On this date in history

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Today is Thursday, Aug. 16, the 228th day of 2007 with 137 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Leo. They include(jericap-ts4ms); the French physicist Gabriel Lippman, inventor of color photography, in 1845; Amos Alonzo Stagg, basketball, football hall of fame coach in 1862; labor leader George Meany in 1894; former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in 1913; actors Fess Parker in 1924 (age 83), Ann Blyth in 1928 (age 79) and Robert Culp in 1930 (age 77); football star and sports commentator Frank Gifford, also in 1930 (age 77), TV personality Kathie Lee Gifford, in 1953 (age 54); singer Eydie Gorme in 1931 (age 76); actresses Julie Newmar in 1933 (age 74) and Lesley Anne Warren in 1946 (age 61); actor Reginald VelJohnson in 1952 (age 55); director James Cameron in 1954 (age 53); actor Jeff Perry in 1955 (age 52); actress Angela Bassett and singer Madonna, both in 1958 (age 49); and actors Laura Innes in 1959 (age 48) and Timothy Hutton in 1960 (age 47).



On this date in history:
In 1812, British forces foiled plans for a U.S. invasion of Canada by capturing the city of Detroit.

In 1896, the North Country gold rush began with the discovery of gold in the Klondike region of Canada's Yukon Territory.

In 1939, New York's famous vaudeville house, the Hippodrome, closed after 34 years.

In 1948, baseball legend Babe Ruth died in New York of cancer at age 53.

In 1977, Elvis Presley, the king of rock 'n' roll, died of heart failure at his home in Memphis at age 42.

In 1987, a Northwest Airlines jet bound for Phoenix crashed on takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, killing 156 people. A 4-year-old girl was the sole survivor.

In 1990, U.S. naval forces were ordered to prevent ships from reaching or leaving the ports of Iraq and Iraqi-occupied Kuwait.

In 2004, as many as seven helicopters were pressed into service to rescue hundreds of flood victims stranded on roof and car tops near Cornwall, England. Rescue workers called the situation horrendous.

In 2005, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit northern Japan triggering a tsunami alert along the Pacific coast.

In 2006, authorities in Bangkok, Thailand, arrested American John Mark Karr for the widely publicized 1996 slaying of JonBenet Ramsey, a 6-year-old beauty queen from Boulder, Colo. Karr publicly confessed but said it was an accident. He was later cleared of any involvement.

Also in 2006, flooding in Ethiopia, which already had killed hundreds and stranded thousands, spread across the country as more rivers burst through their banks.

A thought for the day: Nicholas Murray Butler said, "An expert is one who knows more and more about less and less."Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Today is Monday, Aug. 20, the 232nd day of 2007 with 133 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Leo. They include(Hoc-ts4ms); (travelhound-ts4ms); Benjamin Harrison, 23rd president of the United States, in 1833; poet Edgar Guest in 1881; horror writer H.P. Lovecraft in 1890; architect Eero Saarinen in 1910; author Jacqueline Susann in 1921; former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in 1941; former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1944; singer/songwriter Isaac Hayes in 1942 (age 65); journalist Connie Chung in 1946 (age 61); rock star Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin fame in 1948 (age 59); TV personality Al Roker in 1954 (age 53); and actress Joan Allen in 1956 (age 51).



On this date in history:
In 1741, Danish navigator Vitus Jonas Bering discovered what is now Alaska.

In 1968, approximately 200,000 Warsaw Pact troops and 5,000 tanks invaded Czechoslovakia to crush the Prague Spring -- a brief period of liberalization in the communist country.

In 1977, the first U.S. Voyager spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., bound for Jupiter and Saturn.

In 1982, U.S. President Ronald Reagan announced that a contingent of U.S. Marines would join French and Italian troops as peacekeepers in Beirut.

In 1986, postal worker Patrick Henry Sherrill killed 14 fellow workers and wounded six others in the Edmond, Okla., post office before killing himself.

In 1990, ending administration resistance to the term, U.S. President George H.W. Bush declared that Americans and other foreigners held by Iraq are hostages and warned he will hold Iraq responsible for their safety and well-being.

In 1996, U.S. President Bill Clinton signed into law an increase in the minimum wage in two steps from $4.25 to $5.15 an hour.

In 1997, NATO forces seized thousands of weapons being kept at police stations in Serbian Bosnia's largest city.

In 1998, U.S. missiles struck sites in Afghanistan and Sudan said to be linked with terrorists. The attacks were in response to the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania 13 days earlier.

In 2002, a group of Iraqis opposed to the regime of Saddam Hussein took over the Iraqi Embassy in Berlin for five hours before releasing their hostages and surrendering.

In 2003, in the aftermath of the bombing of its Iraq headquarters in Baghdad, the United Nations said it would continued its work but would reduce its staff.

Also in 2003, Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore was suspended after refusing to comply with a federal court order to remove a rock inscribed with the Ten Commandments from the lobby of the state supreme court building.

In 2004, the United Nations said at least 13,000 Afghans returning home from Iran were stranded in the border area because of fighting in western Afghanistan.

In 2005, in his first visit to his German homeland since becoming pope, Benedict XVI told a group of Muslims that Islam and Christianity must work together to defeat terrorism.

In 2006, schoolteacher John Mark Karr was returned to the United States for questioning in the decade-old death of 6-year-old Colorado beauty queen Jon Benet Ramsey. Karr confessed to the killing but said it was an accident. He was later determined not to have a role in the girl's death.

