On this date in history

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Today is Friday, July 11, the 193rd day of 2008 with 173 to follow.

The moon is waxing. 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 Cancer. They include (RonT-ts4ms); Scottish King Robert the Bruce in 1274; John Quincy Adams, sixth president of the United States, in 1767; author E.B. White in 1899; actors Yul Brynner in 1920 and Tab Hunter in 1931 (age 77); fashion designer Giorgio Armani in 1934 (age 74); former heavyweight boxing champion Leon Spinks, in 1953 (age 55); actress Sela Ward in 1956 (age 52); and TV host John Henson in 1967 (age 31).




On this date in history:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In 2007, Iraqi authorities accused guards of stealing $282 million from the Dar Es Salaam bank in Baghdad.


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

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Today is Saturday, July 12, the 194th day of 2008 with 172 to follow.

The moon is waxing. 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 Cancer. They include(Kevin-ts4ms);( susquehannaretriever-ts4ms); Roman leader Julius Caesar in 100 B.C.; American writer Henry David Thoreau in 1817; photography pioneer George Eastman in 1854; Italian painter and sculptor Amedeo Modigliani in 1884; composer Oscar Hammerstein II and author-architect R. Buckminster Fuller, inventor of the geodesic dome, both in 1895; comedian Milton Berle in 1908; bandleader Will Bradley in 1912; painter Andrew Wyeth in 1917 (age 91); former General Motors Chairman Roger B. Smith in 1925 (age 83); pianist Van Cliburn in 1934 (age 74); comedian/actor Bill Cosby in 1937 (age 71); exercise and diet guru Richard Simmons in 1948 (age 60); actresses Denise Nicholas in 1944 (age 64), Cheryl Ladd in 1951 (age 57), and Mel Harris in 1957 (age 51); talk-show host Rolanda Watts in 1959 (age 49); and Olympic gold medal figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi in 1971 (age 37).


On this date in history:

In 1862, the U.S. Congress authorized a new award, the Medal of Honor highest military award for valor against an enemy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In 2007, a White House report indicated that the Iraqi government had satisfactorily met eight of 18 benchmarks, including troop deployment in and around Baghdad and in training of troops.


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

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Today is Sunday, July 13, the 195th day of 2008 with 171 to follow.

The moon is waxing. 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 Cancer. They include (Sheila–ts4ms); the Rev. Edward Flanagan, founder of Boys Town, in 1886; Dave Garroway, former host of TV's "Today Show," in 1913; former HUD Secretary, congressman and pro football star Jack Kemp in 1935 (age 73); actors Bob Crane in 1928, Patrick Stewart in 1940 (age 68) and Harrison Ford in 1942 (age 66); Rubik's Cube inventor Erno Rubik in 1944 (age 64); comedian Cheech Marin in 1946 (age 62); and country singer Louise Mandrell in 1954 (age 54).





On this date in history:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In 2007, a draft National Intelligence Estimate report, compiled from the work of all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies, suggested that al-Qaida was preparing for another attack on the United States.



A thought for the day: poet John Gay said,

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

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

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Today is Monday, July 14, the 196th day of 2008 with 170 to follow.

It is "Bastille Day" in France.

The moon is waxing. 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 Cancer. They include British suffragist Emmeline Pankhurst in 1858; Austrian Art Nouveau painter Gustav Klimt in 1862; actor Cliff Edwards in 1895; author Isaac Bashevis Singer in 1904; British comedian Terry-Thomas in 1911; folk singer Woody Guthrie in 1912; Gerald Ford, 38th president of the United States, in 1913; Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman in 1918; actors Dale Robertson in 1923 (age 85), Harry Dean Stanton in 1926 (age 82) and Polly Bergen in 1930 (age 78); TV news commentator John Chancellor in 1927; football star-turned-actor Roosevelt "Rosey" Grier in 1932 (age 76); film producer Joel Silver in 1952 (age 56); and actor Matthew Fox (TV's "Lost") in 1966 (age 42).



On this date in history:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In 2007, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that his country would suspend its participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty, a Cold War agreement that limited deployment of heavy weaponry.


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

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Today is Tuesday, July 15, the 197th day of 2008 with 169 to follow.

