On this date in history

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Today is Monday, April 7, the 98th day of 2008 with 268 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aries. They include (Pat-ts4ms); missionary St. Francis Xavier in 1506; English poet William Wordsworth in 1770; gossip columnist Walter Winchell in 1897; conductor Percy Faith in 1908; singer Billie Holiday in 1915; sitar player Ravi Shankar in 1920 (age 88); actor James Garner in 1928 (age 80); former Defense Department analyst Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers, in 1931 (age 77); actor Wayne Rogers in 1933 (age 75); former California Gov. and current state Attorney General Jerry Brown Jr., in 1938 (age 70); film director Francis Ford Coppola ("The Godfather") and British TV personality David Frost, both in 1939 (age 69); former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in 1944 (age 64); musician John Oates in 1948 (age 60); actor/martial arts expert Jackie Chan in 1954 (age 54); and actor Russell Crowe in 1964 (age 44).




On this date in history:

In A.D. 30, by many scholars' reckoning, Jesus of Nazareth was crucified in Jerusalem.

In 1862, Union forces under the command of General Ulysses S. Grant defeated the Confederates at Shiloh, Tenn.

In 1953, Swedish statesman Dag Hammarskjold was elected secretary-general of the United Nations. He served until his death in a 1961 plane crash.

In 1990, suspected arson fires aboard the ferry Scandinavian Star killed at least 75 people in Scandinavia's worst post-war maritime disaster.

Also in 1990, the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati and its director were indicted on obscenity and child pornography charges for displaying a controversial Robert Mapplethorpe photo exhibit.

In 1991, the United States began airlifting food, water and medical gear to Kurdish refugees at the Iraq-Turkish border.

In 2004, the ACLU filed a lawsuit against New York State, challenging the constitutionality of the state's law prohibiting same-sex marriage.

In 2005, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shiite Muslim, and Jalal Talabani, a Kurdish leader, were named prime minister and president, respectively, in the new Iraqi government.

In 2006, three suicide bombers set off explosives in a Baghdad mosque, killing at least 90 people and injuring an estimated 175.

Also in 2006, the United States and the European Union suspended financial aid to the Palestinian Authority because its ruling Hamas party refuses to recognize Israel.

In 2007, a published report said the United States allowed Ethiopia to buy arms secretly from North Korea in January, three months after the U.N. imposed sanctions on North Korea for its nuclear program.

Also in 2007, the captain of the Greek cruise ship M/S Sea Diamond, which ran aground off Santorini with about 1.500 passengers and crew aboard, was charged with criminal negligence.

A thought for the day: James A. LaFond-Lewis said, "The fearless are merely fearless. People who act in spite of their fear are truly brave."

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This is Tuesday, April 8, the 99th day of 2008 with 267 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aries. They include Lewis Morris, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, in 1726; pioneer neurosurgeon Harvey Cushing in 1869; actress Mary Pickford in 1892; Olympic figure skater Sonja Henie in 1912; former first lady Betty Ford in 1918 (age 90); comedian Shecky Greene in 1926 (age 82); actor and former ambassador to Mexico John Gavin in 1931 (age 77); former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1938 (age 70); choreographer Michael Bennett of "A Chorus Line" fame in 1943; actor/singer John Schneider in 1954 (age 54); musician Julian Lennon in 1963 (age 45); actresses Robin Wright Penn in 1966 (age 42) and Patricia Arquette in 1968 (age 40); and actor Taran Noah Smith ("Home Improvement") in 1984 (age 24).


On this date in history:

On this day, Buddhists celebrate the commemoration of the birth of Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, thought to have lived in India from 563 B.C. to 483 B.C.

In 1917, Austria-Hungary, an ally of Germany, severed diplomatic relations with the United States.

In 1935, U.S. Congress approved the Works Progress Administration, a central part of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal."

In 1952, U.S. President Harry Truman ordered government seizure of the steel industry to avoid a general strike.

In 1960, the U.S. Senate passed the landmark Civil Rights Bill.

In 1974, Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run, breaking Babe Ruth's long-standing career record. Aaron played two more seasons ending with 755 homers.

In 1990, Ryan White, who put the face of a child on AIDS, died of the ailment at age 18.

In 1992, former tennis great Arthur Ashe confirmed he had AIDS. He said he contracted the disease from a blood transfusion.

In 1993, Marian Anderson, the first African-American singer to appear at New York's Metropolitan Opera, died at age 91.

In 1994, Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain, 27, was found dead in his Seattle home of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

In 1995, in his book "In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam," former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara wrote that he and other U.S. leaders had been "wrong, terribly wrong" about the war.

In 2002, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein temporarily halted his country's oil exports, a move, he said, was aimed at damaging U.S. economy.

