Paradise Driver

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Today is Tuesday, May 25th.

The 146th day of 2004.

There are 220 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On May 25, 1787, the Constitutional Convention was convened in Philadelphia after enough delegates had shown up for a quorum.



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On this date:



In 585 BCE, The first known prediction of a solar eclipse was made in Greece.



In 1721, John Copsen became the first insurance agent in the U.S. when he advertised coverage for vessels and other goods in Philadelphia.



In 1810, Argentina began its revolt against Spain.



In 1829, John the Baptist is said to have appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and ordained them priests (they later founded the Mormon Church).



In 1841, The first Canadian parliament met in Ottawa



In 1844, The first telegraphed news dispatch, sent from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore, appeared in the Baltimore "Patriot."



In 1895, Playwright Oscar Wilde was convicted of a morals charge in London; he was sentenced to prison.



In 1927, the Ford Motor Company announced that its popular automobile model, the Model T, known as the Tin Lizzie, would not be rolling off assembly lines anymore. Instead, the discontinued car would be replaced by the more modern Model A.



In 1927, The "Movietone News" was shown for the first time at the Sam Harris Theatre in New York City.



In 1935, Babe Ruth hit the 714th and final home run of his career, for the Boston Braves, in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.



In 1944, The first German V-1 "buzz bomb" hit London



In 1945, Arther C. Clark proposes relay satellites in geosynchronous orbit.



In 1946, Transjordan (now Jordan) became a kingdom as it proclaimed its new monarch, King Abdullah Ibn Ul-Hussein.



In 1961, President Kennedy asked the nation to work toward putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade.



In 1963, The Organization of African Unity was founded, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.



In 1968, The Rolling Stones released "Jumpin' Jack Flash."



In 1968, The Gateway Arch, part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis, was dedicated.



In 1977, The science fiction film Star Wars, directed by George Lucas, is released.



In 1977, An opinion piece by Vietnam verteran Jan Scruggs appeared in "The Washington Post." The article called for a national memorial to "remind an ungrateful nation of what it has done to its sons" that had served in the Vietnam War.



In 1979, 275 people died when an American Airlines DC-10 crashed on takeoff from Chicago's O'Hare airport.



In 1981, Daredevil Daniel Goodwin, wearing a "Spiderman" costume, scaled the outside of Chicago's Sears Tower in seven-and-a-half hours.



In 1983, "The Return of the Jedi" opened nationwide. It set a new record in opening day box office sales. The gross was $6,219,629.



In 1992, Jay Leno debuted as the new permanent host of NBC's "Tonight Show."



In 1999, The final episode of "Home Improvement" aired.



Ten years ago (1994):



The U.N. Security Council lifted a ten-year-old ban on weapons exports from South Africa, scrapping the last of its apartheid-era embargoes.



Five years ago (1999):



A bipartisan congressional report said China's two-decade effort to steal U.S. weapons technology continued well into the Clinton administration; President Clinton responded that his administration was already "moving aggressively to tighten security."



Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr decided against re-prosecuting Whitewater figure Susan McDougal and Julie Hiatt Steele, a witness in the Monica Lewinsky investigation, after both their trials ended with hung juries.



One year ago (2003):



In a historic vote cast under intense U.S. pressure, Israel's government conditionally approved by a narrow margin an internationally backed "road map" to peace.



Nestor Kirchner was sworn in as Argentina's first popularly elected president since the country's financial meltdown in December 2001.



Director Gus Van Sant's "Elephant," a disturbing film loosely based on the Columbine school shooting, won top prize at the Cannes Film Festival.



Gil de Ferran won the Indianapolis 500.



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Today's Birthdays:



Lyricist Hal David is 83.



Former opera singer Beverly Sills is 75.



Former White House news secretary Ron Nessen is 70.



Country singer-songwriter Tom T. Hall is 68.



Actor Ian McKellen is 65.



Actress Dixie Carter is 65.



Country singer Jessi Colter is 61.



Actress-singer Leslie Uggams is 61.



Movie director and Muppeteer Frank Oz is 60.



Actress Karen Valentine is 57.



Rock singer Klaus Meine (The Scorpions) is 56.



Actress Patti D'Arbanville is 53.



Actress Connie Sellecca is 49.



Rock singer-musician Paul Weller is 46.



Actor-comedian Mike Myers is 41.



Actor Matt Borlenghi is 37.



Actress Anne Heche is 35.



Actresses Sidney and Lindsay Greenbush ("Little House on the Prairie") are 34.



Actor Jamie Kennedy is 34.



Actor Justin Henry is 33.



Singer Lauryn Hill is 29.



Rock musician Todd Whitener (Tantric) is 26.



Actor Corbin Allred is 25.



Actress-singer Lauren Frost is 19.



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Thought for Today:

"Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else." -

- Sir James Barrie, Scottish dramatist (1860-1937).

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