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Saturday, March 06, 2004

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Today is Saturday, March 6th.

The 66th day of 2004.

There are 300 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On March 6, 1857, in its Dred Scott decision, the Supreme Court held that Scott, a slave, could not sue for his freedom in federal court.



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On this date:



In 1475, Italian painter, sculptor, architect, and poet Michelangelo Buonarroti (Michelangelo) was born.



In 1806, English poet, political thinker, and feminist Elizabeth Barrett Browning was born at Coxhoe Hall, Durham, England. She died in 1861.



In 1808, At Harvard University, the first college orchestra was founded.



In 1820, The Missouri Compromise is enacted by the U.S. Congress. It admits Missouri into the Union as a slave state, but prohibits slavery in the rest of the northern Louisiana Purchase Territory.



In 1834, the city of York in Upper Canada was incorporated as Toronto.



In 1836, The thirteen-day siege of the Alamo by Santa Anna and his army ended. The Mexican army of three thousand men defeated the 189 Texas volunteers.



In 1853, Verdi's opera "La Traviata" premiered in Venice, Italy.



In 1906, Comedian and actor Lou Costello (Louis Francis Cristillo)(Abbott & Costello) was born in Paterson, NJ. He died March 3, 1959 in East Los Angeles, CA.



In 1930, Clarence Birdseye, food expert, industrialist, and inventor, introduces prepackaged, quick-frozen food to American consumers.



In 1932, Composer and band leader John Philip Sousa died at the age of 77.



In 1933, a nationwide bank holiday declared by President Franklin Roosevelt went into effect.



In 1935, retired Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. died in Washington.



In 1944, U.S. heavy bombers staged the first American raid on Berlin during World War II.



In 1945, The Dutch Resistance hijacked a truck in Apledoorn, Holland. The following week the German SS executed 263 Dutch in retaliation.



In 1957, the former British African colonies of the Gold Coast and Togoland became the independent state of Ghana.



In 1960, The United States announces that it will deploy 3,500 troops to Vietnam.



In 1966, Barry Sadlers' "Ballad of the Green Berets" becomes #1 (13 weeks)



In 1967, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announced his plan to establish a draft lottery.



In 1973, U.S. President Richard Nixon imposed price controls on oil and gas.



In 1978, The 100th episode of "The Six Million Dollar Man" aired.



In 1978, Hustler publisher Larry Flynt shot & crippled by a sniper in Georgia



In 1980, Islamic militants in Tehran said that they would turn over American hostages to the Revolutionary Council.



In 1981, Walter Cronkite signed off for the last time as principal anchorman of "The CBS Evening News."



In 1981, U.S. President Reagan announced a plan to cut 37,000 federal jobs.



In 1983, in a case that drew much notoriety, a woman in New Bedford, Mass., reported being gang-raped atop a pool table in a tavern called Big Dan's; four men were later convicted of the attack. This incident was the basis for the 1988 movie The Accused starring Kelly McGillis and Jodie Foster (who won an "Oscar" for her performance).



In 1985, Yul Brynner appears in his 4,500th performance of "King & I"



In 1986, The 100th episode of "Simon & Simon" aired on CBS.



In 1987, 189 people died when the British ferry Herald of Free Enterprise capsized off the Belgian port of Zeebrugge.



In 1988, 3 IRA suspects were killed in Gibraltar by SAS officers



In 1988, The first episode of "In the Heat of the Night" aired.



In 1990, An SR-71 Blackbird sets a transcontinental record, flying 2,404 miles in 1:08:17



In 1990, In Afghanistan, an attempted coup to remove President Najibullah from office failed.



In 1992, The last episode of "The Cosby Show" aired. The show had been on since September of 1984.



In 1997, A gunman stole "Tete de Femme," a million-dollar Picasso portrait, from a London gallery. The painting was recovered a week later.



In 1997, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II launched the first official royal Web site.



In 1998, A Connecticut state lottery accountant gunned down three supervisors and the lottery chief before killing himself.



Ten years ago (1994):



Two top Clinton administration officials, Vice President Al Gore and White House adviser George Stephanopoulos, appeared on the Sunday TV talk shows to blame Republican sniping for much of the furor over Whitewater.



Greek actress-turned-politician Melina Mercouri died in New York.



Five years ago (1999):



The emir of Bahrain (Sheik Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa), a key Western ally who had ruled for nearly four decades, died shortly after a meeting with Defense Secretary William Cohen; he was 65.



One year ago:



A somber President Bush readied the nation for war against Saddam Hussein, hurling some of his harshest invectives yet at the Iraqi leader during a prime-time news conference.



The United States ratified a treaty on cutting active U.S. and Russian long-range nuclear warheads by two-thirds.



Democrats blocked President Bush's nomination of Miguel Estrada to a federal appeals court.



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Today's Birthdays:



TV personality Ed McMahon is 81.



Conductor Sarah Caldwell is 80.



Former FBI and CIA director William Webster is 80.



Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is 78.



Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova (the first woman to travel in space) is 67.



Country singer Doug Dillard is 67.



Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Mo., is 65.



Actress-writer Joanna Miles is 64.



Actor Ben Murphy is 62.



Opera singer Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is 60.



Singer Mary Wilson (The Supremes) is 60.



Rock musician Hugh Grundy (The Zombies) is 59.



Rock singer-musician David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) is 58.



Actor-director Rob Reiner is 57.



Olympic gold medalist (high jump - 1968 ) Dick Fosbury (the "Fosbury Flop") is 57.



Singer Kiki Dee is 57.



Rock singer-musician Phil Alvin (The Blasters) is 51.



Actor Tom Arnold is 45.



Actor D.L. Hughley is 40.



Country songwriter Skip Ewing is 40.



Actress Yvette Wilson is 40.