In 2003, by April 8, U.S.-led coalition troops had occupied major Iraqi government buildings and organized resistance had melted away.

Also in 2003, missiles fired from Israeli helicopters killed a leader of the militant Hamas group in Gaza.

In 2004, U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice told the 9/11 commission that a report about a possible plane hijacking received by the White House one month before terrorists struck New York and Washington contained mostly "historical information" and made no specific warning about a U.S. attack.

In 2005, some 250,000 mourners attended a three-hour funeral mass for Pope John Paul II in Rome's St. Peter's Square while about 1 million others gathered nearby. Among those in attendance were U.S. President George W. Bush, two former U.S. presidents, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, and about 100 world leaders.

Also in 2005, Eric Rudolph agreed to plead guilty to four bombings, including one at the 1966 Olympics in Atlanta, in order to escape the death penalty.

In 2006, a White House spokesman said U.S. President George Bush approved a leak of classified information, as charged in the I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby case, because it served a "public interest" and didn't compromise security.

Also in 2006, two diplomats from Niger allegedly faked documents the Bush administration used to support the invasion of Iraq, a published report in London said.

In 2007, officials said three explosions in Iraq killed at least 29 people and wounded 52 others.

Also in 2007, 20 seamen were reported missing after their cargo ship struck another vessel and sank off the coast of China.



A thought for the day: there's a Chinese proverb that says, "If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow."

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Today is Wednesday, April 9, the 100th day of 2008 with 266 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aries. They include (Beaglemom3-ts4ms); (SteveH-ts4ms); French poet Charles Baudelaire in 1821; comic actor W.C. Fields in 1879; actor/singer Paul Robeson in 1898; birth control pill inventor Gregory Pincus and actor Ward Bond, both in 1903; former U.S. Sen. James William Fulbright, D-Ark., in 1905; Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner in 1926 (age 82); singer/songwriter Tom Lehrer in 1928 (age 80); rock 'n' roll pioneer Carl Perkins in 1932; actor Jean-Paul Belmondo in 1933 (age 75); comedian Avery Schreiber in 1935; and actors Michael Learned ("The Waltons") in 1939 (age 69), Dennis Quaid in 1954 (age 54) and Keshia Knight Pulliam ("The Cosby Show") in 1979 (age 29).





On this date in history:

In 1816, the first all-black U.S. religious denomination, the AME church, was organized in Philadelphia.

In 1865, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at the Appomattox Court House in Virginia, bringing the Civil War to a close.

In 1866, the U.S. Congress passed the Civil Rights Bill of 1866, which granted blacks the rights and privileges of U.S. citizenship and formed the basis for the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

In 1939, on Easter Sunday, African-American contralto Marian Anderson gave a free open-air concert before more than 75,000 people from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington after the Daughters of the American Revolution denied her use of Constitution Hall because of her race.

In 1940, Germany invaded Norway and Denmark.

In 1947, a monster tornado roared through at least 12 towns in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, killing 169 people. The twister traveled 221 miles across three states.

In 1959, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration introduced America's first astronauts to the public. The seven men, all military test pilots, were carefully selected from a group of 32 candidates to take part in Project Mercury.

In 1963, by an act of the U.S. Congress, British statesman Winston Churchill became an honorary U.S. citizen.

In 1976, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed on the size of nuclear tests for peaceful use.

In 1979, the government declared the crisis was over at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania.

In 1989, troops clashed with nationalist demonstrators in the capital of the Soviet republic of Georgia.

In 1991, the Soviet republic of Georgia declared its independence.

In 1992, a federal jury in Miami convicted deposed Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega on cocaine trafficking charges.

In 1996, former U.S. Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, D-Ill., pleaded guilty to mail fraud and was sentenced to 19 months in prison.

In 1997, a government of unity was launched in Angola, three years after the end of the country's 19-year civil war, with the seating of 70 members of the rebel UNITA party in parliament.

In 1998, tornadoes and storms took 39 lives in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi.

In 1999, the president of the African nation of Niger was assassinated, reportedly by members of his own guard. A military junta led by the commander of the presidential guards took over.

In 2000, Peru's President Alberto Fujimori failed to win a first-round election victory, forcing a run-off in May that he won. However, a vote-fraud scandal forced him to step down later in the year.

In 2003, the mood in Iraq became exuberant as Iraqis, with help from Americans, toppled a 20-foot statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad's Firdos Square.

In 2004, authorities in Bulgaria said at least 40 people were injured, some seriously, in a toxic gas attack on a police station in Sofia.

In 2005, Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, married Camilla Parker Bowles, his long-time companion, at Windsor Castle. She took the title duchess of Cornwall.

