On this date in history

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

Today is Monday, July 28, the 210th day of 2008 with 156 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Leo. They include (silly_stitcher-ts4ms.com ); Beatrix Potter, author and illustrator of the Peter Rabbit stories, in 1866; surrealist artist Marcel Duchamp in 1887; comedian Joe E. Brown in 1892; singer/actor/band leader Rudy Vallee in 1901; conductor Carmen Dragon in 1914; former U.S. first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in 1929; Peter Duchin, pianist, bandleader, in 1937 (age 71); former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori in 1938 (age 70); former U.S. Senator and basketball star Bill Bradley in 1943 (age 65); "Garfield" creator Jim Davis in 1945 (age 63); actresses Linda Kelsey in 1946 (age 62) and Sally Struthers in 1948 (age 60); former baseball pitcher Vida Blue in 1949 (age 59); and actress Lori Loughlin in 1964 (age 44).





On this date in history:

In 1868, the ratified 14th Amendment was adopted into the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing citizenship and all its privileges to African-Americans.

In 1932, during the Great Depression, U.S. President Herbert Hoover ordered the Army under Gen. Douglas MacArthur to evict by force the Bonus Marchers from the nation's capital.

In 1914, Austria declared war on Serbia, leading to World War I.

In 1945, the U.S. Senate ratified the United Nations.

Also in 1945, an Army B-25 bomber lost in the fog crashed into the side of the Empire State Building in New York City, killing 13 people.

In 1976, an earthquake struck China's Tangshan Province, killing an estimated 1 million people.

In 1984, U.S. President Ronald Reagan opened the Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles. A Soviet-led bloc of 15 nations, as well as Iran, Libya, Albania and Bolivia, boycotted the games.

In 1990, the collision of a freighter and two barges spilled 500,000 gallons of oil in the Houston Ship Channel near Galveston, Texas.

In 1992, Warner Bros. removed the controversial song "Cop Killer" from Ice-T's "Body Count" album by request of the rapper.

In 1998, in return for immunity, former White House intern Monica Lewinsky agreed to testify before a federal grand jury investigating a possible relationship between her and U.S. President Bill Clinton.

In 2000, Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori was sworn in for a third term amid violent protests by his opponents, who said the election was fraudulent.

In 2003, J.P. Morgan Chase and Citigroup, the two largest U.S. banks, agreed to pay nearly $300 million in fines and penalties to settle charges they had aided Enron in deceiving investors.

In 2004, Democrats nominated Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts to oppose Republic incumbent George W. Bush in the November presidential election.

Also in 2004, a massive suicide car bomb tore through a crowd of Iraqis trying to enlist in the Baquba police force, killing a reported 70 people and injuring more than 50 others.

In 2005, the Irish Republic Army said it was ending violence as a political tactic against Great Britain in Northern Ireland after a 36-year campaign. The IRA promised to disarm and cease terrorist activity.

In 2006, very hot summer weather swept across much of the United States and parts of Europe, leaving a growing death toll in its wake. By late July, California reported 126 heat-related deaths. The heat reached as far north as Bismarck, N.D., which reported 112 degrees.

In 2007, a poll indicated the percentage of American voters who said they think the U.S. Supreme Court is too conservative jumped from 19 to 31 percent in two years after the addition of John Roberts and Samuel Alito.



A thought for the day: Nikolai Nekrasov wrote, "You do not have to be a poet, but you are obliged to be a citizen."

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

Today is Tuesday, July 29, the 211th day of 2008 with 155 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Leo. They include Grigori Rasputin, born in 1871; French historian Alexis de Tocqueville in 1805; novelist Booth Tarkington in 1869; Italian dictator Benito Mussolini in 1883; composer Sigmund Romberg (" Lover Come Back to Me," "When I Grow Too Old to Dream"), in 1887; silent film actress Clara Bow in 1905; actors William Powell in 1892 and Richard Egan in 1921; bluegrass star Henry D. "Homer" Haynes, member of Homer and Jethro, in 1920; U.S. Labor Secretary and Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., in 1936 (age 72); TV anchorman Peter Jennings in 1938; actor David Warner in 1941 (age 67); documentary filmmaker Ken Burns in 1953 (age 55); country singer Martina McBride in 1966 (age 42); and actor Wil Wheaton ("Star Trek: The Next Generation") in 1972 (age 36).


