DAILY CHUCKLE 9-016

"Let's all be careful out there!"

JANUARY 15TH

Today is Thursday, Jan. 15, the 15th day of 2009.
There are 350 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Jan. 15, 1929, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta.

On this date:

• In 1559, England's Queen Elizabeth I was crowned in Westminster Abbey.
• In 1777, the people of New Connecticut declared their independence. (The tiny republic later became the state of Vermont.)
• In 1844, the University of Notre Dame received its charter from the state of Indiana.
• In 1909, jazz drummer and composer Gene Krupa was born in Chicago.
• In 1942, Jawaharlal Nehru was named to succeed Mohandas K. Gandhi as head of India's Congress Party.
• In 1943, work was completed on the Pentagon, headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense.
• In 1947, the mutilated remains of Elizabeth Short, the 22-year-old aspiring actress nicknamed the "Black Dahlia," were found in a vacant Los Angeles lot; her slaying remains unsolved.
• In 1967, the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League defeated the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League 35-10 in the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game, retroactively known as Super Bowl I.
• In 1973, President Richard M. Nixon announced the suspension of all U.S. offensive action in North Vietnam, citing progress in peace negotiations.
• In 1989, NATO, the Warsaw Pact and 12 other European countries adopted a human rights and security agreement in Vienna, Austria.

Ten years ago:

• House prosecutors prodded senators at President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial to summon Monica Lewinsky and others for testimony and "invite the president" to appear as well.

Five years ago:

• The NASA Spirit rover rolled onto the surface of Mars for the first time since the vehicle bounced to a landing nearly two weeks earlier.
• Fourteen-year-old golfer Michelle Wie shot a 2-over 72 in the first round at the PGA Sony Open in Honolulu.
• "First Wives Club" novelist Olivia Goldsmith died in New York at age 54.

One year ago:

• Mitt Romney scored his first major primary victory in his native Michigan.
• During a visit to Saudi Arabia, President George W. Bush warned that surging oil prices threatened the U.S. economy and he urged OPEC nations to boost their output.
• Actor Brad Renfro, who as a youngster had played the title role in "The Client," was found dead in his Los Angeles home; he was 25.

Today's Birthdays:

• Actress Margaret O'Brien is 72.
• Singer Don Van Vliet (aka "Captain Beefheart") is 68.
• Actress Andrea Martin is 62.
• Actor-director Mario Van Peebles is 52.
• Actor James Nesbitt is 44.
• Singer Lisa Lisa (Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam) is 42.
• Actor Chad Lowe is 41.
• Actress Regina King is 38.
• Actor Eddie Cahill is 31.
• Rapper/reggaeton artist Pitbull is 28.

Thought for Today:

"One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means."
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968).

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DAILY CHUCKLE 9-015

"Let's all be careful out there!"

JANUARY 14TH

Today is Wednesday, Jan. 14, the 14th day of 2009.
There are 351 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Jan. 14, 1969, 27 people aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise were killed when a rocket warhead exploded, setting off a fire and additional explosions that ripped through the ship off Hawaii.

On this date:

• In 1639, the first constitution of Connecticut — the "Fundamental Orders" — was adopted.
• In 1784, the United States ratified a peace treaty with England, ending the Revolutionary War.
• In 1858, French emperor Napoleon III escaped an attempt on his life.
• In 1900, Puccini's opera "Tosca" had its world premiere in Rome.
• In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and French General Charles de Gaulle opened a wartime conference in Casablanca.
• In 1952, NBC's "Today" show premiered, with Dave Garroway as the host, or "communicator," as he was officially known.
• In 1953, Josip Broz Tito was elected president of Yugoslavia by the country's Parliament.
• In 1963, George C. Wallace was sworn in as governor of Alabama with a pledge of "segregation forever."
• In 1970, Diana Ross and the Supremes performed their last concert together, at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas.
• In 1993, talk show host David Letterman announced he was moving from NBC to CBS.

Ten years ago:

• Before a jury of 100 silent senators, House prosecutors demanded President Bill Clinton's removal from office, charging he had "piled perjury upon perjury" and obstructed justice.

Five years ago:

• Former Enron finance chief Andrew Fastow pleaded guilty to conspiracy as he accepted a 10-year prison sentence.
• J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. struck a deal to buy Bank One Corp. for $58 billion.
• A female Palestinian suicide bomber killed three Israeli soldiers and a private security guard at a Gaza crossing.
• U.N. officials announced that Libya had ratified the nuclear test ban treaty.
• President George W. Bush unveiled a plan to send astronauts to the moon, Mars and beyond.
• Death claimed actress Uta Hagen in New York at age 84 and actor Ron O'Neal in Los Angeles at age 66.

One year ago:

• Republican Bobby Jindal, the first elected Indian-American governor in the United States, took office in Louisiana.
• Alvaro Colom was sworn in as Guatemala's first leftist president in more than 50 years.