The moon is waxing. 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 Cancer. They include (rsackett-ts4ms.com); Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn, in 1606; poet Clement Clarke Moore, author of "A Visit from St. Nicholas" ("'Twas the Night Before Christmas") in 1779; Roman Catholic nun Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first U.S. citizen to be made a saint, in 1850; lyricist Dorothy Fields in 1905; country singer Cowboy Copas in 1913; Irish author Iris Murdoch in 1919; actors Alex Karras and Ken Kercheval, both in 1935 (age 73) and Jan-Michael Vincent in 1944 (age 64); singer Linda Ronstadt in 1946 (age 62); former pro wrestler and Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura in 1951 (age 57) and actors Forest Whitaker in 1961 (age 47) and Brian Austin Green ("Beverly Hills 90210") in 1973 (age 35).




On this date in history:

In 1806, Zebulon Pike began an expedition to explore the American Southwest. (OTCBB:ASWD)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In 2007, the Los Angeles Roman Catholic Archdiocese agreed to a $600 million settlement with 508 people who claimed they had been sexually abused by members of the clergy.


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

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Today is Wednesday, July 16, the 198th day of 2008 with 168 to follow.

The moon is waxing. 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 Cancer. They include English painter Joshua Reynolds in 1723; Mary Baker Eddy, founder of the Christian Science Church, in 1821; Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen in 1872; Percy Kilbride ("Pa Kettle") in 1888; vaudeville great Blossom Sealey in 1891; actress Barbara Stanwyck in 1907; actress/dancer Ginger Rogers in 1911; actor Barnard Hughes in 1915; former Miss America Bess Myerson in 1924 (age 84); singer/actor Ruben Blades and violinist Pinchas Zukerman, both in 1948 (age 60); and actors Phoebe Cates in 1963 (age 45) and Corey Feldman in 1971 (age 37).



On this date in history:

In 1769, the first Roman Catholic mission in California was dedicated at the site of present-day San Diego.

In 1790, the U.S. Congress designated the District of Columbia as the permanent seat of the U.S. government.

In 1945, the first test of the atom bomb was conducted at a secret base near Alamogordo, N.M.

In 1959, Billie Holiday, considered one of the greatest jazz singers of all time despite a tragic life, died of cardiac failure at age 44.

In 1969, Apollo 11, the first moon-landing mission, was launched from the Kennedy Space Center, carrying astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins.

In 1980, Ronald Reagan was unanimously nominated as the Republican candidate for president at the GOP National Convention in Detroit. He chose George Bush as his running mate after former U.S. President Gerald Ford declined to join the ticket.

In 1990, Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev dropped his objections to a unified Germany in NATO.

In 1991, at its London summit, the Group of Seven agreed to support the Soviet Union's economic reforms and its admission to the International Monetary Fund.

In 1999, John F. Kennedy, Jr., his wife and her sister were killed when their single-engine plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Martha's Vineyard. The son of former U.S. President John Kennedy was 39.

In 2004, Martha Stewart was sentenced to five months in prison and five months of house arrest for after being found guilty of conspiracy, obstruction of an agency proceeding, and making false statements to federal investigators.

Also in 2004, at least 75 children were killed in a fire that engulfed a school in India's southern state of Tamil Nadu.

In 2005, British police said a powerful explosive had been found in an apartment in the English town of Leeds, possibly related to the previous week's London bombings of three subway trains and a double-decker bus in which 54 people died and more than 700 were injured.

In 2006, leaders of the Group of Eight major economic powers criticized Israel and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon for their fighting and urged them to stop. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Hezbollah had to be disarmed.

Also in 2006, North Korea said the U.N. Security Council resolution sanctioning Pyongyang for its recent missile tests was a prelude to a new Korean war.

In 2007, a reported 85 people died when a suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden truck into a Kirkuk compound that housed offices of Kurdish politicians in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Also in 2007, International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors verified that North Korea had shut down its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon.



A thought for the day: From Ogden Nash: "The cow is of the bovine ilk; One end is moo, the other, milk."

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Today is Thursday, July 17, the 199th day of 2008 with 167 to follow.

The moon is waxing. 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 Cancer. They include (hotflash2434-ts4ms); English clergyman and author Isaac Watts in 1674; financier John Jacob Astor in 1763; mystery writer Erle Stanley Gardner in 1889; actor James Cagney in 1899; TV personality Art Linkletter in 1912 (age 96); comedian Phyllis Diller in 1917 (age 91); actor Donald Sutherland in 1934 (age 74); actress/singer Diahann Carroll in 1935 (age 73); rock musician Spencer Davis in 1941 (age 67); actress Lucie Arnaz in 1951 (age 57); actor David Hasselhoff in 1952 (age 56); and singers Nicolette Larson and Phoebe Snow (age 55), both in 1952.