On this date in history:

In 1588, off the coast of Gravelines, France, Spain's "Invincible Armada" was defeated by an English naval force under the command of Charles Howard and Francis Drake.

In 1848, at the height of the potato famine in Ireland, an abortive nationalist revolt against English rule was crushed by government police in Tipperary.

In 1900, Italian King Umberto I was shot to death by Gaetano Bresci, an Italian-born anarchist who resided in America before returning to his homeland to kill the king.

In 1914, the first transcontinental telephone linkup was completed between San Francisco and New York City.

In 1968, Pope Paul VI upheld the prohibition of all artificial means of birth control for Roman Catholics.

In 1981, Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, married Diana Spencer at St. Paul's Cathedral in London.

In 1991, the Federal Reserve sought a $200 million penalty against bank BCCI for violating U.S. banking laws. It was the largest fine in the Federal Reserve's history.

In 1992, former U.S. Secretary of Defense Clark Clifford and his law partner, Robert Altman, were indicted on charges of lying about their roles in the BCCI bank scandal.

In 1993, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Also in 1993, the Israeli Supreme Court overturned the conviction and death sentence of retired U.S. autoworker John Demjanjuk, accused of being a World War II Nazi death camp guard known as "Ivan the Terrible."

In 1994, the Senate approved the nomination of federal Judge Stephen Breyer to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1996, China conducted an underground atomic test, then declared a moratorium on such explosions.

In 1998, U.S. President Bill Clinton agreed to give videotaped testimony at the White House to be viewed by a federal grand jury investigating his alleged affair with former intern Monica Lewinsky.

In 1999, a federal judge in Little Rock, Ark., fined U.S. President Bill Clinton $89,000 for lying about his relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky in his deposition in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case.

Also in 1999, a securities trader who suffered heavy losses killed nine people and wounded 11 others in Atlanta before taking his own life. Police later found the bodies of his wife and two children at his home.

In 2004, Pakistan announced the capture of a Tanzanian al-Qaida member sought by the United States in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

In 2005, the U.S. Congress gave final legislative approval to a energy bill that included incentives, including tax breaks, for development of alternate fuels and nuclear energy.

Also in 2005, authorities said heavy rains and flooding in Mumbai and surrounding areas had killed 1,000 people.

In 2006, the United Nations and the African Union condemned the Sudanese army and Janjaweed militias for attacking rebels in Darfur's Jebel Moon area during a cease-fire agreement.

In 2007, Pakistani officials warned that an estimated 600 students who disappeared after the crackdown on the Red Mosque may be planning suicide attacks in Islamabad.



A thought for the day: Matthew Arnold said, "Conduct is three-quarters of our life and its largest concern."

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

Today is Tuesday, Aug. 5, the 218th day of 2008 with 148 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Leo. They include French novelist Guy de Maupassant in 1850; poet and critic Conrad Aiken in 1889; film director John Huston in 1906; actor Robert Taylor in 1911; astronaut Neil Armstrong, first man on the moon, in 1930 (age 78); actors John Saxon in 1935 (age 73); Loni Anderson in 1946 (age 62) and Jonathan Silverman in 1966 (age 42).


On this date in history:

In 1833, Chicago was incorporated as a village with a population of about 200.

In 1858, after several unsuccessful attempts, the first telegraph line across the Atlantic Ocean was completed.

In 1861, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signed into law the first federal income tax. A wartime measure, it was rescinded in 1872.

In 1957, Dick Clark's "American Bandstand" began airing nationally.

In 1962, actress Marilyn Monroe died of an overdose of barbiturates. She was 35.

In 1963, the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union signed a treaty outlawing nuclear tests in the Earth's atmosphere, in space or under the sea.

In 1974, U.S. President Richard Nixon admitted ordering the Watergate investigation halted six days after the break-in. Nixon said he expected to be impeached.

