-----------------------------------------------

Today is Friday, April 30th.

The 121st day of 2004.

There are 245 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



One hundred years ago, on April 30th, 1904, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition opened in St. Louis as President Theodore Roosevelt pressed a telegraph key at the White House to signal the official start of the world's fair commemorating the centennial of the Louisiana Purchase, albeit a year late. (The fair drew some 20 million visitors before it closed the following December.)



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On this date:



In 1006, The brightest supernova in recorded history is observed.



In 1789, George Washington took office in New York as the first president of the United States.



In 1798, The U.S. Department of the Navy was established.



In 1803, The United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France for 60 million francs, the equivalent of about $15 million.



In 1812, Louisiana became the 18th state of the Union.



In 1864, New York became the first state to charge a hunting license fee.



In 1885, The Boston Pops Orchestra is formed.



In 1900, Engineer John Luther "Casey" Jones of the Illinois Central Railroad died in a wreck near Vaughan, Miss., after staying at the controls in an effort to save the passengers.



In 1900, Hawaii was organized as a U.S. territory.



In 1904, 100 years ago, the ice cream cone made its debut.



In 1912, Actress Eve Arden (Eunice Quedens) was born in Mill Valley, CA. She died November 12, 1990 at the age of 78.



In 1931, The George Washington Bridge, linking New York City and New Jersey, opened.



In 1939, The New York World's Fair officially opened.



In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first U.S. president to appear on television when he was televised at the New York World's Fair.



In 1943, The British submarine HMS Seraph dropped 'the man who never was,' a dead man the British planted with false invasion plans, into the Mediterranean off the coast of Spain.



In 1945, As Russian troops approached his Berlin bunker, Adolf Hitler committed suicide along with his wife of one day, Eva Braun.



In 1947, President Truman signed a measure officially changing the name of Boulder Dam to Hoover Dam.



In 1952, Mr Potato Head is the 1st toy to be advertised on television



In 1961, The 1st shuttle flights between Washington DC, Boston MA & New York NY begin (Eastern Airlines)



In 1962, NASA civilian pilot Joseph A Walker takes X-15 to an altitude of 75,190 meters (246,683 feet/ 46.72 miles).



In 1964, The FCC ruled that all TV receivers should be equipped to receive both VHF and UHF channels.



In 1969, WEDB TV channel 40 in Berlin NH (PBS) begins broadcasting



In 1970, President Nixon announced the U.S. was sending troops into Cambodia, an action that sparked widespread protest.



In 1973, President Nixon announced the resignations of top aides H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, along with Attorney General Richard G. Kleindienst and White House counsel John Dean.



In 1975, The South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to Communist forces as President Duong Van Minh announced an unconditional surrender. The communists occupied Saigon and re-named it Ho Chi Minh City. The Vietnam War came to an halt.



In 1988, The largest banana split ever, at 4.55 miles long, is made in Selinsgrove PA



In 1991, In Bangladesh a cyclone (hurricane) kills over 131,000 and leaves 9 million homeless



In 1992, The final episode of "The Cosby Show" aired on NBC.



In 1995, President Clinton announced he would end U.S. trade and investment with Iran, denouncing the Tehran government as "inspiration and paymaster to terrorists."



In 1997, The television series "Ellen" made TV history when its lead character "came out" as a lesbian.



In 1998, A man set himself on fire and shot himself to death on a Los Angeles area freeway in a scene captured on live television.



In 2001, The world's first space "tourist", California businessman Dennis Tito, arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.



Ten years ago (1994):



The counting of ballots began in South Africa's first all-race elections.



Some 100,000 men, women and children fleeing ethnic slaughter in Rwanda crossed into neighboring Tanzania.



Five years ago (1999):



A bomb exploded at a gay pub in London, killing three people and injuring more than 70.



The Reverend Jesse Jackson met with three U.S. soldiers being held prisoner by Yugoslavia.



One year ago (2003):



International mediators presented Israeli and Palestinian leaders with a new Middle East "road map," a U.S.-backed blueprint for ending 31 months of violence and establishing a Palestinian state. Mahmoud Abbas took office as Palestinian prime minister.



The U.S. Navy withdrew from its disputed Vieques bombing range in Puerto Rico, prompting celebrations by islanders.



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Today's Birthdays:



Actor Al Lewis (The Munsters' "Grandpa Munster", Car 54 Where Are You?'s "Off. Leo Schnauser") is 94.



Actress Cloris Leachman is 78.



Singer Willie Nelson is 71.



Actor Gary Collins is 66.



Actor Burt Young is 64.



Singer Bobby Vee is 61.



Actress Jill Clayburgh is 60.



King of Sweden Carl XVI Gustav is 58.



Movie director Allan Arkush is 56.



Actor Perry King is 56.



Singer Merrill Osmond is 51.



Movie director Jane Campion is 50.



Actor Paul Gross is 45.



Basketball executive Isiah Thomas is 43.



Country musician Robert Reynolds (The Mavericks) is 42.



Rapper Turbo B (Snap) is 37.



Rock musician Clark Vogeler is 35.



Rhythm and blues singer Chris "Choc" Dalyrimple (Soul For Real) is 33.



Rock musician Chris Henderson (3 Doors Down) is 33.



Country singer Carolyn Dawn Johnson is 33.



Rock singer J.R. Richards (Dishwalla) is 32.



Rhythm and blues singer Jeff Timmons (98 Degrees) is 31.



Actor Johnny Galecki is 29.



Actress Kirsten Dunst is 22.



Country singer Tyler Wilkinson (The Wilkinsons) is 20.



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Thought for Today:

"More persons, on the whole, are humbugged by believing nothing, than by believing too much." -

- P.T. Barnum, American showman (1810-1891).

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-------------------------------------------------

Today is Thursday, April 29th.

The 120th day of 2004.

There are 246 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On April 29, 1945, during World War II, American soldiers liberated the Dachau concentration camp; that same day, Adolf Hitler married Eva Braun and designated Admiral Karl Doenitz his successor.



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On this date:



In 1289, Qala'un, the Sultan of Egypt, captured Tripoli.



In 1429, Joan of Arc entered the besieged city of Orleans to lead a victory over the English.



In 1707, English/Scottish parliament accept Act of Union, form Great Britain



In 1852, First edition of Peter Roget's Thesaurus published.



In 1861, Maryland's House of Delegates voted against seceding from the Union.



In 1862, New Orleans fell to Union forces during the Civil War.



In 1863, Publisher, Editor, Journalist William Randolph Hearst was born in San Francisco, CA. He was a twin. He died August 14, 1951 in Beverly Hills, CA at the age of 88.



In 1885, Women were admitted for the first time to examinations at England's Oxford University.



In 1899, Jazz Musician, Jazz Pianist, Bandleader, Composer, Arranger Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was born in Washington, DC. He died May 24, 1974 at the age of75.



In 1909, TV/Movie/Stage Actor Tom Ewell (S. Yewell Tompkins) was born in Owensboro, KY. He died September 12, 1994 at the age of 85.



In 1916, The Easter Rising in Dublin collapsed as Irish nationalists surrendered to British authorities.



In 1928, Turkey announced a 15-year plan to change its language from Arabic to English.



In 1939, The Whitestone bridge connecting the Bronx & Queens opened.



In 1946, 28 former Japanese leaders were indicted as war criminals.



In 1957, The first military nuclear power plant was dedicated in Fort Belvoir, Virginia.



In 1960, Dick Clark told the U.S. House of Representatives that he had never taken payola for the records he featured on his show "American Bandstand."



In 1961, ABC's "Wide World of Sports", debuts



In 1971, Salyut 1, the world's First space station, was launched into earth orbit



In 1974, President Nixon announced he was releasing edited transcripts of some secretly made White House tape recordings related to Watergate.



In 1975, The U.S. embassy in Vietnam was evacuated as North Vietnamese forces fought their way into Saigon.



In 1979, The final episode of "Battlestar Galactica" was aired on ABC.



In 1980, British-born director Alfred Hitchcock, best known for psychological suspense films such as Psycho, dies at 80.



In 1983, Harold Washington was sworn in as the first black mayor of Chicago.



In 1984, Britain announces that its administration of Hong Kong will cease in 1997, when it will return the colony to China.



In 1986, The Soviet Union appealed to the West for help in fighting a reactor fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant that had sent a radioactive cloud across northeastern Europe.



In 1990, Wrecking cranes began tearing down the section of the Berlin Wall surrounding the Brandenburg Gate, the wall's most famous section.



In 1992, Deadly rioting erupted in Los Angeles after a jury in Simi Valley, Calif., acquitted four Los Angeles police officers of almost all state charges in the videotaped beating of Rodney King.



In 1996, Former CIA Director William Colby was presumed drowned by authorities in Maryland after an apparent boating accident; his body was later recovered.



