Paradise Driver: 10/05/08

Sunday, October 05, 2008

Today is Sunday, Oct. 5, the 279th day of 2008.
There are 87 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Oct. 5, 1947, President Truman delivered the first televised White House address. Speaking on the world food crisis, Truman called on Americans to refrain from eating meat on Tuesdays and poultry as well as eggs on Thursdays.

On this date:

In 1829, the 21st president of the United States, Chester Alan Arthur, was born in Fairfield, Vt. (Some sources list 1830.)
In 1892, the Dalton Gang, notorious for its train robberies, was practically wiped out while attempting to rob a pair of banks in Coffeyville, Kan.
In 1908, stage and film director Joshua Logan ("Picnic," "Bus Stop," "South Pacific") was born in Texarkana, Texas.
In 1921, the World Series was broadcast on radio for the first time. (The New York Giants wound up beating the New York Yankees 5 games to 3 in the best-of-nine contest.)
In 1931, Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon completed the first nonstop flight across the Pacific Ocean, arriving in Washington state some 41 hours after leaving Japan.
In 1953, Earl Warren was sworn in as the 14th chief justice of the United States, succeeding Fred M. Vinson.
In 1958, racially desegregated Clinton High School in Clinton, Tenn., was mostly leveled by an early morning bombing.
In 1978, author Isaac Bashevis Singer was named winner of the Nobel Prize for literature.
In 1983, Solidarity founder Lech Walesa was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
In 1988, Democrat Lloyd Bentsen lambasted Republican Dan Quayle during their vice-presidential debate, telling Quayle, "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy."

Ten years ago:

The House Judiciary Committee voted along hardened partisan lines to investigate whether President Clinton should be removed from office.
Michael Carneal pleaded guilty but mentally ill to shooting to death three fellow students and wounding five other people at Heath High School in West Paducah, Ky. (Carneal was later sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole for 25 years.)

Five years ago:

Israel bombed an Islamic Jihad base in Syria in the first Israeli attack deep inside Syrian territory in three decades.
A woman opened fire at an Atlanta church before Sunday services, killing her mother and the minister before committing suicide.
The Chicago Cubs won their first postseason series since 1908 when they beat Atlanta 5-1 in the decisive Game 5 of the National League playoffs.

One year ago:

President Bush defended his administration's methods of detaining and questioning terrorism suspects, saying they were successful and lawful.
Topps Meat Co. said it was closing its 67-year-old business, six days after it was forced to issue the second-largest beef recall in U.S. history.
Track star Marion Jones pleaded guilty in White Plains, N.Y., to lying to federal investigators when she denied using performance-enhancing drugs, and announced her retirement.

Today's Birthdays: