DAILY CHUCKLE 8-302

"Let's all be careful out there!"

OCTOBER 27TH

Today is Monday, Oct. 27, the 301st day of 2008.
There are 65 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Oct. 27, 1858, the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, was born in New York City.

On this date:

• In 1787, the first of the Federalist Papers, a series of essays calling for ratification of the United States Constitution, was published in New York.
• In 1795, the United States and Spain signed the Treaty of San Lorenzo (also known as "Pinckney's Treaty"), which provided for free navigation of the Mississippi River.
• In 1880, Theodore Roosevelt married his first wife, Alice Lee.
• In 1904, the first rapid transit subway, the IRT, was inaugurated in New York City.
• In 1907, Union Station in Washington, D.C., opened.
• In 1914, author-poet Dylan Thomas was born in Swansea, Wales.
• In 1922, the first annual celebration of Navy Day took place.
• In 1938, Du Pont announced a name for its new synthetic yarn: "nylon."
• In 1954, Walt Disney's first television program, titled "Disneyland" after the yet-to-be completed theme park, premiered on ABC.
• In 1978, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin were named winners of the Nobel Peace Prize for their progress toward achieving a Middle East accord.

Ten years ago:

• Hurricane Mitch cut through the western Caribbean, pummeling coastal Honduras and Belize; the storm caused several thousand deaths in Central America in the days that followed.
• Serb forces drew back from former Kosovo battlefronts, holding off the immediate threat of NATO airstrikes.

Five years ago:

• Suicide bombers in Baghdad struck Red Cross headquarters and three police stations, killing dozens of people.
• Former Washington Mayor Walter Edward Washington died at age 88.
• Rod Roddy, announcer on "The Price is Right," died in Los Angeles at age 66.

One year ago:

• Despite significant dissent among some of its workers, United Auto Workers members narrowly passed a four-year contract agreement with Chrysler LLC.
• The Boston Red Sox took a 3-0 World Series lead with a 10-5 win over the Colorado Rockies in Denver.

Today's Birthdays:

• Actress Nanette Fabray is 88.
• Baseball Hall-of-Famer and sportscaster Ralph Kiner is 86.
• Actress Ruby Dee is 84.
• Former Secretary of State Warren M. Christopher is 83.
• Actor-comedian John Cleese is 69.
• Country singer Lee Greenwood is 66.
• Producer-director Ivan Reitman is 62.
• Country singer-musician Jack Daniels is 59.
• Rock musician Garry Tallent (Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band) is 59.
• Author Fran Lebowitz is 58.
• Rock musician K.K. Downing (Judas Priest) is 57.
• Actor-director Roberto Benigni is 56.
• Actor Peter Firth is 55.
• Actor Robert Picardo is 55.
• Singer Simon Le Bon is 50.
• Musician J.D. McFadden is 44.
• Rock musician Jason Finn (Presidents of the United States of America) is 41.
• Rock singer Scott Weiland is 41.
• Actor Sean Holland is 40.
• Actress Sheeri Rappaport is 31.
• Actress-singer Kelly Osbourne is 24.

Thought for Today:

"In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing."
Theodore Roosevelt, American president (1858-1919).

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DAILY CHUCKLE 8-301

"Let's all be careful out there!"

OCTOBER 26TH

Today is Sunday, Oct. 26, the 300th day of 2008.
There are 66 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Oct. 26, 1881, the "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" took place in Tombstone, Ariz., as Wyatt Earp, his two brothers and "Doc" Holliday confronted Ike Clanton's gang. Three members of Clanton's group were killed; Earp's brothers and Holliday were wounded.

On this date:

• In 1774, the First Continental Congress adjourned in Philadelphia.
• In 1825, the Erie Canal opened in upstate New York, connecting Lake Erie and the Hudson River.
• In 1942, Japanese planes badly damaged the USS Hornet in the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands during World War II. (The Hornet sank early the next morning.)
• In 1957, the Soviet Union announced that defense minister Marshal Georgi Zhukov had been relieved of his duties.
• In 1958, Pan American Airways flew its first Boeing 707 jetliner from New York to Paris in 8 hours and 41 minutes.
• In 1967, the Shah of Iran crowned himself and his queen after 26 years on the Peacock Throne.
• In 1972, national security adviser Henry Kissinger declared, "Peace is at hand" in Vietnam.
• In 1979, South Korean President Park Chung-hee was shot to death by the head of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, Kim Jae-kyu.
• In 1984, "Baby Fae," a newborn with a severe heart defect, was given the heart of a baboon in an experimental transplant in Loma Linda, Calif. (Baby Fae lived 21 days with the animal heart.)
• In 2001, President Bush signed the USA Patriot Act, giving authorities unprecedented ability to search, seize, detain or eavesdrop in their pursuit of possible terrorists.

Ten years ago:

• Russian President Boris Yeltsin was ordered by his doctors to cancel a one-day trip to Austria so he could recuperate from high blood pressure and extreme fatigue.
• The Education Department reported that the default rate on student loans had fallen into single digits for the first time.

Five years ago:

• A rocket attack on the Al Rasheed Hotel in Baghdad, where U.S. officials were residing, killed an American colonel, wounded 18 other people and sent the visiting U.S. deputy defense secretary, Paul Wolfowitz, scurrying for safety.
• Thirteen deaths in Southern California were reported as wildfires fed by hot Santa Ana winds flared into gigantic waves of flame that devoured entire neighborhoods.

One year ago:

• A federal jury in Kansas City, Mo., decided that Lisa Montgomery, convicted of killing expectant mother Bobbie Jo Stinnett and cutting the baby from her womb, should receive the death penalty.
• The Georgia Supreme Court freed Genarlow Wilson, saying his 10-year sentence for consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old girl was cruel and unusual punishment.
• Friedman Paul Erhardt, television's "Chef Tell," died in Upper Black Eddy, Pa., at age 63.

Today's Birthdays:

• Actress Shelley Morrison ("Will and Grace") is 72.
• Actor Bob Hoskins is 66.
• Author Pat Conroy is 63.
• Actress Jaclyn Smith is 63.
• TV host Pat Sajak is 62.
• Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., is 61.
• Singer Maggie Roche (The Roches) is 57.
• Musician Bootsy Collins is 57.
• Actor James Pickens Jr. ("Grey's Anatomy") is 56.
• Rock musician Keith Strickland (The B-52's) is 55.
• Actor D.W. Moffett is 54.
• Actress Rita Wilson is 52.
• Actor Dylan McDermott is 47.
• Actor Cary Elwes is 46.
• Singer Natalie Merchant is 45.
• Country singer Keith Urban is 41.
• Actor Tom Cavanagh is 40.
• Actor Anthony Rapp is 37.
• Actor Jon Heder is 31.
• Singer Mark Barry (BBMak) is 30.
• Olympic silver medal figure skater Sasha Cohen is 24.

Thought for Today:

"Each child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man."
Sir Rabindranath Tagore, Indian Nobel Prize-winning poet (1861-1941).

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DAILY CHUCKLE 8-300

"Let's all be careful out there!"