On this date in history:

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

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

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

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

Also in 1955, Disneyland opened in Anaheim, Calif.

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

In 1981, 114 people were killed and 200 injured when two suspended walkways collapsed at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Kansas City, Mo.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In 2007, a Brazilian airliner skidded off the runway as it landed at San Paulo's Congonhas airport and crashed into a nearby building. Authorities placed the death toll at 200, reportedly the worst airline crash in Brazil's history.

Also in 2007, a U.S. National Intelligence Estimate report indicated that the terrorist network al-Qaida had gained strength in the past two years, posing a "persistent and evolving terrorist threat" for the United States in the near future.



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

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Today is Friday, July 18, the 200th day of 2008 with 166 to follow.

The moon is full. 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 Cancer. They include (GRANPABUSH –ts4ms); English novelist William Makepeace Thackeray in 1811; actor Chill Wills in 1903; playwright Clifford Odets in 1906; composer, arranger, pianist Lou Busch (a.k.a. Joe "Fingers" Carr) in 1910; actor Hume Cronyn in 1911; comedian Red Skelton in 1913; actress/singer Harriet Hilliard Nelson in 1909; South African black leader Nelson Mandela in 1918 (age 90); astronaut-turned-Sen. John Glenn, D-Ohio, in 1921 (age 87); journalist/author Hunter S. Thompson in 1937; pop singer Dion Di Mucci in 1939 (age 69); actor James Brolin in 1940 (age 68); singer Martha Reeves in 1941 (age 67); publisher Steve Forbes in 1947 (age 61); country singer Ricky Skaggs in 1954 (age 54), and actress Elizabeth McGovern in 1961 (age 47).




On this date in history:

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

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

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

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

In 1977, Vietnam was admitted to the United Nations.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In 2007, officials say damage and hazardous leaks at a Japanese nuclear power plant from an earthquake this week were greater than first reported. The Tokyo Electric Power Co. (OTCBB:TKECF) said at least 50 problems had been identified at the plant in Niigata Prefecture after the 6.8-magnitude quake.

Also in 2007, former South African President Nelson Mandela has formed a think tank of retired world leaders to offer guidance in global affairs. Among the dozen invited to join were former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, the former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and retired Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa.

And, in 2007 sports, Michael Vick, quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League, was indicted on federal charges related to an illegal dogfighting operation. He was subsequently sentenced to 23 months in prison.



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

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Today is Sunday, July 20, the 202nd day of 2008 with 164 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 Cancer. They include silent movie queen Theda Bara in 1885; New Zealand explorer Edmund Hillary, who in 1953 conquered Mount Everest, in 1919; Elliot Richardson, U.S. attorney general under U.S. President Richard Nixon, in 1920; actresses Sally Ann Howes in 1930 (age 78), Diana Rigg (age 70) and Natalie Wood, both in 1938; singer Kim Carnes in 1945 (age 63); guitarist Carlos Santana in 1947 (age 61), and actress Donna Dixon in 1957 (age 51).



On this date in history:

In 1859, American baseball fans were charged an admission fee for the first time when 1,500 spectators each paid 50 cents to see Brooklyn play New York.

In 1881, five years after U.S. Army Gen. George A. Custer's defeat at the Battle of Little Bighorn, Sioux leader Sitting Bull surrendered to the army which promised amnesty for him and his followers.

In 1945, the U.S. flag was raised over Berlin as the first U.S. troops moved in to take part in the post-World War II occupation.

In 1940, Billboard magazine published its first "Music Popularity Chart," topped by "I'll Never Smile Again" by the Tommy Dorsey orchestra with Frank Sinatra.

In 1951, while entering a mosque in the Jordanian sector of east Jerusalem, King Abdullah of Jordan was assassinated by a Palestinian nationalist.

In 1968, the first Special Olympics Games were contested at Soldier Field in Chicago.

In 1969, U.S. astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin became the first men to set foot on the moon.

In 1976, the Viking 1 lander, an unmanned U.S. planetary probe, became the first spacecraft to successfully land on the surface of Mars.

In 1985, treasure hunter Mel Fisher located a Spanish galleon sunk by a 1622 hurricane off Key West, Fla. It contained $400 million worth of treasure.

