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Monday, December 01, 2008

DECEMBER 1ST

Today is Monday, Dec. 1, the 336th day of 2008.
There are 30 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

  • On Dec. 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a black seamstress, refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Ala., city bus. Mrs. Parks was arrested, sparking a yearlong boycott of the buses by blacks.

On this date:

  • In 1824, the presidential election was turned over to the U.S. House of Representatives when a deadlock developed between John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, William H. Crawford and Henry Clay. (Adams ended up the winner.)
  • In 1904, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis closed after seven months and some 20 million visitors.
  • In 1913, the first drive-in automobile service station, built by Gulf Refining Company opened in Pittsburgh.
  • In 1921, the Navy flew the first nonrigid dirigible to use helium; the C-7 traveled from Hampton Roads, Va., to Washington, D.C.
  • In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin concluded their Tehran conference.
  • In 1958, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "Flower Drum Song" opened on Broadway.
  • In 1969, the U.S. government held its first draft lottery since World War II.
  • In 1973, David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, died in Tel Aviv at age 87.
  • In 1992, in Mineola, N.Y., Amy Fisher was sentenced to 5 to 15 years in prison for shooting and seriously wounding Mary Jo Buttafuoco. (Fisher served seven years.)
  • In 2000, Vicente Fox was sworn in as president of Mexico, ending 71 years of ruling-party domination.

Ten years ago:
  • Exxon agreed to buy Mobil for $73.7 billion.
  • Cuba's Communist Party recommended that Dec. 25 be re-established as a permanent holiday.

Five years ago:
  • India and Pakistan agreed to restore airline overflight and landing rights by Jan. 1, 2004.
  • Boeing Co. chairman and chief executive Phil Condit resigned unexpectedly.
  • U.S. Rep. Bill Janklow went on trial in Flandreau, S.D., charged with manslaughter in the death of a motorcyclist who'd collided with his automobile. (Janklow was convicted and served 100 days in jail.)

One year ago:
  • Police in Wichita, Kan., identified a body found days earlier as that of Emily Sander, a missing college student whose disappearance drew nationwide attention after the discovery she was also an Internet pornography model named Zoey Zane. (A suspect, Israel Mireles, is fighting extradition from Mexico.)
  • Four suspects were charged in Miami in the shooting death of Washington Redskins star Sean Taylor. (One ended up pleading guilty to second-degree murder; a fifth suspect was also charged.)

Today's Birthdays:
  • Actor Paul Picerni is 86.
  • Former CIA director Stansfield Turner is 85.
  • Singer Billy Paul is 74.
  • Actor-director Woody Allen is 73.
  • Golfer Lee Trevino is 69.
  • Singer Dianne Lennon (The Lennon Sisters) is 69.
  • Country musician Casey Van Beek (The Tractors) is 66.
  • Television producer David Salzman is 65.
  • Rock singer-musician Eric Bloom (Blue Oyster Cult) is 64.
  • Rock musician John Densmore (The Doors) is 64.
  • Actress-singer Bette Midler is 63.
  • Singer Gilbert O'Sullivan is 62.
  • Actor Treat Williams is 57.
  • Country singer Kim Richey is 52.
  • Actress Charlene Tilton is 50.
  • Actress-model Carol Alt is 48.
  • Actor Jeremy Northam is 47.
  • Actor Nestor Carbonell is 41.
  • Actress Golden Brooks is 38.
  • Actress-comedian Sarah Silverman is 38.
  • Actor Ron Melendez is 36.
  • Contemporary Christian singer Bart Millard is 36.
  • Singer Sarah Masen is 33.
  • Rock musician Brad Delson (Linkin Park) is 31.
  • Actress Ashley Monique Clark is 20.

Thought for Today:
"Life begins when a person first realizes how soon it will end."
Marcelene Cox, American writer.



"Let's all be careful out there!"