Paradise Driver

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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).

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