On this date in history

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This is Wednesday, July 4, the 185th day of 2007 with 180 to follow.

This is Independence Day in the United States.

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 author Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1804; songwriter Stephen Foster ("Oh! Susannah," "Beautiful Dreamer") in 1826; circus operator James Bailey (Barnum and Bailey) in 1847; Calvin Coolidge, 30th president of the United States, in 1872; innovative cartoonist Rube Goldberg in 1883; Louis B. Mayer, film mogul and co-founder of MGM, in 1885; actor/politician George Murphy in 1902; conductor Mitch Miller in 1911 (age 96); Ann Landers, advice columnist, in 1918; her twin, also an advice columnist, Abigail Van Buren in 1918 (age 89); former hotel executive Leona Helmsley in 1920 (age 87); actress Eva Marie Saint in 1924 (age 83); playwright Neil Simon in 1927 (age 80); actress Gina Lollobrigida in 1927 (age 80); Al Davis, Oakland Raiders owner, in 1929 (age 78); New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner in 1930 (age 77); TV reporter Geraldo Rivera in 1943 (age 64); and tennis player Pam Shriver in 1962 (age 45).


On this date in history:

In 1776, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, proclaiming U.S. independence from Britain.

In 1826, in one of history's notable coincidences, former U.S. Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died, 50 years to the day after the Declaration of Independence was adopted.

In 1863, Union troops defeated Confederate forces in a battle at Vicksburg, Miss.

In 1895, the poem "America the Beautiful," by Wellesley College Professor Katherine Lee Bates, was published.

In 1914, director D.W. Griffith began filming his controversial film "Birth of a Nation," which introduced important new filmmaking techniques and influenced many other directors.

In 1986, more than 250 sailing ships and the United States' biggest fireworks display honored the Statue of Liberty in its 100th birthday year.

In 1994, French forces in Rwanda established a security zone for refugees.

In 1995, the British Parliament reconfirmed John Majors as prime minister.

In 1997, NASA's Pathfinder landed on Mars to become the first U.S. spacecraft to land on the planet in more than two decades.

Also in 1997, Mexico's top drug lord died in a Mexico City hospital following plastic surgery to change his appearance.

In 1999, top-seeded Pete Sampras won his sixth Wimbledon men's singles title, defeating fellow American Andre Agassi.

In 2002, with the nation on alert for a possible terrorist attack, a gunman killed two people at the Los Angeles International Airport near a ticket counter of El Al, the Israeli airline, before he was killed by a guard.

In 2003, with the lack of international markets after a lone case of mad cow disease, Canadian beef prices in grocery stores fell to as low as 75 cents a pound.

Also in 2003, three attackers killed 50 people and injured dozens of others when they opened fire at a Shiite mosque in Quetta, Pakistan.

In 2005, NASA's "Deep Impact" spacecraft wound up an 85 million-mile journey by intentionally slamming into the Tempel 1 comet to learn more about comets and other aspects of the solar system.

In 2006, North Korea test launched seven ballistic missiles in what it called "routine military exercises," kicking up a firestorm of anger amidst its neighbors and the United States. One missile, the only long-range one tested, reportedly was capable of hitting the western United States.

Also in 2006, the first U.S. space shuttle flight in almost a year began when the Discovery was launched from the space center at Cape Canaveral.


A thought for the day: U.S. President Calvin Coolidge reportedly said, "If you don't say anything, you won't be called upon to repeat it."

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Today is Thursday, July 5, the 186th day of 2007 with 179 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 David Farragut, the first U.S. Navy admiral, in 1801; showman P.T. Barnum in 1810; British colonialist Cecil Rhodes, founder of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), in 1853; Dwight Davis, founder of the Davis Cup tennis tournament, in 1879; French writer and film director Jean Cocteau in 1889; politician and diplomat Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. in 1902; actor Milburn Stone ("Gunsmoke") in 1904; former football coach John McKay in 1923; actor Warren Oates in 1928; actress Katherine Helmond in 1928 (age 79); Robbie Robertson, composer, musician, member of The Band, in 1943 (age 64); Julie Nixon Eisenhower in 1948 (age 59); and rock singer Huey Lewis in 1950 (age 57).


On this date in history:

In 1865, William Booth founded the Salvation Army in London.

In 1916, children under 16 were banned from New York City theaters due to an outbreak of polio. Some 200 theaters shut down throughout the summer.

In 1935, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act.

In 1945, U.S. Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur announced the liberation of the Philippines as World War II approached its end.

In 1946, French designer Louis Reard introduced the bikini swimsuit.

In 1954, newcomer Elvis Presley recorded "That's All Right (Mama)," a song he had not intended to do when he began his first recording session at Sun Records in Memphis and it became an instant local sensation.

In 1982, the Penn Square Bank of Oklahoma was declared insolvent, touching off a bank crisis that affected much of the United States.

In 1991, BCCI, with $20 billion in assets, was seized by regulators in the United States, Cayman Islands, France, Great Britain, Luxembourg, Spain and Switzerland.

In 1994, the United States stopped accepting Haitian refugees and asked that other countries provide them with "safe havens."

In 1997, Martina Hingis, 16, of Switzerland became the youngest in 100 years to win the women's singles tennis championship at Wimbledon.

In 2002, baseball great Ted Williams died at the age of 83. At the time of his death, Williams, who played his entire, war-interrupted but outstanding career with the Boston Red Sox, was the last man to hit .400 in a major league baseball season (.406 in 1941).

In 2003, 16 people died during Russia's biggest rock concert in Moscow when two female suicide bombers detonated explosives. Security officials stopped the women, suspected of being Chechen terrorists, before they could mingle with the 40,000 concertgoers.

Also in 2003, the World Health Organization said the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, appeared to be contained.

In 2004, an opinion poll conducted by Baghdad University suggested 89 percent of Iraqis were ready to cooperate with their interim government.

In 2005, senior Pakistani and Bahraini diplomats survived attacks by gunmen in separate Iraq attacks. The assaults followed an attack that killed the Egyptian envoy to Iraq. The U.N. Security Council was called into an emergency session to discuss the problem.