In 1997, A worldwide treaty to ban chemical weapons went into effect.



In 1998, The United States, Canada, and Mexico agreed to eliminate tariffs on items accounting for $1 billion in trade at a meeting in Paris of the North American Free Trade Agreement.



In 2000, Tens of thousands of angry Cuban-Americans marched peacefully through Miami's Little Havana, protesting the raid in which armed federal agents yanked six-year-old Elian Gonzalez from the home of relatives.



Ten years ago (1994):



Hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the terror of ethnic massacres in Rwanda were pouring into Tanzania.



Israel and the PLO signed an agreement in Paris granting Palestinians broad authority to set taxes, control trade and regulate banks under self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho.



Five years ago (1999):



Yugoslavia filed World Court cases against 10 alliance members, including the United States, claiming their bombing campaign breached international law.



The Reverend Jesse Jackson arrived in Belgrade on a mission to win freedom for three American POWs held by Yugoslavia.



One year ago (2003):



The Palestinian parliament approved Mahmoud Abbas as prime minister, clearing the final obstacle to the launch of a U.S.-backed "road map" to peace.



Pakistani authorities captured Waleed bin Attash, accused of playing a leading role in the Sept. 11 attacks.



Mr. T (Laurence Tureaud) filed a lawsuit against Best Buy Co. Inc., that claimed the store did not have permission to sue his likeness in a print ad.



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Today's Birthdays:



Actress Celeste Holm is 85.



Rhythm and blues singer Carl Gardner (The Coasters) is 76.



Poet Rod McKuen is 71.



Actor Keith Baxter is 71.



Bluesman Otis Rush is 70.



Conductor Zubin Mehta is 68.



Actor Lane Smith is 68.



Country singer Duane Allen (The Oak Ridge Boys) is 61.



Singer Tommy James is 57.



Movie director Phillip Noyce is 54.



Country musician Wayne Secrest (Confederate Railroad) is 54.



Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is 50.



Actress Kate Mulgrew is 49.



Actor Daniel Day-Lewis is 47.



Actress Michelle Pfeiffer is 46.



Actress Eve Plumb is 46.



Rock musician Phil King is 44.



Country singer Stephanie Bentley is 41.



Singer Carnie Wilson (Wilson Phillips) is 36.



Actress Uma Thurman is 34.



Tennis player Andre Agassi is 34.



Rapper Master P is 34.



Country singer James Bonamy is 32.



Rock musician Mike Hogan (The Cranberries) is 31.



Pop singer Jo O'Meara (S Club 7) is 25.



Actor Zane Carney is 19.



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Thought for Today:

"News is history shot on the wing." -

- Gene Fowler, American journalist (1890-1960).

--------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------

Today is Wednesday, April 28th

The 119th day of 2004.

There are 247 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On April 28, 1789, there was a mutiny on HMS Bounty as the crew of the British ship set Captain William Bligh and 18 sailors adrift in a launch in the South Pacific.



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On this date:



In 1686, The first volume of Isaac Newton's "Principia Mathamatic" was published.



In 1758, The fifth president of the United States, James Monroe, was born in Westmoreland County, Va.



In 1770, Captain James Cook in Endeavor lands at Botany Bay in Australia



In 1788, Maryland became the seventh state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.



In 1910, 1st night air flight (Claude Grahame-White, England)



In 1914, 181 die in coal mine collapse at Eccles WV



In 1914, W H Carrier patents air conditioner



In 1916, The British declared martial law throughout Ireland.



In 1919, 1st jump with Army Air Corp (rip-cord type) parachute (Les Irvin)



In 1924, 119 die in Benwood WV coal mine disaster



In 1932, Yellow fever vaccine for humans announced



In 1940, Glenn Miller records "Pennsylvania 6-5000"



In 1942, Coffee rationing begins in the U.S.



In 1944, Exercise "Tiger" ends with 750 US soldiers dead in D-Day rehearsal after their convoy ships were attacked by German torpedo boats



In 1945, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci, were executed by Italian partisans as they attempted to flee the country.



In 1947, A six-man expedition sailed from Peru aboard a balsa wood raft named the "Kon-Tiki" on a 101-day journey to Polynesia.



In 1952, War with Japan officially ended as a treaty that had been signed by the United States and 47 other nations took effect.



In 1956, Last French troops leave Vietnam



In 1958, Vice President Nixon and his wife, Pat, began a goodwill tour of Latin America that was marred by hostile mobs in Lima, Peru, and Caracas, Venezuela.



In 1967, Heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali refused to be inducted into the Army, the same day General William C. Westmoreland told Congress the U.S. "would prevail in Vietnam."



In 1967, Expo 67 opens in Montréal Canada



In 1968, "Hair" opens at Biltmore Theater NYC for 1750 performances



In 1969, French President Charles de Gaulle resigned his office after voters rejected major government reforms in a referendum.



In 1971, Samuel Lee Gravely Jr. became the first black admiral in the U.S. Navy.



In 1974, A federal jury in New York acquitted former Attorney General John Mitchell and former Commerce Secretary Maurice H. Stans of charges in connection with a secret $200,000 contribution to President Nixon's re-election campaign from financier Robert Vesco.



In 1975, Helicopters evacuated the last American civilians from Saigon, the South Vietnamese capital.



In 1986, The Soviet Union informed the world of the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl.



In 1987, The U.S. barred Austrian President Kurt Waldheim from entering the country.



In 1988, An Aloha Airlines flight from Hilo to Honolulu turned into a tragedy...and a miracle. 18 feet of the Boeing 737's hull ripped away. A flight attendant was sucked through the hole to her death...her body dropping 24-thousand feet into the Pacific. Scores of passengers and crew were injured. Yet the pilot and co-pilot managed to land the torn-open jet on Maui.



In 1993, The first "Take Our Daughters to Work Day," promoted by the New York-based Ms. Foundation, was held in an attempt to boost the self-esteem of girls by having them visit a parent's place of work.



In 1997, A worldwide treaty to ban chemical weapons took effect. Russia and other countries such as Iraq and North Korea did not sign.



In 2000, Jay Leno received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.



Ten years ago (1994):



Former CIA official Aldrich Ames, who had betrayed U.S. secrets to the Soviet Union and then Russia, pleaded guilty to espionage and tax evasion, and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.



The Navy expelled 24 midshipmen from the U.S Naval Academy in what was said to be the biggest cheating scandal in Annapolis history.



Five years ago (1999):



In a sharp repudiation of President Clinton's policies, the House rejected, on a tie vote of 213-213, a measure expressing support for NATO's five-week-old air campaign against Yugoslavia; the House also voted 249-180 to limit the president's authority to use ground forces in Yugoslavia.



Actor Rory Calhoun died in Burbank, Calif., at age 76.



One year ago (2003):



On Saddam Hussein's 66th birthday, delegates from inside and outside Iraq agreed to hold a nation-building meeting and fashion a temporary, post-Saddam government.



The Soyuz space capsule carrying a U.S.-Russian space crew docked with the international space station.



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Today's Birthdays:



Author Harper Lee is 78.



Former Secretary of State James A. Baker III is 74.



The former president of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, is 67.



Actress-singer Ann-Margret is 63.



Actress Marcia Strassman is 56.



Actor Paul Guilfoyle ("CSI") is 55.



Actor Bruno Kirby is 55.



"Tonight Show" host Jay Leno is 54.



Actress Mary McDonnell is 51.



Rock singer-musician Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth) is 51.



Rapper Too Short is 38.



Actress Simbi Khali is 33.



Actor Chris Young is 33.



Rapper Big Gipp is 31.



Actress Elisabeth Rohm ("Law & Order") is 31.



Actress Penelope Cruz is 30.



Actor Nate Richert is 26.



Actress Jessica Alba is 23.



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Thought for Today:

"Without heroes, we are all plain people and don't know how far we can go." -

- Bernard Malamud, American author (1914-1986).

----------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------

Today is Tuesday, April 27th.

The 118th day of 2004.

There are 248 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On April 27, 1805, a force led by U.S. Marines captured the city of Derna, on the shores of Tripoli.



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On this date:



In 1509, Pope Julius II excommunicated the Italian state of Venice.



In 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan was killed by natives in the Philippines.



In 1565, The first Spanish settlement in Phillipines, Cebu City, was founded.



In 1773, The British Parliament passed the Tea Act



In 1813, Americans under Gen. Pike capture York (present-day Toronto), the seat of government in Ontario.



In 1822, The 18th president of the United States, Ulysses Simpson Grant, was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio.



In 1838, Fire destroys half of Charleston.



In 1850, The American-owned steamship "The Atlantic" began regular trans-Atlantic passenger service. It was the first U.S. vessel to challenge what had been a British monopoly.



