DAILY CHUCKLE 8-332

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

"Let's all be careful out there!"

NOVEMBER 26TH

Today is Wednesday, Nov. 26, the 331st day of 2008.
There are 35 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• Nov. 26, 1789, was a day of thanksgiving set aside by President Washington to observe the adoption of the Constitution of the United States.

On this date:

• In 1825, the first college social fraternity, Kappa Alpha, was formed at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y.
• In 1883, former slave and abolitionist Sojourner Truth died in Battle Creek, Mich.
• In 1933, a judge in New York decided the James Joyce book "Ulysses" was not obscene and could therefore be published in the United States.
• In 1942, President Roosevelt ordered nationwide gasoline rationing, beginning Dec. 1.
• In 1942, the motion picture "Casablanca," starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, had its world premiere at the Hollywood Theater in New York.
• In 1943, during World War II, the HMT Rohna, a British transport ship carrying American soldiers, was hit by a German missile off Algeria; 1,138 men were killed.
• In 1949, India adopted a constitution as a republic within the British Commonwealth.
• In 1950, China entered the Korean War, launching a counteroffensive against soldiers from the United Nations, the U.S. and South Korea.
• In 1965, France launched its first satellite, sending a 92-pound capsule into orbit.
• In 1973, President Nixon's personal secretary, Rose Mary Woods, told a federal court that she'd accidentally caused part of the 18 1/2-minute gap in a key Watergate tape.

Ten years ago:

• In the first speech ever by a British prime minister to an Irish parliament, Tony Blair predicted that Northern Ireland's troubled peace accord would ultimately work because of a strengthened cooperative spirit uniting Britain and Ireland.
• In India, at least 211 people died when two trains collided in the northern state of Punjab.

Five years ago:

• Human rights activist Gao Zhan, who was freed from a Chinese prison after the U.S. government interceded on her behalf, pleaded guilty in Alexandria, Va., to illegally selling American high-tech items with potential military uses to China. (Gao later received a reduced sentence of seven months in prison for her cooperation with authorities.)
• Hard-liners defeated moderates in Northern Ireland's legislative elections.

One year ago:

• President Bush met separately at the White House with the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority a day ahead of a major Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, Md.
• Vice President Dick Cheney experienced an irregular heartbeat and was taken to George Washington University Hospital for evaluation.
• President Bush greeted the 2007 Nobel Prize winners, including former Vice President Al Gore.
• Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott announced his retirement after a 35-year career in Congress.
• Washington Redskins star safety Sean Taylor was mortally wounded when he was shot during a botched armed robbery at his home in Palmetto Bay, Fla. (Taylor died the next day.)
• Hall of Fame jockey Bill Hartack died in Freer, Texas, at age 74.

Today's Birthdays:

• Actress Ellen Albertini Dow is 90.
• Impressionist Rich Little is 70.
• Singer Tina Turner is 69.
• Singer Jean Terrell is 64.
• Pop musician John McVie is 63.
• Actress Jamie Rose is 49.
• Country singer Linda Davis is 46.
• Blues singer-musician Bernard Allison is 43.
• Country singer-musician Steve Grisaffe is 43.
• Actress Kristin Bauer is 35.
• Actor Peter Facinelli is 35.
• Actress Maia Campbell is 32.
• Country singer Joe Nichols is 32.
• Actress Jessica Bowman is 28.
• Pop singer Natasha Bedingfield is 27.
• Singer Lil Fizz is 23.
• Singer Aubrey Collins is 21.

Thought for Today:

"Any fool can make a rule, and any fool will mind it."
Henry David Thoreau, American author (1817-1862)

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DAILY CHUCKLE 8-331

"Let's all be careful out there!"

NOVEMBER 25TH

Today is Tuesday, Nov. 25, the 330th day of 2008.
There are 36 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• One hundred years ago, on Nov. 25, 1908, the first issue of The Christian Science Monitor was published.

On this date:

• In 1758, during the French and Indian War, the British captured Fort Duquesne in present-day Pittsburgh.
• In 1783, the British evacuated New York, their last military position in the United States during the Revolutionary War.
• In 1881, Pope John XXIII was born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli near Bergamo, Italy.
• In 1947, movie studio executives meeting in New York agreed to blacklist the "Hollywood Ten" who'd been cited for contempt of Congress the day before.
• In 1957, President Eisenhower suffered a slight stroke.
• In 1963, the body of President Kennedy was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.
• In 1973, Greek President George Papadopoulos was ousted in a bloodless military coup.
• In 1974, former U.N. Secretary-General U Thant died in New York at age 65.
• In 1986, the Iran-Contra affair erupted as President Reagan and Attorney General Edwin Meese revealed that profits from secret arms sales to Iran had been diverted to Nicaraguan rebels.
• In 2002, President Bush signed legislation creating the Department of Homeland Security, and appointed Tom Ridge to be its head.

Ten years ago:

• Chinese President Jiang Zemin arrived in Tokyo for the first visit by a Chinese head of state to Japan since World War II.
• Comedian Flip Wilson died in Malibu, Calif., at age 64.

Five years ago:

• The Senate gave final congressional approval to historic Medicare legislation combining a new prescription drug benefit with measures to control costs before the baby boom generation reaches retirement age.
• Yemen arrested Mohammed Hamdi al-Ahdal, a top al-Qaida member suspected of masterminding the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole and the 2002 bombing of a French oil tanker off Yemen's coast. (Al-Ahdal was later sentenced to three years for the French tanker attack, but was not charged in the Cole case.)
• Gail Knisley, 62, was shot and killed while riding in a car on a highway in Columbus, Ohio; it was the only fatality in a series of shootings that terrified area drivers. (Charles A. McCoy Jr. later pleaded guilty to manslaughter and 10 other charges, and was sentenced to 27 years in prison.)