In 1989, U.S. President George H.W. Bush called for the United States to organize a long-range space program to support an orbiting space station, a moon base and a manned mission to Mars.

In 1991, Peruvian evidence showed former President Alan Garcia transferred as much as $50 million in government funds to the Panamanian branch of the BCCI bank for private use.

In 1992, seven people were killed when a test model of the Marine Corps' V-22 Osprey transport aircraft crashed into the Potomac River.

In 1993, White House Deputy Counsel Vincent Foster was found shot to death in a park in northern Virginia. His death was ruled a suicide.

Also in 1993, the Senate Judiciary Committee opened hearings into the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She was later confirmed.

In 1994, the Bosnian Serb leadership rejected a plan backed by the major countries that would've given them 49 percent of Bosnian territory.

In 1995, the California Board of Regents voted 14-10 to end consideration of race, sex, religion, color or national origin to the admission of students to state colleges and universities.

In 2003, on the 34th anniversary of his historic feat, Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, paid homage to Orville and Wilbur Wright, in a ceremony saluting the 100th anniversary of their legendary flight.

In 2005, China said it planned to stop tying the value of its currency, the yuan, to the U.S. dollar.

Also in 2005, the U.S. Justice Department activated its online National Sex Offender Public Registry, linking the registries of 22 states.

In 2006, U.S. President George Bush received a kind reception and applause from the NAACP in his first address to the nation's oldest civil rights organization as president. He had turned down five previous invitations to speak.

In 2007, U.S. President George Bush issued an executive order allowing the CIA to resume some harsh interrogation methods. The practice had been suspended after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that all U.S.-held detainees must be treated in accord with Geneva Convention restrictions. The resumption did not include the controversial waterboarding method.



A thought for the day: in "Hamlet," Shakespeare wrote, "Brevity is the soul of wit." But it was Dorothy Parker who said, "Brevity is the soul of lingerie."

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Today is Monday, July 21, the 203rd day of 2008 with 163 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 Cancer. They include composer Chauncey Olcott ("When Irish Eyes Are Smiling") in 1860; author Ernest Hemingway and poet Hart Crane, both in 1899; Canadian communications theorist Marshall McLuhan in 1911; violinist Isaac Stern in 1920; singer Kay Starr in 1922 (age 86); producer Norman Jewison in 1926 (age 82); actor/comedians Don Knotts in 1924 and Robin Williams in 1952 (age 56); former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno in 1938 (age 70); actor Edward Herrmann in 1943 (age 65); former singer Cat Stevens, known as Yusef Islam, in 1948 (age 60); cartoonist Garry Trudeau ("Doonesbury") in 1948 (age 60); and actor Jon Lovitz in 1957 (age 51).


On this date in history:

In 1861, the first major military engagement of the Civil War occurred at Bull Run Creek, Va.

In 1873, Jesse James held up the Rock Island express train at Adair, Iowa, and escaped with $3,000.

In 1925, the so-called Monkey Trial in Dayton, Tenn., which pitted Clarence Darrow against William Jennings Bryan in one of the great confrontations in legal history, ended with John Thomas Scopes fined $100 for teaching evolution in violation of state law.

In 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin lifted off from the surface of the moon.

In 1970, after 11 years of construction, the massive billion-dollar Aswan High Dam across the Nile River in Egypt was completed, ending the cycle of flood and drought in the Nile River region but triggering an environmental controversy.

In 1991, Jordan joined Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Saudi Arabia in agreeing to regional peace talks.

In 1992, a judge in Pontiac, Mich., dismissed murder charges against euthanasia advocate Jack "Dr. Death" Kevorkian.

In 2000, a report from special counsel John Danforth cleared U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno and the government of wrongdoing in the April 19, 1993, fire that ended the Branch Davidian siege near Waco, Texas.

In 2003, physicians at Vienna General Hospital in Austria say they performed the world's first successful tongue transplant on a human, a 42-year-old man.

Also in 2003, Canadian authorities expanded their search for the remains of 63 Vancouver women missing for 20 years. Pig farmer Robert Pickton was charged with killing 26 women, most of whom were drug-addicted prostitutes.

In 2004, the Sept. 11 commission said it had found that the Clinton and Bush administrations had missed as many as 10 opportunities to thwart terror attacks.