In 1859, "Pomona" sinks in North Atlantic drowning all 400 aboard.



In 1861, After Virginia secedes from the United States, West Virginia secedes from Virginia and forms its own state.



In 1861, President Lincoln authorizes the suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus.



In 1865, The steamer Sultana exploded on the Mississippi River near Memphis, Tenn., killing more than 1,400 Union prisoners of war.



In 1865, Cornell University was chartered in Ithaca, N.Y.



In 1880, Francis Clarke and M.G. Foster patented the electrical hearing aid



In 1937, The nation's first Social Security checks were distributed.



In 1950, Following the institution of apartheid in 1948, South Africa passes the Group Areas Act, formally segregating the country's racial groups.



In 1953, The U.S. offered $50,000 and political asylum to any Communist pilot who delivered a MIG jet.



In 1965, R. C. Duncan patented the "Pampers" brand disposable diaper.



In 1967, Expo '67 was officially opened in Montreal by Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson.



In 1971, The final episode of "Green Acres" aired.



In 1973, During the Watergate scandal, Acting FBI Director L. Patrick Gray resigned.



In 1975, Saigon was encircled by North Vietnamese troops.



In 1978, Convicted Watergate defendant John D. Ehrlichman was released from an Arizona prison after serving 18 months.



In 1982, The trial of John W. Hinckley Jr., who had shot four people, including President Reagan, began in Washington. (The trial ended with Hinckley's acquittal by reason of insanity.)



In 1984, In London, Libyan gunmen left the Libyan Embassy 11 days after killing a policewoman and wounding 10 others.



In 1989, Student protestors took over Tiananmen Square in Beijing.



In 1992, The new Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was proclaimed in Belgrade by the republic of Serbia and its lone ally, Montenegro.



Ten years ago (1994):



Former President Richard M. Nixon was remembered at an outdoor funeral service attended by all five of his successors at the Nixon presidential library in Yorba Linda, Calif.



Five years ago (1999):



A week after the Columbine High School massacre, President Clinton called for new gun control measures, saying, "People's lives are at stake here."



Jazz trumpeter Al Hirt died in New Orleans at age 76.



One year ago (2003):



The U.S. military arrested the self-anointed mayor of Baghdad, Mohammed Mohsen al-Zubaidi, reflecting U.S. determination to brook no interlopers in its effort to build a consensus for administering Iraq.



Nicanor Duarte wins Paraguay's presidential election.



Kevin Millwood pitched his first career no-hitter to lead the Philadelphia Phillies over the San Francisco Giants 1-0.



Screen and stage writer Peter Stone died in New York at age 73.



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Today's Birthdays:



Actor Jack Klugman is 82.



Civil rights activist Coretta Scott King is 77.



Actress Anouk Aimee is 72.



Announcer Casey Kasem is 72.



Broadcast journalist Phil Jones is 67.



Actress Judy Carne is 65.



Opera singer Judith Blegen is 63.



Rhythm and blues singer Cuba Gooding, Sr. is 60.



Singer Ann Peebles is 57.



Rock singer Kate Pierson (The B-52's) is 56.



Rhythm and blues singer Herbie Murrell (The Stylistics) is 55.



Actor Douglas Sheehan is 55.



Rock musician Ace Frehley (KISS) is 53.



Pop singer Sheena Easton is 45.



Actor James Le Gros is 42.



Rock musician Rob Squires (Big Head Todd and the Monsters) is 39.



Singer Mica Paris is 35.



Rock singer-musician Travis Meeks (Days of the New) is 25.



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Thought for Today:

"There is no man so good, who, were he to submit all his thoughts and actions to the laws, would not deserve hanging 10 times in his life." -

- Michel de Montaigne, French philosopher (1533-1592).

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Today is Monday, April 26th.

The 117th day of 2004.

There are 249 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On April 26, 1986, the world's worst nuclear accident occurred at the Chernobyl plant in the Soviet Union. An explosion and fire killed at least 31 people and sent radioactivity into the atmosphere.



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On this date:



In 1514, Copernicus made his first observations of Saturn.



In 1607, An expedition of English colonists, including Captain John Smith, went ashore at Cape Henry, Va., to establish the first permanent English settlement in the Western Hemisphere.



In 1785, American naturalist and artist John James Audubon was born in Haiti.



In 1865, John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Lincoln, was surrounded by federal troops near Bowling Green, Va., and killed.



In 1937, Planes from Nazi Germany raided the Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.



In 1945, Marshal Henri Philippe Petain, the head of France's Vichy government during World War II, was arrested.



In 1961, Roger Maris of the New York Yankees hit the first of a record 61 home runs in a single season.



In 1964, The African nations of Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged to form Tanzania.



In 1968, The United States exploded beneath the Nevada desert a one-megaton nuclear device called "Boxcar."



In 1968, Students seize administration building at Ohio State



In 1970, The Broadway musical "Company" opened at the Alvin Theatre in New York.



In 1989, Actress-comedian Lucille Ball died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles at age 77.



Ten years ago (1994):



Voting began in South Africa's first all-race elections.



A Taiwanese jetliner crashed in Nagoya, Japan, killing 264 people.



Rachelle "Shelley" Shannon, who admitted shooting and wounding an abortion provider outside his clinic, was sentenced in Wichita, Kan., to nearly 11 years in prison.



Five years ago (1999):



The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Cornelio Sommaruga, met with three U.S. soldiers held captive by Yugoslavia.



BBC anchorwoman Jill Dando, the host of a crime-fighting program, was fatally shot on the steps of her London home. (Barry George was convicted in July 2001 of killing Dando.)



One year ago (2003):



A Soyuz rocket carrying American astronaut Edward Lu and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko blasted off for the international space station.



Charlton Heston, diagnosed with symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, made his last appearance as president of the National Rifle Association during a convention in Orlando, Fla., where he briefly thanked the membership.



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Today's Birthdays:



Actress-comedian Carol Burnett is 71.



Rhythm and blues singer Maurice Williams is 66.



Songwriter-musician Duane Eddy is 66.



Singer Bobby Rydell is 62.



Actress Claudine Auger is 62.



Rock musician Gary Wright is 61.



Actor Giancarlo Esposito is 46.



Rock musician Roger Taylor (Duran Duran) is 44.



Actress Joan Chen is 43.



Rock musician Chris Mars is 43.



Actor-singer Michael Damian is 42.



Actor Jet Li is 41.



Rock musician Jimmy Stafford (Train) is 40.



Actor-comedian Kevin James is 39.



Actress Marianne Jean-Baptiste is 37.



Country musician Joe Caverlee (Yankee Grey) is 36.



Rapper T-Boz (TLC) is 34.



Country musician Jay DeMarcus (Rascal Flats) is 33.



Country musician Michael Jeffers (Pinmonkey) is 32.



Rock musician Jose Pasillas (Incubus) is 28.



Actor Tom Welling is 27.



Actress Jordana Brewster is 24.



Actress Marnette Patterson is 24.



Actor Aaron Weeks is 18.



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Thought for Today:

"Whatever crushes individuality is despotism, by whatever name it may be called." -

- John Stuart Mill, English political philosopher (1806-1873).

---------------------------------------------

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Today is Sunday, April 25th.

The 116th day of 2004.

There are 250 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On April 25, 1792, highwayman Nicolas Jacques Pelletier became the first person under French law to be executed by the guillotine.



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On this date:



In 1507, Geographer Martin Waldseemuller first uses the name America to indicate the New World, falsely giving discovery credit to Amerigo Vespucci.



In 1684, A patent is granted for the thimble.



In 1831, The New York and Harlem Railway was incorporated in New York City.



In 1859, Ground was broken for the Suez Canal.



In 1867, Tokyo is opened for foreign trade.



In 1874, Italian electrical engineer and Nobel laureate Guglielmo Marchese Marconi (inventor of wireless communications) was born in Bologna, Italy. He died in 1937.



In 1898, The United States formally declared war on Spain.



In 1901, New York became the first state to require automobile license plates; the fee was $1.



In 1928, Buddy, a German Shepherd, becomes 1st guide dog for the blind



In 1940, W2XBS (now WCBS-TV) in New York City presented the first circus on TV.



In 1945, During World War II, U.S. and Soviet forces linked up on the Elbe River, a meeting that dramatized the collapse of Nazi Germany's defenses.



In 1945, Last Boeing B-17 attack against Nazi Germany.



In 1945, Delegates from some 50 countries met in San Francisco to organize the United Nations.



In 1950, Basketball player Chuck Cooper becomes the first African-American in the NBA when he is drafted by the Boston Celtics.



In 1953, Dr. James D. Watson and Dr. Francis H.C. Crick suggested the double helix structure of DNA.



In 1957, WUHY TV channel 35 in Philadelphia PA (PBS) begins broadcasting



In 1959, The St. Lawrence Seaway opened to shipping.



