Paradise Driver

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Today is Monday, May 17th.

The 138th day of 2004.

There are 228 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision which found that racially segregated public schools were inherently unequal, and therefore unconstitutional.



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On this date:



In 1666, Newark, New Jersey, was founded



In 1673, Louis Joliet & Jacques Marquette begin exploring Mississippi



In 1792, A group of 24 brokers meeting at a coffee house in New York City organize the New York Stock Exchange. The first transactions are made under a tree on Wall Street.



In 1803, The Reaping Machine was patented by John Hawkins & Richard French.



In 1804, Lewis & Clark begin their exploration of the Louisiana Purchase.



In 1845, The rubber band was patented.



In 1875, The first Kentucky Derby was run; the winner was Aristides.



In 1883, Buffalo Bill Cody's 1st wild west show premieres in Omaha



In 1904, Jean Gabin, one of France's most popular film actors, was born in Paris.



In 1912, LPG (liquified petroleum gas) is first used for cooking and heating in Pennsylvania



In 1916, British Summer Time (Daylight Saving), 1st introduced



In 1920, 1st flight by Dutch airlines KLM (Koninklijke-Luchtvaart-Maatschappij)



In 1932, The U.S. Congress changed the name "Porto Rico" to "Puerto Rico."



In 1938, Congress passed the Vinson Naval Act, providing for a two-ocean navy.



In 1939, Britain's King George VI and Queen Elizabeth arrived in Quebec on the first visit to Canada by reigning British sovereigns.



In 1940, The Nazis occupied Brussels, Belgium, during World War II.



In 1946, President Truman seized control of the nation's railroads, delaying a threatened strike by engineers and trainmen.



In 1948, The Soviet Union recognized the new state of Israel.



In 1974, During a shootout with Los Angeles police, the house the Symbionese Liberation Army were using to hideout in, is destroyed by fire (5 die).



In 1973, The Senate opened its hearings into the Watergate scandal.



In 1975, NBC TV bought the rights to show "Gone With the Wind." The one time rights cost NBC $5,000,000.



In 1979, -12ºF (-11ºC), on top of Mauna Kea HI (state record)



In 1987, 37 American sailors were killed when an Iraqi warplane attacked the U.S. Navy frigate Stark in the Persian Gulf. (Iraq and the U.S. called the attack a mistake.)



In 1989, One million people demonstrated for democratic reforms in Beijing. The number of students fasting reached three-thousand.



Ten years ago (1994):



The U.N. Security Council approved a peacekeeping force and an arms embargo for violence-racked Rwanda.



Five years ago (1999):



The Supreme Court banned states from paying lower welfare benefits to newcomers than to longtime residents.



Labor Party leader Ehud Barak unseated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israeli elections.



Makah Indians in Washington state harpooned a gray whale for the first time in 70 years.



One year ago (2003):



A top Vatican official, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, acknowledged what many observers had long suspected - that Pope John Paul II was suffering from Parkinson's disease.



A German tour bus overturned on a highway in France, killing 28 people.



A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in the West Bank city of Hebron, killing an Israeli man and his pregnant wife.



More than 260 people died in Sri Lanka's worst flooding in five decades.



Funny Cide ran away from the field in the Preakness, two weeks after winning the Kentucky Derby. (However, Funny Cide came up short at the Belmont Stakes, finishing third.)



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Today's Birthdays:



Opera singer Birgit Nilsson is 86.



Actor-director Dennis Hopper is 68.



Rhythm and blues singer Pervis Jackson (The Spinners) is 66.



Singer Taj Mahal is 62.



Singer-songwriter Jesse Winchester is 60.



Rock musician Bill Bruford is 55.



Singer-musician George Johnson (The Brothers Johnson) is 51.



Journalist Kathleen Sullivan is 51.



Actor Bill Paxton is 49.



Boxing Hall-of-Famer Ray Charles "Sugar Ray" Leonard is 48.



Actor-comedian Bob Saget is 48.



Singer Enya (Eithne Ni Bhraonain) is 43.



Actor Craig Ferguson ("The Drew Carey Show") is 42.



Singer-musician Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) is 39.



Rhythm and blues musician O'Dell (Mint Condition) is 39.



Actress Paige Turco is 39.



Singer Jordan Knight is 34.



Rhythm and blues singer Darnell Van Rensalier (Shai) is 34.



Actor Hill Harper is 31.



Rock singer Andrea Corr (The Corrs) is 30.



Singer Kandi Burruss is 28.



Actor Tahj Mowry is 18.



Actress Samantha Browne-Walters is 13.



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Thought for Today:

"The family you come from isn't as important as the family you're going to have." -

- Ring Lardner, American humorist (1885-1933).

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