In 2005, a second suicide bombing attack on London within two weeks misfired when the bombs, again in three subway cars and a bus, failed to detonate.

In 2006, medication errors harm 1.5 million people and kill several thousand annually in the United States, a study by the Institute of Medicine said. Additionally, such errors were said to cost the nation at least $3.5 billion a year.

In 2007, Italian police said they had uncovered a bomb school for Islamist militants and arrested three suspects in a raid on a mosque in Perugia. Found, along with evidence of training in explosives and poisons, were instructions for flying a Boeing 747.

Also in 2007, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the seventh and final installment in the best-selling series, sold more than 8.3 million copies on its first day on the bookshelves.



A thought for the day: Honoré de Balzac called bureaucracy a "giant mechanism operated by pygmies."

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Today is Tuesday, July 22, the 204th day of 2008 with 162 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 Cancer. They include Austrian monk and pioneering botanist Gregor Johann Mendel in 1822; poet Emma Lazarus in 1849; U.S. political family matriarch Rose Kennedy in 1890; U.S. psychiatrist Karl Menninger in 1893; poet Stephen Vincent Benet and sculptor Alexander Calder, both in 1898; former U.S. Sen. Robert Dole, R-Kan., in 1923 (age 85); actor Orson Bean in 1928 (age 80); R&B singer Keith Sweat in 1961 (age 47); fashion designer Oscar De La Renta in 1932 (age 76); actor Terence Stamp in 1939 (age 69); "Jeopardy!" game show host Alex Trebek in 1940 (age 68); actor/singer Bobby Sherman in 1943 (age 65); comedian/actor Albert Brooks, actor Danny Glover and rock musician Don Henley, all in 1947 (age 61); composer Alan Menken in 1949 (age 59); actor Willem Dafoe in 1955 (age 53); and comedians John Leguizamo and David Spade, both in 1964 (age 44).



On this day in history:

In 1376, according to German legend, a piper -- having not been paid for ridding the town of Hamelin of its rats -- led the town's children away, never to be seen again.

In 1620, Dutch pilgrims started for America. Their ship -- called the "Speedhaven" -- set sail from Delfshaven, Holland.

In 1793, Canadian explorer Alexander Mackenzie reached the Pacific.

In 1864, in the first battle of Atlanta, Confederate troops under Gen. John Hood were defeated by Union forces under Gen. William Sherman.

In 1916, a bomb hidden in a suitcase exploded during a Preparedness Day parade on San Francisco's Market Street, killing 10 people and wounding 40. The parade was in support of the United States' entrance into World War I.

In 1933, Wiley Post completed his first solo flight around the world. It took him 7 days, 18 hours and 45 minutes.

In 1934, bank robber John Dillinger died in a hail of bullets from federal agents outside Chicago's Biograph Theater.

In 1983, the military government of Poland lifted martial law.

In 1991, Milwaukee police arrested Jeffrey Dahmer as a suspect in the deaths of at least 15 people.

In 1992, Pablo Escobar, the boss of the Medellin cocaine cartel, and nine henchmen vanished from a Colombian prison. Many months later, Escobar was surrounded and shot dead.

In 1994, U.S. President Bill Clinton ordered the Pentagon to begin a major relief effort in Rwanda.

Also in 1994, a U.S. federal judge ordered The Citadel, a state-financed military college in Charleston, S.C., to open its doors to women.

And, at his arraignment, O.J. Simpson declared himself "100 percent not guilty" in the killings of his ex-wife and her friend.

In 1999, the ashes of John F. Kennedy, Jr., his wife and her sister were buried at sea off the coast of Massachusetts. The three had died in a plane crash off Martha's Vineyard six days earlier.

Also in 1999, China outlawed the Falun Gong, or Buddhist Law, religious sect and began detaining thousands of its members.

In 2003, Saddam Hussein's sons, Uday and Qusai, were killed by U.S. forces in a fierce, six-hour firefight at a house in Mosul in northern Iraq.

Also in 2003, former prisoner of war Jessica Lynch returned to her West Virginia hometown to a hero's welcome.

And, at least 600 people were reported dead in a series of clashes in the Liberian civil war.

In 2004, the Sept. 11 commission recommended a radical overhaul of the way the nation's intelligence and counter-terror agencies were run and criticized Congress and two administrations for failing to stop the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.

In 2005, a suspected suicide bomber was shot to death by London police after he vaulted a security barrier and tried to board a subway train. It was discovered later that the man had no connection with the transit system bombings.