In 1960, The US submarine Triton completed the first fully submerged trip around the globe.



In 1961, Robert Noyce was granted a patent for the integrated circuit, the basis for electronics and computers.



In 1971, About 200,000 anti-Vietnam War protesters march on Washington.



In 1974, NFL moves the goal posts & adopts sudden-death playoff.



In 1978, Supreme Court rules pension plans can't require women to pay more.



In 1980, A U.S. commando mission to rescue 53 American embassy hostages in Iran was abandoned in the desert with the loss of eight American lives when a helicopter collided with a tanker aircraft.



In 1983, Soviet leader Yuri V. Andropov invited Samantha Smith to visit his country after receiving a letter in which the Manchester, Maine, schoolgirl expressed fears about nuclear war.



In 1983, The "Pioneer Ten" spacecraft crossed Pluto's orbit, speeding on its endless voyage through the Milky Way.



In 1983, ABC's "Nightline" expands from ½ hour to a full hour.



In 1990, Violeta Barrios de Chamorro was inaugurated as president of Nicaragua, ending 11 years of leftist Sandinista rule.



In 1990, The Hubble Space Telescope was deployed from the space shuttle Discovery.



In 1991, the United States announced its first financial aid to Hanoi since the 1960s: $1 million to make artificial limbs for Vietnamese disabled during the war.



In 1992, The final episode of "Growing Pains" aired on ABC.



In 1992, The final episode of "Who's the Boss?" aired on ABC.



In 1992, Islamic forces in Afghanistan took control of most of the capital of Kabul following the collapse of the Communist government.



Ten years ago (1994):



Terrorist bombers struck twice on the eve of South Africa's first all-race election, killing about a dozen people.



Conservative Tsutomu Hata became prime minister of Japan, succeeding Morihiro Hosokawa.



Five years ago (1999):



On the third and final day of their Washington summit, NATO leaders promised military protection and economic aid to Yugoslavia's neighbors for standing with the West against Slobodan Milosevic.



More than 70,000 mourners gathered in Littleton, Colo., to remember the victims of the Columbine High School massacre.



Lord Killanin, former president of the International Olympic Committee, died in Dublin, Ireland, at age 84.



One year ago (2003):



The Pentagon announced that Army Secretary Thomas White, whose tenure as civilian chief of the military's largest service was marked by tensions with his boss, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, was leaving office.



Georgia lawmakers voted to scrap the Dixie cross from the state's flag.



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Today's Birthdays:



Country musician Vassar Clements is 76.



Movie director-writer Paul Mazursky is 74.



NBA'er Meadowlark Lemon is 72.



Songwriter Jerry Leiber is 71.



Actor Alfred "Al" Pacino is 64.



Rock musician Stu Cook (Creedence Clearwater Revival) is 59.



Singer Bjorn Ulvaeus (ABBA) is 59.



Actress Talia Rose Shire is 58.



Actor Jeffrey DeMunn is 57.



Rock musician Michael Brown (The Left Banke) is 55.



Rock musician Steve Ferrone (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers) is 54.



Country singer-songwriter Rob Crosby is 50.



Actor Hank Azaria is 40.



Rock singer Andy Bell (Erasure) is 40.



Rock musician Eric Avery (Jane's Addiction) is 39.



TV personality Jane Clayson is 37.



Actress Renee Zellweger is 35.



Actor Jason Lee is 34.



Actor Jason Wiles is 34.



Actress Emily Bergl is 29.



Singer Jacob Underwood (O Town) is 24.



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Thought for Today:

"Prophecy is the wit of a fool." -

- Vladimir Nabokov, Russian-born author (1899-1977).

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------------------------------------------

Today is Saturday, April 24th.

The 115th day of 2004.

There are 251 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On April 24, 1800, Congress approved a bill establishing the Library of Congress.



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On this date:



In 1792, The national anthem of France, "La Marseillaise," was composed by Captain Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle.



In 1805, The U.S. Marines attacked and captured the town of Derna in Tripoli.



In 1833, Jacob Ebert of Cadiz, OH, along with George Dulty of Wheeling, WV, got together to patent something that became pure Americana. The two invented the soda fountain on this day.



In 1877, Federal troops were ordered out of New Orleans, ending the North's post-Civil War rule in the South.



In 1886, Oil was discovered in the Middle East. The first well to come in was on the Egyptian shore of the Red Sea.



In 1888, Eastman Kodak formed.



In 1898, Spain declared war on the United States after rejecting America's ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba.



In 1915, The Ottoman Turkish Empire began the brutal mass deportation of Armenians during World War I.



In 1916, Some 1,600 Irish nationalists launched the Easter Rising (Rebellion) by seizing several key sites in Dublin. (The rising was put down by British forces several days later.)



In 1928, The fathometer was patented; it measures underwater depths by using sound.



In 1944, In deciding the legal case "United States v. Ballard," the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the general principle that "the truth of religious claims is not for secular authority to determine."



In 1948, The "Berlin airlift" began to relieve the surrounded city.



In 1950 "Peter Pan" opened at Imperial Theater NYC for 320 performances



In 1950, The West Bank was annexed by Transjordan.



In 1950, Egypt established control of Gaza.



In 1953, British statesman Winston Churchill was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.



In 1961, President Kennedy accepted "sole responsibility" for the abortive Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba.



In 1962, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology achieved the first satellite relay of a television signal, between Camp Parks, Calif., and Westford, Mass.



In 1967, Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov is the first person to die during a space mission when the Soyuz I craft crashes to earth.



In 1968, Leftist students at Columbia University in New York began a week-long occupation of several campus buildings.



In 1970, The People's Republic of China launched its first satellite, which kept transmitting a song, "The East is Red."



In 1974, Actor/comedian William "Bud" Abbott ("Abbott and Costello") died at the age of 78. He was born October 2, 1895 in Asbury Park, NJ.



In 1980, The United States launched an abortive attempt to free the American hostages in Iran, a mission that resulted in the deaths of eight U.S. servicemen.



In 1981, The IBM Personal Computer was introduced.



In 1990, West and East Germany agree to merge their currency and economies in July. Full political reunification occurs in October.



In 1990, The space shuttle Discovery blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla. It was carrying the $1.5 billion Hubble Space Telescope.



In 1997, The U.S. Senate ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention. The global treaty banned the development, production, storage and use of chemical weapons



In 2000, A youth opened fire on a crowd of people in the National Zoo in Washington, wounding seven children, one seriously.



Ten years ago (1994):



Bosnian Serbs, threatened with NATO air strikes, grudgingly gave up their three-week assault on Gorazde, burning houses and blowing up a water treatment plant as they withdrew.



Five years ago (1999):



On the second day of a NATO summit, the alliance ran into objections from Russia and questions among its own members about enforcing an oil embargo against Yugoslavia by searching ships at sea. President Clinton urged Americans to be patient with the bombing strategy in the meantime.



One year ago (2003):



U.S. forces in Iraq took custody of Tariq Aziz, the former Iraqi deputy prime minister.



China shut down a Beijing hospital as the global death toll from SARS surpassed 260.



A U.S. official reported that North Korea had claimed to have nuclear weapons.



In Red Lion, Pa., a 14-year-old boy shot and killed his school principal inside a crowded junior high cafeteria, then killed himself.



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Today's Birthdays:



Critic Stanley Kauffmann is 88.



Actor J.D. Cannon is 82.



Actress Shirley MacLaine (Beaty) is 70.



Author Sue Grafton is 64.



Actress-singer-director Barbra Joan Streisand is 62.



Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley is 62.



Country singer Richard Sterban (The Oak Ridge Boys) is 61.



Rock musician Doug Clifford (Creedence Clearwater Revival) is 59.



Actor-playwright Eric Bogosian is 51.



Actor Michael O'Keefe is 49.



Rock musician David J (Bauhaus) is 47.



Rock musician Billy Gould is 41.



Actor-comedian Cedric the Entertainer is 40.



Actor Djimon Hounsou is 40.



Rock musician Patty Schemel is 37.



Rock musician Aaron Comess (Spin Doctors) is 36.



Actor Derek Luke is 30.



Country singer Rebecca Lynn Howard is 25.



Singer Kelly Clarkson ("American Idol") is 22.



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Thought for Today:

"I know of no method to secure the repeal of bad or obnoxious laws so effective as their stringent execution." -

- Ulysses S. Grant, U.S. President (1822-1885).

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--------------------------------------------

Today is Friday, April 23rd.

The 114th day of 2004.

There are 252 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



April 23, 1564, is believed to be the birthdate of English poet and dramatist William Shakespeare; he died 52 years later (1616), also on April 23.



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On this date:



In 1348, King Edward III of England established the Order of the Garter.



