Paradise Driver

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Today is Monday, May 3rd.

The 124th day of 2004.

There are 242 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



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Twenty-five years ago, on May 3, 1979, Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher was chosen to become Britain's first female prime minister as the Tories ousted the incumbent Labor government in parliamentary elections.



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On this date:



In 1649, 1st American law to regulate the practice of medicine passed in New York.



In 1654, America's first toll bridge was erected at Rowley, Massachusetts over the Newbury River. It was permitted to charge a toll for animals, while people crossed for free.



In 1802, Washington, D.C., was incorporated as a city.



In 1841, New Zealand is proclaimed a British colony.



In 1903, Singer Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was born in Tacoma, WA. He died in Madrid, Spain on October 14, 1977 at the age of 74.



In 1916, Irish nationalist Padraic Pearse and two others were executed by the British for their roles in the Easter Rising.



In 1921, West Virginia imposed the first state sales tax.



In 1933, Nellie T. Ross became the first female director of the U.S. Mint.



In 1934, Dell becomes the first publisher to offer comic books for sale to the public "Famous Funnies".



In 1937, Margaret Mitchell won a Pulitzer Prize for her novel, "Gone With the Wind"



In 1944, U.S. wartime rationing of most grades of meats ended.



In 1945, Indian forces captured Rangoon, Burma, from the Japanese.



In 1947, Japan introduces a new constitution, in which women vote for the first time.



In 1948, The Supreme Court ruled that covenants prohibiting the sale of real estate to blacks or members of other racial groups were legally unenforceable.



In 1963, "Police Brutality in Birmingham" Peacefully protesting segregation in local stores and restaurants, a group of more than 1,000 blacks, led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., marched through this Alabama city. They were met with unprovoked and terrifying violence by the Birmingham police, goaded on by Commissioner "Bull" Connor. First, attack dogs were set loose on the protesters, then the marchers were blasted with fire hoses shooting water at 100 p.s.i., enough force to knock bark off trees. The evening news programs on all three networks showed extensive footage of the appalling police response. The broadcasts awakened the nation to the barbarity being committed in the name of racial segregation and added considerable impetus to the civil rights movement.



In 1965, Cambodia drops diplomatic relations with the US.



In 1965, 1st use of satellite TV, Today Show on the Early Bird Satellite



In 1965, KTCI TV channel 17 in St Paul-Minneapolis MN (PBS) 1st broadcast



In 1971, Anti-war protesters began four days of demonstrations in Washington, D.C. aimed at shutting down the nation's capital. Nixon administration arrests 13,000 anti-war protesters in 3 days.



In 1971, National Public Radio (NPR) began its programming.



In 1978, "Sun Day" fell on a Wednesday as thousands of people extolling the virtues of solar energy held events across the country.



In 1986, In NASA 's first post-Challenger launch, an unmanned Delta rocket lost power in its main engine shortly after liftoff, forcing safety officers to destroy it by remote control.



In 1988, The White House acknowledged that first lady Nancy Reagan had used astrological advice to help schedule her husband's activities.



In 1991, The final episode of "Dallas" aired on CBS.



In 2000, The trial of two Libyans accused of killing 270 people in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 (over Lockerbie) opened.



Ten years ago (1994):



President Clinton presided over a televised forum from Atlanta, during which he denied suggestions he'd vacillated on foreign policy, but said global problems were more difficult than he'd imagined.



Five years ago (1999):



Tornadoes roared across Oklahoma and Kansas, killing at least three dozen people and injuring hundreds.



The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 11,000, just 24 trading days after passing 10,000.



Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi met with President Clinton at the White House during the first official U.S. visit by a Japanese premier in 12 years.



One year ago (2003):



President Bush told a news conference in Crawford, Texas, it was a matter of when - not if - weapons of mass destruction would be found in Iraq.



Pope John Paul II urged hundreds of thousands of young people outside Madrid to be "artisans of peace."



New Hampshire awoke to find its granite symbol of independence and stubbornness, the "Old Man of the Mountain", had collapsed into rubble.



Funny Cide rolled to victory in the Kentucky Derby.



Model and actress Suzy Parker died in Montecito, Calif., at age 69.



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Today's Birthdays:



Broadway librettist Betty Comden is 85.



Folk singer Pete Seeger is 85.



Singer James Brown is 71.



Singer Engelbert Humperdinck is 68.



Sports announcer Greg Gumbel is 58.



Singer Frankie Valli is 67.



Singer Christopher Cross is 53.



Country musician Cactus Moser (Highway 101) is 47.



Rock musician David Ball (Soft Cell) is 45.



Country singer Shane Minor is 36.



Country singer Brad Martin is 31.



Actor Dule Hill is 29.



Actress Jill Berard is 14.



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Thought for Today:

"Nostalgia isn't what it used to be." -

- Peter De Vries, American author

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