In 2006, Afghanistan was "close to anarchy" with Western military forces "running out of time," the head of NATO's international security force in that country said.

Also in 2006, China's death toll from Tropical Storm Bilis topped 500 -- more than double the original estimate.

In 2007, the moderate Islamic party ruling Turkey added to its majority in parliamentary elections with 47 percent of the vote, largest share of Turkish votes for any party since 1965.

Also in 2007, at least 26 people died when a bus carrying Roman Catholic pilgrims from Poland fell into a ravine near Grenoble in the French Alps.



A thought for the day: Mordecai Richler wrote, "The revolution eats its own. Capitalism re-creates itself."

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Today is Wednesday, July 23, the 205th day of 2008 with 161 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 (bev-ts4ms); detective novelist Raymond Chandler in 1888; Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie in 1892; actor Michael Wilding in 1912; Broadway restaurateur Vincent Sardi Jr. in 1915; actress Gloria DeHaven in 1925 (age 83); baseball pitcher Don Drysdale and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy (age 72), both in 1936; actor Ronny Cox in 1938 (age 70); radio talk show host Don Imus in 1940 (age 68); and actors Edie McClurg in 1951 (age 57), Woody Harrelson in 1961 (age 47) and Eriq La Salle in 1962 (age 46); and Monica Lewinsky in 1973 (age 35).


On this date in history:

In 1829, William Burt of Mount Vernon, Mich., patented the "typographer," believed to be the first typewriter.

In 1948, legendary pioneer movie director D.W. Griffith, maker of several silent classics including the controversial groundbreaker "Birth of a Nation," died at the age of 73.

In 1967, one of the worst riots in U.S. history broke out on 12th Street in the heart of Detroit's predominantly African-American inner city. By the time it was quelled four days later by 7,000 National Guard and U.S. Army troops, 43 people were dead, 342 injured.

In 1973, Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox served subpoenas on the White House after U.S. President Richard Nixon refused to turn over requested tapes and documents.

In 1982, actor Vic Morrow and two child actors were killed when a helicopter disabled by special effects explosives crashed on the set of "The Twilight Zone" movie.

In 1990, U.S. President George H.W. Bush nominated federal appeals Judge David Souter of New Hampshire to replace retiring U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Brennan.

In 1991, the Soviet government applied for full membership to the IMF and World Bank after the Group of Seven recommended a limited "special association" for the U.S.S.R.

In 1998, a second grand jury impaneled by independent counsel Kenneth Starr began hearing testimony about U.S. President Bill Clinton's alleged affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

In 1999, U.S. Air Force Col. Eileen Collins became the first woman to command a space shuttle flight with the launch of Columbia on a four-day mission.

Also in 1999, Morocco's King Hassan II, an influential leader in the Arab world, died at age 70.

In 2002, a laser-guided bomb fired from an Israeli warplane hit the Gaza home of Sheik Salah Shehada, founder of the military wing of Hamas, killing him and 14 others and wounding more than 140.

Also in 2002, Pope John Paul II, though weakened by Parkinson's disease, began an 11-day trip in Toronto where he attended World Youth Day, a weeklong Roman Catholic festival.

In 2003, the Massachusetts attorney general said an investigation indicated nearly 1,000 cases of abuse by Roman Catholic priests and other church personnel in the Boston diocese over a span of 60 years.

In 2004, the Iraqi army began patrolling its own country for the first time.

In 2005, three synchronized terrorist bombings struck Sharm el-Sheik, an Egyptian resort, killing at least 90 people and injuring 240.

In 2006, an earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale struck Indonesia's Sulawesi island, one week after another quake triggered a tsunami that killed almost 700 people on the Indonesian island of Java. There was no such deadly follow-up reported from the second tremor, however.

In 2007, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair made his first visit to the Middle East as special envoy for "the Quartet," made up of the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations.

Also in 2007, former Afghanistan King Zahir Shah, a monarch admired for his reforms who reigned for 40 years before being forced into exile in Italy and who returned in 2002, died at the age of 92.



A thought for the day: author Stendhal (Henri Beyle) said, "Wit lasts no more than two centuries."