Also in 2005, authorities in Lusaka, Zambia, said at least 42 schoolchildren, on their way home at the end of the term, were killed near Lusaka when the truck in which they were riding overturned.

In 2006, a published report said U.S. President George W. Bush was considering military strikes against Iran if necessary to pressure Tehran to abandon its alleged nuclear development program.

In 2007, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that his country could produce nuclear fuel on an industrial scale.

Also in 2007, U.S. government officials said Louisiana victims of Hurricane Katrina had demanded billions of dollars in damages from the storm.

And, the death toll in the earthquake and tsunami in the Solomon Islands was placed at 39 with nearly 7,000 people homeless.


A thought for the day: Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote, "Advice is like snow; the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into the mind."

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Today is Thursday April 10, the 101st day of 2008 with 265 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aries. They include U.S. Navy Adm. Matthew Perry, who concluded the first treaty between Japan and the United States, in 1794; soldier, diplomat and novelist Lewis Wallace, author of "Ben-Hur," in 1827; William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, in 1829; journalist and publisher Joseph Pulitzer in 1847; Frances Perkins, the first woman U.S. Cabinet member (secretary of labor), in 1882; journalist and diplomat Clare Booth Luce in 1903; actors Harry Morgan in 1915 (age 93), Chuck Connors in 1921, Max von Sydow in 1929 (age 79) and Omar Sharif in 1932 (age 75); former NFL coach and sports commentator John Madden in 1936 (age 72); actors Steven Seagal in 1951 (age 57) and Peter MacNicol in 1954 (age 54); singer/songwriter/producer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds in 1958 (age 50); singer Mandy Moore in 1984 (age 24); and actor Haley Joel Osment ("The Sixth Sense") in 1988 (age 20).



On this date in history:

In 1790, merchant Robert Gray docked at Boston Harbor, becoming the first American to circumnavigate the globe. He sailed from Boston in September 1787.

In 1849, William Hunt of New York patented the first safety pin.

In 1864, Austrian Archduke Maximilian became emperor of Mexico.

In 1919, Emiliano Zapata, a leader of peasants and indigenous people during the Mexican Revolution, was ambushed and shot to death in Morelos by government forces.

In 1942, Japanese soldiers herded U.S. and Filipino prisoners of war on Bataan in the Philippines and forced them to march to another camp. During the six-day "Death March," more than 5,200 Americans and many more Filipinos died.

In 1963, the U.S. nuclear submarine "Thresher" sank in the Atlantic Ocean 220 miles east of Boston. All 129 men on board were lost.

In 1971, the U.S. table tennis team arrived in China, the first U.S. group to penetrate the so-called Bamboo Curtain since the 1950s.

In 1972, during his first visit to the United States in 20 years, movie pioneer and comic genius Charlie Chaplin accepted an honorary Academy Award for his "incalculable" contribution to the art of filmmaking.

In 1991, an Italian ferry headed to Sardinia collided with an oil tanker near Leghorn, Italy, killing 151 passengers and crew. The tanker crew survived.

In 1992, Charles Keating Jr., considered a symbol of the nation's savings and loan debacle, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for securities fraud.

Also in 1992, in formal Gulf War report, the Pentagon said allied bombers destroyed more Iraqi electrical generating facilities than necessary, causing undue postwar hardship on civilians.

In 1994, two U.S aircraft bombed a Serbian command post in Bosnia. It was the first NATO air attack against ground forces.

In 1996, U.S. President Bill Clinton vetoed a ban on so-called partial birth abortions. The U.S. Congress was unable to override the veto.

In 1997, a U.S. judge in Washington ruled the Line-Item Veto Act of 1996 was unconstitutional.

In 1998, Britain and Ireland reached an agreement aimed at ending the long and bloody dispute over the future of Northern Ireland.

Also in 1998, the anti-impotence drug Viagra went on the market and became one of the best-selling new medications of all time.

In 2000, the Nasdaq plunged 258 points in its second-biggest drop, starting the dramatic fall-off in the value of technology stocks.

In 2003, the United States and Britain launched a massive public relations campaign over the Iraqi airwaves with President George Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair reading speeches to Iraqis over a jointly run television network.

Also in 2003, the pneumonia-like illness SARS, which sickened thousands and killed more than 100 people, continued to spread to new areas around the globe with Kuwait reporting its first case.

In 2004, the White House made public a key briefing document that warned President George Bush before Sept. 11, 2001, of possible al-Qaida attacks inside the United States.

In 2005, about 3,000 Israeli police officers were deployed to Jerusalem's Old City to prevent threatened protests by Jewish militants at the Temple Mount, angry at Israel's plan to remove Jewish settlements from Gaza and the West Bank.

