Paradise Driver

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Today is Tuesday, March 16th.

The 76th day of 2004.

There are 290 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On March 16, 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel "The Scarlet Letter" was first published.



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On this date:



In 1190, The Crusaders began the massacre of Jews in York, England.



In 1516, Louis II, aged nine, succeeds as king of Bohemia and Hungary on the death of Ladislas II.



In 1621, The first Indian appeared in Plymouth, MA.



In 1751, James Madison, fourth president of the United States, was born in Port Conway, Va.



In 1802, Congress authorized the establishment of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.



In 1830, London's re-organised police force (Scotland Yard) forms



In 1830, The New York Stock Exchange experiences its slowest day ever, with just thirty-one shares being traded.



In 1884, John Montgomery becomes the first man to fly a glider when he traveled approximately 600 feet across a California valley.



In 1906, Comedian and "King of the one-liners" ("take my wife, please.") Henny Youngman was born.



In 1912, Former First Lady Patricia "Pat" Nixon was born (nee: Thelma Catherine Ryan) in Ely, NV. She died on June 22, 1993.



In 1915, the Federal Trade Commission was organized.



In 1926, Robert G. Goddard, for whom a NASA space center is named, tested the first space-type liquid-fueled rocket. The rocket traveled for 2 1/2 seconds, covering 184 feet at a speed of 60 mph and attaining a maximum height of 41 feet.



In 1935, Adolf Hitler scrapped the Treaty of Versailles.



In 1942, U.S. President Roosevelt ordered men between the ages of 45 and 64 to register for non-military duty.



In 1945, during World War II, Iwo Jima was declared secured by the Allies.



In 1964, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson submitted a $1 billion "war on poverty" program to Congress.



In 1966, United States astronauts Neil Armstrong and David Scott, aboard Gemini 8, achieve the first linkup of a crewed spacecraft with another object, an Agena rocket.



In 1968, during the Vietnam War, the My Lai massacre was carried out by U.S. troops under the command of Lt. William L. Calley Jr.



In 1971, Simon and Garfunkel win the Grammy Award for Best Album for Bridge Over Troubled Water and the Grammy for Best Record for the title song.



In 1978, Italian politician Aldo Moro was kidnapped by left-wing urban guerrillas, who later murdered him.



In 1984, William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Beirut, was kidnapped by gunmen; he died in captivity.



In 1985, Terry Anderson, chief Middle East correspondent for The Associated Press, was abducted in Beirut; he was released in December 1991.



In 1985, "A Chorus Line" played its 4,000th performance.



In 1987, Bostonia magazine printed an English translation of Albert Einstein’s last high school report card. He got an "A" in math but a "D" in french.



In 1988, Indictments are issued for Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North and Vice Admiral John Poindexter of the National Security Council for their involvement in the Iran-Contra affair.



In 1991, U.S. skaters Kristi Yamaguchi, Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan swept the World Figure Skating Championships in Munich, Germany.



In 1996, In his weekly radio address, President Clinton accused the Republican-controlled House of bowing to "the back-alley whispers of the gun lobby" by gutting anti-terrorism legislation he'd submitted in response to the Oklahoma City bombing.



Ten years ago (1994):



Figure skater Tonya Harding pleaded guilty in Portland, Ore., to conspiracy to hinder prosecution for covering up the attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan, avoiding jail but drawing a $100,000 fine.



Russia agreed to phase out production of weapons-grade plutonium.



Five years ago (1999):



The Dow Jones industrial average briefly topped the 10,000 level, reaching a high of 10,001.78 before retreating.



The entire 20-member European Commission resigned following publication of a critical report on sloppy management and cronyism.



The Nebraska Cornhuskers beat Chicago State 50-3 in an NCAA baseball game.



One year ago (2003):



Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein warned that if Iraq were attacked, it would take the war anywhere in the world "wherever there is sky, land or water."



President Bush gave the United Nations one more day to find a diplomatic solution to the standoff.



Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old American college student in Gaza to protest Israel operations, was killed when she was run over by a bulldozer while trying to block troops from demolishing a Palestinian home.



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Today's Birthdays:



Comedian-director Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch) is 78.



Movie director Bernardo Bertolucci is 63.



Game show host Chuck Woolery is 63.



Singer-songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker is 62.



Country singer Robin Williams is 57.



Actor Erik Estrada is 55.



Actor Victor Garber is 55.



Actress Kate Nelligan is 53.



Country singer Ray Benson (Asleep at the Wheel) is 53.



Rock singer-musician Nancy Wilson (Heart) is 50.



Golfer Hollis Stacy is 50.



Actress Isabelle Huppert is 49.



Rapper Flavor Flav (Public Enemy) is 45.



Rock musician Jimmy DeGrasso (Megadeth) is 41.



Folk singer Patty Griffin is 40.



Actress Lauren Graham is 37.



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Thought for Today:

"No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true." -

- Nathaniel Hawthorne, American author (1804-1864), in "The Scarlet Letter."

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