NOVEMBER 19TH

Today is Wednesday, Nov. 19, the 324th day of 2008.
There are 42 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Nov. 19, 1863, President Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address as he dedicated a national cemetery at the site of the Civil War battlefield in Pennsylvania.

On this date:

• In 1794, the United States and Britain signed Jay's Treaty, which resolved some issues left over from the Revolutionary War.
• In 1831, the 20th president of the United States, James Garfield, was born in Orange Township, Ohio.
• In 1917, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was born in Allahabad.
• In 1919, the Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles by a vote of 55 in favor, 39 against, short of the two-thirds majority needed for ratification.
• In 1942, during World War II, Russian forces launched their winter offensive against the Germans along the Don front.
• In 1959, Ford Motor Co. announced it was halting production of the unpopular Edsel.
• In 1969, Apollo 12 astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean made the second manned landing on the moon.
• In 1977, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat became the first Arab leader to visit Israel.
• In 1984, some 500 people died in a firestorm set off by a series of explosions at a petroleum storage plant on the edge of Mexico City.
• In 1985, President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev met for the first time as they began their summit in Geneva.

Ten years ago:

• Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr laid out his evidence against President Clinton, then defended his investigation under withering questions from Democrats during a daylong appearance before the House Judiciary Committee.
• Movie director Alan Pakula died in a car accident on Long Island, N.Y., at age 70.

Five years ago:

• During his state visit to London, President Bush urged Europe to put aside bitter war disagreements with the United States and work to build democracy in Iraq or risk turning the nation over to terrorists.
• A U.S.-Canadian investigation found that the Aug. 14, 2003, blackout should have been contained by operators at Ohio's FirstEnergy Corporation; the investigators also faulted Midwest regional monitors.

One year ago:

• In Pakistan, a Supreme Court hand-picked by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf dismissed legal challenges to his continued rule, opening the way for him to serve another five-year term — solely as a civilian president.
• The FBI reported hate crime incidents rose nearly 8 percent in 2006.
• President Bush announced that Fran Townsend, the leading White House-based terrorism adviser, was stepping down.
• Milo Radulovich, the Air Force Reserve lieutenant championed by CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow when the military threatened to decommission him during the anti-communist crackdown of the 1950s, died in Vallejo, Calif., at age 81.
• Actor Dick Wilson, who played the fussy, mustachioed grocer who told customers, "Please, don't squeeze the Charmin," died in Woodland Hills, Calif., at age 91.

Today's Birthdays:

• Actor Alan Young is 89.
• Talk show host Larry King is 75.
• Talk show host Dick Cavett is 72.
• Broadcasting and sports mogul Ted Turner is 70.
• Singer Pete Moore (Smokey Robinson and the Miracles) is 69.
• Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, is 69.
• TV journalist Garrick Utley is 69.
• Actor Dan Haggerty is 67.
• Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson is 67.
• Fashion designer Calvin Klein is 66.
• Sportscaster Ahmad Rashad is 59.
• Actor Robert Beltran is 55.
• Actress Kathleen Quinlan is 54.
• Actress Glynnis O'Connor is 53.
• Newscaster Ann Curry is 52.
• Actress Allison Janney is 48.
• Rock musician Matt Sorum (Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver) is 48.
• Actress Meg Ryan is 47.
• Actress-director Jodie Foster is 46.
• Actress Terry Farrell is 45.
• Actor Jason Scott Lee is 42.
• Olympic gold medal runner Gail Devers is 42.
• Rock musician Travis McNabb (Better Than Ezra) is 39.
• Singer Tony Rich is 37.
• Country singer Jason Albert (Heartland) is 35.
• Country singer Billy Currington is 35.
• Dancer-choreographer Savion Glover is 35.
• Country musician Chad Jeffers is 33.
• Rhythm-and-blues singer Tamika Scott (Xscape) is 33.
• Rhythm-and-blues singer Lil' Mo is 31.

Thought for Today:

"The facts are always less than what really happened."
Nadine Gordimer, South African Nobel Prize-winning author.

