyed the Gaza City offices of the Palestinian Authority prime minister, kicking off a month of violent attacks against Palestinian militants largely in response to the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier.


A thought for the day: the adage "Appearances are often deceiving" comes from Aesop's "Fables," and something similar appears in the New Testament.

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Today is Tuesday, July 3, the 184th day of 2007 with 181 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include(Spence-ts4ms);( mav-ts4ms);( mstern5-ts4ms); actor, singer, composer George M. Cohan in 1878; Welsh poet and writer William Henry Davies ("The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp") in 1871; Czech novelist Franz Kafka in 1883; actor George Sanders in 1906; journalist and columnist Dorothy Kilgallen in 1913; Jerry Gray, band leader, arranger for Glenn Miller, in 1915; English filmmaker Ken Russell in 1927 (age 80); jazz clarinetist Pete Fountain in 1930 (age 77); English playwright Tom Stoppard in 1937 (age 70); humorist Dave Barry and actress Betty Buckley both in 1947 (age 60); exiled Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier in 1951 (age 56); talk show host Montell Williams in 1956 (age 51); pop singer Laura Branigan in 1957; and actors Tom Cruise and Thomas Gibson ("Dharma & Greg"), both in 1962 (age 45).




On this date in history:

In 1608, French explorer Samuel de Champlain founded the Canadian town of Quebec.

In 1775, George Washington took command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Mass.

In 1863, the Union army under command of Gen. George Meade defeated Confederate forces commanded by Gen. Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg, Pa. The same day, Vicksburg, Miss., surrendered to Union troops led by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.

In 1928, the first color television transmission was accomplished by John Logie Baird in London.

In 1971, rock star Jim Morrison, 27, was found dead in a bathtub in Paris of heart failure.

In 1976, Israeli commandos raided the airport at Entebbe, Uganda, rescuing 103 hostages held by Arab terrorists.

In 1986, U.S. President Ronald Reagan re-lit the Statue of Liberty's torch in New York Harbor after a $66 million restoration of the statue was completed during the 100th anniversary year of its dedication.

Also in 1986, Rudy Vallee, one of the nation's most popular singers in the 1920s and '30s, died at the age of 84.

In 1988, missiles fired from the USS Vincennes brought down an Iranian airliner in the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.

In 1992, the U.S. Air Force joined the international airlift of food and medical supplies to besieged residents of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

In 1993, exiled Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide and Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras, who led the coup in 1991 that ousted him, announced an agreement that would put Aristide back in power by October. Cedras later broke the agreement.

In 1996, Boris Yeltsin was re-elected president of Russia, defeating Gennadi Zyuganov in a runoff.

In 2000, blasts caused by suicide bombers in Chechnya killed at least 37 Russian soldiers.

In 2004, a U.N. panel of experts from 60 countries met in Geneva to discuss international standards for storage and classification of fireworks.

In 2005, the Israeli Cabinet overwhelmingly rejected a move to postpone the pullback from the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the northern West Bank.

Also in 2005, water temperatures in the lower Great Lakes were reported at a 5-year high.

In 2006, Steven Green, a former U.S. soldier from North Carolina, was formally charged with raping an Iraqi teenager and killing her and her family.


A thought for the day: Flaubert said, "Of all lies, art is the least untrue."