Paradise Driver

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Today is Wednesday, June 30th.

The 182nd day of 2004.

There are 184 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On June 30, 1963, Pope Paul VI was crowned the 262nd head of the Roman Catholic Church.



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On this date:



In 1834, A huge tract of land was set aside exclusively for Indians and it was officially named "Indian Territory." That didn't last. Today we call it Oklahoma.



In 1841, The Erie Railroad rolled out its first passenger train.



In 1859, French acrobat Blondin (born Jean Francois Gravelet) crossed Niagara Falls on a tightrope as 5,000 spectators watched.



In 1870, Ada H. Kepley of Effingham, Illinois became America's first female law school graduate from the Union College of Law in Chicago.



In 1894, London's Tower Bridge across the River Thames was officially opened.



In 1896, The first electric stove is patented by W. S. Hadaway in New York City.



In 1906, The Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act became law.



In 1908, In the Tunguska section of Central Siberia, Russia, possibly the most powerful, natural explosion in recorded history occurred at 7:17 a.m. when a spectacular, unexplained blast devastated a forested area some 70 miles in diameter; caused seismic shock; spawned a firestorm followed by black rain; and created a brilliant illumination that reportedly was seen for hundreds of miles. Yet, no crater was formed and only the tops of the trees were burned at the central point of the explosion. Even today, scientists are unsure of what caused the explosion; theories have ranged from an extraterrestrial visitor or comet to an antimatter asteroid, a black hole, or atomic explosion.



In 1917, Actress Susan Hayward (Edythe Marriner) was born in Brooklyn NY. She died March 14, 1975 at age 57.



In 1917, Drummer/Bandleader Bernard "Buddy" Rich was born. He died April 2, 1987 at age 69.



In 1921, President Warren G. Harding appointed former President William Howard Taft as Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.



In 1934, In the "night of the long knives," Adolf Hitler purges the National Socialist, or Nazi, party of its paramilitary stormtrooper wing, killing hundreds of the party's most dedicated followers.



In 1936, The novel "Gone with the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell was published in New York.



In 1939, Frank Sinatra made his first appearance with Harry James’ band.



In 1948, The Transistor was invented by three Bell Laboratory scientists in Murray Hill, NJ.



In 1952, "The Guiding Light," a popular radio program, made its T.V. debut on CBS.



In 1953, The first Corvette rolled off the Chevrolet assembly line in Flint MI. That early 'Vette sold for $3,250.



In 1956, A United DC-7 and a TWA jet collide over Grand Canyon killing 128



In 1957, The American occupation headquarters in Japan was dissolved.



In 1958, The U.S. Congress passed a law authorizing the admission of Alaska as the 49th state in the Union.



In 1960, The Katanga province seceded from Congo (upon Congo's independence from Belgium).



In 1962, Los Angeles Dodger Sandy Koufax pitched his first no-hitter in a game with the New York Mets.



In 1964, The last of U.N. troops left Congo after a four-year effort to bring stability to the country.



In 1971, A Soviet space mission ended in tragedy when three cosmonauts aboard Soyuz Eleven were found dead inside their spacecraft after it had returned to Earth.



In 1971, The 26th Amendment to the Constitution, lowering the minimum voting age to 18, was ratified as Ohio became the 38th state to approve it.



In 1971, The Supreme Court overrides government attempts to stop the publishing of the Pentagon Papers.



In 1984, John Turner was sworn in as Canada's 17th prime minister, succeeding Pierre Elliott Trudeau.



In 1985, 39 American hostages from a hijacked TWA jetliner were freed in Beirut after being held 17 days.



In 1985, Yul Brynner left his role as the King of Siam after 4,600 performances in "The King and I."



In 1990, Santa Barbara and Los Angelas County, CA are declared federal disaster areas as fires destroy more than 500 homes.



In 1998, Officials confirmed that the previously unidentified remains of a Vietnam War serviceman buried in the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery were those of Air Force pilot Lt. Michael J. Blassie of St. Louis MO.





Ten years ago (1994):



The U.S. Figure Skating Association stripped Tonya Harding of the 1994 national championship and banned her from the organization for life for an attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan.



The Supreme Court ruled that judges can bar even peaceful demonstrators from getting too close to abortion clinics.



Five years ago (1999):



The Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time in two years, boosting the target for the funds rate a 1/4 point to 5 percent.



On the day the independent counsel law expired, Kenneth Starr wrapped up the Whitewater phase of his investigation as presidential friend Webster Hubbell pleaded guilty to a felony and a misdemeanor.



One year ago (2003):



Israeli and Palestinian commanders shook hands as bulldozers dismantled checkpoints and Palestinian traffic flowed freely in the Gaza Strip.



American troops detained the U.S.-appointed mayor of Najaf, Iraq, accusing him of kidnapping and corruption.



Comedian Buddy Hackett (Leonard Hacker) died in Malibu CA at age 79. He was born in Brooklyn NY on August 31, 1924.





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Today's Birthdays:



Singer Lena Horne is 87.



Actor Tony Musante is 68.



Actress Nancy Dussault is 68.



Singer Glenn Shorrock is 60.



Jazz musician Stanley Clarke is 53.



Rock musician Hal Lindes (Dire Straits) is 51.



Actor-comedian David Alan Grier is 49.



Actor Vincent D'Onofrio is 45.



Actor Rupert Graves is 41.



Boxer Mike Tyson is 38.



Rock musician Tom Drummond (Better Than Ezra) is 35.



Actor Brian Bloom is 34.



Actor Brian Vincent is 34.



Actress Monica Potter is 33.



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Thought for Today:

"Many a man thinks he is patient when, in reality, he is indifferent." -

- B.C. Forbes, Scottish journalist (1880-1954).

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