Paradise Driver

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Today is Wednesday, May 19th.

The 140th day of 2004.

There are 226 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On May 19, 1994, former first lady Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis died of non-Hodgkins lymphoma in New York at age 64.



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On this date:



In 1536, Anne Boleyn, the second wife of England's King Henry VIII, was beheaded after she was convicted of adultery and incest with her brother, Lord Rochford, who was executed two days before.



In 1643, Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut & New Harbor form United Colonies of New England



In 1749, George II granted a charter to the Ohio Company to settle Ohio Valley.



In 1780, About midday, near-total darkness descends on much of New England. To this day its cause is still unexplained



In 1796, Game protection law restricts encroachment on Indian hunting grounds



In 1857, The electric fire alarm system was patented by William F. Channing and Moses G. Farmer.



In 1884, Ringling Brothers circus premieres



In 1891, Rice Institute, which became Rice University, is chartered



In 1892, Charles Brady King of Detroit invented the pneumatic hammer.



In 1906, The Federated Boys' Clubs, forerunner of the Boys' Clubs of America, were organized.



In 1911, The first American criminal conviction that was based on fingerprint evidence occurred in New York City.



In 1928, 51 frogs enter 1st annual "Frog Jumping Jubilee" (Angel's Camp CA)



In 1935, T.E. Lawrence, also known as "Lawrence of Arabia," died in England from injuries sustained in a motorcycle crash.



In 1943, In an address to the U.S. Congress, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill pledged his country's full support in the war against Japan.



In 1954, American composer Charles Ives died in New York.



In 1958, The United States and Canada formally established the North American Air Defense Command.



In 1958, Bobby Darin’s single, "Splish Splash," was released as the first eight-track master recording pressed to a plastic 45-RPM disc.



In 1960, USAF Maj Robert M White takes the X-15 rocket plane to 33,222 mph.



In 1962, During a Democratic fund-raiser at New York's Madison Square Garden, actress Marilyn Monroe performed a sultry rendition of "Happy Birthday to You" for guest-of-honor President Kennedy.



In 1964, The State Department disclosed that 40 hidden microphones had been found in the U.S. embassy in Moscow.



In 1967, The Soviet Union ratified a treaty with the United States and Britain banning nuclear weapons from outer space.



In 1967, The first U.S. air strike on central Hanoi is launched.



In 1992, The 27th Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits Congress from giving itself mid-term pay raises, went into effect.



In 1998, Millions of pagers nationwide stopped working when a communications satellite, the Galaxy Four, suddenly lost track of Earth.



Ten years ago (1994):



President Clinton held a news conference in which he defended his foreign policy against suggestions he was improvising it from crisis to crisis, saying, "I continue to look for new solutions."



Final Episode of LA Law after 8 year run.



Five years ago (1999):



As NATO's Operation Allied Force entered its ninth week, Russia's special envoy to the Balkans called on both NATO and Yugoslavia to suspend hostilities.



The Justice Department renewed its campaign to revoke John Demjanjuk's citizenship, alleging he was a Nazi death camp guard known as "Ivan the Terrible."



The much-anticipated movie prequel "Star Wars: Episode One - The Phantom Menace" opened.



One year ago (2003):



WorldCom Incorporated agreed to pay investors $500 million to settle civil fraud charges.



The Supreme Court dealt a defeat to the drug industry, ruling 6-3 that a state may try to force companies to lower prices on prescription medications for the poor and uninsured.



A Palestinian woman blew herself up during a security check outside a mall, killing three Israelis in the fifth suicide bombing in 48 hours.



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Today's Birthdays:



PBS newscaster Jim Lehrer is 70.



T.V. personality David Hartman is 69.



Actor James Fox is 65.



Actress Nancy Kwan is 65.



Author-director Nora Ephron is 63.



Rock singer-composer Pete Townshend (The Who) is 59.



Concert pianist David Helfgott is 57.



Rock singer-musician Dusty Hill (ZZ Top) is 55.



Singer-actress Grace Jones is 52.



Rock musician Phil Rudd (AC/DC) is 50.



Baseball catcher Rick Cerone is 50.



Actor Steven Ford is 48.



Rock musician Iain Harvie (Del Amitri) is 42.



Rock singer Jenny Berggren (Ace of Base) is 32.



Actor Eric Lloyd is 18.



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Thought for Today:

"Life is never so bad at its worst that it is impossible to live; it is never so good at its best that it is easy to live." -

- Gabriel Heatter, American radio commentator (1890-1972).

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