One year ago:

• Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returned from exile to an ecstatic welcome from thousands of supporters and immediately stepped up the pressure on U.S.-backed military ruler Pervez Musharraf to end emergency rule.
• Kevin Dubrow, lead singer for the heavy metal band Quiet Riot, was found dead in a Las Vegas home; he was 52.

Today's Birthdays:

• Actor Ricardo Montalban is 88.
• Actress Noel Neill is 88.
• Actress Kathryn Crosby is 75.
• Actor Matt Clark is 72.
• Singer Percy Sledge is 68.
• Author, actor and game show host Ben Stein is 64.
• Singer Bob Lind is 64.
• Actor John Larroquette is 61.
• Actor Tracey Walter is 61.
• Movie director Jonathan Kaplan is 61.
• Singer Amy Grant is 48.
• Rock musician Eric Grossman (K's Choice) is 44.
• Rock singer Mark Lanegan is 44.
• Rock singer-musician Tim Armstrong is 43.
• Singer Stacy Lattisaw is 42.
• Rock musician Rodney Sheppard (Sugar Ray) is 42.
• Rapper-producer Erick Sermon is 40.
• Actress Jill Hennessy is 39.
• Actress Christina Applegate is 37.
• Actor Eddie Steeples ("My Name Is Earl") is 35.

Thought for Today:

"Reject hatred without hating."
Mary Baker Eddy, American religious leader and founder of The Christian Science Monitor (1821-1910).

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DAILY CHUCKLE 8-330

"Let's all be careful out there!"

NOVEMBER 24TH

Today is Monday, Nov. 24, the 329th day of 2008.
There are 37 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Nov. 24, 1963, Jack Ruby shot and mortally wounded Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President Kennedy, in a scene captured on live television.

On this date:

• In 1784, Zachary Taylor, the 12th president of the United States, was born in Orange County, Va.
• In 1859, British naturalist Charles Darwin published "On the Origin of Species," which explained his theory of evolution.
• In 1863, the Civil War battle for Lookout Mountain began in Tennessee; Union forces succeeded in taking the mountain from the Confederates.
• In 1944, during World War II, U.S. bombers based on Saipan attacked Tokyo in the first raid against the Japanese capital by land-based planes.
• In 1947, a group of writers, producers and directors that became known as the "Hollywood Ten" was cited for contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions about alleged Communist influence in the movie industry.
• In 1947, John Steinbeck's novel "The Pearl" was first published.
• In 1950, the musical "Guys and Dolls," based on the writings of Damon Runyon and featuring songs by Frank Loesser, opened on Broadway.
• In 1969, Apollo 12 splashed down safely in the Pacific.
• In 1971, hijacker "D.B. Cooper" parachuted from a Northwest Airlines 727 over Washington state with $200,000 in ransom. His fate remains unknown.
• In 1987, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed on terms to scrap shorter- and medium-range missiles.

Ten years ago:

• America Online confirmed it was buying Netscape Communications in a dramatic $4.21 billion deal.
• The first Palestine Airlines flight touched down at Gaza International Airport.
• A funeral was held in St. Petersburg for liberal Russian lawmaker Galina Starovoitova, who had been assassinated four days earlier.

Five years ago:

• President Bush signed a $401.3 billion defense authorization bill. The president then traveled to Fort Carson, Colo., where he paid tribute to the sacrifices of U.S. troops in Iraq.
• A jury in Virginia Beach, Va., sentenced John Allen Muhammad to death for the Washington-area sniper shootings.
• A fire at a Moscow dormitory for foreign students killed 43 people.
• Hall of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn died in Broken Arrow, Okla., at age 82.

One year ago:

• A fast-moving wildfire pushed by Santa Ana winds raced through the canyons and mountains of Malibu, Calif., for the second time in little more than a month, destroying some 50 homes.
• In Australia's election, conservative Prime Minister John Howard suffered defeat at the hands of Labor Party head Kevin Rudd.

Today's Birthdays:

• Country singer Johnny Carver is 68.
• Rock-and-roll drummer Pete Best is 67.
• Rock musician Donald "Duck" Dunn (Booker T. & the MG's) is 67.
• Actor-comedian Billy Connolly is 66.
• Former White House news secretary Marlin Fitzwater is 66.
• Motion Picture Association of America President Dan Glickman is 64.
• Singer Lee Michaels is 63.
• Actor Dwight Schultz is 61.
• Actor Stanley Livingston is 58.
• Rock musician Clem Burke (Blondie; The Romantics) is 53.
• Record producer Terry Lewis is 52.
• Actor Ruben Santiago-Hudson is 52.
• Actress Denise Crosby is 51.
• Actress Shae D'Lyn is 46.
• Rock musician John Squire (The Stone Roses) is 46.
• Rock musician Gary Stonadge (Big Audio) is 46.
• Actor Garret Dillahunt is 44.
• Rock musician Chad Taylor (Live) is 38.
• Actress Lola Glaudini is 37.
• Actor Colin Hanks is 31.
• Actress Katherine Heigl ("Grey's Anatomy") is 30.

Thought for Today:

"Between flattery and admiration there often flows a river of contempt."
Minna Antrim, American writer (1861-1950).

"Let's all be careful out there!"