In 2006, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was narrowly beaten in his bid for another term by former premier Romano Prodi.

Also in 2006, U.N. personnel identified more than 100 new cases of bird flu in central and northern Myanmar in the past month.

In 2007, three former Birmingham, Ala., college students were sentenced to federal prison for setting fire to nine rural southern U.S. churches and ordered to pay $3.1 million in restitution.

Also in 2007, four Serbian paramilitary officers were found guilty of taking part in the Srebrenica massacre of Bosnian Muslims 13 years ago. Thousands of men and boys were reported slaughtered in a few days.


A thought for the day: Pablo Casals said, "Music is the divine way to tell beautiful, poetic things to the heart."

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Today is Friday, April 11, the 102nd day of 2008 with 264 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aries. They include American statesman and orator Edward Everett in 1794; U.S. Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes in 1862; statesman Dean Acheson, secretary of State under President Harry Truman, in 1893; fashion designer Oleg Cassini in 1913; Ethel Kennedy, wife of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, in 1928 (age 80); actors Joel Grey in 1932 (age 76), Louise Lasser in 1939 (age 69) and Peter Riegert and Meshach Taylor, both in 1947 (age 61); and Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Ellen Goodman in 1941 (age 67).



On this date in history:

In 1945, the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany was liberated by Allied troops.

In 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first black player in major league baseball, signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

In 1951, U.S. President Harry Truman relieved Gen. Douglas MacArthur of his command in Korea.

In 1968, one week after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., U.S. President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1968.

In 1970, the Apollo 13 spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on the third U.S. moon-landing mission. The attempt was aborted when an oxygen tank exploded but the astronauts safely returned to Earth.

In 1983, Harold Washington was elected the first black mayor of Chicago.

In 1987, South Africa, extending a 9-month-old state of emergency, barred all protests on behalf of political detainees.

In 1991, Italian Prime Minister-designate Giulio Andreotti formed a coalition Cabinet to serve as Italy's 50th postwar government.

In 1993, nine inmates and one guard were killed when an 11-day riot erupted at the maximum-security Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville.

In 1996, Israel retaliated for bomb attacks by shelling Hezbollah positions in Lebanon. A U.N. refugee camp was struck, killing more than 100 civilians.

Also in 1996, 7-year-old pilot Jessica Dubroff, her father and her flight instructor were killed when their plane crashed on takeoff from Cheyenne, Wyo.

In 2002, a jury in Cleveland convicted U.S. Rep. James Traficant, D-Ohio, of racketeering and corruption.

In 2005, U.S. President George Bush's controversial nomination of Undersecretary of State John Bolton to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations drew such sharp criticism that confirmation hearings were set back one week.

Also in 2005, seven people were reported dead and hundreds trapped when a nine-story garment factory collapsed 20 miles from the Dhaka, Bangladesh.

In 2006, Ariel Sharon was officially relieved of his duties as prime minister of Israel when the Cabinet declared him to be permanently incapacitated. Sharon suffered a major stroke on Jan. 4, 2006, and fell into a coma a short time later. He was succeeded by Ehud Olmert.

Also in 2006, more than 1 million U.S. immigrants and their supporters in some 150 cities across the nation rallied peacefully against a congressional clampdown and possible deportations.

And, the leader of the Sicilian Mafia, Bernardo Provenzano, was arrested near Palermo, Italy, after eluding capture for 43 years.

In 2007, the United States extended the tour of duty for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan from one year to 15 months.

Also in 2007, all charges were dropped in a high-profile sexual assault case involving three members of the Duke University men's lacrosse team.

A thought for the day: it was Jerry Seinfeld who said, "A bookstore is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking."

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Today is Saturday, April 12, the 103rd day of 2008 with 263 to follow.

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


Those born on this date are under the sign of Aries. They include(madouglas3-ts4ms); American statesman Henry Clay in 1777; opera singer Lily Pons in 1898; bandleader Lionel Hampton in 1908; actress/dancer Ann Miller in 1923; jazz keyboard player Herbie Hancock in 1940 (age 68); actor Ed O'Neill in 1946 (age 62); author Tom Clancy, talk show host David Letterman and actor Dan Lauria, all in 1947 (age 61); actor/singer David Cassidy in 1950 (age 58); actor Andy Garcia in 1956 (age 52); country singer Vince Gill in 1957 (age 51); and actresses Shannen Doherty in 1971 (age 37) and Claire Danes in 1979 (age 29).


On this date in history:


In 1861, the Civil War began when Confederate troops opened fire on Fort Sumter, S.C.

In 1935, "Your Hit Parade" premiered on radio.

In 1945, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the longest serving president in U.S. history, died of a cerebral hemorrhage at Warm Springs, Ga., three months into his fourth term. About three hours later, Harry Truman was sworn in as chief executive.