In 1635, A boundary dispute between Maryland and Virginia causes a naval skirmish off the coast of Virginia.



In 1662, Connecticut was chartered as an English colony.



In 1789, President-elect Washington and his wife moved into the first executive mansion, the Franklin House, in New York.



In 1791, The 15th president of the United States, James Buchanan, was born in Franklin County, Pa.



In 1851, The first postage stamps were issued in Canada.



In 1904, The American Academy of Arts and Letters was founded.



In 1939, Boston Red Sox Ted Williams hits his 1st homerun



In 1940, About 200 people died in a dance hall fire in Natchez, Miss.



In 1948, KSTP TV channel 5 in St Paul-Minneapolis MN (ABC) 1st broadcast



In 1954, Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves hit the first of his record 755 major-league home runs, in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals. (The Braves won, 7-5.)



In 1956, The U.S. Supreme Court ended race segregation on buses.



In 1969, Sirhan Sirhan was sentenced to death for assassinating New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy. (The sentence was later reduced to life imprisonment.)



In 1985, The Coca-Cola Company announced it was changing the secret flavor formula for Coke (negative public reaction forced the company to resume selling the original version).



In 1992, McDonald's opened its first fast-food restaurant in the Chinese capital of Beijing.



In 1993, Labor leader Cesar Chavez died in San Luis, Ariz., at age 66.



In 1997, The military confirmed that two pieces of wreckage found on a snowy Rocky Mountain peak were from the Air Force warplane that vanished on a training mission over Arizona.



In 1998, James Earl Ray, who'd confessed to assassinating the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 and then insisted he'd been framed, died at a Nashville hospital at age 70.



Ten years ago (1994):



Mourners left red roses, burning candles and cards at the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda, Calif., in memory of the 37th president of the United States, who had died the day before at age 81.



Physicists at the Department of Energy's Fermin National Accelerator Laboratory discovered the subatomic particle called the top quark.



Five years ago (1999):



On the first day of a 50th anniversary NATO summit in Washington, Western leaders pledged to intensify military strikes against Yugoslavia and vowed "no compromise" on demands that Slobodan Milosevic withdraw his troops from Kosovo.



One year ago (2003):



Global health officials warned travelers to avoid Beijing and Toronto, where they might get the SARS virus and export it to new locations.



U.S. negotiators met with North Korean and Chinese representatives in Beijing for the first three-way meeting by the governments since the Korean War.



American Airlines reported a $1-billion first-quarter loss.



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Today's Birthdays:



Actress Janet Blair is 83.



Actress-turned-diplomat Shirley Temple Black is 76.



Actor Alan Oppenheimer is 74.



Actor David Birney is 65.



Actor Lee Majors (Harvey Lee Yeary II) is 65.



Actress Sandra Dee is 62.



Irish nationalist Bernadette Devlin McAliskey is 57.



Actress Blair Brown is 56.



Writer-director Paul Brickman is 55.



Actress Joyce DeWitt is 55.



Actor James Russo is 51.



Political filmmaker-author Michael Moore is 50.



Actress Judy Davis is 49.



Actress Jan Hooks is 47.



Actress Valerie Bertinelli is 44.



Actor Craig Sheffer is 44.



Actor George Lopez ("George Lopez") is 43.



Rock musician Gen is 40.



U.S. Olympic gold medal skier Donna Weinbrecht is 39.



Actress Melina Kanakaredes is 37.



Rock musician Stan Frazier (Sugar Ray) is 36.



Country musician Tim Womack (Sons of the Desert) is 36.



Actor Scott Bairstow is 34.



Actress Rachel Skarsten is 19.



Actor Camryn Walling is 14.



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Thought for Today:

"...We are such stuff/ As dreams are made on, and our little life/ Is rounded with a sleep." -

- From "The Tempest," by William Shakespeare (1564-1616).

--------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------

Today is Thursday, April 22nd.

The 113th day of 2004.

There are 253 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



Fifty years ago, on April 22, 1954, the televised Senate Army-McCarthy hearings began.



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On this date:



In 1370, Construction of the Bastile began. The French king Charles the Fifth wanted it erected as a defense against the British.



In 1451, Queen Isabella I, who sponsored the voyages of Christopher Columbus, was born in Madrigal, Spain.



In 1509, Henry VIII ascended the throne of England following the death of his father, Henry VII.



In 1500, Pedro Alvarez Cabral discovered Brazil & claims it for Portugal.



In 1529, Spain and Portugal divide the western hemisphere in Treaty of Saragossa.



In 1823, Roller Skates were patented by R.J. Tyers.



In 1864, Congress authorized the use of the phrase "In God We Trust" on U.S. coins.



In 1870, The father of Soviet communism, Vladimir Ilyitch Ulyanov (aka Nikolai Lenin) was born. He died in Moscow of a stroke on January 21, 1924 at the age of 53.



In 1876, 1st National League game, Boston Braves beat Philadelphia Athletics 6-5; Philadelphia Athletics Wes Fisler scores baseball's 1st run.



In 1889, The Oklahoma Land Rush began at noon as thousands of homesteaders staked claims.



In 1892, The Winstar Institute, the first anatomy school in the U.S., opens.



In 1898, With the United States and Spain on the verge of formally declaring war, the U.S. Navy began blockading Cuban ports. The USS Nashville captured a Spanish merchant ship, the Buenaventura, off Key West, Fla. Also, Congress authorized creation of the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, popularly known as the "Rough Riders."



In 1904, The father of the atomic bomb, J. (Julius) Robert Oppenheimer was born. He died on February 18, 1967 at the age of 62.



In 1914, Babe Ruth made his pitching debut with the Baltimore Orioles.



In 1915, The second battle of Ypres started when German troops released clouds of deadly chlorine gas on British troops; it was the first chemical warfare attack of World War One.



In 1915, New York Yankees don pinstripes & hat-in-the-ring logo for 1st time



In 1940, Rear Adm Joseph Taussig testified before the U.S. Senate Naval Affairs Committee that war with Japan is inevitable



In 1944, During World War II, U.S. forces began invading Japanese-held New Guinea with amphibious landings near Hollandia.



In 1945, Adolf Hitler admitted that the war was lost and that suicide was his only recourse.



In 1952, An atomic test conducted in Nevada became the first nuclear explosion shown on live network television.



In 1964, President Johnson opened the New York World's Fair.



In 1970, Millions of Americans concerned about the environment observed the first Earth Day.



In 1976, Barbara Walters signs a record $1 million contract with ABC and becomes the first female nightly news anchor in the United States.



In 1978, 'The Blues Brothers' (Dan Akroyd and John Belushi) make their first appearance on Saturday Night Live



In 1978, The final episode of "Maude" aired.



In 1983, The West German news magazine Stern announced the discovery of 60 volumes of personal diaries purportedly written by Adolf Hitler. However, the diaries turned out to be a hoax.



In 1991, Johnny Carson announces he will retire next year from Tonight Show



In 1993, The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum was dedicated in Washington D.C. to honor the victims of Nazi extermination.



In 2000, In a dramatic pre-dawn raid, armed immigration agents seized Elian Gonzalez from his relatives' home in Miami; Elian was reunited with his father at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington.



Ten years ago (1994):



Richard M. Nixon, the 37th president of the United States, died at a New York hospital four days after suffering a stroke. He was 81.



Five years ago (1999):



At Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., investigators found a powerful bomb made from a propane tank, heightening suspicions that gunmen Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who killed 13 people before killing themselves, intended to destroy the school.



NATO struck directly against Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, destroying his luxurious mansion.



One year ago (2003):



President Bush announced he would nominate Alan Greenspan for a fifth term as Federal Reserve chairman.



Songwriter Felice Bryant, who, with her late husband, Boudleaux, wrote "Bye Bye Love" and other Everly Brothers hits, died in Gatlinburg, Tenn., at age 77.



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Today's Birthdays:



Actor Eddie Albert is 96.



TV producer Aaron Spelling is 81.



Actor George Cole is 79.



Actress Charlotte Rae is 78.



Actress Estelle Harris ("Seinfeld") is 72.



Singer Glen Campbell is 68.



Actor Jack Nicholson is 67.



Singer Mel Carter is 61.



Country singer Cleve Francis is 59.



Movie director John Waters is 58.



Singer Peter Frampton is 54.



Rock singer-musician Paul Carrack (Mike and the Mechanics; Squeeze) is 53.



Actor Joseph Bottoms is 50.



Actress Marilyn Chambers is 50.



Actor Ryan Stiles is 45.



Actress Catherine Mary Stewart is 45.



Comedian Byron Allen is 43.



Actor Chris Makepeace is 40.



Actress Sheryl Lee is 37.



Country singer-musician Heath Wright (Ricochet) is 37.



Country singer Kellie Coffey is 33.



Actor Ingo Rademacher is 33.