A thought for the day: in the movie "Klondike Annie," Mae West said, "Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before."Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Today is Saturday, Aug. 18, the 230th day of 2007 with 135 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Leo. They include (dwmantz-ts4ms); American explorer Meriwether Lewis in 1774; Chicago department store founder Marshall Field in 1834; songwriter Otto Harbach (Smoke Gets In Your Eyes) in 1873; former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger in 1917; actress Shelley Winters in 1920; former first lady Rosalynn Carter in 1927 (age 80); film director Roman Polanski in 1933 (age 74); baseball star Roberto Clemente in 1934; and actors Robert Redford in 1937 (age 70); Martin Mull in 1943 (age 64); Patrick Swayze in 1952 (age 55); Madeleine Stowe in 1958 (age 49); Christian Slater in 1969 (age 38), and Malcolm-Jamal Warner in 1970 (age 37).



On this date in history:
In 1227, Genghis Khan, the Mongol leader who forged an empire stretching from the east coast of China west to the Aral Sea, died in camp during a campaign against the Chinese kingdom of Xi Xia.

In 1587, Virginia Dare, the first child of English parents to be born in the New World, was born at Roanoke Island, part of what would become North Carolina.

In 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote, was ratified by Tennessee, giving it the two-thirds majority of state ratification necessary to make it the law of the land.

In 1940, the United States and Canada established a World War II plan of joint defense against possible enemy attacks.

In 1960, the first commercially produced oral contraceptives went on the market.

In 1963, James Meredith graduated from the University of Mississippi. He was the first African-American to attend the school and his enrollment touched off deadly riots, necessitating the use of armed guards.

In 1976, U.S. President Gerald Ford was nominated in Kansas City, Mo., to head the Republican presidential ticket but lost to Democrat Jimmy Carter in November.

In 1977, comedian Julius Groucho Marx, leader of the wacky Marx Brothers, died at the age of 87.

In 1982, Lebanon and the Palestine Liberation Organization approved a plan for withdrawal of PLO fighters from besieged West Beirut. Israel approved it the following day.

In 1990, U.S. warships fired warning shots over the bows of two Iraqi tankers, the first salvos of the U.S. embargo.

In 1992, a convoy of 17 buses carrying 1,000 women and children left war-torn Sarajevo in the second such evacuation from Bosnia in a week.

In 1998, in the wake of his admission of an affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, U.S. President Bill Clinton was urged to resign by several members of Congress and more than 100 daily newspapers.

In 2002, Abu Nidal, one of the most feared of the Palestinian terrorists, was found shot to death, an apparent suicide.

In 2003, authorities estimated as many as 10,000 people had died in heat-related deaths in France during the ongoing European heat wave.

Also in 2003, Liberia's government and leaders of rebel groups signed a peace agreement, ending that nation's civil war.

In 2005, Dennis Rader, the Kansas man who called himself the BTK killer -- for bind, torture, kill -- and confessed to slaying 10 people, was sentenced to 10 consecutive life-in-prison terms.

In 2006, the eastern and southern coastal areas of South Korea braced for an expected onslaught by Typhoon Wukong, roaring toward a landfall with heavy rain and high winds and waves.

A thought for the day: Georges Bernanos wrote, "The most dangerous of our calculations are those we call illusions."Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Today is Sunday, Aug. 19, the 231st day of 2007 with 134 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Leo. They include(SOS8260456-ts4ms); English poet John Dryden in 1631; Connecticut clockmaker Seth Thomas in 1785; statesman Bernard Baruch in 1870; aviation pioneer Orville Wright in 1871; French fashion designer Coco Chanel in 1883; actor Alfred Lunt in 1892; humorist Ogden Nash in 1902; pioneer television engineer Philo Farnsworth in 1906; singing Mills Brother Harry Mills in 1913; publisher Malcolm Forbes in 1919; Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry in 1921; jockey Willie Shoemaker in 1931; actresses Diane Muldaur in 1938 (age 69) and Jill St. John in 1940 (age 67); Bill Clinton, 42nd president of the United States, in 1946 (age 61); and actors Gerald McRaney in 1947 (age 60), Adam Arkin in 1956 (age 51), John Stamos in 1963 (age 44) and Matthew Perry in 1969 (age 38).



On this date in history:
During the War of 1812, the U.S. Navy frigate Constitution defeated the British frigate Guerriere in a furious engagement off the coast of Nova Scotia and earned its nickname of Old Ironsides. Witnesses said the British shot seemed to bounce off its sides.

In 1915, two Americans were killed when a German U-boat torpedoed the British liner Lusitania in the Atlantic Ocean, an incident that helped bring the United States into World War I.

In 1955, floods hit the northeastern United States, killing 200 people.

In 1960, U-2 spy plane pilot Francis Gary Powers was convicted in a Moscow court and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was released 18 months later and exchanged for Soviet spy Rudolf Abel.

In 1977, one of the most powerful earthquakes in recorded history hit the eastern Indian Ocean between Australia and Indonesia, rattling buildings in Perth, Australia, 1,000 miles to the south.

In 1987, gun enthusiast Michael Ryan went on a shooting rampage in Hungerford, England, killing 16 people.

In 1991, Soviet President Gorbachev was detained at his vacation dacha as military and KGB hard-liners staged a coup that ultimately failed.

In 1992, delegates to the Republican National Convention nominated President George H.W. Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle for re-election. They were defeated in November by Democrats Bill Clinton and Al Gore.

In 1993, former contra rebels in Nicaragua took a government delegation hostage. In retaliation, ex-Sandinista soldiers seized political leaders in Managua, the capital. All hostages were released by both groups by Aug. 25.

In 1994, U.S. President Bill Clinton announced he was ending the 28-year U.S. policy of letting Cuban refugees take up U.S. residency if they reached the country.