Today's Birthdays:

• CBS commentator Andy Rooney is 90.
• Blues singer Clarence Carter is 73.
• Country singer Billie Jo Spears is 72.
• Singer Jack Jones is 71.
• Singer-songwriter Allen Toussaint is 71.
• NAACP Chairman Julian Bond is 69.
• Actress Faye Dunaway is 68.
• Actress Holland Taylor is 66.
• Actor Carl Weathers is 61.
• Singer-producer T-Bone Burnett is 61.
• Movie writer-director Lawrence Kasdan is 60.
• Rock singer Geoff Tate (Queensryche) is 50.
• Movie writer-director Steven Soderbergh is 46.
• Actor Mark Addy is 45.
• Fox News Channel anchorman Shepard Smith is 45.
• Rapper Slick Rick is 44.
• Actor Dan Schneider is 43.
• Actress Emily Watson is 42.
• Actor-comedian Tom Rhodes is 42.
• Rock musician Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne Band) is 42.
• Rapper-actor LL Cool J is 41.
• Actor Jason Bateman is 40.
• Rock singer-musician Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) is 40.
• Actress Jordan Ladd is 34.
• Retro-soul singer-songwriter Marc Broussard is 27.
• Rock singer-musician Caleb Followill (Kings of Leon) is 27.
• Rock musician Joe Guese (The Click Five) is 26.

Thought for Today:

"The most exciting happiness is the happiness generated by forces beyond your control."
Ogden Nash, American author-humorist (1902-1971).

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DAILY CHUCKLE 9-014

"Let's all be careful out there!"

JANUARY 13TH

Today is Tuesday, Jan. 13, the 13th day of 2009.
There are 352 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Jan. 13, 1794, President George Washington approved a measure adding two stars and two stripes to the American flag, following the admission of Vermont and Kentucky to the union. (The number of stripes was later reduced to the original 13.)

On this date:

• In 1733, James Oglethorpe and some 120 English colonists arrived at Charleston, S.C., while en route to settle in present-day Georgia.
• In 1864, composer Stephen Foster died in New York at age 37.
• In 1898, Emile Zola's famous defense of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, "J'accuse," was published in Paris.
• In 1941, novelist and poet James Joyce died in Zurich, Switzerland, less than a month before his 59th birthday.
• In 1945, during World War II, Soviet forces began a huge, successful offensive against the Germans in Eastern Europe.
• In 1962, comedian Ernie Kovacs died in a car crash in west Los Angeles 10 days before his 43rd birthday.
• In 1966, Robert C. Weaver was named Secretary of Housing and Urban Development by President Lyndon B. Johnson; Weaver became the first black Cabinet member.
• In 1978, former Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey died in Waverly, Minn., at age 66.
• In 1982, an Air Florida 737 crashed into Washington, D.C.'s 14th Street Bridge after takeoff during a snowstorm and fell into the Potomac River, killing 78 people.
• In 1990, L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia became the nation's first elected black governor as he took the oath of office in Richmond.

Ten years ago:

• President Bill Clinton's legal team dispatched a formal trial brief to the Senate, arguing that neither "fact or law" warranted his removal from office; House officials sent the Senate all public evidence in the case.
• Michael Jordan announced his second retirement from the Chicago Bulls.

Five years ago:

• Hostile fire brought down a U.S. Army Apache attack helicopter in Iraq, but the two crew members escaped injury.
• A domestic airliner crashed in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, killing all 37 people aboard.
• Harold Shipman, the British doctor blamed for killing more than 200 mostly elderly patients, was found hanged in his prison cell, an apparent suicide.

One year ago:

• President George W. Bush, visiting the United Arab Emirates, gently urged authoritarian Arab allies to satisfy frustrated desires for democracy in the Mideast and saved his harshest criticism for Iran, branding it "the world's leading state-sponsor of terror."
• The Golden Globes were announced in a dry, news conference-style ceremony, devoid of stars because of the Hollywood writers' strike; "Atonement" won best motion picture drama, while "Mad Men" was named best dramatic TV series.

Today's Birthdays:

• Country singer Liz Anderson is 79.
• Actress Frances Sternhagen is 79.
• Comedian Rip Taylor is 75.
• Actor Billy Gray is 71.
• Actor Richard Moll is 66.
• Rock musician Trevor Rabin is 55.
• Rhythm-and-blues musician Fred White is 54.
• Actor Kevin Anderson is 49.
• Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus is 48.
• Rock singer Graham "Suggs" McPherson (Madness) is 48.
• Country singer Trace Adkins is 47.
• Actress Penelope Ann Miller is 45.
• Actor Patrick Dempsey is 43.
• Actress Traci Bingham is 41.
• Actor Keith Coogan is 39.
• Actress Nicole Eggert is 37.
• Actor Orlando Bloom is 32.

Thought for Today:

"Life is a dream for the wise, a game for the fool, a comedy for the rich, a tragedy for the poor."
Sholom Aleichem, Russian author-humorist (1859-1916).

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DAILY CHUCKLE 9-013

"Let's all be careful out there!"