Paradise Driver

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

Today is Thursday, June 24th.

The 176th day of 2004.

There are 190 days left in the year.



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



Today's Highlight in History:



On June 24, 1948, Communist forces cut off all land and water routes between West Germany and West Berlin, prompting the western allies to organize the massive Berlin Airlift. It lasted 321 days.



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



On this date:



In 1314, The forces of Scotland's King Robert I defeated the English in the Battle of Bannockburn.



In 1497, An English expedition led by John Cabot makes the first recorded sighting of North America by a European, landing at what may have been Cape Breton Island, Newfoundland.



In 1509, Henry VIII was crowned King of England.



In 1647, Margaret Brent, a niece of Lord Baltimore, was ejected from the Maryland Assembly after demanding a place and vote in that governing body.



In 1664, Proprietorship of New Jersey is granted by James, Duke of York, to Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret (New Jersey is named after Carteret, the former governor of the Isle of Jersey).



In 1793, The first republican constitution in France was adopted.



In 1817, First coffee planted in Hawaii on the Kona coast of the "Big Island".



In 1908, The 22nd (1885-1889 ) and 24th (1893-1897) president of the United States, (Stephen) Grover Cleveland, died in Princeton, N.J., at age 71. He was born in Caldwell, NJ on March 18, 1837.



In 1910, An act requiring installation of radio equipment on all American passenger ships operating from U.S. ports is passed by Congress.



In 1940, France signed an armistice with Italy during World War II.



In 1945, British bombers destroyed the "Bridge Over the River Kwai." The bridge had been built by thousands of British and Allied prisoners of war.



In 1947, The first reported sighting of Flying Saucers occurred near Mount Rainier, Washington by airline pilot Kenneth Arnold of Boise, Idaho. He reported that he saw nine UFOs over the area. He estimated the speed at 1,700 mph and described their flight pattern as similar to a saucer skipping across water, inspiring a newspaper man to name then Flying Saucers.



In 1948, The Selective Service Act is signed into law.



In 1949, NBC-TV premiered the first TV western,"Hopalong Cassidy".



In 1953, John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier announced their engagement.



In 1955, Soviet MIG's down a U.S. Navy patrol plane over the Bering Strait.



In 1961, Iraq demands dominion over Kuwait.



In 1964, The Federal Trade Commission announced that it would require warning labels on cigarette packages beginning in 1965.



In 1968, "Resurrection City," a shantytown constructed as part of the Poor People's March on Washington, D.C., was closed down by authorities.



In 1970, The movie "Myra Breckinridge" premiered.



In 1972, Wake Island becomes unincorporated territory of US (US Air Force).



In 1972, "I Am Woman," by Helen Reddy, was released.



In 1975, 113 people were killed when an Eastern Airlines Boeing 727 crashed while attempting to land during a thunderstorm at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.



In 1975, A Moon tremor was recorded when it was impacted by Taurid meteors.



In 1982, The Supreme Court rules a president can not be sued for damages for actions he took while in office.



In 1983, The space shuttle Challenger — carrying America's first woman in space, Sally K. Ride — coasted to a safe landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California.



In 1987, Comedian-actor Herbet John "Jackie" Gleason died at his home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., at age 71. He was born in Brooklyn NY on February 26, 1916.



In 1989, Following the crackdown on China's pro-democracy movement, Zhao Ziyang (jah-oh zee-yahng) was deposed as Communist Party General Secretary, and was replaced by Jiang Zemin (jahng zuh-meen).



In 1991, The Supreme Court ruled the First Amendment did not shield news organizations from being sued when they publish the names of sources who had been promised confidentiality.



In 1992, The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, strengthened its 30-year ban on officially sponsored worship in public schools, prohibiting prayer as a part of graduation ceremonies.



In 1992, The Supreme Court ruled that health warnings on cigarette packs don't necessarily exempt tobacco companies from false advertising lawsuits if they continue to tell consumers that smoking is safe.



In 1996, A jury ordered the city of Philadelphia to pay $1.5 million in damages for the bombing of MOVE headquarters in 1985 that killed 11 people.



In 1997, The U.S. Air Force released a report on the "Roswell Incident," suggesting the alien bodies witnesses reported seeing in 1947 were actually life-sized dummies.



In 1998, Twelve thousand farmers lose $80 million in crops in the worst Florida wildfires in half century.



In 2002, President G. W. Bush urged the Palestinians to replace Yasser Arafat with leaders "not compromised by terror" and adopt democratic reforms that could produce an independent state within three years.



In 2002, The Supreme Court ruled that juries, not judges, must decide whether a convicted killer lives or dies.



Ten years ago (1994):



President Clinton struck out at his conservative critics and the media, bitterly complaining in a speech in St. Louis that unfair and negative reports about him were feeding a cynical mindset in America.



Five years ago (1999):



Union organizers claimed victory after workers at six Fieldcrest Cannon mills in North Carolina voted to be represented by the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees.



Testimony wound to an end after 76 days in the landmark Microsoft antitrust trial.



One year ago (2003):



Six British soldiers were killed by Iraqis in a police station in southern Iraq and eight were wounded in a nearby ambush.



President Vladimir Putin arrived in London on the first state visit to Britain by a Russian leader since the 19th century.



An Air France Concorde bound for a German museum landed in Germany.



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



Today's Birthdays:



Actor Al Molinaro is 85.



Comedian Jack Carter is 81.



Movie director Claude Chabrol is 74.



Actress Michele Lee (Dusiak) is 62.



Musician Mick Fleetwood is 62.



Actor-director Georg Stanford Brown ("The Mod Squad") is 61.



Rock musician Jeff Beck is 60.



Singer Arthur Brown is 60.



New York Governor George Pataki is 59.



Rock singer Colin Blunstone (The Zombies) is 59.



Actor Peter Weller ("Robo-Cop") is 57.



Rock musician John Illsley (Dire Straits) is 55.



Actress Nancy Allen ("Robo-Cop") is 54.



Reggae singer Derrick Simpson (Black Uhuru) is 54.



Reggae singer Astro (UB40) is 47.



Singer-musician Andy McCluskey (Orchestral Manoevres in the Dark) is 45.



Rock singer Curt Smith is 43.



Actress Danielle Spencer is 39.



Actress Sherry Stringfield is 37.



Singer Glenn Medeiros is 34.



Singer Solange Knowles is 18.



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



Thought for Today:

"Self-denial is indulgence of a propensity to forego." -

- Ambrose Bierce, American author-journalist (1842-1914?).

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