In 1995, three U.S. negotiators, including U.S Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Robert Frasure, were killed when their vehicle plunged from a mountain road near Sarajevo, Bosnia.

In 1996, the Green Party nominated Ralph Nader as its presidential candidate.

In 1998, the Teamsters Union and UPS reached an agreement that ended a 15-day strike by 185,000 workers.

In 2003, the U.N. representative to Iraq was among the 22 people killed when a cement mixer truck loaded with 1,500 pounds of explosives blew up at the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad.

Also in 2003, a suicide bomber exploded a device aboard a Jerusalem bus killing and injuring more than 100 people.

In 2004, the price of oil hit a record high of $48.70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In 2005, Merck & Co, said it would appeal a Texas jury's award of $253 million in a wrongful death suit over the company's Vioxx painkiller. It was the first civil trial for the popular drug, pulled from the market after a study showed it could increase a risk of heart attack or stroke. In all, some 4,000 lawsuits were filed in the case.

In 2006, the Democratic National Committee voted to penalize 2008 presidential candidates who defy a new presidential nomination calendar. The chart is said to be aimed at lessening the longtime influence of New Hampshire and Iowa, the two states that traditionally kick off the nominating process.

Also in 2006, more than 30 people were feared dead after a boat carrying up to 200 illegal immigrants capsized and sank near Sicily, the Italian coast guard said.

A thought for the day: Walter C. Hagen said, "You're only here for a short visit. Don't hurry. Don't worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way."Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Today is Monday, Aug. 20, the 232nd day of 2007 with 133 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Leo. They include Benjamin Harrison, 23rd president of the United States, in 1833; poet Edgar Guest in 1881; horror writer H.P. Lovecraft in 1890; architect Eero Saarinen in 1910; author Jacqueline Susann in 1921; former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in 1941; former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1944; singer/songwriter Isaac Hayes in 1942 (age 65); journalist Connie Chung in 1946 (age 61); rock star Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin fame in 1948 (age 59); TV personality Al Roker in 1954 (age 53); and actress Joan Allen in 1956 (age 51).

On this date in history:
In 1741, Danish navigator Vitus Jonas Bering discovered what is now Alaska.

In 1968, approximately 200,000 Warsaw Pact troops and 5,000 tanks invaded Czechoslovakia to crush the Prague Spring -- a brief period of liberalization in the communist country.

In 1977, the first U.S. Voyager spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., bound for Jupiter and Saturn.

In 1982, U.S. President Ronald Reagan announced that a contingent of U.S. Marines would join French and Italian troops as peacekeepers in Beirut.

In 1986, postal worker Patrick Henry Sherrill killed 14 fellow workers and wounded six others in the Edmond, Okla., post office before killing himself.

In 1990, ending administration resistance to the term, U.S. President George H.W. Bush declared that Americans and other foreigners held by Iraq are hostages and warned he will hold Iraq responsible for their safety and well-being.

In 1996, U.S. President Bill Clinton signed into law an increase in the minimum wage in two steps from $4.25 to $5.15 an hour.

In 1997, NATO forces seized thousands of weapons being kept at police stations in Serbian Bosnia's largest city.

In 1998, U.S. missiles struck sites in Afghanistan and Sudan said to be linked with terrorists. The attacks were in response to the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania 13 days earlier.

In 2002, a group of Iraqis opposed to the regime of Saddam Hussein took over the Iraqi Embassy in Berlin for five hours before releasing their hostages and surrendering.

In 2003, in the aftermath of the bombing of its Iraq headquarters in Baghdad, the United Nations said it would continued its work but would reduce its staff.

Also in 2003, Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore was suspended after refusing to comply with a federal court order to remove a rock inscribed with the Ten Commandments from the lobby of the state supreme court building.

In 2004, the United Nations said at least 13,000 Afghans returning home from Iran were stranded in the border area because of fighting in western Afghanistan.

In 2005, in his first visit to his German homeland since becoming pope, Benedict XVI told a group of Muslims that Islam and Christianity must work together to defeat terrorism.

In 2006, schoolteacher John Mark Karr was returned to the United States for questioning in the decade-old death of 6-year-old Colorado beauty queen Jon Benet Ramsey. Karr confessed to the killing but said it was an accident. He was later determined not to have a role in the girl's death.

A thought for the day: in the movie "Klondike Annie," Mae West said, "Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before."Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Today is Tuesday Aug. 21, the 233rd day of 2007 with 132 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Leo. They include(TJM-ts4ms);( xzhan02-ts4ms); jazz great William Count Basie in 1904; mystery novelist Anthony Boucher in 1911; Britain's Princess Margaret in 1930; basketball star Wilt Chamberlain in 1936; country/pop singer Kenny Rogers in 1938 (age 69); actor Clarence Williams III in 1939 (age 68); pop singer Jackie DeShannon in 1944 (age 63); and actresses Patty McCormack in 1945 (age 62) and Kim Cattrall in 1956 (age 51); former Ohio State football running back Archie Griffin, the only two-time Heisman Trophy winner, in 1954 (age 53); American Online founder Steve Case in 1958 (age 49) and actress Alicia Witt in 1975 (age 32).




On this date in history:
In 1831, slave Nat Turner launched a bloody slave insurrection in Southampton County, Va., leading to the deaths of 60 people. Turner, an educated minister who considered himself chosen by God to lead his people out of slavery, was hanged.

In 1935, Benny Goodman's nationally broadcast concert at Los Angeles' Palomar Theater was such a hit that it often has been referred to as the kickoff of the swing era.

