Paradise Driver

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Today is Sunday, June 6th.

The 158th day of 2004.

There are 208 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On June 6, 1944, The "D-Day" invasion of Europe took place during World War II as 150,000 Allied Expeditionary forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, France. It was the largest invasion in history. A total of 400,000 would land over the follow few days. Their objective: to open a second major European front in the battle against the Nazis. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, commander of these united forces (and, who later became the 34th President of the United States) said, "This landing is but the opening phase of the campaign in Western Europe. Great battles lie ahead. I call upon all who love freedom to stand with us."



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On this date:



In 1639, Massachusetts grants 500 acres of land to erect a gunpowder mill



In 1813, The US invasion of Canada is halted at Stoney Creek, Ontario.



In 1816, 10 inches of snow falls on New England (entered into records as "the year in which there was no summer"). It was one of the latest snowfalls ever (or maybe one of the earliest!). The cause was the earlier explosive eruption of the volcanoe Krakatoa in Indonesia.



In 1833, Andrew Jackson became the first U.S. president to ride in a train. It was a B&O passenger train.



In 1844, The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) was founded in London.



In 1882, The first electric flatiron, or what we call the electric iron, was patented by Henry W. Seely of New York City.



In 1889, The "Great Fire" in Seattle destroys 25 downtown blocks



In 1918, The World War I Battle of Belleau Wood, which resulted in a U.S. victory over the Germans, began in France.



In 1925, Walter Percy Chrysler founded the Chrysler Corporation.



In 1933, Through the National Employment System Act, Congress creates the U.S. Employment Service.



In 1933, The first drive-in movie theater opened, in Camden, N.J.



In 1934, The Securities and Exchange Commission was established.



In 1942, Japanese forces retreated in the World War II Battle of Midway.



In 1944, General Theodore Roosevelt Jr receives the Congressional Medal of Honor



In 1949, George Orwell's novel "1984", a vision of a World ruled by Big Brother, was published



In 1955, Bill Haley & the Comets, "Rock Around the Clock" hits #1.



In 1966, Black activist James Meredith was shot and wounded as he walked along a Mississippi highway to encourage black voter registration.



In 1966, The NFL and AFL announce their merger



In 1968, At 1:44 a.m. PDT, Sen. Robert Francis Kennedy died at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, 25 1/2 hours after he was shot at the Ambassador Hotel by Sirhan Bishara Sirhan. He was 42.



In 1971, Air West filght 706 collides with Navy Phantom jet over LA, 50 die.



In 1971, The three Soyuz 11 cosmonauts, Georgi T. Dolrovolsky, Vladislav N. Volkov, and Viktor I. Patsayev, were found dead in the craft after its automatic landing. Apparently the cause of death was loss of pressurization in the space craft during re-entry into the earth's atmosphere.



In 1972, The US bombs Haiphong, North-Vietnam; 1000s killed.



In 1977, The U.S. Supreme Court ruled states could not impose an automatic death sentence for defendants convicted of murdering a police officer.



In 1978, California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 13, a primary ballot initiative calling for major cuts in property taxes.



In 1978, "20/20" debuted on ABC.



In 1984, Government forces in India stormed the Golden Temple in Amritsar in an effort to crush Sikh extremists. At least 1,000 Sikhs and 200 soldiers were killed.



In 1985, Authorities in Embu, Brazil, exhumed a body later identified as the remains of Dr. Josef Mengele, the notorious "Angel of Death" of the Nazi Holocaust.



In 1988, George H. W. Bush makes a campaign promise to support reparations for WW II Japanese-American internees (promise broken, May 1989).



In 2001, A jury in Los Angeles awarded more than $3 billion to lifelong smoker Richard Boeken, deciding that tobacco giant Philip Morris was responsible for his incurable lung cancer. (The jury award was reduced by a Superior Court judge to $100 million, which Philip Morris is appealing; Boeken died in January.)



Ten years ago (1994):



President Clinton joined leaders from America's World War II allies to mark the 50th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Normandy.



A Chinese passenger jet crashed, killing all 160 people on board.



In Yemen, Northern Yemen declared a cease-fire after a month-long civil war against the secessionist south.



Five years ago (1999):



The space shuttle Discovery returned from a 10-day mission that included a visit to the international space station.



At the Tony Awards, Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" was named best revival; "Side Man" won best play; "Fosse" was awarded best musical.



In tennis, Andre Agassi won the French Open, defeating Andrei Medvedev 1-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4, while in golf, Juli Inkster shot a final-round 1-under 71 for a 16-under 272 total to win the U.S. Women's Open.



One year ago (2003):



The government reported the U.S. unemployment rate had hit a nine-year high of 6.1 percent the previous month.



Already the holder of U.S. rights to the Olympics through 2008, NBC secured the contracts for the 2010 and 2012 games for $2.2 billion.



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Today's Birthdays:



Politician, ex-Governor of CA George Deukmejian is 76.



Actress Billie Whitelaw is 72.



Civil rights activist Roy Innis is 70.



Tibet Head of State Dalai Lama (Gejong Tenzin Gyatsho) is 69.



Singer Levi Stubbs (Stubbles)(The Four Tops) is 68.



Singer-songwriter Gary "U.S." Bonds (Anderson) is 65.



Country singer Joe Stampley is 61.



Actor Robert Englund is 55.



Folk singer Holly Near is 55.



Singer Dwight Twilley is 53.



Playwright-actor Harvey Fierstein is 50.



Comedian Sandra Bernhard is 49.



Comedian Dana Carvey is 49.



Tennis player Bjorn Borg is 48.



Actress Amanda Pays is 45.



Comedian Colin Quinn is 45.



Record producer Jimmy Jam is 45.



Rock musician Steve Vai is 44.



Rock musician Sean Yseult (White Zombie) is 38.



Actor Max Casella is 37.



Actor Paul Giamatti is 37.



Rhythm and blues singer Damion Hall (Guy) is 36.



Rock musician Bardi Martin is 35.



Country singer Lisa Brokop is 31.



Rapper-rocker Uncle Kracker is 30.



Actress Staci Keanan (Anastasia Sogorsky) is 29.



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Thought for Today:

"Two dangers constantly threaten the world: order and disorder." -

- Paul Valery, French poet (1871-1945).

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