Paradise Driver

Thursday, January 01, 2009

JANUARY 1ST

Today is Thursday, Jan. 1, the first day of 2009.
There are 364 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

Fifty years ago, on Jan. 1, 1959, Fidel Castro and his revolutionaries overthrew Cuban leader Fulgencio Batista, who fled to the Dominican Republic.

On this date:

In 1808, a law prohibiting the importation of slaves into the United States went into effect.
In 1863, President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that slaves in rebel states were free.
In 1890, the first Tournament of Roses was held in Pasadena, Calif.
In 1892, the Ellis Island Immigrant Station in New York formally opened.
In 1898, New York City was consolidated into five boroughs.
In 1909, five-term Republican Sen. Barry Goldwater was born in Phoenix, Arizona Territory.
In 1953, country singer Hank Williams Sr., 29, while being driven to a concert date in Canton, Ohio, was discovered dead in the back seat of his car during a stop in Oak Hill, W.Va.
In 1979, the United States and China held celebrations in Washington and Beijing to mark the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
In 1984, the breakup of AT&T took place as the telecommunications giant was divested of its 22 Bell System companies under terms of an antitrust agreement.
In 1994, the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect.

Ten years ago:

The euro, the new single currency of 11 European countries (later 15), officially came into existence with the start of the New Year. (The euro became legal tender on this date in 2002.)
Cuban President Fidel Castro, marking the 40th anniversary of his rise to power, portrayed his socialist nation as a defender of humanity against rapacious capitalism.

Five years ago:

Pakistan's Gen. Pervez Musharraf won a vote of confidence validating his five-year term as president.
The University of Southern California defeated the University of Michigan, 28-14, in the Rose Bowl.

One year ago:

Revelers celebrated the new year around the world; a ball dropped for the 100th year in New York's Times Square.
Violence claimed scores of lives in Kenya, Iraq and Afghanistan.
U.S. diplomat John Granville and his driver were shot to death by Sudanese gunmen in Khartoum.
New no-smoking rules went into effect in France, prohibiting people from lighting up in cafes, bars and restaurants.
Cyprus and Malta adopted the euro.
The Georgia Bulldogs romped past Hawaii 41-10 at the Sugar Bowl, ending the Warriors' perfect season.

Today's Birthdays:

Author J.D. Salinger is 90.
Former Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., is 87.
Actor Ty Hardin is 79.
Actor Frank Langella is 71.
Rock singer-musician Country Joe McDonald is 67.
Writer-comedian Don Novello is 66.
Actor Rick Hurst is 63.
Country singer Steve Ripley (The Tractors) is 59.
Rapper Grandmaster Flash is 51.
Actress Ren Woods is 51.
Actress Dedee Pfeiffer is 45.
Actress Embeth Davidtz is 43.
Country singer Brian Flynn (Flynnville Train) is 43.
Actor Morris Chestnut is 40.
Actor Verne Troyer is 40.

Thought for Today:

"Time has no divisions to mark its passage, there is never a thunderstorm or blare of trumpets to announce the beginning of a new month or year. Even when a new century begins it is only we mortals who ring bells and fire off pistols." -
Thomas Mann, German author (1875-1955).

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DAILY CHUCKLE 9-001

"Let's all be careful out there!"

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

DECEMBER 31ST

Today is Wednesday, Dec. 31, the 366th and final day of 2008.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Dec. 31, 1879, Thomas Edison first publicly demonstrated his electric incandescent light in Menlo Park, N.J.
On this date:
In 1775, the British repulsed an attack by Continental Army generals Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold at Quebec; Montgomery was killed.
In 1857, Britain's Queen Victoria decided to make Ottawa the capital of Canada.
In 1877, President Rutherford B. Hayes and his wife, Lucy, celebrated their silver anniversary (actually, a day late) by re-enacting their wedding ceremony in the White House.
In 1908, Holocaust survivor and Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal was born in Buczacs in what was then Austria-Hungary.
In 1946, President Harry S. Truman officially proclaimed the end of hostilities in World War II.
In 1974, private U.S. citizens were allowed to buy and own gold for the first time in more than 40 years.
In 1978, Taiwanese diplomats struck their colors for the final time from the embassy flagpole in Washington, marking the end of diplomatic relations with the U.S.
In 1985, singer Rick Nelson, 45, and six other people were killed when fire broke out aboard a DC-3 that was taking the group to a New Year's Eve performance in Dallas.
In 1986, 97 people were killed when fire broke out in the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico. (Three hotel workers later pleaded guilty in connection with the blaze.)
In 1997, Michael Kennedy, the 39-year-old son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, was killed in a skiing accident on Aspen Mountain in Colorado.