In 1940, exiled Bolshevik leader Leon Trotsky was assassinated in Mexico City on orders from Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

In 1951, the United States ordered construction of the world's first atomic submarine, the Nautilus.

In 1959, Hawaii became the 50th state.

In 1968, the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact forces invaded Czechoslovakia to end its bid for independence from Moscow.

In 1983, Philippine opposition leader Benigno Aquino was assassinated as he stepped from a plane at the Manila airport.

In 1986, gas belching from a volcanic lake in the remote mountains of Cameroon killed more than 1,700 people and injured 500.

In 1991, a coup to oust Soviet President Gorbachev collapsed two days after it began.

In 1992, fugitive neo-Nazi leader Randall Weaver opened fire on U.S. marshals from inside his Idaho mountaintop home. His wife and teenage son and a deputy marshal died during the 11-day standoff.

In 1994, Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon was elected president of Mexico.

In 1995, the Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds tobacco companies agreed to drop libel suits against ABC News after the network apologized for reporting a year earlier that cigarette makers added nicotine in order to addict smokers.

In 1996, U.S. President Bill Clinton signed a law that let Americans carry health insurance from one job to the next and limited denial of coverage due to pre-existing conditions.

In 2002, U.S. President George W. Bush said that while no decision had been made whether to go to war against Iraq, he believed a regime change would be in the best interest of the world.

Also in 2002, Michael Copper, former executive of the bankrupt energy giant Enron, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.

In 2004, two French journalists were reported kidnapped by Islamic radicals who demanded France repeal its ban on Muslim headscarves in school. France refused.

In 2005, Israeli soldiers moved into the final phase of their evacuation of residents of the Gaza Strip, an operation that reportedly went smoothly overall. More than 30 homes were razed in the northern section, first large-scale demolitions of the mission.

Also in 2005, sectarian violence erupted in Northern Ireland with about 400 nationalists and loyalists rioting in Belfast. There were no serious injuries reported.

In 2006, U.S. President George Bush admitted at a news conference that the war in Iraq was a big strain on the United States but declared there would be no mass American pullout so long as I'm the president.

Also in 2006, deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein went on trial on a second mass murder charge in Baghdad, this one involving the deaths of 148 men and boys in an alleged revenge attack. He already was being tried in relation to the deaths of thousands of Kurds.

A thought for the day: it was Ernie Pyle who said, "I write from the worm's-eye point of view."Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Today is Wednesday, Aug. 22, the 234th day of 2007 with 131 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Leo. They include (melpollard-ts4ms); French composer Claude Debussy in 1862; Charles Jenkins, inventor of airplane brakes and the conical drinking cup, in 1867; writer, critic Dorothy Parker in 1893; heart surgeon Denton Cooley and science fiction writer Ray Bradbury, both in 1920 (age 87); French fashion designer Marc Bohan in 1926 (age 81); Gulf War hero and retired U.S. Army Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf in 1934 (age 73); actresses Valerie Harper in 1940 (age 67) and Cindy Williams in 1947 (age 60); and singer/songwriter Tori Amos in 1963 (age 44).




On this date in history:

In 1851, the U.S.-built schooner America outran a fleet of Britain's finest ships around England's Isle of Wight in an international race that became known as America's Cup.

In 1881, American humanitarians Clara Barton and Adolphus Solomons founded the National Red Cross.

In 1911, Leonardo Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" was stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris. It was recovered four months later.

In 1922, Michael Collins, a founder of the Irish Republican Army and a key figure in Ireland's independence movement, was assassinated by political opponents.

In 1968, Pope Paul VI arrived in Colombia, becoming the first pontiff to visit South America.

In 1986, Kerr-McGee Corp. agreed to pay the estate of nuclear industry worker Karen Silkwood more than $1 million, ending a 10-year legal battle waged by her family over her exposure to radioactive materials at the company's plant.

In 1995, U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds, D-Ill, was convicted of having sex with an underage girl, leading to his resignation later in the year.

In 2003, a senior U.S. official said Iraqi security guards were suspected of helping the suicide bomber that hit the Baghdad U.N. compound earlier in the week, killing 22 and injuring about 100 others.

In 2004, two masked robbers stole Edvard Munch's "The Scream" and another painting from the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway. "The Scream" was stolen once before, 10 years earlier, but was recovered within three months.

Also in 2004, Israel Radio reported that the opening of a nuclear reactor being built at Bushehr, Iran, with the assistance of Russia, has been delayed until 2006.

In 2005, the last Jewish settlers moved peacefully out of the Gaza Strip after carrying the Torah scrolls down the main street of Netzarim, last of 21 settlements to be evacuated.

Also in 2005, Iraq's constitution committee returned to the drawing board after submitting a draft document to the National Assembly and then withdrawing it. Many Sunni negotiators reportedly objected to the draft.

In 2006, the U.S. State Department began investigating Israel’s reported use of U.S.-made cluster bombs in southern Lebanon, said to be a violation of secret agreements with the United States.

Also in 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration decided to make the "morning-after" contraceptive pill known as Plan B available without a prescription to people 18 and older.


A thought for the day: Adlai Stevenson said, "...shouting is not a substitute for thinking and reason is not the subversion but the salvation of freedom."

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Today is Thursday, Aug. 23, the 235th day of 2007 with 130 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Virgo. They include(awb824-ts4ms); poet and novelist Edgar Lee Masters in 1869; Gen. Jonathan Wainwright, hero of Bataan, in World War II, in 1883; humorist Will Cuppy in 1884; cartoonist Ernie Bushmiller (creator of Nancy) in 1905; dancer/actor Gene Kelly in 1912; actresses Vera Miles in 1930 (age 77) and Barbara Eden in 1934 (age 73); political comedian Mark Russell in 1932 (age 75); rock drummer Keith Moon of The Who in 1946; actress Shelley Long and singer/actor Rick Springfield both in 1949 (age 58); and pro basketball star Kobe Bryant in 1978 (age 29).