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DAILY CHUCKLE 8-324

"Let's all be careful out there!"

NOVEMBER 18TH

oday is Tuesday, Nov. 18, the 323rd day of 2008.
There are 43 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Nov. 18, 1928, Walt Disney's first sound-synchronized animated cartoon, "Steamboat Willie" starring Mickey Mouse, premiered in New York.

On this date:

• In 1883, the United States and Canada adopted a system of Standard Time zones.
• In 1886, the 21st president of the United States, Chester A. Arthur, died in New York.
• In 1908, actress-comedian Imogene Coca was born in Philadelphia.
• In 1936, Germany and Italy recognized the Spanish government of Francisco Franco.
• In 1958, the cargo freighter SS Carl D. Bradley sank during a storm in Lake Michigan, claiming 33 of the 35 lives on board.
• In 1966, U.S. Roman Catholic bishops did away with the rule against eating meat on Fridays outside of Lent.
• In 1978, U.S. Rep. Leo J. Ryan, D-Calif., and four other people were killed in Jonestown, Guyana, by members of the Peoples Temple; the killings were followed by a night of mass murder and suicide by more than 900 cult members.
• In 1987, the congressional Iran-Contra committees issued their final report, saying President Reagan bore "ultimate responsibility" for wrongdoing by his aides.
• In 1988, President Reagan signed legislation creating a Cabinet-level drug czar and providing the death penalty for drug traffickers who kill.
• In 1999, 12 people were killed when a 59-foot stack of logs under construction for a bonfire at Texas A&M University collapsed.

Ten years ago:

• House Republicans endorsed U.S. Rep. Bob Livingston of Louisiana to be their next speaker, succeeding Newt Gingrich. (However, Livingston later resigned from the House before he could take over the speakership after admitting to marital infidelities.)

Five years ago:

• The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled, 4-3, that the state constitution guaranteed gay couples the right to marry.
• President Bush and his wife, Laura, arrived in Britain for a state visit.
• The U.N. refugee agency began pulling foreign staff out of Afghanistan after the killing of a French worker.
• A judge in Modesto, Calif., ordered Scott Peterson to stand trial for the killing of his wife, Laci, and their unborn son. (Peterson was later convicted and sentenced to death.)
• Barry Bonds won his record sixth National League MVP award.

One year ago:

• President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's government dismissed a last-ditch U.S. call to end emergency rule, a day after a visit by Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte.
• A methane blast ripped through a coal mine in eastern Ukraine, killing 101 miners.
• Chris Daughtry's band won favorite pop-rock album for "Daughtry," as well as breakthrough artist and adult contemporary artist at the American Music Awards.
• MTV Arabia, an Arab version of the pop-culture channel, began broadcasting.

Today's Birthdays:

• Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, is 85.
• Actor Brad Sullivan is 77.
• Actress Brenda Vaccaro is 69.
• Actress Linda Evans is 66.
• Country singer Jacky Ward is 62.
• Actor Jameson Parker is 61.
• Actress-singer Andrea Marcovicci is 60.
• Rock musician Herman Rarebell is 59.
• Singer Graham Parker is 58.
• Actor Delroy Lindo is 56.
• Comedian Kevin Nealon is 55.
• Actor Oscar Nunez is 50.
• Actress Elizabeth Perkins is 48.
• Singer Kim Wilde is 48.
• Rock musician Kirk Hammett (Metallica) is 46.
• Rock singer Tim DeLaughter is 43.
• Actor Owen Wilson is 40.
• Singer Duncan Sheik is 39.
• Actress Peta Wilson is 38.
• Actress Chloe Sevigny is 34.
• Country singer Jessi Alexander is 32.
• Actor Steven Pasquale is 32.
• Rapper Fabolous is 29.
• Actor Nate Parker is 29.
• Rapper Mike Jones is 28.
• Actor Nathan Kress is 16.

Thought for Today:

"It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in argument."
William G. McAdoo, American government official (1863-1941).

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DAILY CHUCKLE 8-323

"Let's all be careful out there!"