In 1981, U.S. President Ronald Reagan began firing 11,359 air-traffic controllers striking in violation of his order for them to return to work. The executive action, regarded as extreme by many, significantly slowed air travel for months.

In 1990, the United States sent a Marine company into Monrovia, Liberia's capital, to evacuate U.S. citizens because of a rebel threat to arrest Americans to provoke foreign intervention in the civil war.

In 1991, the Democrats ordered inquiries into allegations that Ronald Reagan's 1980 campaign team delayed release of the U.S. hostages in Iran until after the election.

Also in 1991, Iraq admitted it misled U.N. inspectors about secret biological weapons and also admitted extracting plutonium from fuel at a nuclear plant.

In 1994, opponents of Fidel Castro clashed with police in Havana as thousands of Cubans took to the high seas trying to reach the United States.

Also in 1994, U.S. fighter jets acting under NATO orders attacked Bosnian Serb positions after the Serbs seized weapons from a U.N depot. The weapons were returned.

In 1997, North Korea opened talks with the United States, China and South Korea aimed at negotiating a permanent treaty to replace the armistice agreed to after the Korean War.

In 1998, Iraq announced it would no longer cooperate with U.N. weapons inspectors and demanded the lifting of the U.N. sanctions imposed in 1991.

In 2003, U.S. Episcopal officials approved election of their first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, a move that threatened to create a schism within the church in the United States.

Also in 2003, a series of explosions rocked an international hotel in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, killing 14 people and injuring 150.

In 2004, twin Filipino boys joined at the top of their heads were listed in critical but stable condition after U.S. doctors surgically separated them.

In 2005, North Korea's refusal to give up its nuclear programs bogged down multinational disarmament talks, now in their 11th day in Beijing.

In 2006, the United States and France agreed on a cease-fire proposal for Lebanon, ending a week of intense negotiations in the Israel-Hezbollah fight. Hezbollah initially opposed the proposal and Israeli ministers said they would study it.

Also in 2006, the Los Angeles Times said newly declassified Army files confirm U.S. atrocities in Vietnam were more extensive than reported with at least 320 alleged incidents.

In 2007, U.S. President George Bush signed into law a bill to allow government eavesdropping of telephone conversations and e-mails of American citizens and people overseas without a warrant if there's "reasonable belief" that one party is not in the United States.

Also in 2007, at least 240 people were reported dead and millions more suffering from food and clean water shortages in monsoon flooding in India, Nepal and Bangladesh. Officials estimated 14 million people in India and 7 million in Bangladesh were in need of help.

A thought for the day: Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin reportedly said, "You cannot make a revolution with silk gloves."

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

Today is Wednesday, Aug. 6, the 219th day of 2008 with 147 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Leo. They include English poet Alfred Lord Tennyson in 1809; Hollywood gossip columnist Louella Parsons in 1881; Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of penicillin, also in 1881; movie cowboy star Hoot Gibson in 1892; comedian Lucille Ball in 1911; actor Robert Mitchum in 1917; former airline executive Freddie Laker in 1922; artist Andy Warhol in 1928; actress Catherine Hicks in 1951 (age 57); and film director M. Night Shyamalan in 1970 (age 38).

On this date in history:

In 1890, the first execution by electric chair was carried out. William Kemmler was put to death at Auburn Prison in New York for the ax murder of his girlfriend.

In 1926, Gertrude Ederle of New York became the first American to swim the English Channel.

In 1940, Italy invaded British Somaliland, starting the Battle of North Africa in World War II.

In 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, after Nagasaki also was bombed, Japan surrendered, ending World War II.

In 1978, Pope Paul VI died at the age of 80 after a heart attack. He had led the Roman Catholic Church for 15 years.

In 1986, William Schroeder died of a stroke in Louisville, Ky., after 620 days with the Jarvik-7 mechanical heart. He was the longest-living permanent artificial heart patient.

In 1990, the U.N. Security Council voted to impose worldwide economic and military embargo on Iraq as punishment for its invasion of Kuwait.

In 1993, Morihiro Hosokawa was elected prime minister of Japan.

In 1995, some 100,000 people attended a memorial service in Hiroshima, Japan, to mark the 50th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing that helped end World War II.