In 2006, in response to North Korea's test launch of seven ballistic missiles, the U.N. Security Council called an emergency meeting to deal with the situation and the international uproar it had caused.

Also in 2006, former Enron Chairman Ken Lay died of a heart attack while awaiting sentencing on a six-count conviction in one of the biggest business scandals in U.S. history.


A thought for the day: Emily Dickinson wrote, "There is no Frigate like a Book to take us Lands away."

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Today is Friday, July 6, the 187th day of 2006 with 178 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 (perfect match-ts4ms); John Paul Jones, founder of the U.S. Navy, in 1747; singer Laverne Andrews, of the Andrews Sisters, in 1915; former first lady Nancy Reagan in 1921 (age 86); TV personality Merv Griffin in 1925 (age 82); rock 'n' roll pioneer Bill Haley ("Rock Around The Clock"), also in 1925; actress Janet Leigh in 1927; singer/actress Della Reese in 1931 (age 76); actors Ned Beatty in 1937 (age 70), Burt Ward in 1945 (age 62) and Sylvester Stallone in 1946 (age 61); U.S. President George W. Bush, also in 1946 (age 61); and actresses Shelley Hack in 1947 (age 60) and Allyce Beasley in 1954 (age 53).




On this date in history:

In 1699, pirate Capt. William Kidd was seized in Boston and deported to England. He later was hanged.

In 1854, the Republican Party was formally established at a meeting in New York City.

In 1885, French bacteriologist Louis Pasteur inoculated the first human being, a boy who had been bitten by a rabid dog. The youngster did not develop rabies.

In 1919, a British dirigible landed at New York's Roosevelt Field to complete the first airship crossing of the Atlantic.

In 1923, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was formed.

In 1933, the first Major League Baseball All-Star Game was played at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The American League beat the National League, 4-2.

In 1942, diarist Anne Frank and her family took refuge in a secret section of an Amsterdam warehouse where they hid from the Nazis for two years. Finally discovered, they were shipped to concentration camps where Anne died.

In 1944, fire in the big top of the Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus in Hartford, Conn., killed 167 people, two-thirds of them children, and injured 682 others.

In 1957, while attending a church picnic near Liverpool, 15-year-old Paul McCartney met 16-year-old John Lennon. Lennon's band was playing at the picnic and by the end of the day McCartney had joined the group.

In 1958, Alaska became the 49th U.S. state.

In 1967, civil war broke out in Nigeria.

In 1971, Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong, one of the 20th century's most influential American musicians, died at age 69.

In 1976, women were first admitted to the U.S. Naval Academy.

In 1984, U.S. President Ronald Reagan, in a TV interview, said it was a "probability" that many young people now paying into Social Security "will never be able to receive as much as they're paying."

In 1992, a bomb exploded near the car carrying French President Mitterrand's wife during a visit to Kurdish settlements in northern Iraq. She was unhurt but at least two other people were killed.

In 1993, the flooded Mississippi River was closed to barge traffic from Sioux City, Iowa, to St. Louis.

In 1994, a firestorm killed 14 firefighters near Glenwood Springs, Colo., while fighting a forest fire.

Also in 1994, U.S. President Bill Clinton visited Latvia, becoming the first U.S. president to travel to the Baltic region.

In 1997, the Mars Pathfinder deployed the remote-controlled Sojourner to explore the surface of Mars.

Also in 1997, for the first time since it was founded in 1929, Mexico's Institutional Revolutionary Party failed to win a majority in voting for the lower house of Congress.

In 1999, first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton announced she was forming an committee to look into running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y. No first lady had before sought public office.

Also in 1999, Ehud Barak was sworn in as prime minister of Israel.

In 2003, Liberian President Charles Taylor, who promised to resign in the face of civil war, said he had accepted an invitation to go into exile in Nigeria.

Also in 2003, police arrested three heavily armed teenagers in Oaklyn, N.J., whom they suspected of plotting a massive random shooting spree.

In 2004, U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., the presumptive Democratic Party nominee for president, chose Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., as his running mate.

In 2005, New York Times reporter Judith Miller was sent to jail for refusing to name her source in connection with the leaking of a CIA agent's identity to the media.

Also in 2005, London was chosen for the site of the 2012 Olympic Games in a close decision over Paris.

In 2006, U.S. President George Bush turned 60 with Washington observers noting he was likely the healthiest president ever at that age.

Also in 2006, a record $145 billion class action award against five tobacco companies was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court.

And, Felipe Calderon of Mexico's ruling National Action Party won a tight race for president over Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.


A thought for the day: Ambrose Bierce defined a bore as "A person who talks when you wish him to listen."

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Today is Saturday, July 7, the 188th day of 2007 with 177 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 (mlbyron-ts4ms) composer Gustav Mahler in 1860; painter Marc Chagall in 1887; film director George Cukor in 1899; film director Vittorio DeSica in 1901; baseball pitcher Leroy "Satchel" Paige and zither player Anton Karas ("The Third Man") in 1906; science fiction author Robert Heinlein in 1907; composer Gian Carlo Menotti in 1911; Chicago 7 defense lawyer William Kunstler in 1919; Ezzard Charles, heavyweight boxing champion, in 1921; French fashion designer Pierre Cardin in 1922 (age 85); bandleader Doc Severinsen in 1927 (age 80); singer Mary Ford in 1924; former Beatle Ringo Starr in 1940 (age 67); actors Shelley Duvall in 1949 (age 58) and Bill Campbell in 1959 (age 48); and figure skater Michelle Kwan in 1980 (age 27).




On this date in history:

In 1846, U.S. Navy Commodore J.D. Sloat proclaimed the annexation of California by the United States.

In 1865, four people convicted of conspiring with John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln were hanged in Washington.

In 1898, U.S. President William McKinley signed a joint resolution of Congress authorizing the annexation of Hawaii by the United States.

In 1946, Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850-1917) became the first American to be canonized a saint in the Roman Catholic Church.

In 1973, U.S. President Richard Nixon said he wouldn't appear before the Senate Watergate Investigating Committee or give it access to White House files.

In 1976, the first female students were permitted to enroll at U.S. military academies.

