Paradise Driver

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Today is Wednesday, June 16th.

The 168th day of 2004.

There are 198 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On June 16, 1858, in a speech in Springfield IL, Senate candidate Abraham Lincoln said the slavery issue had to be resolved, declaring, "A house divided against itself cannot stand."



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On this date:



In 1816, After an evening of ghost stories, Mary Shelley has a nightmare that gives her the inspiration for "Frankenstein" (or the Modern Prometeus).



In 1829, The leader of Chiricahua band of Apache tribe, Geronimo Goyathlay was born. He died February 17, 1909 at age 79.



In 1845, Texas agreed to annexation by the United States



In 1882, 17" hailstones weighing 1.75 lbs fall in Dubuque Iowa.



In 1884, The first roller coaster is put in operation at Coney Island NY.



In 1890, Actor/Comedian Stan Laurel (Arthur Stanley Jefferson)("Laurel and Hardy") was born in England. He died February 23, 1965 at age 74 in Santa Monica CA.



In 1893, Cracker Jack was invented by R.W. Rueckheim.



In 1896, Temperature hits 127 degrees F at Fort Mojave CA



In 1897, The government signed a treaty of annexation with Hawaii.



In 1903, Ford Motor Company was incorporated.



In 1910, The first "Father's Day" was celebrated in Spokane, Washington.



In 1917, The first Congress of Soviets was convened in Russia. The Russian word "soviet" literally means "council." One of the reasons Russian nationalist feeling never completely gave way to Soviet patriotism was that it was hard to get worked up for a country called the "council union." Russia, by the way, means "Redland," although it's more complicated than that because in Russian the word "red" also means "beautiful."



In 1932, President Herbert Hoover and Vice President Charles Curtis were renominated at the Republican national convention in Chicago.



In 1932, The ban on Nazi storm troopers was lifted by the von Papen government in Germany.



In 1933, The National Industrial Recovery Act became law. (It was later struck down by the Supreme Court.)



In 1940, Marshal Henri-Philippe Petain became the prime minister of the Vichy government of occupied France.



In 1941, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt orded the closure of all German consulates in the United States. The deadline was set as July 10.



In 1943, Comedian Charles Chaplin married his fourth wife, 18-year-old Oona O'Neill, daughter of playwright Eugene O'Neill, in Carpenteria, Calif.



In 1947, The first network TV newscast -Dumont's "News from Washington"



In 1949, The gas turbine-electric locomotive was first demonstrated in, Erie, Pa.



In 1952, "My Little Margie" debuted on CBS-TV.



In 1955, Pope Pius XXII excommunicated Argentine President Juan Domingo Peron -- a ban that was lifted eight years later.



In 1961, Soviet ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev defected to the West while his troupe was in Paris.



In 1961, Dave Garroway is fired as "Today Show" host



In 1963, The world's first female space traveler, Valentina Tereshkova, was launched into orbit by the Soviet Union aboard Vostok Six.



In 1967, 50,000 attend the Monterey International Pop Festival. The event was three days long and was held at the Monterey County (CA) Fairgrounds.



In 1972, Four men that worked for the Committee to Re-Elect the President were caught breaking into the Watergate office of the Democratic National Committee. The were arrested while planting listening devices in the office.



In 1977, Soviet Communist Party General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev was named president, becoming the first person to hold both posts simultaneously.



In 1978, President Carter and Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos exchanged the instruments of ratification for the Panama Canal treaties.



In 1978, The film adaptation of "Grease" premiered in New York City.



In 1980, The movie "The Blues Brothers" opened in Chicago, IL.



In 1992, Former U.S. Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger was indicted on felony charges in the Iran-Contra affair. He was later pardoned by President George H.W. Bush.



In 2002, Israel began construction on a fence that was designed to keep suicide bombers out of Israel. The fence was being build along the 217-mile border between Israel and the West Bank.



Ten years ago (1994):



Former President Jimmy Carter, on a private visit to North Korea, reported the Communist nation's leaders were eager to resume talks with the United States on resolving disputes about Pyongyang's nuclear program and improving relations.



Five years ago (1999):



Vice President Al Gore announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination.



Kathleen Ann Soliah, a fugitive member of the Symbionese Liberation Army, was captured in St. Paul, Minn., where she had made a new life under the name Sara Jane Olson.



Thabo Mbeki took the oath as president of South Africa, succeeding Nelson Mandela.



One year ago (2003):



Twelve people sent to prison as the result of a Tulia, Texas, drug bust were released on bail by a judge who said they'd been railroaded by an undercover agent. (A total of 35 people were later pardoned by Texas Governor Rick Perry.)



A divided Supreme Court said the government can force medication on mentally ill criminal defendants only in the rarest of circumstances.



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Today's Birthdays:



Author Erich Segal is 67.



Author Joyce Carol Oates is 66.



Country singer Billy "Crash" Craddock is 65.



Songwriter Lamont Dozier is 63.



Rhythm and blues singer Eddie Levert is 62.



Actress Joan Van Ark is 61.



Radio talk show host Art Bell is 59.



Rhythm and blues singer James Smith (The Stylistics) is 54.



Boxer Roberto Duran is 53.



Actress Sonia Braga is 53.



Pop singer Gino Vannelli is 52.



Actress Laurie Metcalf is 49.



Model-actress Jenny Shimizu is 37.



Actor Eddie Cibrian is 31.



Actress China Shavers is 27.



Actress Olivia Hack is 21.



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Thought for Today:

"We fear something before we hate it. A child who fears noises becomes a man who hates noise." -

- Cyril Connolly, British critic (1903-1974).

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