Paradise Driver

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Today is Tuesday, April 27th.

The 118th day of 2004.

There are 248 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On April 27, 1805, a force led by U.S. Marines captured the city of Derna, on the shores of Tripoli.



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On this date:



In 1509, Pope Julius II excommunicated the Italian state of Venice.



In 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan was killed by natives in the Philippines.



In 1565, The first Spanish settlement in Phillipines, Cebu City, was founded.



In 1773, The British Parliament passed the Tea Act



In 1813, Americans under Gen. Pike capture York (present-day Toronto), the seat of government in Ontario.



In 1822, The 18th president of the United States, Ulysses Simpson Grant, was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio.



In 1838, Fire destroys half of Charleston.



In 1850, The American-owned steamship "The Atlantic" began regular trans-Atlantic passenger service. It was the first U.S. vessel to challenge what had been a British monopoly.



In 1859, "Pomona" sinks in North Atlantic drowning all 400 aboard.



In 1861, After Virginia secedes from the United States, West Virginia secedes from Virginia and forms its own state.



In 1861, President Lincoln authorizes the suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus.



In 1865, The steamer Sultana exploded on the Mississippi River near Memphis, Tenn., killing more than 1,400 Union prisoners of war.



In 1865, Cornell University was chartered in Ithaca, N.Y.



In 1880, Francis Clarke and M.G. Foster patented the electrical hearing aid



In 1937, The nation's first Social Security checks were distributed.



In 1950, Following the institution of apartheid in 1948, South Africa passes the Group Areas Act, formally segregating the country's racial groups.



In 1953, The U.S. offered $50,000 and political asylum to any Communist pilot who delivered a MIG jet.



In 1965, R. C. Duncan patented the "Pampers" brand disposable diaper.



In 1967, Expo '67 was officially opened in Montreal by Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson.



In 1971, The final episode of "Green Acres" aired.



In 1973, During the Watergate scandal, Acting FBI Director L. Patrick Gray resigned.



In 1975, Saigon was encircled by North Vietnamese troops.



In 1978, Convicted Watergate defendant John D. Ehrlichman was released from an Arizona prison after serving 18 months.



In 1982, The trial of John W. Hinckley Jr., who had shot four people, including President Reagan, began in Washington. (The trial ended with Hinckley's acquittal by reason of insanity.)



In 1984, In London, Libyan gunmen left the Libyan Embassy 11 days after killing a policewoman and wounding 10 others.



In 1989, Student protestors took over Tiananmen Square in Beijing.



In 1992, The new Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was proclaimed in Belgrade by the republic of Serbia and its lone ally, Montenegro.



Ten years ago (1994):



Former President Richard M. Nixon was remembered at an outdoor funeral service attended by all five of his successors at the Nixon presidential library in Yorba Linda, Calif.



Five years ago (1999):



A week after the Columbine High School massacre, President Clinton called for new gun control measures, saying, "People's lives are at stake here."



Jazz trumpeter Al Hirt died in New Orleans at age 76.



One year ago (2003):



The U.S. military arrested the self-anointed mayor of Baghdad, Mohammed Mohsen al-Zubaidi, reflecting U.S. determination to brook no interlopers in its effort to build a consensus for administering Iraq.



Nicanor Duarte wins Paraguay's presidential election.



Kevin Millwood pitched his first career no-hitter to lead the Philadelphia Phillies over the San Francisco Giants 1-0.



Screen and stage writer Peter Stone died in New York at age 73.



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Today's Birthdays:



Actor Jack Klugman is 82.



Civil rights activist Coretta Scott King is 77.



Actress Anouk Aimee is 72.



Announcer Casey Kasem is 72.



Broadcast journalist Phil Jones is 67.



Actress Judy Carne is 65.



Opera singer Judith Blegen is 63.



Rhythm and blues singer Cuba Gooding, Sr. is 60.



Singer Ann Peebles is 57.



Rock singer Kate Pierson (The B-52's) is 56.



Rhythm and blues singer Herbie Murrell (The Stylistics) is 55.



Actor Douglas Sheehan is 55.



Rock musician Ace Frehley (KISS) is 53.



Pop singer Sheena Easton is 45.



Actor James Le Gros is 42.



Rock musician Rob Squires (Big Head Todd and the Monsters) is 39.



Singer Mica Paris is 35.



Rock singer-musician Travis Meeks (Days of the New) is 25.



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Thought for Today:

"There is no man so good, who, were he to submit all his thoughts and actions to the laws, would not deserve hanging 10 times in his life." -

- Michel de Montaigne, French philosopher (1533-1592).

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