In 1955, U.S. health officials announced that the polio vaccine developed by Dr. Jonas Salk was "safe, potent and effective."

In 1961, the Soviet Union launched the first manned spacecraft. Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit the Earth and return safely.

In 1981, the first U.S. space shuttle flight was launched. The flight of Columbia was the first U.S. manned space mission since July 1976.

In 1990, under pressure from environmentalists, three top U.S. tuna canneries -- Heinz, Van Camp and Bumblebee -- announced "dolphin-safe" tuna-catching practices.

In 1992, the European Community announced that a cease-fire accord had been reached in Europe's newest nation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, a former Yugoslav republic. The truce didn't last.

In 1993, NATO warplanes began enforcing a no-fly zone over embattled Bosnia-Herzegovina, marking the first time the alliance's forces were used outside its traditional defense area.

In 1994, Israel and the PLO agreed that 9,000 Palestinian police would be stationed in Jericho and the Gaza Strip after the Israeli military withdrawal.

In 1999, a federal judge in Little Rock, Ark., found U.S. President Bill Clinton in contempt of court for lying during his sworn deposition in January 1998, when he testified that he hadn't had sexual relations with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Clinton was fined $1,202.

In 2002, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, after hearing European foreign ministers demand an immediate Israeli pullback from the West Bank, met with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon but reached no removal timetable.

Also in 2002, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was overthrown in a military coup but was returned to office two days later riding a wave of public sentiment.

In 2003, Gen. Amir al-Saadi, Saddam Hussein's top science adviser, denied Iraq had any weapons of mass destruction and surrendered to U.S. forces.

In 2004, Iraqi insurgents released 12 hostages of different nationalities in response to pleas by Sunni Muslim clerics.

In 2005, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made a surprise visit to Iraq and urged the quick formation of a new government.

In 2006, the French Parliament voted to replace a controversial labor law that triggered nationwide rioting among youth who feared unjustified dismissals.

In 2007, the U.S. Senate passed a bill to fund more research on embryonic stem cells, but supporters fell short of the votes needed to override an expected presidential veto.

And, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., whose novels such as "Slaughterhouse-Five" resonated with a generation, died in New York at the age of 84.


A thought for the day: Martha Grimes said, "We don't know who we are until we see what we can do."

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Today is Sunday, April 13, the 104th day of 2008 with 262 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aries. They include Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States, in 1743; Frank Woolworth, founder of the five-and-dime stores, in 1852; Alfred Butts, inventor of the game "Scrabble," in 1899; Irish playwright Samuel Beckett in 1906; Harold Stassen, former Minnesota governor who unsuccessfully sought the Republican presidential nomination seven times, in 1907; author Eudora Welty in 1909; actor/singer Howard Keel in 1919; actors Lyle Waggoner in 1935 (age 73), Paul Sorvino in 1939 (age 69) and Tony Dow (Wally on "Leave It To Beaver") in 1945 (age 63); singers Al Green in 1946 (age 62) and Peabo Bryson in 1951 (age 57); band leader and Bruce Springsteen drummer Max Weinberg in 1951 (age 57) and actors Ron Perlman in 1950 (age 58) and Rick Schroeder in 1970 (age 38).

On this date in history:

In 1964, Sidney Poitier became the first African-American to win an Oscar for best actor, honored for his work in "Lillies of the Field."

In 1965, Lawrence Bradford Jr., a 16-year-old from New York City, started work as the first black page to serve in either chamber of Congress.

In 1972, the first major league baseball strike ended, eight days after it began.

In 1984, Christopher Wilder, the FBI's "most wanted man," accidentally killed himself as police moved in to arrest him in New Hampshire. Wilder was a suspect in the deaths, rapes and disappearances of 11 young women in eight states.

In 1987, the Population Reference Bureau reported that the world's population had exceeded 5 billion.

In 1990, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev gave Lithuania a two-day ultimatum, threatening to cut off some supplies to the Baltic republic if it didn't rescind laws passed since a March 11 declaration of independence.

In 1991, an advance team of U.N. observers arrived in Kuwait City to set up a peacekeeping force along the Kuwait-Iraqi border.

In 1992, construction workers breeched a retaining wall in the Chicago River, sending water flooding through a tunnel system connecting buildings in the downtown area.

Also in 1992, Princess Anne, daughter of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, began divorce proceedings after a two-year separation from Capt. Mark Phillips.

In 1997, Tiger Woods, 21, won the Masters Tournament, the youngest golfer to accomplish that feat and first African-American to win any of the four major professional golf tournaments for men.

In 2004, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said in Beijing that the United States doesn't support independence for Taiwan.