NOVEMBER 17TH

Today is Monday, Nov. 17, the 322nd day of 2008.
There are 44 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Nov. 17, 1968, the NBC television network outraged football fans by cutting away from the closing minutes of a New York Jets-Oakland Raiders game to begin a special presentation of "Heidi" on schedule. (Home viewers were prevented from seeing the Raiders come from behind to beat the Jets, 43-32.)

On this date:

• In 1558, Elizabeth I acceded to the English throne upon the death of Queen Mary.
• In 1800, Congress held its first session in Washington in the partially completed Capitol building.
• In 1869, the Suez Canal opened in Egypt.
• In 1917, sculptor Auguste Rodin died in Meudon, France, at age 77.
• In 1934, Lyndon Baines Johnson married Claudia Alta Taylor, better known as "Lady Bird," in San Antonio, Texas.
• In 1962, Washington's Dulles International Airport was dedicated by President Kennedy.
• In 1970, the Soviet Union landed an unmanned, remote-controlled vehicle on the moon, the Lunokhod 1.
• In 1973, President Nixon told Associated Press managing editors meeting in Orlando, Fla.: "People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook."
• In 1987, a federal jury in Denver convicted two neo-Nazis and acquitted two others of civil rights violations in the 1984 slaying of radio talk show host Alan Berg.
• In 1997, 62 people, most of them foreign tourists, were killed when six militants opened fire at the Temple of Hatshepsut in Luxor, Egypt; the attackers were killed by police.

Ten years ago:

• The public got to hear Monica Lewinsky's voice for the first time as the House Judiciary Committee released 22 hours of tape recordings secretly made by Linda Tripp.
• Israel's parliament overwhelmingly approved the Wye River land-for-peace accord with the Palestinians.
• Actress Esther Rolle died in Culver City, Calif., at age 78.

Five years ago:

• John Allen Muhammad was convicted of two counts of capital murder in the Washington-area sniper shootings.
• Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in as the 38th governor of California.
• Rush Limbaugh returned to radio after five weeks of rehabilitation for a painkiller addiction.
• Texas Rangers shortstop Alex Rodriguez won the American League Most Valuable Player award.

One year ago:

• U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte delivered a blunt message to Pakistan's military ruler, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, telling him emergency rule had to be lifted and his opponents freed ahead of elections.
• A Nobel-winning U.N. scientific panel said in a landmark report that the Earth was hurtling toward a warmer climate at a quickening pace.

Today's Birthdays:

• Rock musician Gerry McGee (The Ventures) is 71.
• Singer Gordon Lightfoot is 70.
• Movie director Martin Scorsese is 66.
• Actress Lauren Hutton is 65.
• Actor-director Danny DeVito is 64.
• "Saturday Night Live" producer Lorne Michaels is 64.
  
• Baseball Hall-of-Famer Tom Seaver is 64.
• Movie director Roland Joffe is 63.
• Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean is 60.
• Actor Stephen Root is 57.
• Rock musician Jim Babjak (The Smithereens) is 51.
• Actress Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is 50.
• Actor William Moses is 49.
• Entertainer RuPaul is 48.
• Actor Dylan Walsh is 45.
• Actress Sophie Marceau is 42.
• Actress-model Daisy Fuentes is 42.
• Rhythm-and-blues singer Ronnie DeVoe (New Edition; Bell Biv DeVoe) is 41.
• Rock musician Ben Wilson (Blues Traveler) is 41.
• Actress Leslie Bibb is 35.
• Actor Brandon Call is 32.
• Country singer Aaron Lines is 31.
• Actress Rachel McAdams is 30.
• Rock musician Isaac Hanson (Hanson) is 28.
• Actor Justin Cooper is 20.
• Actress Raquel Castro is 14.

Thought for Today:

"There's one thing that keeps surprising you about stormy old friends after they die — their silence."
Ben Hecht, American author and screenwriter (1893-1964).

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DAILY CHUCKLE 8-322

"Let's all be careful out there!"