Paradise Driver

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Today is Sunday, May 23rd,

The 144th day of 2004.

There are 222 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On May 23, 1934, bank robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were shot to death in a police ambush in Bienville Parish, La.



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On this date:



In 1430, Joan of Arc was captured by the Burgundians, who sold her to the English.



In 1533, The marriage of England's King Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon was declared null and void.



In 1701, Captain William Kidd was hanged in London after he was convicted of piracy and murder.



In 1785, Benjamin Franklin announces his invention of bifocals.



In 1788, South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify the United States Constitution.



In 1827, The first nursery school in the United States was established in New York City. The school was developed "to relieve parents of the laboring classes from the care of their children ... offering the children protection from weather, from idleness and contamination of evil example."



In 1873, 1st Preakness: G Barbee aboard Survivor wins in 2:43



In 1873, The North-West Mounted Police (now the Royal Canadian Mounted Police) is established as Canada's national police force; officers are popularly called Mounties.



In 1937, Industrialist John Davison Rockefeller died in Ormond Beach, Fla.



In 1939, The U.S. Navy submarine "Squalus" went down off New Hampshire in 240 feet of water. 33 of the 59 men aboard were saved in a daring rescue with a diving bell.



In 1940, Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra, the Pied Pipers and featured soloist Frank Sinatra recorded "I'll Never Smile Again" in New York for RCA.



In 1944, During World War II, Allied forces bogged down in Anzio began a major breakout offensive.



In 1945, Nazi official Heinrich Himmler committed suicide while imprisoned in Luneburg, Germany.



In 1960, Israel announced it had captured former Nazi official Adolf Eichmann in Argentina. (Eichmann was tried in Israel, found guilty of crimes against humanity, and hanged in 1962.)



In 1977, The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the appeals of former Nixon White House aides H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman and former Attorney General John N. Mitchell in connection with their Watergate convictions.



In 1990, Neil Bush, son of the president, denied any wrongdoing as a director of a failed Denver savings-and-loan in testimony before Congress.



In 2001, The final episode of "Star Trek: Voyager" aired.



Ten years ago (1994):



Funeral services were held at Arlington National Cemetery for former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.



Four men convicted in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center were each sentenced to 240 years in prison.



"Pulp Fiction" by American director Quentin Tarantino won the Golden Palm for best film at the 47th Cannes Film Festival.



The final episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" aired.



Five years ago (1999):



Social Democrat Johannes Rau won election to Germany's largely ceremonial presidency.



Professional wrestler Owen Hart, also known as "The Blue Blazer," died when he fell 78 feet from a cable as he was being lowered into the ring at a World Wrestling Federation show in Kansas City, Mo.



"Rosetta," a Belgian film, won top honors at the 52nd annual Cannes Film Festival.



One year ago (2003):



By the narrowest of margins, Congress sent President Bush the third tax cut of his presidency — a $330 billion package of rebates and lower rates for families and new breaks for businesses and investors.



Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon agreed to submit the U.S.-backed "road map" for peace to the Israeli Cabinet.



Annika Sorenstam ended her historic appearance on the PGA tour in the Colonial with a 15-foot par putt, missing the cut by four strokes.



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Today's Birthdays:



Bandleader Artie Shaw (Arthur Jacob Arshawsky) is 94.



Actress Betty Garrett is 85.



Pianist Alicia de Larrocha is 81.



Bluegrass singer Mac Wiseman is 79.



Actor Nigel Davenport is 76.



Actress Barbara Barrie is 73.



Actress Joan Collins is 71.



Actor Charles Kimbrough is 68.



Rhythm and blues singer General Johnson (Chairmen of the Board) is 61.



Actress Lauren Chapin is 59.



Country singer Misty Morgan is 59.



Actress Linda Thompson is 54.



Country singer Judy Rodman is 53.



Singer Luka Bloom is 49.



Actor-comedian Drew Carey is 46.



Country singer Shelly West is 46.



Actor Linden Ashby is 44.



Actress-model Karen Duffy is 43.



Rock musician Phil Selway (Radiohead) is 37.



Singer Lorenzo is 32.



Country singer Brian McComas is 32.



Singer Maxwell is 31.



Singer Jewel is 30.



Actor Adam Wylie is 20.



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Thought for Today:

"When you shut one eye, you do not hear everything." -

- Swiss proverb.

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