In 1981, Sandra Day O'Connor was chosen by U.S. President Ronald Reagan to become the first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court. She was unanimously approved by the Senate.

In 1987, U.S. Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North began six days of testimony before the congressional Iran-Contra committee.

In 1994, 16 people died in Americus, Ga., when 21.1 inches of rain fell.

In 1998, a Los Angeles jury convicted Mikail Markhasev, 19, of murder in the January 1997 shooting death of Ennis Cosby, son of entertainer Bill Cosby.

In 1999, a Miami-Dade County jury held the leading tobacco companies liable for various illnesses of Florida smokers. The class-action lawsuit, filed in 1994, was the first of its kind to come to trial.

In 2000, the second test of an anti-missile system failed again when the missile missed its target by 100 yards.

In 2003, the 37-member Iraqi governing council, representing all major ethnic and religious groups in the nation, began work aimed at taking control by the end of the month.

Also in 2003, actor and dancer Buddy Ebsen, known to millions of TV fans as "Beverly Hillbilly" Jed Clampett and detective Barnaby Jones, died in Southern California. He was 95.

In 2004, Ken Lay, founder and former chief executive officer of the bankrupt Enron Corp., was indicted on 11 criminal counts, including conspiracy, bank fraud and securities fraud.

In 2005, terrorists struck the London transit system setting off explosions in three subway cars and a double-decker bus in a coordinated rush-hour arrack. A reported 56 people were killed and more than 700 injured.

In 2006, three men were arrested overseas in an alleged plot to bomb a commuter rail tunnel under the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey.

A thought for the day: Benjamin Franklin wrote in "Poor Richard's Almanac" that "If you'd know the value of money, go and borrow some."

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Today is Sunday, July 8, the 189th day of 2007 with 176 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 dirigible inventor Ferdinand von Zeppelin in 1838; French psychologist Alfred Binet in 1857; oil magnate John D. Rockefeller in 1839 and his grandson, U.S. Vice President Nelson Rockefeller in 1908; band leader Louis Jordan, also in 1908; White House journalist Sarah Newcomb McClendon in 1910; drama critic Walter Kerr in 1913; jazz singer Billy Eckstine in 1914; TV executive Roone Arledge in 1931; singers Jerry Vale in 1932 (age 75) and Steve Lawrence in 1935 (age 72); actor Jeffrey Tambor in 1944 (age 63); ballet dancer Cynthia Gregory in 1946 (age 61); children's singer Raffi (Cavoukian) in 1948 (age 59); chef Wolfgang Puck in 1949 (58), and actors Kim Darby in 1947 (age 60), Anjelica Huston in 1951 (age 56), Kevin Bacon in 1958 (age 49) and Billy Crudup in 1968 (age 39).


On this date in history:

In 1497, Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama sailed from Lisbon on a voyage that would lead to discovery of a sea route to India around the southern tip of Africa.

In 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read in public for the first time, to people gathered at Philadelphia's Independence Square.

In 1835, the Liberty Bell cracked while being rung during the funeral of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall in Philadelphia.

In 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry, representing the U.S. government, sailed into Tokyo Bay to begin negotiations that led to the United States becoming the first Western nation to establish diplomatic relations with Japan in two centuries.

In 1950, U.S. Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur was designated commander of U.N. forces in Korea.

In 1969, the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Vietnam began.

In 1991, Yugoslav leaders signed an accord calling for an internationally observed cease-fire in Slovenia and Croatia.

Also in 1991, Iraq admitted to the United Nations that it had produced enriched uranium, but not enough to make nuclear weapons.

In 1994, North Korean President Kim Il Sung died at age 82. He had led the country since its founding in 1948.

Also in 1994, O.J. Simpson was ordered to stand trial on two counts of first-degree murder in the slayings of his ex-wife and her friend.

In 1996, Turkey's first Islamic prime minister confirmed he wanted a less-Western-affiliated nation when he refused the United States permission to use a Turkish military base to bomb Iraq.

In 1997, the U.S. Senate began hearings on potentially illegal campaign fund-raising practices. Among the allegations was that China, through illegal contributions, sought to influence the outcome of the 1996 elections.

Also in 1997, NATO invited three Eastern European nations -- the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland -- to join the organization.

In 1998, a tentative settlement was reported between Dow Corning Corp. and lawyers for 170,000 women who claimed they had become ill from the company's silicone breast implants.

Also in 1998, four leaders of the Montana Freemen were convicted in federal court in Billings, Mont., of conspiring to defraud banks. The anti-government, anti-tax group gained fame in 1996 during an 81-day standoff at its ranch.

In 2003, North Korea said work had begun on nuclear weapons with enough plutonium on hand to build six bombs.

Also in 2003, doctors in Singapore separated two 29-year-old Iranian sisters who had been joined at the head since birth but the women died during the 54-hour operation.

And, six people, including the gunman, died during a rampage at a military parts manufacturing plant in Meridian, Miss.

In 2004, John Rigas, founder of Adelphia Communications, a cable television company, and son Timothy were convicted of conspiracy, bank fraud and securities fraud.

Also in 2004, a U.S. Marine once reported to have been beheaded by Iraqi captors showed up alive and well at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut. Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun, 24, was turned over to military authorities.

In 2005, Hurricane Dennis killed an estimated 57 people in Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica before thundering toward the Florida coast where residents prepared for a major storm.

In 2006, Atlantic City's 12 casinos reopened after being forced to shut down for three days, as were a number of New Jersey state offices, in a political dispute that virtually closed government over a proposed 1-cent raise in the sales tax. The state, which employs inspectors at the casinos, lost about $4 million in gambling taxes.


A thought for the day: "Business? That's very simple. It's other people's money." So said Alexander Dumas.

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Today is Monday, July 9, the 190th day of 2007 with 175 to follow.

