Paradise Driver

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

Today is Saturday, April 17th.

The 108th day of 2004.

There are 258 days left in the year.



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



Today's Highlight in History:



On April 17, 1964, Ford Motor Company unveiled its new Mustang model at the New York World's Fair.



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



On this date:



In 1421, The sea broke the dikes at Dort in Holland, drowning an estimated 100,000 people.



In 1492, Christopher Columbus signs a contract with Spain, giving him a commission to seek a westward passage to Asia.



In 1521, Martin Luther went before the Diet of Worms to face charges stemming from his religious writings.



In 1524, Giovanni da Verrazzano reached present-day New York harbor.



In 1629, Horses were first imported into the colonies by the Massachusetts Bay Colony.



In 1790, American statesman Benjamin Franklin died in Philadelphia at age 84.



In 1824, Russia abandons all North American claims south of 54º 40' N



In 1861, The Virginia State Convention voted to secede from the Union.



In 1875, "Snooker" (variation of pool) invented by Sir Neville Chamberlain



In 1894, Former Soviet leader (1953-1964) Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev was born in Kalinovka, near the village of Kursk in southwestern Russia. He ided September 11, 1971 at the age of 77.



In 1897, Pulitzer Prize (1928 - The Bridge of San Luis Rey, 1938 - Our Town, 1943 - The Skin of Our Teeth) author/playwriter Thornton Niven Wilder was born in Madison, Wisconsin. He died December 7, 1975 at the age of 78.



In 1918, Actor William Holden (William Franklin Beedle Jr.) was born. He died November 16, 1981 at the age of 63.



In 1923, Correspondent, journalist Harry Reasoner was born in Dakota City, IA. He died August 6, 1991 at the age of 68.



In 1941, Yugoslavia surrendered to Germany in World War II.



In 1942, French General Henri Giraud, who was captured in 1940, escaped from a castle prison at Konigstein. He lowered himself down the castle wall and jumped on board a moving train, which took him to the French border.



1945, The U.S. seized 1,100 tons of uranium at Strassfut, Germany, in an effort to prevent Russia from developing an atomic bomb.



In 1961, About 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in a failed attempt to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro.



In 1964, Jerrie Mock of Columbus, Ohio, became the first woman to complete a solo airplane flight around the world.



In 1967, "The Joey Bishop Show" debuted on ABC-TV.



In 1969, A jury in Los Angeles convicted Sirhan Sirhan of assassinating Senator Robert F. Kennedy.



In 1969, Czechoslovak Communist Party chairman Alexander Dubcek was deposed.



In 1970, The astronauts of Apollo 13 splashed down safely in the Pacific, four days after a ruptured oxygen tank crippled their spacecraft.



In 1970, Johnny Cash performed at the White House at the invitation of President Richard M. Nixon. He played "A Boy Named Sue."



In 1984, In London, gunmen from the Libyan Embassy fired weapons into an anti-Libya protest. One policewoman was killed and 10 others were wounded.



In 1985, In Lebanon, the cabinet resigned as Shiites took W. Beirut.



In 1986, In Beirut, three British hostages were found dead. They were killed in retaliation to the U.S. attacks on Libya on April 15.



In 1987, NBC aired the final episode of "Remington Steele."



In In 1989, The Polish trade union Solidarity was legalized after a seven-year ban, this led to the first non-communist government in the Eastern Bloc.



In 1995, President Clinton signed an executive order stripping the "classified" label from most national security documents that were at least 25 years old.



In 1998, Linda McCartney (Paul's wife) died at the age of 56. She was born September 24, 1941.



In 1998, Scientists report loss of 75-square-mile chunk of Larsen Ice Shelf on Antarctic Peninsula.



In 2002, The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences board voted unanimously to urge networks not to get rid of artist credits at the end of TV shows.



Ten years ago (1994):



Bosnian Serb tanks entered the Muslim enclave of Gorazde; the UN Security Council issued a nonbinding statement that condemned the Serbs' escalating military activities, but made no threat of force to back its condemnation.



Five years ago (1999):



General Wesley Clark, NATO's commander, bluntly told Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to change his policies in Kosovo or see his military machine destroyed.



The first of three bombs to explode in London within a two-week period went off in Brixton, a racially mixed neighborhood, injuring 39 people.



One year ago (2003):



U.S. special forces in Baghdad captured Barzan Ibrahim Hasan, a half-brother of and adviser to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.



In Baghdad, Iraq, thieves were arrested after blowing a hole in a bank vault and dropped children in to bring out money. U.S. troops arrested the thieves and removed $4 million in U.S. dollars for safekeeping.



The U.S. government awarded Bechtel Corporation a major contract for helping rebuild Iraq's power, water and sewage systems.



Diet doctor Robert C. Atkins died in New York at age 72.



Songwriter Earl King died in New Orleans at age 69.



Sir J. Paul Getty Jr., the reclusive third son of American oilman J. Paul Getty, died in London at age 70.



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



Today's Birthdays:



Actor Lon McCallister is 81.



Rock promoter Don Kirshner is 70.



Composer-musician Jan Hammer is 56.



Actress Olivia Hussey is 53.



Rock singer-musician Pete Shelley (Buzzcocks) is 49.



Actress Teri Austin is 45.



Actor Sean Bean is 45.



Rock singer Maynard James Keenan (Tool) is 40.



Actress Lela Rochon is 40.



Singer Liz Phair is 37.



Actress Jennifer Garner ("Alias") is 32.



Singer Victoria Adams Beckham is 30.



Actress-singer Lindsay Korman is 26.



Actor Paulie Litt ("Hope and Faith") is nine.



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



Thought for Today:

"A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past; he is one who is prematurely disappointed in the future." -

- Sydney J. Harris, American journalist (1917-1986).

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