Paradise Driver

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Today is Tuesday, June 15th.

The 167th day of 2004.

There are 199 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On June 15, 1904, more than 1,000 people, mostly women and children on a church outing, died when fire erupted aboard the steamboat General Slocum in New York's East River.



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On this date:



In 1215, England's King John put his seal to Magna Carta ("the Great Charter") at Runnymede.



In 1520, Pope Leo X threatened to excommunicate Martin Luther if he did not recant his religious beliefs.



In 1664, The colony of New Jersey was established.



In 1752, Benjamin Franklin and his son conduct the famous experiment involving a kite and key during a thunderstorm, confirming Franklin's theory that lightning is electrical.



In 1775, The Second Continental Congress voted unanimously to appoint George Washington head of the Continental Army.



In 1785, Two Frenchmen, Jean Francois Pilatre de Rozier and P.A. de Roman, were killes attempting to cross the English Channel from France to England in a balloon. Their balloon caught fire and crashed to the ground and the two became the first fatalities in aviation history.



In 1836, Arkansas became the 25th state.



In 1844, Charles Goodyear received a patent for his process to strengthen rubber.



In 1846, The United States and Britain signed The Oregon Treaty settling the boundry at 49 degrees North between Canada and the U.S. in the Pacific Northwest.



In 1849, James Knox Polk, the 11th president of the United States, died in Nashville, Tenn. He was born in Mecklenburg County, NC on November 2, 1795.



In 1851, Jacob Fussell, a Baltimore dairyman, sets up the first ice-cream factory.



In 1864, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton signed an order establishing a military burial ground, which became Arlington National Cemetery.



In 1869, Celluloid patented by John Wesley Hyatt, Albany NY



In 1877, Henry O Flipper becomes 1st black graduate at West Point.



In 1878, The first attempt at motion pictures (used 12 cameras, each taking 1 picture) done to see if all 4 of a horse's hooves leave the ground (they do).



In 1898, US House of Reps accept annexation of Hawaii.



In 1909, Benjamin Shibe patented the cork center baseball.



In 1911, The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. was incorporated in the state of New York. The company was later renamed International Business Machines (IBM) Corp.



In 1916, The Boys Scouts of America is incorporated by a bill signed by President Wilson.



In 1924, The Ford Motor Company announces the manufacture of its 10,000,000th automobile (7 years to make the first million, but only 132 working days to make the tenth million).



In 1924, J. Edgar Hoover becomes head of the FBI.



In 1944, American forces began their successful invasion of Saipan during World War II. Meanwhile, B-29 Superfortresses made their first raids on Japan.



In 1956, John Lennon (15) & Paul McCartney (13) meet for the 1st time as Lennon's rock group "The Quarrymen" perform at a church dinner



In 1967, California Governor Ronald Reagan signed a bill liberalizing his state's abortion law.



In 1969, "Hee Haw" with Roy Clark & Buck Owens premiers on CBS TV



In 1978, King Hussein of Jordan married 26-year-old American Lisa Halaby, who became Queen Noor.



In 1981, The F-117A "Stealth" Fighter is first flown, 31 months after the decision to develop it.



In 1982, The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that all children are entitled to a public education whatever their citizenship.



In 1983, The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a host of state and local restrictions on abortion, reinforcing its 1973 decision which legalized the procedure.



In 1991, Cataclysmic eruptions begin at Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines at 2 a.m., sending plumes of ash 100,000 feet into the atmosphere, and affecting weather patterns for at least 18 months (worst world volcanic activity in 80 years). Its 20 million tons of sulfur dioxide will slightly cool the earth for several years.



In 1992, It was ruled by the U.S. Supreme Court that the government could kidnap criminal suspects from foreign countries for prosecution.



In 1992, Vice President Dan Quayle, visiting a Trenton NJ school, corrects the spelling of a student, telling him that "potato" should be spelled "potatoe."



In 1993, Former Texas Governor John B. Connally, who was wounded in the gunfire that killed President Kennedy, died at age 76. He was born February 27, 1917.



Ten years ago (1994):



Israel and the Vatican established full diplomatic relations.



Former President Jimmy Carter arrived in North Korea on a private mission to try to reduce tensions with the Communist nation.



Five years ago (1999):



Thousands of ethnic Albanian refugees flooded back into Kosovo while thousands of Serbs fled.



Vessels from North Korea and South Korea clashed on the Yellow Sea; about 30 North Korean sailors are believed to have died.



A magnitude 6.7 earthquake in central Mexico killed at least 17 people.



One year ago (2003):



With a deadline passed for Iraqis to hand in heavy weapons, U.S. forces fanned out across Iraq to seize arms and put down potential foes.



The San Antonio Spurs won the NBA championship, defeating the New Jersey Nets 88-77 in game 6.



Golfer Jim Furyk won the U.S. Open.



Actor Hume Cronyn died in Fairfield, Conn., at age 91.



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Today's Birthdays:



Former New York Governor Mario Cuomo is 72.



Author/Call girl Xaviera Hollander is 61.



Singer Russell Hitchcock (Air Supply) is 55.



Rock singer Steve Walsh (Kansas) is 53.



Comedian-actor Jim Belushi is 50.



Country singer Terri Gibbs is 50.



Actress Julie Hagerty is 49.



Actress Eileen Davidson is 45.



Actress Helen Hunt is 41.



Rock musician Scott Rockenfield (Queensryche) is 41.



Actress Courteney Cox is 40.



Country musician Tony Ardoin is 40.



Country musician Michael Britt (Lonestar) is 38.



Musician Rob Mitchell is 38.



Rock musician Jimmy McD (Jimmie's Chicken Shack) is 36.



Actor-rapper Ice Cube is 35.



Actress Leah Remini is 34.



Actor Jake Busey is 33.



Rock musician T-Bone Willy (Save Ferris) is 32.



Actor Neil Patrick Harris is 31.



Rock singer Dryden Mitchell (Alien Ant Farm) is 28.



Rock musician Billy Martin (Good Charlotte) is 23.



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Thought for Today:

"Faith and doubt both are needed - not as antagonists, but working side by side - to take us around the unknown curve." -

- Lillian Smith, American author (1897-1966).

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