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Today is Thursday, July 24, the 206th day of 2008 with 160 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 South American revolutionary and statesman Simon Bolivar in 1783; French novelist Alexandre Dumas the Elder, author of "The Three Musketeers," in 1802; air pioneer Amelia Earhart in 1897; poet/author Robert Graves in 1895; feminist and former U.S. Rep. Bella Abzug, D-N.Y., in 1920; comedian Ruth Buzzi in 1936 (age 72); actors Chris Sarandon in 1942 (age 66), Robert Hays in 1947 (age 61) and Lynda Carter ("Wonder Woman") in 1951 (age 57); pro basketball star Karl Malone in 1963 (age 45); actress/singer Jennifer Lopez in 1969 (age 39); and actress Anna Paquin in 1982 (age 26).


On this date in history:

In 1679, New Hampshire became a royal colony of the British crown.

In 1847, After 17 months and many miles of travel, Brigham Young led 148 Mormon pioneers into Utah's Valley of the Great Salt Lake.

In 1956, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis performed together for the last time.

In 1969, Apollo 11 returned to Earth after the historic moon-landing mission.

In 1974, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that U.S. President Richard Nixon should surrender White House tapes for the criminal trials of his former associates.

In 1987, the U.S.-escorted and re-flagged Kuwaiti oil tanker Bridgeton was damaged by an Iranian mine in the first such incident in the Persian Gulf.

In 1989, the Exxon Corp. estimated that its cleanup of the Alaskan oil spill would cost $1.28 billion.

In 1997, the Scottish scientists who produced Dolly the cloned sheep announced they had cloned a sheep with human genes.

In 1998, a gunman opened fire at the Capitol in Washington, killing two police officers and wounding a tourist. Police shot the gunman, who survived and was later charged with murder.

In 2002, the U.S. House of Representatives expelled Rep. James Traficant, an Ohio Democrat, by a vote of 420-1. Traficant, who had been convicted of racketeering, bribery and corruption, was the second House member expelled since the Civil War.

In 2003, House and Senate intelligence committees said the FBI and CIA had disregarded warnings before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that al-Qaida planned to strike directly at the United States.

In 2005, a powerful car bomb blast targeting a Baghdad police station killed at least 40 people and injured another 30.

And, in 2005 sports, cyclist Lance Armstrong won his seventh consecutive Tour de France and retired.

In 2006, deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was hospitalized on a forced feeding tube in Baghdad as his massacre trial resumed without him.

In 2007, a new national minimum wage increase raised the hourly figure to $5.85 from $5.15. The wage goes up 70 cents each of the next two years when it will be $7.25 an hour.

Also in 2007, U.S. Attorney Gen. Alberto Gonzales was roundly criticized during a Senate Judiciary Committee appearance as he denied pressuring his ailing predecessor to sign off on a controversial warrantless wiretap program.



A thought for the day: Arthur Schopenhauer wrote, "There is no more mistaken path to happiness than worldliness, revelry, high life."

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Today is Saturday, July 26, the 208th day of 2008 with 158 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 artist George Catlin, painter of American Indian scenes, in 1796; playwright George Bernard Shaw in 1856; Carl Jung, founder of analytic psychology, in 1875; novelist Aldous Huxley in 1894; U.S. Sen. Estes Kefauver, D-Tenn., who led the 1950-51 Senate investigation of organized crime, in 1903; comedian Gracie Allen in 1895; actress Vivian Vance in 1909; Erskine Hawkins, trumpet, band leader, in 1914; actor Jason Robards in 1922 and movie producer Blake Edwards in 1922 (age 86); filmmaker Stanley Kubrick in 1928; storyteller Jean Shepherd in 1921; rock star Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones in 1943 (age 65); actress Helen Mirren in 1945 (age 63); tennis player Vitas Gerulaitis in 1954; and actors Kevin Spacey in 1959 (age 49) and Sandra Bullock in 1964 (age 44).


On this date in history:

In 1847, Liberia became a republic and Africa's first sovereign, black-ruled democratic nation.

In 1908, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was born when a group of newly hired investigators were ordered to report to the Justice Department. It didn't become the FBI officially until 1935.

In 1941, U.S. Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur was named commander of U.S. forces in the Philippines.

In 1956, Egypt created a crisis by nationalizing the British and French-owned Suez Canal.

In 1984, "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" became the first network television show to be broadcast in stereo.

In 1990, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 408-18 to reprimand Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., for actions he took on behalf of a male prostitute.

In 1992, under pressure, Iraq backed down and agreed to allow a U.N. inspection team to look for documentation on weapons of mass destruction.