On this date in history:
In 1926, silent screen idol Rudolph Valentino died, sending his fans into hysterical mourning.

In 1927, despite worldwide demonstrations in support of their innocence, Italian-born anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed for murder.

In 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact. Less than two years later, Germany launched a blitzkrieg attack on Russia.

In 1982, Beirut Christian leader Beshir Gemayel was elected president of Lebanon. He was assassinated less than one month later and was succeeded by his brother, Amin.

In 1991, Russian Republic President Boris Yeltsin pressured Soviet President Gorbachev into replacing his Cabinet in the wake of a failed coup.

In 1996, tobacco regulation, recommended by the FDA, was approved by U.S. President Bill Clinton.

In 1999, Berlin once again became the capital of Germany.

In 2003, a former priest who had been in the forefront of the sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church was strangled, apparently by a fellow inmate, at a Massachusetts prison.

In 2005, the U.S. Defense Department said it planned to review its investigation into football star Pat Tillman's death from friendly fire in Afghanistan.

Also in 2005, Venezuela's vice president reacted angrily to comments by U.S. evangelist Pat Robertson who suggested President Hugo Chavez be assassinated.

In 2006, Amnesty International accused Israel of war crimes for allegedly targeting civilians in its fight with Hezbollah forces in Lebanon.

A thought for the day: Ogden Nash said, "Don't try to rewrite what the moving finger has writ, and don't ever look over your shoulder."Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Today is Friday, Aug. 24, the 236th day of 2007 with 129 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Virgo. They include pioneer British abolitionist William Wilberforce in 1759; Joshua Lionel Cowen, inventor of the electric toy train, in 1880; English author and parodist Max Beerbohm in 1872; country music publisher Fred Rose in 1897; Argentine poet and author Jorge Luis Borges in 1899; actor Steve Guttenberg in 1958 (age 49); former baseball star Cal Ripken Jr. in 1960 (age 47); and actress Marlee Matlin in 1965 (age 42).

On this date in history:
In 79 A.D., thousands died and the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum were buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy.

In 1814, the British captured Washington and burned the Capitol building and the White House.

In 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly non-stop across the United States.

In 1987, a U.S. appeals court in Cincinnati ruled public schools could require students to study textbooks not accepted by religious fundamentalists.

In 1990, Irish-British hostage Brian Keenan, held by pro-Iranian Muslim extremists in Lebanon for more than four years, was freed.

In 1991, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev quit as general secretary of the Communist Party central committee. He also ordered his Cabinet to resign.

In 1992, Hurricane Andrew smashed into Florida south of Miami with sustained winds of up to 145 mph, carving a path of destruction.

In 1995, Beijing convicted and then expelled Chinese-American human rights activist Harry Wu, arrested in June while trying to enter China from Kazakhstan.

In 1996, four women became students at The Citadel, a military school in South Carolina that had fought in court to remain all-male.

In 2003, a Newsweek poll indicated that Americans were growing increasingly wary of U.S. military involvement in Iraq.

In 2004, two Russian passenger jetliners crashed within minutes of each other after taking off from Domodedovo Airport in Moscow. A total of 89 people were killed.

In 2005, U.S. President George Bush vowed in an Idaho speech that he would not retreat from Iraq or the rest of the Middle East until U.S. troops win the war on terror.

Also in 2005, a Peruvian passenger plane crashed in the jungle of central Peru, killing at least 40 people.

In 2006, Pluto, the small, distant planet that has been around officially since 1930, was demoted to a non-planet status when the International Astronomical Union voted to adopt a new definition of planet which excludes Pluto.

A thought for the day: it was Hartford (Conn.) Courant Editor Charles Dudley Warner -- and not his friend and colleague Mark Twain -- who said, "Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it."

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Today is Saturday, Aug. 25, the 237th day of 2007 with 128 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Virgo. They include (M. Henley-ts4ms); Czar Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible) of Russia, in 1530; Allan Pinkerton, founder of the private detective agency, in 1819; author Bret Harte in 1836; dancer/actress Ruby Keeler in 1909; Pogo cartoonist Walt Kelly in 1913; bandleader/singer Bob Crosby also in 1913; actors Van Johnson in 1916 (age 91) and Mel Ferrer in 1917 (age 90); composer/conductor Leonard Bernstein in 1918; former Alabama Gov. George Wallace in 1919; Monty Hall, host of Let's Make A Deal, in 1921 (age 86); actor Sean Connery in 1930 (age 77); talk-show host Regis Philbin in 1931 (age 76); actress Anne Archer in 1947 (age 60); actor John Savage and rock singer Gene Simmons of KISS, both in 1949 (age 58); singer/songwriter Elvis Costello in 1954 (age 53); country singer Billy Ray Cyrus (Achy Breaky Heart) and actress Ally Walker, both in 1961 (age 46); actors Blair Underwood and Joanne Whalley, both in 1964 (age 43); and supermodel Claudia Schiffer in 1970 (age 37).



On this date in history:
In 1718, the city of New Orleans was founded.

In 1875, Matthew Webb, a 27-year-old British merchant navy captain, became the first person known to successfully swim the English Channel.

In 1944, U.S. troops liberated Paris from the Nazis in World War II.

In 1967, a sniper assassinated American Nazi leader George Lincoln Rockwell in Arlington, Va.