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

07-09-2007
Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include(4dabirds-ts4ms) Elias Howe, inventor of the sewing machine, in 1819; Nicola Tesla, inventor of the electromagnetic motor, in 1856; historian Samuel Eliot Morison in 1887; English romance novelist Barbara Cartland in 1901; actor/singer Ed Ames in 1927 (age 80); English artist David Hockney in 1937 (age 70); actors Brian Dennehy in 1938 (age 69) and Richard Roundtree in 1942 (age 65); football star/actor O.J. Simpson in 1947 (age 60); TV host/entertainer John Tesh in 1952 (age 55); actors Tom Hanks in 1956 (age 51), Kelly McGillis in 1957 (age 50), Jimmy Smits in 1958 (age 49) and Fred Savage in 1976 (age 31); and singer/actress Courtney Love in 1964 (age 43).




On this date in history:

In 1850, U.S. President Zachary Taylor died suddenly of cholera. He was succeeded by Millard Fillmore.

In 1877, the first Wimbledon tennis tournament was staged at the All-England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club.

In 1893, Chicago surgeon Dr. Daniel Hale Williams performed the first successful open-heart surgery.

In 1943, U.S., Canadian and British forces invaded Sicily during World War II.

In 1947, Florence Blanchard, a nurse, was appointed lieutenant colonel in the Army, becoming the first woman to hold a permanent U.S. military rank.

In 1955, Bill Haley and the Comets' "Rock Around the Clock" hit No.1 on Billboard magazine's best-seller records chart, marking what some consider the beginning of the rock 'n' roll era.

In 1960, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev threatened the United States with rockets if U.S. forces attempted to oust the communist government of Cuba.

In 1982, a Pan Am Boeing 727 jetliner crashed in Kenner, La., shortly after takeoff from New Orleans, killing 154 people.

In 1992, Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Clinton picked U.S. Sen. Al Gore, D-Tenn., as his running mate.

In 1997, NBC was the lone holdout when the major networks agreed to implement a revised and expanded television ratings system.

In 2002 sports, the All-Star baseball game ended in an 11-inning, 7-7 tie when Commissioner Bud Selig halted proceedings saying the teams had run out of pitchers.

In 2003, U.S. Army Gen. Tommy Franks, former head of the Central Command in Iraq, told the Senate that U.S. forces in Iraq could not be reduced in "the foreseeable future."

And in 2003, the director of South Korea's intelligence service said North Korea has carried out some 70 high-explosive tests linked to nuclear weapons development.

In 2004, a report by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence accused the CIA and other intelligence agencies of producing false and misleading pre-war information about Iraq's weapons program.

Also, in 2004, the International Court of Justice told Israel to tear down or re-route the 400-mile wall being built on the Palestinian territory border to thwart suicide attacks.

In 2005, London police continued the grim task of recovering bodies from the city's underground subway system where terrorists set off three well-coordinated bombing attacks killing a reported 57 people and wounding more than 700 others.

In 2006, a Sibir Airlines Airbus from Moscow taking children to a vacation area in Siberia crashed, killing more than 100 people, including many of the young travelers.

Also in 2006, Shiite gunmen on a rampage in a predominantly Sunni district of Baghdad killed at least 40 people, including unarmed women and children.

And, four U.S. soldiers were charged with raping a young Iraqi woman and killing her along with her family, the U.S. military said.


A thought for the day: David McCord said, "Life is the garment we continually alter, but which never seems to fit."

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Today is Tuesday, July 10, the 191st day of 2007 with 174 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(Bill927-ts4ms); Protestant theologian John Calvin in 1509; American painter James Whistler in 1834; brewer Adolphus Busch in 1839; French novelist Marcel Proust in 1871; black educator Mary McLeod Bethune in 1875; novelist Saul Bellow in 1915; TV news anchor/commentator David Brinkley in 1920; boxer Jake LaMotta in 1921 (age 86); author Jean Kerr in 1923; actor Fred Gwynne ("The Munsters") in 1926; former New York City Mayor David Dinkins in 1927 (age 80); tennis star Arthur Ashe in 1943; actors Ron Glass in 1945 (age 62) and Sue Lyon in 1946 (age 61); and folksinger Arlo Guthrie in 1947 (age 60).




On this date in history:

In 1890, Wyoming was admitted to the United States as the 44th state.

In 1925, the so-called Monkey Trial, in which John Scopes was accused of teaching evolution in school, a violation of state law, began in Dayton, Tenn., featuring a classic confrontation between William Jennings Bryan, the three-time presidential candidate and fundamentalist hero, and legendary defense attorney Clarence Darrow.

In 1938, industrialist Howard Hughes and a crew of four flew around the world in 91 hours, setting a speed record.

In 1962, the pioneer telecommunications satellite Telstar began relaying TV pictures between the United States and Europe.

In 1985, Coca-Cola, besieged by consumers dissatisfied with the new Coke introduced in April, dusted off the old formula and dubbed it "Coke Classic."

In 1985, two explosions sank the Rainbow Warrior, flagship of the Greenpeace environmental activist group, in Auckland, New Zealand, killing a ship's photographer and launching an international uproar. France later acknowledged responsibility.

In 1989, Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and countless other Warner Bros. cartoon characters, died from complications of heart disease.

In 1991, U.S. President George H.W. Bush lifted U.S. trade sanctions against South Africa, making it possible for the two nations to engage in trade.

Also in 1991, in Moscow, Boris Yeltsin was inaugurated as the first freely elected president of the Russian republic.

In 1992, former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega was sentenced to 40 years in prison for cocaine racketeering.

And in 1992, an Alaskan appeals court overturned the conviction of former Exxon Valdez Capt. Joseph Hazelwood in connection with the massive oil spill in Prince William Sound.

In 1999, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and five other African nations -- all of which had troops in Congo -- signed a cease-fire agreement in a bid to end that country's civil war.

Also in 1999, the U.S. team won the Women's World Cup in soccer, defeating China in the final on penalty kicks.

In 2002, the blue-chip Dow Jones industrials declined 282.59 points and the hard-hit Nasdaq index and Standard & Poor 500 stock index fell to their lowest levels since 1997.

In 2003, North Korea's chief delegate called on South Korea to forge a united front against the United States, which he said was "seeking to start a war of aggression against the Korean nation."

In 2004, a report by the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence said the United States would not have gone to war in Iraq if the weakness of pre-war intelligence revealed by the Senate had been known.