Rock singer-musician Daniel Johns (Silverchair) is 25.



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Thought for Today:

"Always remember others may hate you but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself." -

- Richard M. Nixon, 37th president of the United States (1913-1994).

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---------------------------------------------

Today is Wednesday, April 21st.

The 112th day of 2004.

There are 254 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On April 21, 1910, author Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, died in Redding, CT.



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On this date:



In 753 BCE, According to legend, twin brothers Romulus and Remus, sons of the god Mars, found the ancient city of Rome.



In 1649, The Maryland Toleration Act, which provided for freedom of worship for all Christians, was passed by the Maryland assembly.



In 1789, John Adams was sworn in as the first vice president of the United States.



In 1828, Noah Webster published the first American dictionary.



In 1836, An army of Texans led by Sam Houston defeated the Mexicans at San Jacinto, assuring the independence of Texas. Sam yelled "Remember the Alamo". The whole war battle took only 18 minutes, but it claimed 600 Mexicans and only 9 Texans.



In 1857, Alexander Douglas patented the bustle



In 1862, Congress established the U.S. Mint in Denver, Colorado.



In 1878, The first firehouse pole was installed in N.Y.



In 1913, Gideon Sundback of Sweden patents the zipper



In 1914, US marines occupy Vera Cruz, Mexico, and stayed 6 months.



In 1918, Baron Manfred von Richthofen, the German flying ace known as the "Red Baron," was shot down and killed in action during World War I after dowining 80 enemy planes.



In 1940, The quiz show that asked the $64-question, "Take It or Leave It," premiered on CBS Radio.



In 1945, Soviet forces assaulted the headquarters of the German High Command in south Berlin.



In 1948, 1st Polaroid camera is sold in US



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 1960, Brazil inaugurated its new capital, Brasilia, transferring the seat of national government from Rio de Janeiro.



In 1967, Svetlana Alliluyeva (Josef Stalin's daughter) defects in NYC.



In 1972, Apollo 16 astronauts John Young and Charles Duke explored the surface of the moon.



In 1975, South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu resigned after 10 years in office.



In 1977, The musical play "Annie" opened on Broadway.



In 1982, The final episode of "WKRP in Cincinnati" aired on CBS.



In 1986, Geraldo Rivera opens Al Capone's vault on TV & finds nothing



In 1989, Tens of thousands of people crowded into Beijing's Tiananmen Square, cheering students who waved banners demanding greater political freedoms.



In 1992, Robert Alton Harris became the first person executed by the state of California in 25 years as he was put to death in the gas chamber for the 1978 murder of two teenage boys.



In 1993, The first episode of "Walker, Texas Ranger" aired on CBS.



In 1995, The FBI arrested former soldier Timothy McVeigh at an Oklahoma jail where he'd spent two days on minor traffic and weapons charges; he was charged in connection with the Oklahoma City bombing two days earlier.



In 1997, The swollen Red River, which had flooded 75 percent of Grand Forks, N.D., reached a projected crest of 54 feet -- or 26 feet above flood stage.



In 1997, Ashes of Timothy Leary & Gene Roddenberry launched into orbit



Ten years ago (1994):



The U.S. House of Representatives passed a $28 billion get-tough-on-crime bill by a vote of 285-141.



Five years ago (1999):



A day after the mass killing at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., investigators continued their work, while memorial services were held across the city and dozens of counselors offered support to grieving students, parents, friends and family.



Actor and bandleader Charles "Buddy" Rogers died in Rancho Mirage, Calif., at age 94.



The 200th episode of "L.A. Law" aired.



One year ago (2003):



Military officials in Iraq announced the arrest of Muhammad Hamza al-Zubaydi, a key figure in the bloody suppression of the Shiite Muslim uprising of 1991.



State-run media in China reported the government had dismissed Beijing's mayor following the disclosure of a steep increase in SARS cases in the Chinese capital.



Scott Peterson pleaded innocent in the deaths of his pregnant wife and unborn son.



Robert Cheruiyot became the 12th Kenyan in 13 years to win the Boston Marathon; Svetlana Zakharova of Russia won the women's race.



Jazz singer Nina Simone died in France at age 70.



In Iraq, retired U.S. Lt. Gen. Jay Garner arrived in Baghdad as Iraq's postwar administrator.



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Today's Birthdays



Ice skater Werner Groebli ("Mr. Frick") is 89.



Britain's Queen Elizabeth II is 78.



Actress-comedian-writer Elaine May is 72.



Actor-turned-talk show host Charles Grodin is 69.



Singer-musician Iggy Pop is 57.



Singer-songwriter Paul Davis is 56.



Actress Patti LuPone is 55.



Actor Tony Danza is 53.



Actress Andie MacDowell is 46.



Rock singer Robert Smith (The Cure) is 45.



Rock musician Michael Timmins (Cowboy Junkies) is 45.



Actor John Cameron Mitchell is 41.



Rapper Michael Franti (Spearhead) is 36.



Comedian Nicole Sullivan is 34.



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Thought for Today:

"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first." -

- Mark Twain (1835-1910).

---------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------

Today is Tuesday, April 20th.

The 111th day of 2004.

There are 255 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



Five years ago, on April 20, 1999, the Columbine High School massacre took place in Littleton, Colo., as students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold shot and killed 12 classmates and one teacher before taking their own lives.



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On this date:



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



In 1812, The fourth vice president of the United States, George Clinton, died in Washington at age 73, becoming the first vice president to die while in office.



In 1836, The Territory of Wisconsin was established by Congress.



In 1841, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" by Edgar Allan Poe, considered the first detective story, was published in Graham's Magazine in Philadelphia.



In 1859, "A Tale Of Two Cities" was first published by Charles Dickens.



In 1889, Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau, Austria.



In 1902, Scientists Marie and Pierre Curie isolated the radioactive element radium.



In 1940, RCA publicly demonstrated its new and powerful electron microscope.



In 1945, During World War II, Allied forces took control of the German cities of Nuremberg and Stuttgart.



In 1967, US planes bomb Haiphong for 1st time during the Vietnam War



In 1968, Pierre Elliott Trudeau was sworn in as prime minister of Canada.



In 1971, The Supreme Court upheld the use of busing to achieve racial desegregation in schools.



In 1972, The manned lunar module from Apollo 16 landed on the moon.



In 1973, L. Patrick Gray, acting director of the FBI, resigns after admitting he destroyed evidence connected to Watergate.



In 1978, A Korean Air Lines Boeing 707 crash-landed in northwestern Russia after being fired on by a Soviet interceptor after entering Soviet airspace. Two passengers were killed.



In 1980, The first Cubans sailing to the United States as part of the massive Mariel boatlift reached Florida.



In 1987, The U.S. deports Karl Linnas to the Soviet Union to face death for Nazi war crimes.



Ten years ago (1994):



Israeli and PLO negotiators wrapped up an agreement transferring civilian government powers to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and Jericho.



One year ago (1999):



U.S. Army forces took control of Baghdad from the Marines in a changing of the guard that thinned the military presence in the capital.



Celebrating Easter, the Reverend Emmanuel Delly, a longtime Iraqi bishop, pleaded for safeguards against the persecution of Christians in the new Iraq.



A landslide in southern Kyrgyzstan killed 38 people.



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Today's Birthdays:



Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens is 84.



Actress Nina Foch is 80.



Singer Johnny Tillotson is 65.



Actor George Takei is 64.



Actor Ryan O'Neal is 63.



Rock musician Craig Frost (Grand Funk; Bob Seger's Silver Bullet Band) is 56.



Actress Jessica Lange is 55.



Singer Luther Vandross is 53.



Actor Clint Howard is 45.



Actor Crispin Glover is 40.



Country singer Wade Hayes is 35.



Actor Shemar Moore is 34.



Rock musician Mikey Welsh is 33.



Actress Carmen Electra is 32.



Actor Joseph Lawrence is 28.



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Thought for Today:

"The law that will work is merely the summing up in legislative form of the moral judgment that the community has already reached." -

- Woodrow Wilson, American president (1856-1924).

---------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------

Today is Monday, April 19th.

The 110th day of 2004.

There are 256 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On April 19, 1775, the American Revolutionary War began with the battles of Lexington and Concord.



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On this date:



In 1782, the Netherlands recognized American independence.



In 1893, the Oscar Wilde play "A Woman of No Importance" opened at the Haymarket Theatre in London.



In 1933, the United States went off the gold standard.



In 1943, during World War II, tens of thousands of Jews living in the Warsaw Ghetto began a valiant but futile battle against Nazi forces.



In 1945, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "Carousel" opened on Broadway.



In 1951, General Douglas MacArthur, relieved of his Far East command by President Truman, bid farewell to Congress, quoting a line from a ballad: "Old soldiers never die; they just fade away."