In 1985, Samantha Smith, 13, was killed with her father and six other people in a plane crash in Maine. Her 1983 letter to Soviet President Yuri Andropov about her fear of nuclear war earned her a visit to the Soviet Union.

In 1990, the U.N. Security Council voted 13-0 to authorize use of minimal force against ships breaking the economic embargo of Iraq.

In 1991, the Soviet republic of Byelorussia declared independence.

In 1992, researchers reported that cigarette smoking significantly boosts the risk of developing cataracts, a leading cause of blindness.

Also in 1992, right-wing extremists, egged on by Berlin residents, set fire to a hostel for Vietnamese asylum seekers during a third night of violence against foreigners.

In 1993, Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman was indicted by a federal grand jury in New York in connection with a number of terrorist activities, including the bombing of the World Trade Center.

Also in 1993, on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at an all-time high of 3,652.09.

In 1999, the FBI admitted it fired pyrotechnic tear-gas canisters at the Branch Davidian cult compound near Waco, Texas, on the day in 1993 that the standoff came to a fiery end, but said the containers bounced away harmlessly.

In 2003, at least 45 people died and more than 61 were injured when two car bombs exploded in a crowded area of Mumbai.

In 2004, a U.S. Army investigation concluded that military intelligence units played a major role in the Abu Ghraib prison abuses in Iraq.

Also in 2004, the World Health Organization warned that polio was on the verge of becoming a major epidemic in Africa as it spread to new countries.

In 2005, residents of south Florida prepared for the arrival of Tropical Storm Katrina, which forecasters said was likely to become a hurricane.

Also in 2005, the United States said it would send 1,500 more troops to Iraq to boost strength in the run-up to the country's elections in October and December, raising the troop level to about 140,000.

In 2006, Pulkova Ailines Flight 612 crashed near the Russian border in Ukraine, killing 171 people.

A thought for the day: John Berryman said, "Something has been said for sobriety but very little."Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Today is Sunday, Aug. 26, the 238th day of 2007 with 127 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Virgo. They include British statesman Robert Walpole in 1676; French scientist Antoine Lavoisier, the founder of modern chemistry, in 1743; Lee De Forest, known as the father of radio, in 1873; Charlie Chan detective series author Earl Derr Biggers in 1884; poet/novelist Christopher Isherwood in 1904; bacteriologist Albert Sabin, discoverer of an oral vaccine for polio, in 1906; Geraldine Ferraro, Democratic vice presidential candidate and first woman to seek so high a position on a major political party ticket, in 1935 (age 72); jazz musician Branford Marsalis in 1960 (age 47); and actor Macaulay Culkin (Home Alone) in 1980 (age 27).

On this date in history:
In 1964, Democrats nominated U.S. President Lyndon Johnson and Hubert Humphrey to face the Republicans in November.

In 1974, Charles Lindbergh died at the age of 72.

In 1978, Cardinal Albino Luciani was elected the 263rd pope and chose the name John Paul I. He died 33 days later.

In 1992, Hurricane Andrew's deadly winds roared ashore in Louisiana bayou country.

Also in 1992, U.S. President George H.W. Bush announced a ban on Iraqi military flights over southern Iraq to protect the Shiite Muslims. He said any planes that violate the order would be shot down by U.S.-led coalition forces.

In 1996, a court in South Korea sentenced former president Chun Doo Hwan to death for the coup that put him in power. His successor, Roh Tae Woo, was sentenced to prison for taking bribes.

In 1998, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno asked for a 90-day preliminary investigation into alleged illegal campaign fundraising phone calls Vice President Al Gore made from the White House.

In 2002, Iraq will have nuclear weapons fairly soon, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said in a speech favoring U.S. military action.

In 2003, NASA was severely criticized on several counts by a federal board investigating the Feb. 1 Columbia shuttle disaster.

Also in 2003, the U.N. Security Council denounced as a grave violation of human rights the killings of Kuwaiti prisoners, believed to be in the hundreds, by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's regime.

In 2004, a leader in the U.S. Army panel investigating prisoner abuse at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison said the team had discovered serious misconduct and a loss of moral values.

Also in 2004, a mortar attack on a mosque in Koufa in central Iraq killed 40 people and injured another 70.

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck Florida's Atlantic coast, causing flooding that claimed 11 lives. The massive storm then moved into the Gulf of Mexico where it picked up strength and sent thousands of Gulf Coast residents fleeing its expected onslaught.

Also in 2005, a new Gallup Poll showed U.S. President George W. Bush's approval rating at 40 percent -- the lowest Gallup rating of his presidency.

In 2006, Iran rebuffed the U.N. edict to stop its nuclear project or face sanctions and went ahead with expansion steps instead.

A thought for the day: Alan Patrick Herbert wrote, "The critical period in matrimony is breakfast-time."Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Today is Monday, Aug. 27, the 239th day of 2007 with 126 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Virgo. They include (pja36-ts4ms); (jbwinchester-ts4ms);( tim-ts4ms);( timeandenergy-ts4ms); German philosopher Georg Hegel in 1770; novelist Theodore Dreiser in 1871; English automaker Charles Rolls in 1877; novelist C.S. Forester in 1899; Lyndon Baines Johnson, 36th president of the United States, in 1908; Nobel Peace Prize winner Mother Teresa in 1910; singer/actress Martha Raye in 1916; singer/actor Tommy Sands in 1937 (age 70); actress Tuesday Weld in 1943 (age 64); actor Paul Reubens (Pee-Wee Herman) in 1952 (age 55); and actress Sarah Chalke in 1976 (age 31).



On this date in history:
In 1859, the first successful oil well in the United States was drilled near Titusville, Pa.

