Paradise Driver

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Today is Thursday, April 8th.

The 99th day of 2004.

There are 267 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On April 8, 1974, Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hit his 715th career home run in a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, breaking Babe Ruth's record. The round-tripper was off pitcher Al Downing.



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On this date:



In 563 B.C.E., Philosopher, Prince, Religious Leader (Buddism) Siddhartha Gautama Buddha was born in India. He died on February 15, 483 B.C.E. at the age of 79.



In 1460, Explorer Juan Ponce de Leon was born. He died in 1521.



In 1513, Explorer Juan Ponce de Leon claimed Florida for Spain.



In 1525, Albert von Brandenburg, the leader of the Teutonic Order, assumes the title "Duke of Prussia" and passed the first laws of the Protestant church, making Prussia a Protestant state.



In 1546, At its fourth session, the Council of Trent adopted Jerome's "Latin Vulgate" as the official Bible of the Roman Catholic Church. (Included in the Vulgate O.T. were the 15 apocryphal books which Protestants reject in their biblical canon.)



In 1652, Cape Town in South Africa is founded by Jan van Riebeeck as a supply post for the Dutch East India Company.



In 1789, The U.S. House of Representatives held its first meeting.



In 1834, Cornelius Lawrence became the first mayor to be elected by popular vote in a city election (New York City).



In 1862, The aerosol dispenser was patented by John D. Lynde.



In 1865, General Robert E Lee surrenders at Appomattox Court House in Virginia



In 1869, The American Museum of Natural History opens in New York City.



In 1879, Milk was sold in glass bottles for the first time.



In 1893, Actress/producer Mary ("America's Sweetheart") Pickford [Gladys Marie Smith] was born in Toronto, Canada. She was a co-founder of the United Artists Corporation. She died in 1979.



In 1904, The Anglo-French agreement known as the "Entente Cordial" was signed. It settled all global differences between the two, including disputes over Newfoundland, West Africa, Egypt and Morocco.



In 1912, Olympic ice skater/actress Sonja Henie was born in Norway. She died October 12, 1969 at the age of 57.



In 1913, The Seventeenth amendment was ratified, requiring direct election of senators.



In 1935, The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was approved by Congress.



In 1946, The League of Nations assembled in Geneva for the last time.



In 1950, Ballet dancer Vaslav Nijinsky died in London.



In 1952, President Truman seized the steel industry to avert a nationwide strike.



In 1963, The final episode of "The Rifleman" aired.



In 1969, The first artificial heart was implanted into a human.



In 1970, The Senate rejected President Nixon's nomination of G. Harold Carswell to the U.S. Supreme Court.



In 1973, Artist Pablo Ruiz y Picasso died at his home near Mougins, France, at age 91.



In 1979, The last episode of "All In The Family" aired.



In 1981, Gen. Omar N. Bradley (the last "5-Star" general) died in New York at age 88.



In 1986, Film actor/director Clint Eastwood was elected mayor of Carmel, California.



In 1988, The Rev. Jimmy Swaggart was defrocked as a minister of the Assemblies of God after he rejected an order from the church's national leaders to stop preaching for a year.



In 1990, Ryan White, the teenage AIDS patient whose battle for acceptance gained national attention, died in Indianapolis at age 18.



In 1990, Fire breaks out on the Danish ferry Scandinavian Star in the North Sea, killing more than 150 people.



In 1991, Michael Landon announces he has inoperable cancer of the pancreas



In 1992, Yasir Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), survives a plane crash in the Sahara Desert; the plane's three crew members perished.



In 1992, After 151 years Britain's "Punch Magazine" published its final issue.



In 1993, singer Marian Anderson died in Portland, Ore., at age 96.



In 1994, Smoking banned in the Pentagon and on all US military bases



In 1997, Microsoft Corp releases Internet Explorer 4.0.



Ten years ago (1994):



Kurt Cobain, singer and guitarist for the grunge band Nirvana, was found dead in Seattle from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound; he was 27.



Japanese Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa announced his intention to resign in the wake of an ever-widening financial scandal.



Five years ago (1999):



At a White House news conference, President Clinton said NATO could still win in Kosovo by air power alone, and he expressed hope for an early release of three American POWs; also at the session with reporters was visiting Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, who promised to cooperate in investigations of alleged nuclear-weapons spying and illegal campaign contributions by Beijing.



One year ago (2003):



Two journalists were killed when U.S. forces fired on their hotel in Baghdad.



Connecticut won its second straight NCAA women's basketball championship, defeating Tennessee 73-68.



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Today's Birthdays:



Former first lady Betty Ford is 86.



Comedian Shecky Greene is 78.



Lyricist Fred Ebb is 68.



Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh is 67.



Basketball Hall-of-Famer John Havlicek is 64.



Singer J.J. Jackson is 63.



Singer Peggy Lennon (The Lennon Sisters) is 63.



Songwriter-producer Leon Huff is 62.



Actor Hywel Bennett is 60.



Actor Stuart Pankin is 58.



Rock musician Steve Howe (Yes) is 57.



Rock musician Mel Schacher (Grand Funk Railroad) is 53.



Baseball Hall-of-Famer Gary Carter is 50.



Actor John Schneider is 44.



Rock musician Izzy Stradlin is 42.



Singer Julian Lennon is 41.



Rock singer-musician Donita Sparks (L7) is 41.



Rapper Biz Markie is 40.



Actress Robin Wright Penn is 38.



Actress Patricia Arquette is 36.



Rock singer Craig Honeycutt (Everything) is 34.



Rock musician Darren Jessee is 33.



Actor Taran Noah Smith is 20.



Actress Kirsten Storms is 20.



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Thought for Today:

"The world has achieved brilliance without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants." -

- Gen. Omar N. Bradley (1893-1981)

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