Paradise Driver

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Today is Thursday, April 29th.

The 120th day of 2004.

There are 246 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On April 29, 1945, during World War II, American soldiers liberated the Dachau concentration camp; that same day, Adolf Hitler married Eva Braun and designated Admiral Karl Doenitz his successor.



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On this date:



In 1289, Qala'un, the Sultan of Egypt, captured Tripoli.



In 1429, Joan of Arc entered the besieged city of Orleans to lead a victory over the English.



In 1707, English/Scottish parliament accept Act of Union, form Great Britain



In 1852, First edition of Peter Roget's Thesaurus published.



In 1861, Maryland's House of Delegates voted against seceding from the Union.



In 1862, New Orleans fell to Union forces during the Civil War.



In 1863, Publisher, Editor, Journalist William Randolph Hearst was born in San Francisco, CA. He was a twin. He died August 14, 1951 in Beverly Hills, CA at the age of 88.



In 1885, Women were admitted for the first time to examinations at England's Oxford University.



In 1899, Jazz Musician, Jazz Pianist, Bandleader, Composer, Arranger Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was born in Washington, DC. He died May 24, 1974 at the age of75.



In 1909, TV/Movie/Stage Actor Tom Ewell (S. Yewell Tompkins) was born in Owensboro, KY. He died September 12, 1994 at the age of 85.



In 1916, The Easter Rising in Dublin collapsed as Irish nationalists surrendered to British authorities.



In 1928, Turkey announced a 15-year plan to change its language from Arabic to English.



In 1939, The Whitestone bridge connecting the Bronx & Queens opened.



In 1946, 28 former Japanese leaders were indicted as war criminals.



In 1957, The first military nuclear power plant was dedicated in Fort Belvoir, Virginia.



In 1960, Dick Clark told the U.S. House of Representatives that he had never taken payola for the records he featured on his show "American Bandstand."



In 1961, ABC's "Wide World of Sports", debuts



In 1971, Salyut 1, the world's First space station, was launched into earth orbit



In 1974, President Nixon announced he was releasing edited transcripts of some secretly made White House tape recordings related to Watergate.



In 1975, The U.S. embassy in Vietnam was evacuated as North Vietnamese forces fought their way into Saigon.



In 1979, The final episode of "Battlestar Galactica" was aired on ABC.



In 1980, British-born director Alfred Hitchcock, best known for psychological suspense films such as Psycho, dies at 80.



In 1983, Harold Washington was sworn in as the first black mayor of Chicago.



In 1984, Britain announces that its administration of Hong Kong will cease in 1997, when it will return the colony to China.



In 1986, The Soviet Union appealed to the West for help in fighting a reactor fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant that had sent a radioactive cloud across northeastern Europe.



In 1990, Wrecking cranes began tearing down the section of the Berlin Wall surrounding the Brandenburg Gate, the wall's most famous section.



In 1992, Deadly rioting erupted in Los Angeles after a jury in Simi Valley, Calif., acquitted four Los Angeles police officers of almost all state charges in the videotaped beating of Rodney King.



In 1996, Former CIA Director William Colby was presumed drowned by authorities in Maryland after an apparent boating accident; his body was later recovered.



In 1997, A worldwide treaty to ban chemical weapons went into effect.



In 1998, The United States, Canada, and Mexico agreed to eliminate tariffs on items accounting for $1 billion in trade at a meeting in Paris of the North American Free Trade Agreement.



In 2000, Tens of thousands of angry Cuban-Americans marched peacefully through Miami's Little Havana, protesting the raid in which armed federal agents yanked six-year-old Elian Gonzalez from the home of relatives.



Ten years ago (1994):



Hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the terror of ethnic massacres in Rwanda were pouring into Tanzania.



Israel and the PLO signed an agreement in Paris granting Palestinians broad authority to set taxes, control trade and regulate banks under self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho.



Five years ago (1999):



Yugoslavia filed World Court cases against 10 alliance members, including the United States, claiming their bombing campaign breached international law.



The Reverend Jesse Jackson arrived in Belgrade on a mission to win freedom for three American POWs held by Yugoslavia.



One year ago (2003):



The Palestinian parliament approved Mahmoud Abbas as prime minister, clearing the final obstacle to the launch of a U.S.-backed "road map" to peace.



Pakistani authorities captured Waleed bin Attash, accused of playing a leading role in the Sept. 11 attacks.



Mr. T (Laurence Tureaud) filed a lawsuit against Best Buy Co. Inc., that claimed the store did not have permission to sue his likeness in a print ad.



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Today's Birthdays:



Actress Celeste Holm is 85.



Rhythm and blues singer Carl Gardner (The Coasters) is 76.



Poet Rod McKuen is 71.



Actor Keith Baxter is 71.



Bluesman Otis Rush is 70.



Conductor Zubin Mehta is 68.



Actor Lane Smith is 68.



Country singer Duane Allen (The Oak Ridge Boys) is 61.



Singer Tommy James is 57.



Movie director Phillip Noyce is 54.



Country musician Wayne Secrest (Confederate Railroad) is 54.



Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is 50.



Actress Kate Mulgrew is 49.



Actor Daniel Day-Lewis is 47.



Actress Michelle Pfeiffer is 46.



Actress Eve Plumb is 46.



Rock musician Phil King is 44.



Country singer Stephanie Bentley is 41.



Singer Carnie Wilson (Wilson Phillips) is 36.



Actress Uma Thurman is 34.



Tennis player Andre Agassi is 34.



Rapper Master P is 34.



Country singer James Bonamy is 32.



Rock musician Mike Hogan (The Cranberries) is 31.



Pop singer Jo O'Meara (S Club 7) is 25.



Actor Zane Carney is 19.



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Thought for Today:

"News is history shot on the wing." -

- Gene Fowler, American journalist (1890-1960).

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