In 1883, the most powerful volcanic eruption in recorded history occurred on Krakatoa, a small, uninhabited island located west of Sumatra in Indonesia.

In 1928, the Kellogg-Briand Pact, outlawing war as a means to settle international disputes, was signed by 15 nations in Paris. World War II began 11 years later.

In 1939, Adolf Hitler served notice on England and France that Germany wanted Danzig and the Polish Corridor.

In 1977, IRA terrorists killed Louis Mountbatten, a cousin of the queen, by blowing up his boat. It was the IRA's first attack on the royal family.

In 1985, U.S. Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger canceled the U.S. Army's $1.8 billion Sergeant York weapon system, declaring it ineffective.

In 1991, the Soviet republic of Moldavia declared independence and the European Community recognized Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as independent nations.

In 1992, Serbian leaders at the Yugoslav peace conference pledged to close the prisoner-of-war camps, end ethnic cleansing and work toward peace.

Also in 1992, Canada's Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional a law that would have prevented a man from claiming the Nazi Holocaust was a hoax.

In 1996, Israel approved new development in the West Bank.

In 1999, two Russian cosmonauts and a French astronaut left Mir to return to Earth, leaving the orbiting Russian space station unmanned for the first time in 13 years.

In 2003, the United States and North Korea met privately in Beijing during the six-nation talks on Pyongyang's nuclear program. Diplomats said there was no breakthrough in the talks.

In 2004, Russian authorities said traces of explosives were found in the wreckage of two airliners that crashed within minutes of each other after takeoff earlier in the week in Moscow, heightening suspicion of terrorism. A total of 89 people died in the crashes.

In 2005, the Gulf Coast between New Orleans and the Florida Panhandle was battening down for the second landfall of Hurricane Katrina, a Category 3 storm and strengthening.

In 2006, reports said hundreds of tribal chiefs signed a pact supporting reconciliation and an end to sectarian strife in Iraq while bombs and gunfire killed 100 Iraqis over a two-day period.

A thought for the day: in her novel "Molly Bawn," Margaret Wolfe Hungerford wrote, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Today is Tuesday, Aug. 28, the 240th day of 2007 with 125 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Virgo. They include (darrgarr-ts4ms); German poet, novelist and dramatist Johann von Goethe in 1749; Elizabeth Ann Seton, first U.S.-born saint of the Roman Catholic Church, in 1774; actor Charles Boyer in 1899; psychologist Bruno Bettelheim in 1903; actor/dancer Donald O'Connor in 1925; actor Ben Gazzara in 1930 (age 77); former Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen in 1940 (age 67); singer/actor David Soul in 1943 (age 64); actor Daniel Stern in 1957 (age 50); ice skater Scott Hamilton in 1958 (age 49); actors Emma Samms in 1960 (age 47) and Jason Priestley in 1969 (age 38); and country singers Shania Twain in 1965 (age 42) and LeAnn Rimes in 1982 (age 25).



On this date in history:
In 1922, a New York City realty company paid $100 for the first radio commercial, on station WEAF.

In 1955, while visiting family in Money, Miss., 14-year-old Emmett Till, an African-American from Chicago, was slain for flirting with a white woman four days earlier. His alleged killers were acquitted.

In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous I have a dream speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial before more than 200,000 people gathered for the Freedom March in Washington.

In 1968, the Democratic Party nominated Hubert Humphrey for president as thousands of anti-Vietnam war demonstrators battled police in the streets and parks of Chicago.

In 1986, Soviet spy Jerry Whitworth was sentenced in San Francisco to 365 years in prison and fined $410,000.

In 1988, more than 50 people were killed in the Philippines in an unsuccessful coup attempt against President Corazon Aquino.

In 1990, at least 27 people died and more than 350 were injured when a tornado struck Will County, Ill., southwest of Chicago.

In 1992, federal relief got under way for the South Florida victims of Hurricane Andrew with the arrival giant C-5A military transport at devastated Homestead Air Force Base.

In 1996, after four years of separation, Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, and his wife, Princess Diana, were formally divorced.

In 1997, Proposition 209, California's controversial anti-affirmative action measure approved by the state's voters a year earlier, officially took effect.

In 2002, four men, three of them working at the airport, were indicted in Detroit as suspected terrorists. Another man, suspected of trying to set up a terrorist training camp in Oregon, was indicted in Seattle.

In 2003, North Korea said it would prove it had nuclear weapons by conducting a test. The warning came at the conclusion of talks in Beijing with other nations over North Korea's weapons program.

In 2004, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell canceled plans to attend closing ceremonies at the Summer Olympics in Athens after protests against U.S. foreign policy.

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina picked up strength as it roared toward the Gulf Coast, reaching Category 5 status, with winds of almost 150 miles an hour, touching off one of the largest evacuations in U.S. history. The mayor of New Orleans issued a mandatory evacuation order for his city while fleeing residents clogged highways in other parts of Louisiana and in Mississippi and Alabama.

In 2006, U.S. schoolteacher John Mark Karr was returned to the United States to face charges of killing JonBenet Ramsey, the 6-year-old Colorado beauty queen 10 years earlier and whose slaying he had admitted. But, the case against him quickly crumbled when DNA tests showed he wasn't involved.