In 1982, astronauts Sally K. Ride and Guion S. Bluford Jr. became the first woman and first African-American to be tapped for U.S. space missions.



In 1989, 47 sailors were killed when a gun turret exploded aboard the USS Iowa.



In 1993, the 51-day siege at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, ended as fire destroyed the structure after federal agents began smashing their way in; dozens of people, including David Koresh, were killed.



In 1995, a truck bomb destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people and injuring hundreds. Timothy McVeigh was later convicted of federal murder charges and executed.



Ten years ago (1994):



A Los Angeles jury awarded $3.8 million to beaten motorist Rodney King.



The Supreme Court outlawed the practice of excluding people from juries because of their gender.



Five years ago (1999):



The German parliament inaugurated its new home in the restored Reichstag in Berlin, its prewar capital.



The Supreme Court ruled that a federal law aimed at limiting e-mail smut did not violate free-speech rights.



Joseph Chebet of Kenya won the Boston Marathon, in two hours, nine minutes, 52 seconds; Fatuma Roba of Ethiopia won the women's race in two hours, 23 minutes, 25 seconds.



One year ago (2003):



Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo won a new term in an election denounced by opponents as fraudulent.



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Today's Birthdays:



Actor Hugh O'Brian (Krampke) is 79.



Actress Elinor Donahue is 67.



Actor Tim Curry is 58.



Pop singer Mark "Flo" Volman (The Turtles; Flo and Eddie) is 57.



Tennis player Sue Barker is 48.



Recording executive Suge Knight is 39.



Singer-songwriter Dar Williams is 37.



Actress Ashley Taylor Judd is 36.



Singer Bekka Bramlett is 36.



Actor James Franco is 26.



Actress Kate Hudson is 25.



Actor Hayden Christensen is 23.



Actor Courtland Mead is 17.



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Thought for Today:

"The crisis you have to worry about most is the one you don't see coming." -

- Mike Mansfield, American statesman (1903-2001).

----------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------

Today is Sunday, April 18th

The 109th day of 2004.

There are 257 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On April 18, 1775, American revolutionaries Paul Revere, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott rode though the towns of Massachusetts giving the warning that "the British are coming."



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



On this date:



In 1853, Vice President William R. King dies one month after his inauguration, and President Pierce will not have a Vice President during his term in office.



In 1902, Denmark was the first country to adopt fingerprinting as a way to identify criminals.



In 1906, A devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck San Francisco at 5:12AM local time, followed by raging fires. The earthquake and resulting fires caused an estimated 3,000 deaths and $524 million in property loss.



In 1921, Junior Achievement, created to encourage business skills in young people, was incorporated in Colorado Springs, Co.



In 1923, The first game was played in Yankee Stadium. The Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox, 4-1.



In 1934, The first coin-operated laundry (called a "washateria") was opened by J.F. Cantrell in Fort Worth, Texas.



In 1936, Pan-Am's "Clipper" starts providing regular passenger flights between San Francisco and Honolulu.



In 1937, Leon Trotsky called for the overthrow of Soviet leader Josef Stalin.



In 1942, An air squadron from the USS Hornet led by Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle raided Tokyo and other Japanese cities.



In 1943 Traveling in a bomber, Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, was shot down by American P-38 fighters.



In 1944, The ballet "Fancy Free," with music by Leonard Bernstein premiered.



In 1945, Famed American war correspondent Ernie Pyle, 44, was killed by Japanese gunfire on the Pacific island of Ie Shima, off Okinawa.



In 1946, The League of Nations went out of business.



In 1949, The Irish Republic came into existence as it withdrew from the British Commonwealth.



In 1950 1st transatlantic jet passenger trip by BOAC in a DH Comet 4.



In 1951, New York Yankee Mickey Mantle goes 1-for-4 in his 1st game



In 1955, Inventor, Mathematician, Physicist Albert E. Einstein died at the age of 76 in Princeton; NJ. He was born November 29, 1849.



In 1955, The phrase "Third World" was first used by Indonesia's President Sukarno in a speech about non-white and underdeveloped areas.



In 1956, "the match made in heaven," when American actress Grace Kelly married Prince Ranier III of Monaco in a civil ceremony. A church wedding took place the following day.



In 1964, Sandy Koufax is 1st to strike out the side on 9 pitches



In 1968, The London Bridge was sold to American Robert McCullough for one million pounds (about $4M at the time). It was later re-erected in Arizona.



In 1971, THE 1ST "EARTH DAY" A nationwide observance is held to promote awareness and activism concerning environmental issues



In 1974, The Washington District Court conducting the Watergate proceedings issued a subpoena on President Richard M. Nixon to produce tape recordings and other material demanded by the Special Prosecutor.



In 1977, Alex Haley, author of "Roots", awarded Pulitzer Prize



In 1978, The U.S. Senate voted 68-32 to turn the Panama Canal over to Panamanian control on Dec. 31, 1999.



In 1980, Rhodesia became the independent nation of Zimbabwe as the British flag was lowered at a ceremony in Salisbury.



In 1980, The Prime Interest Rate went to 19.5 percent



In 1982, Canada Constitution Act replaces British North America Act



In 1983, 62 people, including 17 Americans, were killed at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, by a suicide bomber.



In 1989, Thousands of Chinese students demanding democracy tried to storm Communist Party headquarters in Beijing.



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



In 2002, Four Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan were killed when they were mistakenly bombed by an American F-16 pilot.



Ten years ago (1994):



Former President Richard Nixon suffered a stroke at his home in Park Ridge, N.J., and was taken to New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center; he died four days later.



Five years ago (1999):



NATO launched its most active day of airstrikes in its assault on Yugoslavia, pummeling refineries, bridges and dozens of other targets in the 25th straight day of attacks.



Wayne Gretzky played his last National Hockey League game as his New York Rangers lost to Pittsburgh 2-1 in overtime at Madison Square Garden.



One year ago (2003):



Iraqi police arrested Saddam Hussein's former finance minister (Hikmat Mizban Ibrahim al-Azzawi) and turned him over to the U.S. Marines.



Scott Peterson was arrested in San Diego in the death of his wife, Laci, who was eight months pregnant when she vanished on Christmas Eve.



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Today's Birthdays:



Actress Barbara Hale (Perry Mason's "Della Street"; William Katt's mom, Bill Williams' wife) is 83.



Blues singer Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown is 80.



Actor Clive Revill is 74.



Actor James Drury is 70.



Actor Robert Hooks is 67.



Actress Hayley Mills (Parent Trap; Sir John's daughter, Juliet's sister) is 58.



Actor James Woods is 57.



Actress-director Dorothy Lyman is 57.



Actress Cindy Pickett is 57.



Country musician Walt Richmond (The Tractors) is 57.



Country musician Jim Scholten (Sawyer Brown) is 52.



Actor Rick Moranis is 50.



Actress Melody Thomas Scott is 48.



Actor Eric Roberts (Julia's brother) is 48.



Actor John James is 48.



Rock musician Les Pattinson (Echo and the Bunnymen) is 46.



Talk show host Conan O'Brien is 41.



Actress Jane Leeves ("Daphne" on Frasier) is 41.



Actor Eric McCormack is 41.



Actress Maria Bello is 37.



Rock musician Greg Eklund (Everclear) is 34.



Rhythm and blues singer Trina (Trina and Tamara) is 30.



Actress Melissa Joan Hart ("Sabrina The Teenage Witch") is 28.



Actor Sean Maguire is 28.



Actress Alia Shawkat is 15.



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Thought for Today:

"It's what you learn after you know it all that counts." -

- Earl Weaver, baseball manager.

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Today is Saturday, April 17th.

The 108th day of 2004.

There are 258 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On April 17, 1964, Ford Motor Company unveiled its new Mustang model at the New York World's Fair.



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On this date:



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



In 1492, Christopher Columbus signs a contract with Spain, giving him a commission to seek a westward passage to Asia.



In 1521, Martin Luther went before the Diet of Worms to face charges stemming from his religious writings.



In 1524, Giovanni da Verrazzano reached present-day New York harbor.



In 1629, Horses were first imported into the colonies by the Massachusetts Bay Colony.



In 1790, American statesman Benjamin Franklin died in Philadelphia at age 84.



In 1824, Russia abandons all North American claims south of 54º 40' N



In 1861, The Virginia State Convention voted to secede from the Union.



In 1875, "Snooker" (variation of pool) invented by Sir Neville Chamberlain



In 1894, Former Soviet leader (1953-1964) Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev was born in Kalinovka, near the village of Kursk in southwestern Russia. He ided September 11, 1971 at the age of 77.



In 1897, Pulitzer Prize (1928 - The Bridge of San Luis Rey, 1938 - Our Town, 1943 - The Skin of Our Teeth) author/playwriter Thornton Niven Wilder was born in Madison, Wisconsin. He died December 7, 1975 at the age of 78.



