OCTOBER 22ND

Today is Wednesday, Oct. 22, the 296th day of 2008.
There are 70 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Oct. 22, 1962, President Kennedy announced a quarantine of all offensive military equipment shipped to Cuba, following the discovery of Soviet-built missile bases on the island.

On this date:

• In 1746, Princeton University was first chartered as the College of New Jersey.
• In 1797, French balloonist Andre-Jacques Garnerin made the first parachute descent, landing safely from a height of about 3,000 feet over Paris.
• In 1836, Sam Houston was inaugurated as the first constitutionally elected president of the Republic of Texas.
• In 1883, the original Metropolitan Opera House in New York held its grand opening with a performance of Gounod's "Faust."
• In 1928, Republican presidential nominee Herbert Hoover spoke of the "American system of rugged individualism" in a speech at New York's Madison Square Garden.
• In 1934, bank robber Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd was shot to death by federal agents at a farm in East Liverpool, Ohio.
• In 1968, Apollo 7 returned safely, splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean.
• In 1979, the U.S. government allowed the deposed Shah of Iran to travel to New York for medical treatment — a decision that precipitated the Iran hostage crisis.
• In 1981, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization was decertified by the federal government for its strike the previous August.
• In 1986, President Reagan signed into law sweeping tax-overhaul legislation.

Ten years ago:

• The government advised parents to remove the batteries from their kids' "Power Wheels" cars and trucks, made by Fisher-Price, because of faulty wiring that could cause them to erupt into flames.

Five years ago:

• President Bush defended U.S. policy from the Mideast to Iraq during a frank exchange with moderate Muslim leaders during a stopover in Bali, Indonesia.
• The Florida Marlins edged the New York Yankees 4-3 in 12 innings to even the World Series at two games each.
• IRL racer Tony Renna, 26, died after crashing at nearly 220 mph during a test drive at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

One year ago:

• A federal judge in Dallas declared a mistrial for former leaders of the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation, a Muslim charity accused of funding terrorism.
• China's Communist Party gave President Hu Jintao a second five-year term.
• Marie Osmond fainted during ABC's live broadcast of "Dancing With the Stars."

Today's Birthdays:

• Actress Joan Fontaine is 91.
• Nobel Prize-winning author Doris Lessing is 89.
• Actor Christopher Lloyd is 70.
• Actor Derek Jacobi is 70.
• Actor Tony Roberts is 69.
• Actress Annette Funicello is 66.
• Movie director Jan de Bont is 65.
• Actress Catherine Deneuve is 65.
• Rock musician Leslie West (Mountain) is 63.
• Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is 61.
• Actor Jeff Goldblum is 56.
• Movie director Bill Condon is 53.
• Actor Luis Guzman is 51.
• Actor-writer-producer Todd Graff is 49.
• Rock musician Cris Kirkwood is 48.
• Christian singer TobyMac is 44.
• Singer-songwriter John Wesley Harding is 43.
• Actress Valeria Golino is 42.
• Comedian Carlos Mencia is 41.
• Country singer Shelby Lynne is 40.
• Reggae rapper Shaggy is 40.
• Rapper Tracey Lee is 38.
• Actor Michael Fishman is 27.
• Talk show host Michael Essany is 26.
• Rock musician Zac Hanson (Hanson) is 23.
• Actor Jonathan Lipnicki is 18.
• Actress Sofia Vassilieva is 16.

Thought for Today:

"Happiness is not a horse; you cannot harness it."
Russian proverb.

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DAILY CHUCKLE 8-296

"Let's all be careful out there!"

OCTOBER 21ST

Today is Tuesday, Oct. 21, the 295th day of 2008.
There are 71 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Oct. 21, 1805, a British fleet commanded by Admiral Horatio Nelson defeated a French-Spanish fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar; Nelson, however, was killed.

On this date:

• In 1797, the U.S. Navy frigate Constitution, also known as "Old Ironsides," was christened in Boston's harbor.
• In 1879, Thomas Edison perfected a workable electric light at his laboratory in Menlo Park, N.J.
• In 1917, members of the 1st Division of the U.S. Army training in Luneville, France, became the first Americans to see action on the front lines of World War I.
• In 1944, during World War II, U.S. troops captured the German city of Aachen.
• In 1959, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York opened to the public.
• In 1960, Democrat John F. Kennedy and Republican Richard M. Nixon clashed in their fourth and final presidential debate in New York.
• In 1966, more than 140 people, mostly children, were killed when a coal waste landslide engulfed a school and several houses in Aberfan, Wales.
• In 1967, tens of thousands of Vietnam War protesters began two days of demonstrations in Washington, D.C.
• In 1967, the Israeli destroyer INS Eilat was sunk by Egyptian missile boats near Port Said; 47 Israeli crew members were lost.
• In 1971, President Nixon nominated Lewis F. Powell and William H. Rehnquist to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Ten years ago:

• President Clinton signed a $520 billion spending package that was shipped to him just before the 105th Congress slipped into history.
• A radical environmental group, the Earth Liberation Front, claimed responsibility for fires that caused $12 million in damage at the nation's busiest ski resort in Vail, Colo.
• Dr. Jane Henney was confirmed as FDA commissioner.
• The New York Yankees swept the San Diego Padres, winning Game 4 of the World Series, 3-0.

Five years ago:

• Invoking a hastily passed law, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush ordered a feeding tube reinserted into Terry Schiavo, a brain-damaged woman at the center of a bitter right-to-die battle.
• The Senate voted to ban the practice that critics call partial-birth abortion.
• The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a resolution demanding that Israel tear down a barrier jutting into the West Bank.
• Boston antibusing activist Louise Day Hicks died at age 87.
• Actor Fred Berry died in Los Angeles at age 52.
• The New York Yankees pulled away from the Florida Marlins for a 6-1 victory and a 2-1 World Series lead.

One year ago:

• Wildfires driven by powerful Santa Ana winds burned several homes near San Diego and in Malibu, Calif.
• Vice President Dick Cheney said in a speech the United States and other nations would not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon.
• The opposition Civic Platform party ousted Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski's government in Poland's parliamentary elections.
• The Boston Red Sox won the American League championship in Game 7 of their series with the Cleveland Indians, 11-2.

Today's Birthdays:

• Actress Joyce Randolph is 83.
• Rock singer Manfred Mann is 68.
• Musician Steve Cropper (Booker T. & the MG's) is 67.
• Singer Elvin Bishop is 66.
• TV's Judge Judy Sheindlin is 66.
• Actor Everett McGill is 63.
• Musician Lee Loughnane (Chicago) is 62.
• Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is 59.
• Musician Charlotte Caffey (The Go-Go's) is 55.
• Actress-author Carrie Fisher is 52.
• Singer Julian Cope is 51.
• Rock musician Steve Lukather (Toto) is 51.
• Actor Ken Watanabe is 49.
• Rock musician Che Colovita Lemon is 38.
• Rock singer-musician Nick Oliveri (Mondo Generator) is 37.
• Christian rock musician Charlie Lowell (Jars of Clay) is 35.
• Actor Jeremy Miller is 32.
• Actor Will Estes is 30.
• Actress Kim Kardashian is 28.
• Actor Matt Dallas is 26.

Thought for Today:

"There are three things which the public will always clamor for, sooner or later: namely, Novelty, novelty, novelty."
Thomas Hood, British poet (1799-1845).

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DAILY CHUCKLE 8-295

"Let's all be careful out there!"