A thought for the day: author Salman Rushdie said, "Literature is the one place in any society where, within the secrecy of our own heads, we can hear voices talking about everything in every possible way."Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Today is Wednesday, Aug. 29, the 241st day of 2007 with 124 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Virgo. They include (longboarder1955-ts4ms);( garytam-ts4ms);( rjsmom1-ts4ms); English philosopher John Locke in 1632; author and poet Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. in 1809; Henry Bergh, founder of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, in 1811; automotive inventor Charles Kettering in 1876; trombonist/bandleader Jack Teagarden in 1905; actor Barry Sullivan in 1912; actress Ingrid Bergman in 1915; jazz saxophonist Charlie Bird Parker in 1920; British filmmaker Richard Attenborough in 1923 (age 84); jazz and pop singer Dinah Washington in 1924; Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in 1936 (age 71); actor Elliott Gould in 1938 (age 69); filmmaker William Friedkin (The Exorcist) in 1935 (age 72); TV personality Robin Leach (Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous) in 1941 (age 66); pop singer Michael Jackson in 1958 (age 49); and actress Rebecca De Mornay in 1962 (age 45).



On this date in history:
In 1533, Atahualpa, last of the Inca rulers, was strangled under orders of Spanish conqueror Francisco Pizarro. The Inca Empire died with him.

In 1949, the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb at a remote test site at Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan.

In 1965, U.S. astronauts Gordon Cooper and Charles Conrad landed safely to end the eight-day orbital flight of Gemini 5.

In 1973, U.S. District Judge John Sirica ordered U.S. President Richard Nixon to turn over secret Watergate tapes. Nixon refused and appealed the order.

In 1991, in Kiev, the republics of Russia and Ukraine signed an agreement to remain in the Soviet Union and negotiate a loose federation.

In 1994, Israel and the PLO signed a new agreement to shift West Bank administrative functions to the Palestinian National Authority.

In 1995, Eduard Shevardnadze, the head of state in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, was slightly injured when a bomb exploded near his motorcade in Tbilisi.

In 2003, a car bomb explosion killed more than 80 worshippers at the Imam Ali Mosque in the Iraqi Shitte holy city of Najaf.

In 2004, the Summer Olympics came to a close in Athens, Greece. The United States won 103 medals, 35 of them gold, led by swimmer Michael Phelps who took home six gold and two bronze medals.

In 2005, downgraded to a Category 4 but packing high storm surges and sustained winds of more than 140 miles an hour, Hurricane Katrina slammed ashore on the Gulf Coast, its eye crossing northeast Louisiana, just east of New Orleans, inflicting severe damage in New Orleans and along coastlines of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, with high winds and killer floods, becoming the costliest storm in history with reports of more than $125 billion in damage and more than 1,800 killed.

Also in 2005, the average U.S. pump price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline rose to a record $2.60.

In 2006, a report said hurricane damages were soaring to new levels and causing insurance companies, staggered by Hurricane Katrina, to abandon homeowners in high-risk coastal areas.

A thought for the day: Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote, "A moment's insight is sometimes worth a life experience."Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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Today is Thursday, Aug. 30, the 242nd day of 2007 with 123 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Virgo. They include author Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (Frankenstein) in 1797; Louisiana Gov. Huey Long in 1893; actor Raymond Massey in 1896; journalist/author John Gunther and civil rights leader Roy Wilkins, both in 1901; actor Fred MacMurray in 1908; actresses Shirley Booth in 1898 and Joan Blondell in 1906; baseball legend Ted Williams in 1918; country music singer Kitty Wells in 1919 (age 87); singer John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas in 1935; actress Elizabeth Ashley in 1939 (age 68); French Olympic champion skier Jean-Claude Killy in 1943 (age 64); and actors Timothy Bottoms in 1951 (age 56), Michael Chiklis in 1963 (age 44), Michael Michele in 1966 (age 41) and Cameron Diaz in 1972 (age 35).

On this date in history:
In 30 B.C., Cleopatra, queen of Egypt and lover of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, committed suicide following the defeat of her forces by Octavian, the future first emperor of Rome.

In 1780, Gen. Benedict Arnold betrayed the United States when he promised secretly to surrender the fort at West Point to the British army. He later fled to England and died in poverty.

In 1941, German forces began the 900-day siege of Leningrad. When it ended, the Russian city lay in ruins and hundreds of thousands of people had died.

In 1983, Guion Bluford became the first black astronaut in space.

In 1992, at least 15 people were killed and 31 wounded when an artillery shell exploded in a crowded Sarajevo market.

In 1994, the Lockheed and Martin Marietta corporations agreed to a merger that would create the largest U.S. defense contractor.

In 1997, the Houston Comets defeated the New York Liberty, 65-51, to become the fledgling Women's National Basketball Association's first champions.

In 2003, more than 120 people, including prominent Shiite cleric Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim, were killed in a bombing attack on Iraq's Imam Ali Mosque.

In 2004, at least 240 people were arrested during a New York anti-Bush demonstration two days before the National Republican convention.

In 2005, on the day after Hurricane Katrina struck, 80 percent of New Orleans was under water. Electric, water, sewage, communication and transportation systems were out. Three-fourths of all houses were reported damaged or destroyed. Thousands were rescued, many plucked from rooftops and some sought shelter in the Superdome stadium.

In other areas along the Gulf, meanwhile, Katrina flattened much of Gulfport and Biloxi, Miss., flooded Mobile, Ala., and heavily damaged smaller towns in between. The death toll report eventually would top 1,800, most of those dying in New Orleans, with more than $100 billion in damages.

In 2006, Hurricane John, moving north-northwest along the southwest coast of Mexico, was upgraded to a Category 4 storm with 135 mph winds.

Also in 2006, one year after Hurricane Katrina triggered the devastation of New Orleans, authorities said bickering was holding up almost $1 billion in relief from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency.

A thought for the day: it was Francis Bacon who said, "Revenge is a kind of wild justice, which the more man's nature runs to, the more ought law to weed it out."Copyright 2007 by United Press International