In 2006, 45 passengers and crew aboard a Pakistan International Airlines flight died in a fiery crash when the aircraft went down after takeoff in Multan after one engine failed and the wing hit a power cable.

Also in 2006, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages could be placed on the next ballot.


A thought for the day: French novelist Marcel Proust said, "Happiness is beneficial for the body but it is grief that develops the powers of the mind."

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Today is Wednesday, July 11, the 192nd day of 2007 with 173 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 Scottish King Robert the Bruce in 1274; John Quincy Adams, sixth president of the United States, in 1767; author E.B. White in 1899; actors Yul Brynner in 1920 and Tab Hunter in 1931 (age 76); fashion designer Giorgio Armani in 1934 (age 73); former heavyweight boxing champion Leon Spinks, in 1953 (age 54); actress Sela Ward in 1956 (age 51); and TV host John Henson in 1967 (age 30).

On this date in history:

In 1804, U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr killed long-time political foe Alexander Hamilton, the first Treasury secretary and chief architect of the nation's political economy, in a duel at Weehawken, N.J.

In 1847, songwriter Stephen Foster's first major hit, "Oh! Susanna," was performed for the first time, in a Pittsburgh saloon, and soon became a standard for minstrel shows.

In 1952, U.S. Army Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower was nominated as the Republican presidential candidate, with Richard Nixon as his running mate. They were elected that November.

In 1955, the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado was dedicated with 300 cadets in its first class.

In 1979, The United States' Skylab space station fell to earth, scattering tons of debris across the Australian desert.

In 1991, Japan's prime minister agreed to pay the United States an additional $500 million requested for military expenses in the Persian Gulf War.

In 1993, the collapse of a river levee left Des Moines, Iowa, without potable tap water. The water was not declared safe to drink until month's end.

In 1994, Haiti kicked human rights monitors out of the country.

In 1995, the United States resumed diplomatic relations with Vietnam.

In 1996, the international court at The Hague handed down more indictments for Bosnian war crimes, including an indictment for Radovan Karadzic, the political leader of Serbs within Bosnia.

In 2000, peace talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis opened at Camp David, Md.

In 2003, leaders of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops met with prominent Roman Catholic business executives, academics and journalists to discuss the church's future in light of the clergy sexual abuse crisis.

In 2004, the United Nations said Asia was on the brink of an AIDS catastrophe with more than 8 million people living with HIV or AIDS.

In 2005, the death toll reached 34 in a gas explosion at a Chinese coal mine. There were 49 others reported missing.

In 2006, more than 200 people were killed and another 700 injured in coordinated rush-hour terrorist attacks on the transit system in Bombay, India.

A thought for the day: Martin Farquhar Tupper wrote, "A good book is the best of friends, the same today and forever."

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Today is Thursday, July 12, the 193rd day of 2007 with 172 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(Kevin-ts4ms); Roman leader Julius Caesar in 100 B.C.; American writer Henry David Thoreau in 1817; photography pioneer George Eastman in 1854; Italian painter and sculptor Amedeo Modigliani in 1884; composer Oscar Hammerstein II and author-architect R. Buckminster Fuller, inventor of the geodesic dome, both in 1895; comedian Milton Berle in 1908; bandleader Will Bradley in 1912; painter Andrew Wyeth in 1917 (age 90); former General Motors Chairman Roger B. Smith in 1925 (age 82); pianist Van Cliburn in 1934 (age 73); comedian/actor Bill Cosby in 1937 (age 70); exercise and diet guru Richard Simmons in 1948 (age 59); actresses Denise Nicholas in 1944 (age 63), Cheryl Ladd in 1951 (age 56), and Mel Harris in 1957 (age 50); talk-show host Rolanda Watts in 1959 (age 48); and Olympic gold medal figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi in 1971 (age 36).





On this date in history:

In 1862, the U.S. Congress authorized a new award, the Medal of Honor, often called the congressional Medal of Honor.

In 1933, a new U.S. industrial code was established to fix a minimum wage of 40 cents an hour.

In 1962, the Rolling Stones gave their first public performance, at the Marquee Club in London.

In 1984, Democratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale named Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, D-N.Y., as his running mate. She was the first woman to share a major U.S. political party's presidential ticket. They lost in November, however, to incumbent Ronald Reagan.

In 1990, Boris Yeltsin quit the Soviet Communist Party, saying he wanted to concentrate on his duties as president of the Russian republic.

In 1991, members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee accused the former ambassador to Iraq, April Glaspie, of misleading them about prewar meetings with Saddam Hussein.

In 1994, PLO chief Yasser Arafat and his wife took up permanent residence in the Gaza Strip.

In 1995, at least 800 people died in the Midwest and Northeast as the result of a heat wave that lasted five days.

In 1996, as part of her divorce settlement from British Prince Charles, Princess Diana kept the princess title and received about $25 million in a lump sum followed by an income of $600,000 a year.

In 2000, the United States and Vietnam reached a trade agreement that would allow unfettered commerce between the two nations for the first time since the end of the Vietnam War.

In 2004, Saudi Arabia said it had rounded up hundreds of terror suspects but denied the existence of al-Qaida in that country.

In 2005, pressure mounted on the White House from Democrats and the media over the role a senior staff member, possibly Karl Rove, the president's top political adviser, in leaking a CIA agent's name to the media.

Also in 2005, AIDS activists said South Africa may have the world's largest number of h HIV cases, with possibly more than 6 million of the nation's 40 million people infected.

In 2006, the Bush administration said it was considering seeking access to records of all international money transfers made by U.S. banks as part of its anti-terror campaign.


A thought for the day: Henry David Thoreau said, "Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth."

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Today is Friday, July 13, the 194th day of 2007 with 171 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(swilshire-ts4ms); the Rev. Edward Flanagan, founder of Boys Town, in 1886; Dave Garroway, former host of TV's "Today Show," in 1913; former HUD Secretary and pro football star Jack Kemp in 1935 (age 72); actors Bob Crane in 1928, Patrick Stewart in 1940 (age 67) and Harrison Ford in 1942 (age 65); Rubik's Cube inventor Erno Rubik in 1944 (age 63); comedian Cheech Marin in 1946 (age 61); and country singer Louise Mandrell in 1954 (age 53).





