Paradise Driver

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Today is Wednesday, March 3rd.

The 63rd day of 2004.

There are 303 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On March 3, 1931, "The Star-Spangled Banner" officially became the national anthem of the United States.



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On this date:



In 1791, The United States Congress passes the nation's first tax law. The law divides the country into 14 tax zones and levies a duty on, among other items, distilled spirits.



In 1831, George Mortimer Pullman, American inventor, who designed the first modern railroad sleeping car and patented his innovations (folding upper berths and seats that could extend into lower berths—in 1863) was born in Brocton, New York.



In 1845, Florida became the 27th state.



In 1845, The U.S. Congress passed legislation overriding a U.S. President’s veto. It was the first time the Congress had achieved this.



In 1847, Inventor Alexander Graham Bell was born.



In 1849, the U.S. Department of the Interior was established.



In 1849, Congress created the Minnesota Territory.



In 1853, Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh was born.



In 1863, Free city delivery of mail was authorized by the U.S. Postal Service.



In 1875, The opera Carmen, written by French composer Georges Bizet, opens in Paris, France.



In 1877, Rutherford B. Hayes took the oath of office as the 19th president of the United States in a private ceremony (a public swearing-in took place two days later).



In 1879, Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood became the first woman to be admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court.



In 1885, The American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) was incorporated in New York as a subsidiary of the American Bell Telephone Company.



In 1885, the Indian Appropriations Act was passed by Congress. It made all American Indians wards of the federal government and nullified all previous treaties with the Indians.



In 1903, North Carolina becomes first state requiring registration of nurses.



In 1909, Aviators Herring, Curtiss and Bishop announced that airplanes would be made commercially in the U.S.



In 1910, In New York, Robert Forest founded the National Housing Association to fight deteriorating urban living conditions.



In 1911, Actress Jean Harlow [Harlean Carpentier] was born in Kansas City, MO.



In 1913, A gender war erupts in Washington, D.C., when 5,000 suffragists led by Alice Paul, are treated to abuse by crowds of scornful men. Some 40 people are wounded in the clash.



In 1918, The Treaty of Brest Litovsky is signed by Germany, Austria and Russia, ending Russia’s participation in World War I.



In 1933, Mount Rushmore honoring the Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, & Teddy Roosevelt was dedicated. It was completed on October 31, 1941.



In 1934, John Dillinger breaks out of jail using a wooden pistol.



In 1939, In Bombay, Ghandi began a fast to protest the state's autocratic rule.



In 1941, Moscow denounced the Axis rule in Bulgaria.



In 1945, During World War II, Finland declared war on the Axis.



In 1945, Superman encountered Batman and Robin for the first time on the Mutual Broadcasting System.



In 1957, The head of the Catholic archdiocese of Chicago (the largest in the world), Samuel Cardinal Strich, bans rock & roll from Catholic schools and "recreations" in his district. He cites the "tribal rhythms" and "encouragement to behave in a hedonistic manner." Chicago record sellers report no drop in sales of hedonism-encouraging records.



In 1959, The San Francisco Giants name their new stadium "Candlestick Park".



In 1965, The motion picture The Sound of Music, starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, premieres in American movie theaters.



In 1969, Sirhan Sirhan testified in a Los Angeles court that he killed Robert Kennedy.



In 1969, Apollo 9 blasted off from Cape Kennedy on a mission to test the lunar module.



In 1974, nearly 350 people died when a Turkish Airlines DC-10 crashed shortly after takeoff from Orly Airport in Paris.



In 1985, The TV series “Moonlighting,” starring Cybill Shepard and Bruce Willis, airs for the first time.



In 1987, comedian Danny Kaye died in Los Angeles at age 74.



In 1991, Operation Desert Storm ended. The purpose of the operation was remove Iraqi forces from Kuwait.



In 1991, in a case that sparked a national outcry, motorist Rodney King was severely beaten by Los Angeles police officers in a scene captured on amateur video.



In 1991, 25 people were killed when a United Airlines Boeing 737-200 crashed while approaching the Colorado Springs airport.



In 1992, President George H. W. Bush admits publicly that he is sorry that while he was President he raised taxes despite the fact that he had pledged during his election campaign that there would be "NO NEW TAXES!"



In 1995, A U.N. peacekeeping mission in Somalia ended. Several gunmen were killed by U.S. Marines in Mogadishu while overseeing the pull out of peacekeepers.



Ten years ago (1994):



Amid continuing trade tensions with Japan, President Clinton issued an executive order reviving an expired provision of U.S. trade law known as Super 301, which provided a strict timetable for results.



The Mexican government reached a peace agreement with the Chiapas rebels.



Five years ago (1999):



The Supreme Court ruled that public schools had to finance one-on-one nursing care for some disabled students throughout the school day.



Monica Lewinsky, in an ABC interview timed to coincide with the publication of her book, recounted for Barbara Walters some of the fondest, as well as most painful, aspects of her relationship with President Clinton.



In Egypt, 19 people were killed when a bus plunged into a Nile canal.



Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones began their attempt to circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon non-stop. They succeeded on March 20, 1999.



One year ago (2003):



Israeli troops arrested reclusive Hamas ideologue Mohammed Taha in a deadly raid.



President Bush offered a rough blueprint for adding drug benefits to Medicare.



The U.S. re-opened its embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.



Malcolm Kilduff, the White House spokesman who announced to a shocked world the death of President Kennedy, died in Beattyville, Ky., at age 75.



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Today's Birthdays:



Actor James Doohan ("Beam me up Scotty") is 84.



Lee Radziwill is 71.



Actress Hattie Winston is 59.



Singer Jennifer Warnes is 57.



Actor-director Tim Kazurinsky is 54.



Singer-musician Robyn Hitchcock is 51.



Actress Miranda Richardson is 46.



Actress Mary Page Keller (The blonde who undressed in the window in front of Belushi in "Animal House") is 43.



Olympic track and field gold medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee is 42.



Football player Herschel Walker is 42.



Rapper-actor Tone-Loc is 38.



Rock musician John Bigham is 35.



Actress Julie Bowen is 34.



Country singer Brett Warren (The Warren Brothers) is 33.



Actor David Faustino ("Bud" Bundy, "Married With Children") is 30.



Singer Ronan Keating (Boyzone) is 27.



Rapper Lil' Flip is 23.



Actress Jessica Biel is 22.



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Thought for Today:

"Nothing is really real unless it happens on television." -

- Daniel J. Boorstin, former Librarian of Congress.

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