NOVEMBER 1ST

Today is Saturday, Nov. 1, the 306th day of 2008.
There are 60 days left in the year.
This is All Saints Day.

A reminder:
Daylight-saving time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday. Clocks go back one hour.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Nov. 1, 1968, the Motion Picture Association of America unveiled its new voluntary film rating system: G for general audiences, M for mature audiences (later changed to GP, then PG), R for restricted audiences, and X (later changed to NC-17) for adults only.

On this date:

• In 1512, Michelangelo finished painting the ceiling of the Vatican's Sistine Chapel.
• In 1765, the Stamp Act went into effect, prompting stiff resistance from American colonists.
• In 1861, Gen. George B. McClellan was made General-in-Chief of the Union armies, succeeding Winfield Scott.
• In 1870, the United States Weather Bureau made its first meteorological observations.
• In 1936, in a speech in Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini described the alliance between his country and Nazi Germany as an "axis" running between Rome and Berlin.
• In 1950, two Puerto Rican nationalists tried to force their way into Blair House in Washington to assassinate President Truman. The attempt failed, and one of the pair was killed, along with a White House police officer.
• In 1952, the United States exploded the first hydrogen bomb, codenamed "Ivy Mike," at Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
• In 1954, Algerian nationalists began their successful rebellion against French rule.
• In 1973, following the "Saturday Night Massacre," Acting Attorney General Robert H. Bork appointed Leon Jaworski to be the new Watergate special prosecutor, succeeding Archibald Cox.
• In 1979, former first lady Mamie Eisenhower died in Washington, D.C., at age 82.

Ten years ago:

• The military arm of the radical Islamic group Hamas made an unprecedented threat against Yasser Arafat, demanding the Palestinian leader halt a crackdown against it, or face violent vengeance.
• John Kagwe of Kenya won the New York City Marathon for the second straight year; Franca Fiacconi became the first Italian to win the women's division.

Five years ago:

• Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean stirred controversy within his party by telling the Des Moines Register he wanted to be "the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks." (The former Vermont governor explained that he intended to encourage the return of Southern voters who had abandoned the Democrats for decades but were disaffected with the Republicans.)

One year ago:

• Retired Air Force Brigadier Gen. Paul Tibbets, who'd piloted the B-29 bomber Enola Gay that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, died in Columbus, Ohio, at age 92.
• A defiant Democratic-controlled Congress voted to provide health insurance to an additional 4 million lower-income children; President Bush vowed swiftly to cast his second straight veto on the issue.
• Less than a week after workers ratified a new contract, Chrysler announced 12,000 job cuts.

Today's Birthdays:

• Newspaper columnist James J. Kilpatrick is 88.
• Actress Betsy Palmer is 82.
• Golfer Gary Player is 73.
• Country singer Bill Anderson is 71.
• Actress Barbara Bosson is 69.
• Actor Robert Foxworth is 67.
• Actress Marcia Wallace is 66.
• Magazine publisher Larry Flynt is 66.
• Country singer Kinky Friedman is 64.
• Actress Jeannie Berlin is 59.
• Pop singer-musician Dan Peek is 58.
• Rhythm-and-blues musician Ronald Khalis Bell (Kool and the Gang) is 57.
• Country singer-songwriter-producer Keith Stegall is 54.
• Country singer Lyle Lovett is 51.
• Actress Rachel Ticotin is 50.
• Rock musician Eddie MacDonald (The Alarm) is 49.
• Rock singer Anthony Kiedis (Red Hot Chili Peppers) is 46.
• Pop singer-musician Mags Furuholmen (a-ha) is 46.
• Rock musician Rick Allen (Def Leppard) is 45.
• Country singer "Big Kenny" Alphin (Big and Rich) is 45.
• Rapper Willie D (Geto Boys) is 42.
• Singer Sophie B. Hawkins is 41.
• Country musician Dale Wallace (Emerson Drive) is 39.
• Actress Toni Collette is 36.
• Actress Jenny McCarthy is 36.
• Rock musician Andrew Gonzales is 36.
• Actor David Berman (TV: "CSI") is 35.
• Actress Aishwarya Rai is 35.
• Rock singer Bo Bice ("American Idol") is 33.
• Actor Penn Badgley is 22.
• Actor-musician Alex Wolff is 11.

Thought for Today:

"Good taste is the worst vice ever invented."
Dame Edith Sitwell, English poet (1887-1964).

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DAILY CHUCKLE 8-306

"Let's all be careful out there!"