In 1918, Actor William Holden (William Franklin Beedle Jr.) was born. He died November 16, 1981 at the age of 63.



In 1923, Correspondent, journalist Harry Reasoner was born in Dakota City, IA. He died August 6, 1991 at the age of 68.



In 1941, Yugoslavia surrendered to Germany in World War II.



In 1942, French General Henri Giraud, who was captured in 1940, escaped from a castle prison at Konigstein. He lowered himself down the castle wall and jumped on board a moving train, which took him to the French border.



1945, The U.S. seized 1,100 tons of uranium at Strassfut, Germany, in an effort to prevent Russia from developing an atomic bomb.



In 1961, About 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in a failed attempt to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro.



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



In 1967, "The Joey Bishop Show" debuted on ABC-TV.



In 1969, A jury in Los Angeles convicted Sirhan Sirhan of assassinating Senator Robert F. Kennedy.



In 1969, Czechoslovak Communist Party chairman Alexander Dubcek was deposed.



In 1970, The astronauts of Apollo 13 splashed down safely in the Pacific, four days after a ruptured oxygen tank crippled their spacecraft.



In 1970, Johnny Cash performed at the White House at the invitation of President Richard M. Nixon. He played "A Boy Named Sue."



In 1984, In London, gunmen from the Libyan Embassy fired weapons into an anti-Libya protest. One policewoman was killed and 10 others were wounded.



In 1985, In Lebanon, the cabinet resigned as Shiites took W. Beirut.



In 1986, In Beirut, three British hostages were found dead. They were killed in retaliation to the U.S. attacks on Libya on April 15.



In 1987, NBC aired the final episode of "Remington Steele."



In In 1989, The Polish trade union Solidarity was legalized after a seven-year ban, this led to the first non-communist government in the Eastern Bloc.



In 1995, President Clinton signed an executive order stripping the "classified" label from most national security documents that were at least 25 years old.



In 1998, Linda McCartney (Paul's wife) died at the age of 56. She was born September 24, 1941.



In 1998, Scientists report loss of 75-square-mile chunk of Larsen Ice Shelf on Antarctic Peninsula.



In 2002, The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences board voted unanimously to urge networks not to get rid of artist credits at the end of TV shows.



Ten years ago (1994):



Bosnian Serb tanks entered the Muslim enclave of Gorazde; the UN Security Council issued a nonbinding statement that condemned the Serbs' escalating military activities, but made no threat of force to back its condemnation.



Five years ago (1999):



General Wesley Clark, NATO's commander, bluntly told Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to change his policies in Kosovo or see his military machine destroyed.



The first of three bombs to explode in London within a two-week period went off in Brixton, a racially mixed neighborhood, injuring 39 people.



One year ago (2003):



U.S. special forces in Baghdad captured Barzan Ibrahim Hasan, a half-brother of and adviser to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.



In Baghdad, Iraq, thieves were arrested after blowing a hole in a bank vault and dropped children in to bring out money. U.S. troops arrested the thieves and removed $4 million in U.S. dollars for safekeeping.



The U.S. government awarded Bechtel Corporation a major contract for helping rebuild Iraq's power, water and sewage systems.



Diet doctor Robert C. Atkins died in New York at age 72.



Songwriter Earl King died in New Orleans at age 69.



Sir J. Paul Getty Jr., the reclusive third son of American oilman J. Paul Getty, died in London at age 70.



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Today's Birthdays:



Actor Lon McCallister is 81.



Rock promoter Don Kirshner is 70.



Composer-musician Jan Hammer is 56.



Actress Olivia Hussey is 53.



Rock singer-musician Pete Shelley (Buzzcocks) is 49.



Actress Teri Austin is 45.



Actor Sean Bean is 45.



Rock singer Maynard James Keenan (Tool) is 40.



Actress Lela Rochon is 40.



Singer Liz Phair is 37.



Actress Jennifer Garner ("Alias") is 32.



Singer Victoria Adams Beckham is 30.



Actress-singer Lindsay Korman is 26.



Actor Paulie Litt ("Hope and Faith") is nine.



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Thought for Today:

"A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past; he is one who is prematurely disappointed in the future." -

- Sydney J. Harris, American journalist (1917-1986).

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Today is Friday, April 16th.

The 107th day of 2004.

There are 259 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On April 16, 1947, the French ship Grandcamp blew up at the harbor in Texas City, Texas; another ship, the Highflyer, exploded the following day. The blasts and resulting fires killed 576 people.



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On this date:



In 1705, Queen Anne of England knights Isaac Newton at Trinity College.



In 1789, President-elect Washington left Mount Vernon, Va., for his inauguration in New York.



In 1818, The U.S. Senate ratifies the Rush-Bagot amendment to form an unarmed U.S.-Canada border.



In 1854, San Salvador was destroyed by an earthquake.



In 1862, A bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia became law.



In 1879, Saint Bernadette, who had described seeing visions of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes, died in Nevers, France.



In 1889, Comedian, Actor, Director Sir Charles (Charlie) Spencer Chaplin was born in London, England. He died in Switzerland on December 25, 1977 at the age of 88.



In 1900, The US Post Office issues 1st books of postage stamps



In 1908, The Natural Bridges National Monument was established in Utah.



In 1912, Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly across the English Channel, using a Bleriot monoplane to travel from Dover, England, to Hardelot, France.



In 1917, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin returned to Russia after years of exile.



In 1921, Actor/producer/director/screenwriter/author Sir Peter Ustinov was born in London, England. He died on March 28, 2004 at the age of 82.



In 1924, Oscar (4) and Grammy (20) winning composer/conductor/arranger Henry Mancini was born in Cleveland, OH. He died June 14, 1994 at the age of 70.



In 1935, The radio comedy program "Fibber McGee and Molly" premiered on the NBC Blue Network.



In 1939 Singer Dame Mary Isobel Catherine O'Brien (Dusty) Springfield was born in London, England. She died March 2, 1999 at the age of 59.



In 1945, In his first speech to Congress, President Truman pledged to carry out the war and peace policies of his late predecessor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt.



In 1945, U.S. troops reached Nuremberg, Germany, during World War II.



In 1945, The Russian Army began the Battle of Berlin.



In 1947, Financier and presidential confidant Bernard M. Baruch said in a speech at the South Carolina statehouse: "Let us not be deceived -- we are today in the midst of a cold war."



In 1962, Walter Cronkite succeeded Douglas Edwards as anchorman of "The CBS Evening News."



In 1972, Apollo 16 blasted off on a voyage to the moon.



In 1975, The Khmer Rouge Rebels won control of Cambodia after a five-year civil war. They renamed the country Kampuchea and began a reign of terror.



In 1977, The ban on women attending West Point was lifted.



In 1981, The final episode of "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" aired on NBC.



In 1982, Queen Elizabeth proclaimed Canada's new constitution, severing the last colonial links with Britain.



In 2002, The U.S. Supreme Court overturned major parts of a 1996 child pornography law based on rights to free speech.



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Ten years ago (1994):



Bosnian Serbs downed a British Sea Harrier jet near Gorazde; the pilot ejected, and was rescued by Bosnian government troops.



Ralph Ellison, author of "Invisible Man," died in New York at age 80.



Five years ago (1999):



President Clinton defended NATO airstrikes against Serbian targets during visits to Michigan and Massachusetts, saying U.S. involvement in Kosovo was a moral imperative.



Wayne Gretzky announced his retirement from hockey.



One year ago (2003):



The Bush administration lowered the terror alert level from orange to yellow, saying the end of heavy fighting in Iraq has diminished the threat of terrorism in the United States.



During a visit to a fighter jet factory in St. Louis, President Bush called for lifting economic sanctions against Iraq as commanders of both the U.S. military and the reconstruction effort prepared to move into the country.



Michael Jordan played his last NBA game with the Washington Wizards, who lost to the Philadelphia 76ers, 107-87.



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Today's Birthdays:



Actor Barry Nelson is 84.



Actor Peter Mark Richman is 77.



Actress-singer Edie Adams is 75.



Singer Bobby Vinton is 69.



Denmark's Queen Margrethe the Second is 64.



Basketball Hall-of-Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is 57.



Singer Gerry Rafferty is 57.



Actress Ellen Barkin is 50.



Singer Jimmy Osmond is 41.



Rock singer David Pirner (Soul Asylum) is 40.



Actor-comedian Martin Lawrence is 39.



Actor Jon Cryer is 39.



Rock musician Dan Rieser is 38.



Actor Peter Billingsley is 32.



Actor Lukas Haas is 28.



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Thought for Today:

"Only the vanquished remember history." -

- Marshall McLuhan, Canadian communications theorist (1911-1980).

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