Paradise Driver

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Today is Tuesday, June 22nd.

The 174th day of 2004.

There are 192 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On June 22, 1944, President Roosevelt signed the Readjustment Act of 1944, more popularly known as the "GI Bill of Rights", which provides tuition, low-interest mortgages, and other benefits to veterans.



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On this date:



In 1611, English explorer Henry Hudson, his son and several other people were set adrift in present-day Hudson Bay by mutineers.



In 1870, Congress created the Department of Justice.



In 1873, Prince Edward Island joins Canada.



In 1874, Dr. Andrew Taylor Still began the first known practice of osteopathy.



In 1911, Britain's King George V was crowned at Westminster Abbey.



In 1933, The Illinois waterways opens, linking the Great Lakes with the Gulf of Mexico.



In 1938, Heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis knocked out Max Schmeling in the first round of their rematch at Yankee Stadium.



In 1940, During World War II, Adolf Hitler gained a stunning victory as France was forced to sign an armistice eight days after German forces overran Paris.



In 1941, Breaking the nonaggression pact signed by the two countries in 1939, Germany invades the Soviet Union, in Operation Barbarosa, sending over 3 million troops (150 divisions) across the border in a front that was over 1,800 miles long.



In 1942, A Japanese submarine shelled Fort Stevens at the mouth of the Columbia River.



In 1945, The World War II battle for Okinawa officially ended; 12,520 Americans and 110,000 Japanese were killed in the 81-day campaign.



In 1961, The final episode of "You Bet Your Life"/"The Groucho Show" was aired.



In 1963, The Safaris' "Wipe Out" was released.



In 1968, Mason Williams' "Classical Gas" was released.



In 1969, Singer-actress Judy Garland died in London, at age 47, from an accidental overdose of prescription sleeping aids. She was born Frances Gumm in Grand Rapids MN on June 10, 1922.



In 1970, President Nixon signed a measure lowering the voting age to 18.



In 1977, John N. Mitchell became the first former U.S. Attorney General to go to prison as he began serving a sentence for his role in the Watergate cover-up. He served 19 months.



In 1978, James W. Christy and Robert S. Harrington discovered the only known moon of Pluto. The moon is named Charon.



In 1981, Mark David Chapman pled guilty to killing John Lennon.



In 1987, Actor-dancer Fred Astaire died in Los Angeles at age 88. He was born Frederick Austerlitz in Omaha NE on May 10, 1899.



In 1990, Florida passes a law prohibits wearing a throng bathing suit



In 1992, The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that hate-crime laws that ban cross-burning and similar expressions of racial bias violated free-speech rights.



In 1993, Former first lady Pat Nixon died in Park Ridge, N.J., at age 81. She was born Thelma Catherine Ryan in Ely NV on March 16, 1912.



In 1998, The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that evidence illegally obtained by authorities could be used at revocation hearings for a convicted criminal's parole.



In 2001, The final episode of "Xena: Warrior Princess" aired.



Ten years ago (1994):



President Clinton announced North Korea had confirmed its willingness to freeze its nuclear program.



The Houston Rockets defeated the New York Knicks 90-84 to win the NBA championship.



Five years ago (1999):



President Clinton visited ethnic Albanian refugees at a refugee camp in Macedonia.



The Supreme Court ruled the Americans with Disabilities Act does not extend to people with poor eyesight or other correctable conditions.



One year ago (2003):



Iraq re-entered the world oil market with its first shipment of crude since the war, but sabotage and looting along its largest pipeline delayed the flow of freshly pumped oil.



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Today's Birthdays:



Actor Ralph Waite is 76.



Country singer Roy Drusky is 74.



Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is 71.



Singer-actor Kris Kristofferson is 68.



CBS News correspondent Ed Bradley is 63.



Actor Michael Lerner is 63.



Fox News correspondent Brit Hume is 61.



Actor Klaus Maria Brandauer is 60.



Singer Peter Asher (Peter and Gordon) is 60.



Actor Andrew Rubin is 58.



Actor David L. Lander is 57.



Singer Howard "Eddie" Kaylan is 57.



Singer-musician Todd Rundgren is 56.



Actress Meryl Streep is 55.



Actress Lindsay Wagner is 55.



Singer Alan Osmond is 55.



Actor Murphy Cross is 54.



Actor Graham Greene is 52.



Actor Chris Lemmon is 50.



Actor Tim Russ is 48.



Rock musician Garry Beers (INXS) is 47.



Actor-producer-writer Bruce Campbell is 46.



Rock musician Alan Anton (Cowboy Junkies) is 45.



Actress Tracy Pollan is 44.



Rock singer-musician Jimmy Somerville is 43.



Rock singer-musician Mike Edwards (Jesus Jones) is 40.



Actress Amy Brenneman is 40.



Actress Paula Irvine is 36.



Rock singer Steven Page (Barenaked Ladies) is 34.



T.V. personality Carson Daly is 31.



Rock musician Chris Traynor (Helmet) is 31.



Actor Donald Faison is 30.



Actress Lindsay Ridgeway is 19.



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Thought for Today:

"The highest purpose is to have no purpose at all." -

- John Cage, American composer (1912-1992).

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