On this date in history:

In 1859, Mexican revolutionary President Benito Juarez ordered property of the Roman Catholic Church confiscated throughout Mexico.

In 1863, opposition to the Federal Conscription Act led to riots in New York City. More than 1,000 people were killed.

In 1898, Guglielmo Marconi was awarded a patent for wireless telegraphy, the radio.

In 1960, Democrats nominated Sen. John F. Kennedy for president against GOP Vice President Richard Nixon.

In 1977, a state of emergency was declared in New York City when the entire area suffered a 25-hour power blackout.

In 1985, more than 50 rock stars performed a total of 17 hours at televised "Live Aid" concerts in Philadelphia and London to raise money for African famine relief.

In 1990, the U.S. Senate gave final legislative approval to a bill that would forbid discrimination based on disability, including that caused by AIDS or alcoholism. President George H.W. Bush signed the measure into law July 26.

In 1992, Yitzhak Rabin became Israel's new prime minister, ending the hard-line Likud Party's 15-year reign.

In 1994, a U.S. Defense Department report blamed human errors for the downing in April of two U.S. helicopters over Iraq by two U.S. fighter jets.

In 1998, Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto resigned, a victim of the country's economic woes.

In 2000, the leader of Fiji's successful coup freed the former prime minister and 17 other hostages, ending a 2-month-old crisis.

In 2002, The Bush administration said that fiscal 2002 would see a deficit of $165 billion despite the $127 billion surplus recorded for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2001.

In 2003, the new 25-member Iraqi council, representing all major religious and ethnic groups in the country, had its first meeting in a major step toward self-government.

Also in 2003, a senior U.S. official said North Korea apparently had begun reprocessing spent nuclear fuel rods, suggesting the country planned to produce nuclear weapons.

In 2004, bowing to demands by Iraq insurgents and in an effort to save a kidnapped truck driver, the Philippines announced it would pull its workers out of Iraq.

In 2005, a judge in New York sentenced former WorldCom Chief Executive Officer Bernard Ebbers to a 25-year prison sentence for his part in what was described as the largest fraud in U.S. corporate history.

Also in 2005, a U.S. soldier and 24 Iraqis, including seven children, were killed by a suicide car bomber at a Baghdad checkpoint.

In 2006, the long-simmering tensions between Israel and the militant Muslim organization Hezbollah in Lebanon erupted into violence with each bombarding the other.


A thought for the day: poet John Gay said,

"Life is a jest; and all things show it.

"I thought so once; but now I know it."

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Today is Saturday, July 14, the 195th day of 2007 with 170 to follow.

The moon is new. 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 British suffragist Emmeline Pankhurst in 1858; Austrian Art Nouveau painter Gustav Klimt in 1862; actor Cliff Edwards in 1885; author Isaac Bashevis Singer in 1904; British comedian Terry-Thomas in 1911; folk singer Woody Guthrie in 1912; Gerald Ford, 38th president of the United States, in 1913; Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman in 1918 (age 89); actors Dale Robertson in 1923 (age 84), Harry Dean Stanton in 1926 (age 81) and Polly Bergen in 1930 (age 77); TV news commentator John Chancellor in 1927; football star-turned-actor Roosevelt "Rosey" Grier in 1932 (age 75); film producer Joel Silver in 1952 (age 55); and actor Matthew Fox ("Lost") in 1966 (age 41).

On this date in history:

In 1789, French peasants stormed the Bastille prison in Paris, beginning the French Revolution. The event is commemorated as "Bastille Day," a national holiday in France.

In 1793, Jean Paul Marat, one of the most outspoken leaders of the French Revolution, was stabbed to death in his bath by Charlotte Corday, a Royalist sympathizer.

In 1914, Robert Goddard was granted the first patent for a liquid-fueled rocket design.

In 1933, all political parties except the Nazis were officially suppressed in Germany.

In 1966, eight nurses were found killed in Chicago. Drifter Richard Speck later was convicted of the slayings.

In 1991, Syrian President Hafez al-Assad accepted U.S. President George H.W. Bush's compromise proposal for a Middle East peace conference.

In 1998, independent counsel Kenneth Starr subpoenaed a number of Secret Service agents to testify before a grand jury investigating U.S. President Bill Clinton's alleged affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

In 1999, the European Union ended its 3-year ban on British beef imports. The ban had been prompted by fears of mad cow disease.

In 2000, a jury in Miami-Dade Co., Fla., ordered the tobacco industry to pay $144.8 billion to Florida smokers. It was the largest damage award in U.S. history.

Also in 2000, a U.S. government panel concluded that federal officials weren't liable in the deaths of Branch Davidian cult members in a massive confrontation near Waco, Texas, in April 1993.

In 2003, a U.S. government source confirmed North Korea had begun reprocessing spent nuclear fuel rods, a step toward making more nuclear arms.

Also in 2003, despite bad information that showed up in his State of the Union address, President George W. Bush said U.S. intelligence was "darn good."

In 2004, a procedural vote in the U.S. Senate rebuffed supporters of a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages.

Also in 2004, a British government committee concluded that British intelligence prior to the Iraq war had been "seriously flawed."

In 2006, U.S. crude oil futures recorded an all-time high closing price of $77.03 a barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange.


A thought for the day: Henri-Frederic Amiel said, "An error is the more dangerous the more truth it contains."

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Today is Sunday, July 15, the 196th day of 2007 with 169 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(rsackett-ts4ms);( 3blessings-ts4ms);( TalkToMeForAdvice-ts4ms); Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn, in 1606; poet Clement Clarke Moore, author of "A Visit from St. Nicholas" ("'Twas the Night Before Christmas") in 1779; Roman Catholic nun Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first U.S. citizen to be made a saint, in 1850; lyricist Dorothy Fields in 1905; country singer Cowboy Copas in 1913; Irish author Iris Murdoch in 1919; actors Alex Karras and Ken Kercheval, both in 1935 (age 72), and Jan-Michael Vincent in 1944 (age 63); singer Linda Ronstadt in 1946 (age 61); former pro wrestler and Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura in 1951 (age 56) and actors Forest Whitaker in 1961 (age 46) and Brian Austin Green ("Beverly Hills 90210") in 1973 (age 34).