In 2005, as part of a deal to avoid the death penalty, Eric Rudolph pleaded guilty to four bombings that killed two people and injured more than 120. Among the attacks were bombings at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and two abortion clinics. Rudolph was sentenced to life in prison.

In 2006, the head of the U.N. nuclear regulatory agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, urged Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment "until outstanding issues are clarified."

In 2007, a Bush administration official, unable to locate e-mail messages requested in the inquiry into firings of U.S. attorneys, said as many as 5 million messages may be lost. The spokesman said it could have happened by accident while changing systems. Federal law requires all White House e-mails to be archived for posterity.

Also in 2007, U.S. regulators sought to determine whether a chemical was intentionally added in China to wheat gluten destined for pet food. Contaminated wheat gluten was in food reported linked to numerous deaths of dogs and cats in North America and prompted the recall of more than 90 brands of pet food.


A thought for the day: "We cannot hold a torch to light another's path without brightening our own." Ben Sweetmand said that.

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Today is Monday, April 14, the 105th day of 2008 with 261 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aries. They include Dutch physicist Christian Huygens, founder of the wave theory of light, in 1629; Anne Sullivan, the "miracle worker" who taught a blind and deaf Helen Keller, in 1866; English historian Arnold Toynbee in 1889; British actor John Gielgud in 1904; Haitian dictator Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier in 1907; actors Rod Steiger in 1925 and Bradford Dillman in 1930 (age 78); country singer Loretta Lynn in 1935 (age 73); former New York City police detective Frank Serpico in 1936 (age 72); actress Julie Christie and former baseball star and manager Pete Rose, both in 1941 (age 67); and actors Robert Carlyle in 1961 (age 47); Anthony Michael Hall in 1968 (age 40) and Sarah Michelle Gellar ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer") in 1977 (age 31).


On this date in history:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In 2007, a reported 32 people died when a bus carrying elementary school students collided with a truck on a highway in Turkey.

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

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Today is Tuesday, April 15, the 106th day of 2008 with 260 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aries. They include (dougclk-ts4ms);( VillaHappy-ts4ms); Italian painter and inventor Leonardo da Vinci in 1452; British polar explorer James Clark Ross in 1800; author Henry James in 1843; painter Thomas Hart Benton in 1889; actress Marian Jordan, who played "Molly" in the long-running "Fibber McGee and Molly" radio show, in 1897; Harold Washington, the first black mayor of Chicago, in 1922; country singer Roy Clark in 1933 (age 75); actresses Elizabeth Montgomery in 1933, Claudia Cardinale in 1938 (age 70) and Amy Wright in 1950 (age 58); newspaper columnist Heloise Cruse Evans ("Hints from Heloise") in 1951 (age 57); and actress Emma Thompson in 1959 (age 49).



On this date in history:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In 2007, Iran announced it was accepting bids for a contract to build two nuclear power plants in the southern city of Bushehr.

Also in 2007, a group of retired U.S. military generals warned that global warming could destabilize vulnerable states in Africa and Asia.


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

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Today is Thursday, April 17, the 108th day of 2008 with 258 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aries. They include American industrialist and financier J.P. Morgan in 1837; Danish author Karen Blixen ("Out of Africa"), who wrote under the name Isak Dinesen, in 1885; Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in 1894; novelist and playwright Thornton Wilder in 1897; actor William Holden in 1918; television journalist Harry Reasoner in 1923; music promoter Don Kirshner in 1934 (age 74) and actress Olivia Hussey in 1951 (age 57).



On this date in history:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In 2007, thousands of people gathered on the Virginia Tech campus to mourn the 32 students and staff members slain by a student armed with two handguns who also killed himself, U.S. President George Bush led a national mourning for the victims.

Also in 2007, murder charges against one U.S. Marine accused in the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians have been dropped in return for his testimony against seven other Marines.




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

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Today is Friday, April 18, the 109th day of 2008 with 257 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aries. They include (ahzroe –ts4ms.com): (wgaldred-ts4ms): (Robo-ts4ms); Italian duchess Lucrezia Borgia in 1480; lawyer Clarence Darrow in 1857; conductor Leopold Stokowski in 1882; actors Barbara Hale in 1921 (age 87), Hayley Mills in 1946 (age 62), James Woods in 1947 (age 61), Rick Moranis in 1953 (age 55), Eric Roberts in 1956 (age 52) and Jane Leeves ("Frasier") in 1961 (age 47); late night talk show host Conan O'Brien and actor Eric McCormack ("Will & Grace"), both in 1963 (age 45); and actress Melissa Joan Hart in 1976 (age 32).





On this date in history:

In 1775, American patriot Paul Revere began his famed ride through the Massachusetts countryside, crying out "The British are coming!" to rally the Minutemen.