Also in 1992, Motown singer/songwriter Mary Wells died of cancer at age 49.

In 1994, Congress opened hearings into the Whitewater affair, an Arkansas land deal involving U.S. President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Clinton.

In 1995, the U.S. Senate passed a bill that would end U.S participation in the arms embargo against the Bosnian government.

In 2003, about 100 heavily armed gunmen believed to be rogue soldiers seized a large mall complex in Manila's financial district.

In 2004, an Egyptian diplomat held hostage by militants in Iraq for three days was released after successful negotiations.

In 2005, the United States roared back into space as the shuttle Discovery lifted off from Cape Canaveral in the first launch since the 2003 Columbia tragedy.

In 2006, the Bush administration drafted a bill that would allow hearsay evidence to be used in terrorism trials unless it was found to be "unreliable."

In 2007, the U.S. Congress overwhelmingly passed anti-terrorism legislation that enhances screening of air and sea cargo and allocates more funds to states deemed at risk of attack.



A thought for the day: Matthew Arnold wrote, "The free thinking of one age is the common sense of the next."

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Today is Sunday, July 27, the 209th day of 2008 with 157 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 French novelist Alexander Dumas the Younger, author of "Camille," in 1824; baseball player and manager Leo Durocher in 1905; actor Keenan Wynn in 1916; television producer Norman Lear in 1922 (age 86); actors Jerry Van Dyke in 1931 (age 77) and Don Galloway in 1937 (age 71); singer/songwriter Bobbie Gentry in 1944 (age 64); figure skater Peggy Fleming and actress/director Betty Thomas, both in 1948 (age 60); and singer Maureen McGovern in 1949 (age 59).


On this date in history:

In 1794, Maximilien Robespierre, architect of the French Revolution's Reign of Terror, was overthrown and arrested by the National Convention. Robespierre who encouraged the execution, mostly by guillotine, of more than 17,000 enemies of the revolution, was himself guillotined the following day.

In 1909, Orville Wright set a world record by staying aloft in a plane for 1 hour, 12 minutes, 40 seconds.

In 1921, at the University of Toronto, Canadian scientists Frederick Banting and Charles Best successfully isolated insulin -- a hormone they believed could prevent diabetes -- for the first time.

In 1953, after two years and 17 days of truce negotiations, an end was declared to the war in Korea.

In 1980, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, deposed shah of Iran, died in an Egyptian military hospital of cancer at age 60.

In 1986, Greg LeMond, 25, of Sacramento, Calif., became the first American to win cycling's toughest contest, the Tour de France.

In 1989, a Korean Air DC-10 crashed in heavy fog while attempting to land at Tripoli airport in Libya, killing 82 people, four of them on the ground.

In 1993, IBM announced the elimination of 35,000 jobs as part of a restructuring program.

In 1995, the leaders of the three largest industrial labor unions in the United States -- the United Automobile Workers, the United Steel Workers of America and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers -- voted to merge by the year 2000.

In 1996, a bomb exploded at Olympic Park in Atlanta during the Summer Games. One woman was killed and more than 100 people were injured.

In 2002, nine coal miners were trapped 240 feet underground in southwest Pennsylvania when a wall collapsed, inundating them with water. A daring three-day rescue operation saved them all.

Also in 2002, in one of the worst air show tragedies, 83 people were killed near Lviv, Ukraine, when a jet fighter crashed amid spectators.

In 2003, legendary comic Bob Hope died of pneumonia at his home in Toluca Lake, Calif., He was 100 years old.

In 2003 sports, Lance Armstrong became the second cyclist to win the Tour de France for a fifth consecutive year.

In 2004, a major U.S. Muslim charity and seven officers were charged with providing millions of dollars to Hamas, a Palestinian terrorist group blamed for dozens of suicide bombings in Israel.

In 2006, a bipartisan congressional report accused the U.S. Homeland Security Department of mismanaging millions of dollars in contracts.

In 2006 sports, American Floyd Landis, who won the Tour de France cycling classic, tested positive for high levels of testosterone, a banned steroid, his Swiss team announced.

In 2007, forensic experts exhumed remains of 131 Bosnian Muslims massacred by Bosnians Serbs and buried in a mass grave at Srebrenica in 1995.



A thought for the day: Gustave Flaubert said, "We shouldn't maltreat our idols: the gilt comes off on our hands."