On this date in history:

In 1806, Zebulon Pike began an expedition to explore the American Southwest.

In 1912, led by all-round athlete Jim Thorpe, the U.S. team took more medals than any other nation at the Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden.

In 1945, Italy declared war on Japan, its former Axis partner.

In 1965, the unmanned spacecraft Mariner 4 passed over Mars at an altitude of 6,000 feet and sent back to Earth the first close-up images of the red planet.

In 1968, a Soviet Aeroflot jetliner landed at New York's JFK Airport, marking the beginning of direct commercial flights between the United States and the Soviet Union.

In 1971, U.S. President Richard Nixon disclosed plans to make an unprecedented visit to the People's Republic of China. He made the historic trip in February 1972.

In 1986, Britain and the Soviet Union settled accounts on $75 million in bonds that were issued under Russia's czars and defaulted on after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. The settlement ended a 60-year financial dispute.

In 1987, former national security adviser John Poindexter told the Iran-Contra congressional panels he personally authorized the transfer of Iran arms sale profits to the Nicaraguan rebels.

In 1992, the Democratic National Convention nominated Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton as its presidential candidate.

Also in 1992, Pope John Paul II underwent surgery to remove what doctors said was benign tumor the "size of orange" in his colon.

In 1997, Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace was shot to death in front of his Miami mansion. The prime suspect was Andrew Cunanan, already wanted in four other slayings who was found dead a week later, an apparent suicide.

In 1999, Texas Gov. George W. Bush, who already had raised more money than any previous candidate for a presidential nomination, announced he would not accept matching federal funds, freeing him from spending caps.

In 2002, John Walker Lindh, a 21-year-old American captured by the U.S. military in Afghanistan while with Taliban forces, admitted he had fought as a soldier with them. After cooperating in the investigation of the terrorist network, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Also in 2002, for the first time in two years, the euro came out ahead of the slumping U.S. dollar, reaching $1.0055.

In 2003, the U.S. budget was running a deficit 50 percent higher than the Bush administration forecast five months earlier, affected by war, tax cuts and a third year of a flagging economy.

In 2004, a U.N. report showed Miami, with its large Cuban presence, to have the highest percentage of foreign-born population in the world, reaching 59 percent of its residents.

In 2005, several California utilities said they settled claims against Enron Corp. for overcharges in the state's 2000-01 energy crisis, including a $47.3 million cash payment.

In 2006, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to impose limited sanctions on North Korea in response to its launching of nuclear missiles. North Korea said, however, it would continue its nuclear program.


A thought for the day: Remy de Gourmont wrote, "Art is the accomplice of love. Take love away and there is no longer art."

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Today is Tuesday, July 17, the 198th day of 2007 with 167 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(hotflash2434); English clergyman and author Isaac Watts in 1674; financier John Jacob Astor in 1763; mystery writer Erle Stanley Gardner in 1889; actor James Cagney in 1899; TV personality Art Linkletter in 1912 (age 95); comedian Phyllis Diller in 1917 (age 90); actor Donald Sutherland in 1934 (age 73); actress/singer Diahann Carroll in 1935 (age 72); rock musician Spencer Davis in 1941 (age 66); actress Lucie Arnaz in 1951 (age 56); actor David Hasselhoff in 1952 (age 55); and singers Nicolette Larson and Phoebe Snow (age 55), both in 1952.




On this date in history:

In 1918, Russian Czar Nicholas II, his wife and their five children were executed by firing squad in the Ural Mountains of Siberia.

In 1936, the Spanish Civil War began with an army revolt led by Gen. Francisco Franco.

In 1938, Douglas Corrigan took off from Floyd Bennett Field in New York for a return flight to California but lost his bearings in the clouds, he said, and flew instead to Ireland. He became an instant celebrity and was forever after known as "Wrong Way" Corrigan.

In 1955, Arco, Idaho, a town of 1,300 people, became the first community in the world to receive all its light and power from atomic energy.

Also in 1955, Disneyland opened in Anaheim, Calif.

In 1975, three U.S. and two Soviet spacemen linked their orbiting Apollo and Soyuz spacecraft for historic handshakes 140 miles above Earth.

In 1981, 111 people were killed and 200 injured when two suspended walkways collapsed at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Kansas City, Mo.

In 1992, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 7-2 decision, refused a pregnant social worker access to the unlicensed French abortion pill RU-486.

In 1993, the Midwest flood knocked out the Bayview Bridge connecting Quincy, Ill., with West Quincy, Mo., the last remaining crossing over the Mississippi River for about 200 miles.

In 1996, TWA Flight 800, New York to Paris, crashed off the Long Island coast, killing all 230 people aboard.

In 1998, U.S. President Bill Clinton became the first sitting U.S. president to be subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury as independent counsel Kenneth Starr continued his investigation into the Monica Lewinsky affair.

In 2003, an attack on a convoy in Iraq killed one soldier and pushed the death toll of U.S. troops in the Iraqi conflict to 148, one more than died in the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

In 2005, a reported 59 people were killed and 86 wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up next to a gas tanker in Musayyib, south of Baghdad, in one of the deadliest attacks since the U.S. invasion.

In 2006, an earthquake under the Indian Ocean triggered a tsunami that struck the Indonesian island of Java, killing close to 700 people. Around 200 were reported missing and thousands were rendered homeless. A second quake hit the area two days later.

Also in 2006, the fierce fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon continued almost steadily. At one point, Hezbollah shelling of Israel was reported running at a clip of a missile a minute while Israel's air force stepped up bombing runs.


A thought for the day: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe called architecture "frozen music."