In 1906, an earthquake struck San Francisco, collapsing buildings and igniting fires that destroyed much of what remained of the city. By the time it was over three days later, almost 500 people were dead and more than a quarter of a million were homeless.

In 1923, Yankee Stadium opened in New York.

In 1942, U.S. planes bombed the Japanese mainland for the first time during World War II.

In 1945, journalist Ernie Pyle, America's most popular World War II correspondent, was killed by Japanese machine-gun fire on the island of Ie Shima in the Pacific.

In 1949, the Republic of Ireland formally declared itself independent from Britain.

In 1980, Rhodesia became the independent African nation of Zimbabwe.

In 1983, the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, was severely damaged by a car-bomb explosion that killed 63 people, including 17 Americans.

In 1992, an 11-year-old Florida boy sued to "divorce" his natural parents and remain with his foster parents. The boy eventually won his suit.

In 1993, the U.N. Security Council voted to toughen sanctions against Serbia because of its support for Bosnian Serbs trying to carve an ethnically pure state out of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

In 1996, gunmen killed 18 people and wounded 15 more in an attack on tourists at the Egyptian pyramids.

In 2002, former U.S. Sen. Bob Kerrey, D.-Neb., revealed that at least 13 civilians were killed by his U.S. Navy unit in a Vietnamese village in 1969.

Also in 2002, actor Robert Blake was arrested in the slaying of his wife in Los Angeles. After a 2005 trial, he was acquitted.

In 2003, Abu Dhabi TV aired videotape showing a man who appeared to be Saddam Hussein greeting a crowd of supporters as coalition forces entered Baghdad.

In 2004, in one of his first acts as Spain's new prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero issued orders withdrawing all 1,300 Spanish troops from Iraq.

In 2005, the leaders of archrivals India and Pakistan issued a joint statement saying peace between the two nuclear powers was "irreversible."

In 2006, two members of the Duke University lacrosse team were arrested and charged with raping a dancer who had performed at a team party. A third player was charged later. All were later exonerated and all charges dropped.

Also in 2006, thousands of people were evacuated in the Balkans as the rain and snow-swollen Danube River reached a 111-year high.

In 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court, on a 5-4 vote, upheld a 2003 law banning so-called partial-birth abortion, a procedure performed usually late in pregnancy.

Also in 2007, a reported 127 people were killed and 148 were wounded in a suicide car bomb explosion near a Baghdad market.



A thought for the day: Edward W. Howe said, "If you don't learn to laugh at troubles, you won't have anything to laugh at when you grow old."

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Today is Saturday, April 19, the 110th day of 2008 with 256 to follow.

Passover begins at sundown.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Aries. They include (vandesa-ts4ms); statesman Roger Sherman, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, in 1721; music patron Augustus Juilliard in 1836; FBI agent Eliot Ness in 1903; actress Jayne Mansfield in 1933; Hugh O'Brian in 1925 (age 83), Dudley Moore in 1935, Elinor Donahue in 1937 (age 71) and Tim Curry in 1946 (age 62); auto racer Al Unser Jr. in 1962 (age 46); and actress Ashley Judd in 1968 (age 40).





On this date in history:

In 1775, the American Revolutionary War began at the Battle of Lexington, Mass. Eight Minutemen were killed and 10 wounded in an exchange of musket fire with British Redcoats.

In 1861, one week after the Civil War began, the first Americans died, the result of a clash between a secessionist mob in Baltimore and Massachusetts troops bound for Washington. Four soldiers and 12 rioters were killed.

In 1943, Jewish residents of the Warsaw Ghetto revolted when the Germans tried to resume deportations to the Treblinka concentration camp. When the uprising ended on May 16, 300 Germans and 7,000 Jews had died and the ghetto lay in ruins.

In 1971, the Soviet Union launched its first Salyut space station.

In 1989, an explosion in a gun turret aboard the battleship USS Iowa killed 47 sailors.

Also in 1989, pro-democracy demonstrations began in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

In 1990, the U.S.-backed Contra rebels and the outgoing Nicaraguan government agreed to an immediate cease-fire and a formula to disarm and demobilize the Contras by June 10.

In 1992, a series of watercolors depicting members of the British royal family nude caused a stir with London's Fleet Street newspapers.

In 1993, the 51-day Branch Davidian standoff near Waco, Texas, ended when fire destroyed the fortified compound after authorities tear-gassed the place. Cult leader David Koresh and 85 followers, including 17 children, were killed.

Also in 1993, the governor of South Dakota and seven other people were killed in a plane crash in Iowa.

In 1994, a federal jury awarded police beating victim Rodney King $3.8 million in compensatory damages from the city of Los Angeles.