Also in 1995, police in Colombia captured Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, the reputed co-leader of the Cali drug cartel.

In 1996, NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin announced the discovery of evidence of a primitive life form on Mars.

In 1997, the Dow Jones industrial average closed at an all-time high of 8,259.31.

In 2003, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his candidacy for governor of California on NBC-TV's "The Tonight Show."

In 2005, Cindy Sheehan, mother of a soldier killed in Iraq, set up camp outside U.S. President George Bush's Texas ranch, bitterly criticizing the war and demanding to see him.

Also in 2005, a Newsweek poll gave U.S. President George Bush his lowest ratings on his handling of the war in Iraq. Sixty-one percent of those surveyed said they disapproved of the president's actions and 34 percent approved.

In 2006, at least 200 people watching floods in Mardan, Pakistan, plunged into the water when the 30-foot-high bridge they were standing on was swept away.

Also in 2006, a U.N. report said a huge shipload of smuggled bomb-making uranium uncovered by customs officials in Tanzania was headed for Iran.

In 2007, six coal miners were trapped 1,500 feet below ground after a shaft collapsed at the Crandall Canyon Mine in Utah. Despite several days of intense rescue efforts, mine officials reported no survivors.

Also in 2007, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission was reported considering a formal ban on lead in children's jewelry. Federal officials said China was responsible for 95 percent of the nearly 18 million pieces of children's jewelry pulled off the market in the past two years.


A thought for the day: it was Will Rogers who said, "Everything is funny as long as it is happening to somebody else."

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

Today is Thursday, Aug. 7, the 220th day of 2008 with 146 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Leo. They include Carl Ritter, the German co-founder of modern geographical science, in 1779; the World War I Dutch spy and courtesan known as Mata Hari (Margaret Gertrude Zelle) in 1876; actress Billie Burke in 1885; British archaeologist and anthropologist Louis Leakey in 1903; American statesman and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ralph J. Bunche in 1904; film director Nicholas Ray in 1911; comedian/producer Stan Freberg in 1926 (age 82); actor Carl Switzer (Alfalfa in the "Our Gang" and "Little Rascals" movie comedies) in 1927; singer B.J. Thomas and humorist Garrison Keillor ("Prairie Home Companion"), both in 1942 (age 66); and actors John Glover in 1944 (age 64), David Duchovny ("The X-Files") in 1960 (age 48) and Charlize Theron in 1975 (age 33).


On this date in history:

In 1782, the Order of the Purple Heart was established by Gen. George Washington to honor Americans who fought in the Revolutionary War.

In 1942, U.S. Marines launched America's first offensive in World War II, landing on the Pacific island of Guadalcanal.

In 1959, the satellite Explorer-6 transmitted man's first view of the Earth from space.

n 1963, Jacqueline Kennedy became the first wife of a president since the days of Grover Cleveland to give birth while in the White House. The infant, a boy, died two days later.

In 1990, U.S. President George H.W. Bush sent U.S. troops and air power to protect Saudi Arabian oil fields from possible Iraqi attack.

In 1998, bombs detonated within minutes of each other outside U.S. embassy buildings in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing 224 people.

In 2001, Uribe Velez was sworn in as president of Colombia in ceremonies interrupted by rebel shelling that killed 15 and wounded 60.

In 2004, Iraqi militants released a video reportedly showing the beheading of a U.S. citizen.

Also in 2004, two former top East German officials were convicted by a Berlin state court of failing to stop the killing of people trying to escape across the Berlin Wall.

In 2005, U.S. scientists announced they have successfully tested a vaccine to protect against bird flu.

Also in 2005, Peter Jennings, anchor and senior editor of ABC News "World News Tonight," who said in April he had lung cancer, died at his New York home at age 67.

In 2006, the usually secretive North Korea government announced 549 people had been killed by recent flooding and 295 remained missing.

In 2007, Amnesty International charged that China appeared to be cracking down on its human rights activists and journalists and using detention without trial as a pretext for getting ready for the 2008 Olympics.

A thought for the day: W.C. Fields said, "Anyone who hates children and dogs can't be all bad."