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Today is Wednesday, July 18, the 199th day of 2007 with 166 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 English novelist William Makepeace Thackeray in 1811; actor Chill Wills in 1903; playwright Clifford Odets in 1906; composer, arranger, pianist Lou Busch (a.k.a. Joe "Fingers" Carr) in 1910; actor Hume Cronyn in 1911; comedian Red Skelton in 1913; actress/singer Harriet Hilliard Nelson in 1909; South African black leader Nelson Mandela in 1918 (age 89); astronaut-turned-Sen. John Glenn, D-Ohio, in 1921 (age 86); journalist/author Hunter S. Thompson in 1937; pop singer Dion Di Mucci in 1939 (age 68); actor James Brolin in 1940 (age 67); singer Martha Reeves in 1941 (age 66); publisher Steve Forbes in 1947 (age 60); country singer Ricky Skaggs in 1954 (age 53), and actress Elizabeth McGovern in 1961 (age 46).



On this date in history:

In 64, fire destroyed nearly two-thirds of Rome.

In 1925, seven months after he was released from jail, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler published the first volume of his personal manifesto, "Mein Kampf."

In 1939, MGM had a sneak preview of "The Wizard of Oz" after which producers debated about removing one of the songs because it seemed to slow things down. They finally decided to leave it in. The song: "Over the Rainbow."

In 1969, a car driven by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., plunged into a pond on Chappaquiddick Island, Mass., killing his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne.

In 1977, Vietnam was admitted to the United Nations.

In 1984, a gunman opened fire at a McDonald's restaurant in San Ysidro, Calif., killing 21 people.

In 1991, the first Ibero-American Summit Conference opened in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Also in 1991, the Yugoslav federal presidency began withdrawing troops from Slovenia.

In 1992, youths rampaged for a second night in southwest England following the deaths of two young men on a stolen police motorcycle.

In 1994, a car bombing in Buenos Aires, Argentina, killed some 100 people in or near a building that housed Jewish organizations.

In 2003, British scientist David Kelly, a government adviser and former weapons inspector in Iraq, was found dead, an apparent suicide.

In 2004, the Philippines pulled its troops from Iraq, meeting a demand by kidnappers holding a Filipino hostage.

In 2005, Eric Rudolph was sentenced to two life terms for a 1998 bombing at an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Ala. He also faced later sentencing in Atlanta for bombings at the 1996 Olympics and two other sites.

In 2006, with the monthly death rate rising sharply in Iraq, a U.N. report said more than 3,000 Iraqi civilians died violently during June, more than 100 a day, most since the '03 fall of Baghdad. The report estimated more than 14,000 Iraqi civilians had died violently during the first half of 2006.


A thought for the day: Federico Fellini said, "All art is autobiographical. The pearl is the oyster's autobiography."

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Today is Thursday, July 19, the 200th day of 2007 with 165 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(kitty-ts4ms);( nursetanya1973-ts4ms); American firearms inventor Samuel Colt in 1814; French painter Edgar Degas in 1834; accused ax murderer Lizzie Borden in 1860; Dr. Charles H. Mayo, co-founder of the Mayo Clinic, in 1865; author A.J. Cronin in 1896; former Sen. George McGovern, D-S.D., in 1922; former CIA agent-turned-author Philip Agee in 1935 (age 72); singer Vikki Carr in 1941 (age 66); former tennis star Ilie Nastase in 1946 (age 61); and actor Anthony Edwards in 1962 (age 45).



On this date in history:

In 1799, during Napoleon Bonaparte's Egyptian campaign, a French soldier discovered a black basalt slab inscribed with ancient writing near the town of Rosetta, about 35 miles north of Alexandria. The Rosetta Stone, as it was called, held the key to solving the riddle of hieroglyphics, a long dead written language.

In 1848, "bloomers," a radical departure in women's clothing, were introduced to the first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, N.Y. They were named after Amelia Jenks Bloomer.

In 1911, Pennsylvania became the first U.S. state to pass laws censoring movies.

In 1918, the end of World War I approached as the German army began retreating across the Marne River in France.

In 1946, Marilyn Monroe was given her first screen test at Twentieth Century-Fox Studios. Even without sound, the test was enough to earn Monroe her first contract.

In 1969, John Fairfax of Britain arrived at Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to become the first person to row across the Atlantic alone.

In 1984, U.S. Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, D-N.Y., was chosen as Walter Mondale's vice presidential running mate at the Democratic National Convention. She was the first woman on a major ticket.

In 1989, a crippled DC-10 jetliner crash-landed in a cornfield in Sioux City, Iowa. Amazingly, 181 of the 293 people aboard survived.

In 1990, baseball record holder Pete Rose was sentenced to five months in prison for tax evasion.

In 1991, nine days of combat between Tamil rebels and Sri Lankan soldiers left 78 soldiers and 600 rebels dead in the fiercest fighting since 1983.

In 1993, the Pentagon unveiled its "don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue" policy toward homosexuals in the U.S. military.

In 1994, U.S. President Bill Clinton said he could accept a healthcare compromise that would cover about 95 percent of the population. He previously said he would accept nothing less than universal coverage.

In 1996, the Summer Olympics opened in Atlanta with a record 197 nations taking part.

In 1997, the IRA declared a cease-fire in its long war to force Britain out of Northern Ireland.

Also in 1997, Liberia's first peaceful presidential election following a 7-year civil war was won by Charles Taylor, a rebel leader with a reputation for brutality.

In 1999, hot weather settled in over the eastern United States, lasting through the end of the month and causing at least 200 deaths -- 80 in Illinois.

In 2003, leading Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada Sadr announced plans in Iraq to form an independent "Islamic army" and denounced the Iraqi governing council as illegitimate.

In 2004, Sandy Berger, former national security adviser to former U.S. President Bill Clinton and campaign adviser to Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, admitted taking classified documents from the National Archives but said he did so inadvertently.

In 2005, U.S. Appeals Court Judge John Roberts was nominated by U.S. President George Bush to the U.S. Supreme Court, replacing the resigned Sandra Day O'Connor.

In 2006, U.S. President Bush issued his first veto of a bill passed by Congress during his presidency when he rejected a measure to end restrictions on federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research.

Also in 2006, as the fighting intensified between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, the United States began evacuating some of the approximately 25,000 Americans in Lebanon. The first load of 1,100 left by sea and air for Cyprus with thousands more scheduled the next few days.


A thought for the day: Yogi Berra said, "It ain't over 'til it's over."