In 1995, 168 people were killed and more than 400 injured when a bomb exploded outside a federal office building in Oklahoma City.

In 1997, the rising Red River drove tens of thousands of people from their homes in North Dakota and Minnesota.

In 2000, a federal appeals court ruled in a high-profile case that 6-year-old Cuban refugee Elian Gonzalez may stay in the United States until the court heard the full appeal from his relatives, who sought to retain custody of the boy. Eventually, he was returned to his father and went back to Cuba.

In 2004, U.S. President George Bush was reported to have committed $660 million to train international peacekeeping forces outside U.N. control, with an eye primarily on African countries.

In 2005, conservative German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, already a major power in the Roman Catholic Church, was elected pope to succeed the John Paul II. He chose the name of Benedict XVI.

In 2006, delegates from the United States, Britain, Russia, China, Germany and France, meeting in Moscow, were unable to agree on a response to Iran's nuclear program.

In 2007, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, under increasing pressure to resign, told the Senate Judiciary Committee the firings of eight U.S. attorneys were justified even if the process was flawed. Critics charge the firings were politically motivated.

A thought for the day: there's an anonymous saying, "Opportunity may knock only once, but temptation leans on the doorbell."

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Today is Sunday, April 20, the 111th day of 2008 with 255 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include (BamaCorner - ts4ms); French Emperor Napoleon III in 1808; sculptor Daniel Chester French, creator of "The Minute Man" statue, in 1850; Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler in 1889; silent film comedian Harold Lloyd and Spanish surrealist painter Joan Miro, both in 1893; U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens in 1920 (age 88); actress Nina Foch in 1924 (age 84); actor Ryan O'Neal in 1941 (age 67); actress Jessica Lange in 1949 (age 59); singer Luther Vandross in 1951; and actors Carmen Electra in 1972 (age 36) and Joey Lawrence in 1976 (age 32).


On this date in history:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In 2007, as Virginia Tech mourned its dead from the shooting rampage by a student that killed 33 students and faculty members, a news report said the shooter bought two guns despite a history of mental illness.



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

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Today is Monday, April 21, the 112th day of 2008 with 254 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include (maryk-ts4ms);(emba2005-ts4ms);(dshep-ts4ms);German educator Friedrich Froebel, who established the concept of the kindergarten, in 1782; English novelist Charlotte Bronte in 1816; James Starley, English inventor of the geared bicycle, in 1830; naturalist and author John Muir in 1838; German sociologist Max Weber in 1864; actor Anthony Quinn in 1915; Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in 1926 (age 82); comedian, actress and director Elaine May in 1932 (age 76); actor/director Charles Grodin in 1935 (age 73); rock singer Iggy Pop in 1947 (age 61); actress/singer Patti LuPone in 1949 (age 59); actor Tony Danza in 1951 (age 57); and actress Andie MacDowell in 1958 (age 50).




On this date in history:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In 1993, the 11-day siege at a prison near Lucasville, Ohio, ended. Ten people died.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In 2007, an aircraft of the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels precision flight team crashed during an air show in Beaufort, S.C., killing the pilot and injuring eight people on the ground.

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

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Today is Tuesday, April 22, the 113th day of 2008 with 253 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Taurus. They include (Arkansas Winger-ts4ms) Spanish Queen Isabella I, who funded the first voyage of Christopher Columbus to the New World, in 1451; English novelist Henry Fielding in 1707; German philosopher Immanuel Kant in 1724; Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, leader of Russia's 1917 Communist revolution, in 1870; pioneer nuclear physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer in 1904; actor Eddie Albert in 1906; violin virtuoso Yehudi Menuhin in 1916; jazz bass player Charles Mingus in 1922; actress Charlotte Rae in 1926 (age 82); TV producer Aaron Spelling in 1923; singer Glen Campbell in 1936 (age 72); actor Jack Nicholson in 1937 (age 71); filmmaker John Waters in 1946 (age 62); rock guitarist and singer Peter Frampton in 1950 (age 58); actor Ryan Stiles in 1959 (age 49); comedian/TV host Byron Allen in 1961 (age 47); and actor Chris Makepeace in 1964 (age 44).




On this date in history:

In 1500, Brazil was discovered by Pedro Alvarez Cabral.

In 1509, Henry VIII became king of England.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In 2005, Zacarias Moussaoui, the only man charged in the United States in connection with the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison.

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

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

In 2007, gunmen in the Iraqi city of Mosul killed 23 followers of Yazidi, a religious minority, after they were pulled from their bus. Individuals of other faiths were unharmed.

Also in 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy and Sergolene Royal finished 1-2 in the French presidential election and headed for a May 6 runoff. Sarkozy won the runoff.


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