Ten years ago:

Europe's leaders proclaimed a new era as 11 nations merged currencies to create the euro, a shared money they said would boost business, underpin unity and strengthen their role in world affairs.

Five years ago:

A car bomb ripped through a crowded restaurant hosting a New Year's Eve party in Baghdad, killing eight Iraqis.

One year ago:

President George W. Bush signed legislation to allow state and local governments to cut investment ties with Sudan because of the violence in Darfur.
Sara Jane Moore, who took a shot at President Gerald R. Ford in San Francisco in 1975, was paroled after 32 years behind bars.

Today's Birthdays:

TV producer George Schlatter is 79.
Actor Sir Anthony Hopkins is 71.
Actor Tim Considine ("My Three Sons") is 68.
Actress Sarah Miles is 67.
Rock musician Andy Summers is 66.
Actor Ben Kingsley is 65.
Rock musician Peter Quaife (The Kinks) is 65.
Producer-director Taylor Hackford is 64.
Actor Tim Matheson is 61.
Pop singer Burton Cummings (The Guess Who) is 61.
Singer Donna Summer is 60.
Actor Joe Dallesandro is 60.
Rock musician Tom Hamilton (Aerosmith) is 57.
Actor James Remar is 55.
Actress Bebe Neuwirth is 50.
Actor Val Kilmer is 49.
Singer Paul Westerberg is 49.
Actor Don Diamont is 46.
Rock musician Ric Ivanisevich (Oleander) is 46.
Rock musician Scott Ian (Anthrax) is 45.
Actress Gong Li is 43.
Author Nicholas Sparks is 43.
Pop singer Joe McIntyre is 36.
Rock musician Mikko Siren (Apocalyptica) is 33.
Rock musician Bob Bryar (My Chemical Romance) is 29.

Thought for Today:

"In masks outrageous and austere The years go by in single file; But none has merited my fear, And none has quite escaped my smile."
Elinor Wylie, American author (1885-1928).

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DAILY CHUCKLE 8-366

"Let's all be careful out there!"

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

DECEMBER 30TH

Today is Tuesday, Dec. 30, the 365th day of 2008.
There is one day left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Dec. 30, 1853, the United States and Mexico signed a treaty under which the U.S. agreed to buy some 45,000 square miles of land from Mexico for $10 million in a deal known as the Gadsden Purchase. (The area is located in present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico.)

On this date:

In 1813, the British burned Buffalo, N.Y., during the War of 1812.
In 1903, about 600 people died when fire broke out at the recently opened Iroquois Theater in Chicago.
In 1907, the Mills Commission issued its final report concluding that Abner Doubleday invented baseball, a finding that few sports historians embrace.
In 1922, Vladimir I. Lenin proclaimed the establishment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
In 1936, the United Auto Workers union staged its first "sit-down" strike, at the Fisher Body Plant No. 1 in Flint, Mich.
In 1940, California's first freeway, the Arroyo Seco Parkway connecting Los Angeles and Pasadena, was officially opened.
In 1948, the Cole Porter musical "Kiss Me, Kate" opened on Broadway.
In 1972, the United States halted its heavy bombing of North Vietnam.
In 1994, a gunman walked into a pair of suburban Boston abortion clinics and opened fire, killing two employees and wounding five other people. (John C. Salvi III was later convicted of murder; he died in prison, an apparent suicide.)
In 2006, Iraqis awoke to news that Saddam Hussein had been hanged; victims of his three decades of autocratic rule took to the streets to celebrate.

Ten years ago:

Weak but radiant with pride, Nkem Chukwu, the mother of the Houston octuplets, went home from the hospital.

Five years ago:

The Bush administration announced it was banning the sale of ephedra, and urged consumers to immediately stop using the herbal stimulant linked to 155 deaths and dozens of heart attacks and strokes.
Author John Gregory Dunne died in New York City at age 71.

One year ago:

Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner of an election that opponents and observers alleged was rigged.
The 19-year-old son of assassinated opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, Bilawal Zardari, was named symbolic leader of her Pakistan Peoples Party, while Bhutto's widower took effective control.

Today's Birthdays: