DAILY CHUCKLE 8-349

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DECEMBER 13TH

Today is Saturday, Dec. 13, the 348th day of 2008.
There are 18 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Dec. 13, 1862, Union forces suffered a major defeat to the Confederates in the Civil War Battle of Fredericksburg (Va.).

On this date:

• In 1642, Dutch navigator Abel Tasman sighted present-day New Zealand.
• In 1769, Dartmouth College, in New Hampshire, received its charter.
• In 1835, Phillips Brooks, the American Episcopal bishop who wrote the words to "O Little Town of Bethlehem," was born in Boston.
• In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson arrived in France, becoming the first chief executive to visit Europe while in office.
• In 1928, George Gershwin's musical work "An American in Paris" had its premiere, at Carnegie Hall in New York.
• In 1944, during World War II, the U.S. cruiser Nashville was badly damaged in a Japanese kamikaze attack that claimed more than 130 lives.
• In 1978, the Philadelphia Mint began stamping the Susan B. Anthony dollar, which went into circulation in July 1979.
• In 1981, authorities in Poland imposed martial law in a crackdown on the Solidarity labor movement. (Martial law formally ended in 1983.)
• In 1994, an American Eagle commuter plane crashed short of Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina, killing 15 of the 20 people on board.
• In 1996, the U.N. Security Council chose Kofi Annan of Ghana to become the world body's seventh secretary-general.

Ten years ago:

• With a grave impeachment threat looming, President Bill Clinton told a news conference in Jerusalem he would not resign, and insisted he did not commit perjury.
• Voters in Puerto Rico rejected U.S. statehood.

Five years ago:

• Saddam Hussein was captured by U.S. forces while hiding in a hole under a farmhouse in Adwar, Iraq, near his hometown of Tikrit.
• A summit to forge a European Union constitution collapsed in Brussels, Belgium.
• Oklahoma quarterback Jason White won the Heisman Trophy.
• Former Sen. William V. Roth Jr., R-Del., creator of Roth IRA accounts, died in Washington at age 82.

One year ago:

• Democratic presidential hopefuls meeting in Johnston, Iowa, called for higher taxes on the highest-paid Americans and on big corporations in an unusually cordial debate.
• Shareholders of Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, approved a takeover by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
• Major League Baseball's Mitchell Report was released, identifying 85 names to differing degrees in connection with the alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Today's Birthdays:

• Former Secretary of State George P. Shultz is 88.
• Actor-comedian Dick Van Dyke is 83.
• Actor Christopher Plummer is 79.
• Actor Robert Prosky is 78. (Sadly, he passed 0n 2008-12-08)
  
• Country singer Buck White is 78.
• Music/film producer Lou Adler is 75.
• Movie producer Richard Zanuck is 74.
• Singer John Davidson is 67.
• Actress Kathy Garver (TV: "Family Affair") is 63.
• Singer Ted Nugent is 60.
• Rock musician Jeff "Skunk" Baxter is 60.
• Country musician Ron Getman is 60.
• Actor Robert Lindsay is 59.
• Country singer-musician Randy Owen is 59.
• Actress Wendie Malick is 58.
• Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is 55.
• Country singer John Anderson is 54.
• Singer-songwriter Steve Forbert is 54.
• Singer-actor Morris Day is 52.
• Actor Steve Buscemi is 51.
• Actor Johnny Whitaker is 49.
• Actor-comedian Jamie Foxx is 41.
• TV personality Debbie Matenopoulos is 34.
• Rock singer-musician Thomas Delonge is 33.
• Actor James Kyson Lee is 33.
• Actress Chelsea Hertford is 27.
• Rock singer Amy Lee (Evanescence) is 27.
• Country singer Taylor Swift is 19.

Thought for Today:

"My theory is to enjoy life, but the practice is against it."
Charles Lamb, English essayist (1775-1834).

"Let's all be careful out there!"

SAILY CHUCKLE 8-348

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DECEMBER 12TH

Today is Friday, Dec. 12, the 347th day of 2008.
There are 19 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Dec. 12, 2000, George W. Bush was transformed into the president-elect as a divided U.S. Supreme Court reversed a state court decision for recounts in Florida's contested election.

On this date:

• In 1787, Pennsylvania became the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
• In 1870, Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina became the first black lawmaker sworn into the U.S. House of Representatives.
• In 1897, "The Katzenjammer Kids," the pioneering comic strip created by Rudolph Dirks, made its debut in the New York Journal.
• In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt nominated Oscar Straus to be Secretary of Commerce and Labor; Straus became the first Jewish Cabinet member.
• In 1917, Father Edward Flanagan founded Boys Town outside Omaha, Neb.
• In 1925, the first motel — the Motel Inn — opened in San Luis Obispo, Calif.
• In 1937, Japanese aircraft sank the U.S. gunboat Panay on China's Yangtze River. (Japan apologized, and paid $2.2 million in reparations.)
• In 1963, Kenya gained its independence from Britain.
• In 1985, 248 American soldiers and eight crew members were killed when an Arrow Air charter crashed after takeoff from Gander, Newfoundland.
• In 1988, 35 people were killed in a triple train collision during morning rush-hour in south London.

Ten years ago:

• The House Judiciary Committee approved a fourth and final article of impeachment, this one accusing President Bill Clinton of abuse of power.
• President Clinton began a three-day visit to the Middle East aimed at rescuing the Wye River peace accords.
• Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles died in Tallahassee at age 68.
• Former U.S. Rep. Morris K. Udall died in Washington, D.C., at age 76.

Five years ago:

• Paul Martin succeeded Jean Chretien as Canada's prime minister.
• Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger was knighted by Britain.
• Keiko, the killer whale made famous by the "Free Willy" movies, died in the Norwegian fjord that he'd made his home.

One year ago:

• Republican presidential rivals gathered in Johnston, Iowa, called for deep cuts in federal spending in a debate remarkably free of acrimony.
• President George W. Bush vetoed a second bill that would have expanded government-provided health insurance for children.
• Three car bombs explode in the southern Shiite city of Amarah, Iraq, killing at least 25 people and wounding dozens.
• Ike Turner, the rock pioneer and ex-husband of Tina Turner, died in San Marcos, Calif., at age 76.

Today's Birthdays:

• TV host Bob Barker is 85.
• Former New York City Mayor Edward Koch is 84.
• Singer Connie Francis is 70.
• Singer Dionne Warwick is 68.
• Rock singer-musician Dickey Betts is 65.
• Actor Wings Hauser is 61.
• Actor Bill Nighy is 59.
• Actor Duane Chase (Film: "The Sound of Music") is 58.
• Country singer LaCosta is 58.
• Gymnast-turned-actress Cathy Rigby is 56.
• Author Lorna Landvik is 54.
• Singer-musician Sheila E. is 51.
• Actress Sheree J. Wilson is 50.
• Pop singer Daniel O'Donnell is 47.
• Rock musician Eric Schenkman (Spin Doctors) is 45.
• Rock musician Nicholas Dimichino (Nine Days) is 41.
• News anchor Maggie Rodriguez is 39.
• Actress Jennifer Connelly is 38.
• Actress Madchen Amick is 38.
• Country singer Hank Williams III is 36.
• Actress Mayim Bialik is 33.
• Model Bridget Hall is 31.

Thought for Today:

"I have never known a man who died from overwork, but many who died from doubt."
Charles Horace Mayo, American surgeon and co-founder of the Mayo Clinic (1865-1939).

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DAILY CHUCKLE 8-347

"Let's all be careful out there!"