Actress Connie Britton is 36.



Actress Moira Kelly is 36.



Actress Amy Pietz is 35.



Basketball player Shaquille O'Neal is 32.



Country musician Shan Farmer (Ricochet) is 30.



Rapper Bubba Sparxxx is 27.



Actor Jimmy Galeota is 18.



Actor Eli Marienthal is 18.



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Thought for Today:

"To have doubted one's own first principles, is the mark of a civilized man." -

— Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., U.S. Supreme Court justice (1841-1935).

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Friday, March 05, 2004

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Today is Friday, March 5th.

The 65th day of 2004.

There are 301 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On March 5, 1770, the Boston Massacre took place as British soldiers who'd been taunted by a crowd of colonists opened fire, killing five people and wounding six. Among the victims is Crispus Attucks, a seaman of African American descent.



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On this date:



In 1496, English King Henry VII hires John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto) to explore.



In 1558, Smoking tobacco introduced in Europe by Francisco Fernandes.



In 1616, Copernicus' "de Revolutionibus" placed on Catholic Forbidden index.



In 1623, 1st American temperance law enacted, Virginia.



In 1750, King Richard III was performed in New York City. It was the first Shakespearean play to be presented in America.



In 1836 Mexico attacks the Alamo.



In 1836, Samuel Colt manufactures 1st pistol, 34-caliber "Texas" model



In 1868, the Senate was organized into a Court of Impeachment to decide charges against President Andrew Johnson.



In 1877, Mary Clemmer used the term "First Lady" to describe Lucy Hayes. It was the first time the term was used to describe a current President's wife.



In 1907, 1st radio broadcast of a musical composition aired.



In 1908, British actor Sir Rex Harrison was born. He was knighted in 1989. He died in 1990.



In 1910, In Philadelphia, PA, 60,000 people left their jobs to show support for striking transit workers.



In 1918, The Soviets move the capital of Russia from Petrograd to Moscow.



In 1922, Annie Oakley shoots 98 out of 100 clay pigeons, breaking the existing women's trap-shooting record.



In 1924, The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Corporation becomes IBM.



In 1933, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered a four-day bank holiday in order to stop large amounts of money from being withdrawn from banks.



In 1933, in German parliamentary elections, the Nazi Party won 44 percent of the vote, enabling it to join with the Nationalists to gain a slender majority in the Reichstag.



In 1943, Germany called fifteen and sixteen year olds for military service due to war losses.



In 1946, Winston Churchill delivered his famous "Iron Curtain" speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Mo. “from Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the European Continent.”



In 1953, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin died at age 73 after 29 years in power.



In 1953, Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev died in Moscow at age 61.



In 1955, Elvis Presley's 1st TV appearance on "Louisiana Hayride" show.



In 1956, The United States Supreme Court affirms the ban on segregation in public schools.



In 1956, The motion picture King Kong is shown on television for the first time.



In 1960, Elvis Presley ends 2-year hitch in US Army.



In 1963, country music performers Patsy Cline, "Cowboy" Copas and "Hawkshaw" Hawkins died in a plane crash near Camden, Tenn.



In 1970, a nuclear nonproliferation treaty went into effect after 43 nations ratified it.



In 1976, British £ falls below $2 for 1st time



In 1982, comedian John Belushi was found dead of a drug overdose in a rented bungalow in Hollywood; he was 33.



In 1984, The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that cities had the right to display the Nativity scene as part of their Christmas display.



In 1986, in Lebanon, Islamic Jihad issued a statement saying it had "executed" French hostage Michel Seurat, who had been abducted almost a year earlier.



In 1993, Cuban President Fidel Castro said that Hillary Clinton is "a beautiful woman."



In 1993, Sprinter Ben Johnson was banned from racing for life by the Amateur Athletic Association after testing positive for banned performance-enhancing substances for a second time.



In 1995, The graves of czar Nicholas & family are found in St Petersburg, Russia.



In 1997 North Korea and South Korea met for first time in 25 years for peace talks.



In 1998, NASA announced that an orbiting craft had found enough water on the moon to support a human colony and rocket fueling station.



In 1998, It was announced that Air Force Lt. Col. Eileen Collins would lead crew of Columbia on a mission to launch a large X-ray telescope. She was the first woman to command a space shuttle mission.



In 2001, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney underwent an angioplasty for a partially blocked artery after going to a hospital with chest pains.



In 2002, U.S. President George W. Bush imposed tariffs up to 30 percent on steel imports.



Ten years ago (1994):



White House Counsel Bernard Nussbaum resigned in the wake of turmoil over the Clinton administration's handling of questions related to Whitewater.



A jury in Pensacola, Fla., convicted anti-abortion activist Michael F. Griffin of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Dr. David Gunn; Griffin was sentenced to life in prison.



Five years ago (1999):



Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema met at the White House with President Clinton, a day after a military jury in North Carolina acquitted a Marine pilot in the Italian cable car accident that killed 20 people; D'Alema demanded justice, while Clinton expressed profound regret.



Actor Richard Kiley died in Warwick, N.Y., at age 76.



One year ago (2003):



In a blunt warning to the United States and Britain, the foreign ministers of France, Germany and Russia said they would block any attempt to get U.N. approval for war against Iraq.



Thousands of students nationwide walked out of classes to protest a possible war.



A suicide bus bombing in Haifa, Israel, killed 14 Israelis and an American teenager.



A Kuwaiti policeman was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the 2002 attack that wounded two U.S. soldiers on a Kuwaiti desert highway.



Comedian George Miller died in Los Angeles at age 61.



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Today's Birthdays:



Actor James Noble is 82.



Actor James B. Sikking ("Hill Street Blues") is 70.



Actor Dean Stockwell is 68.



Actor Fred Williamson is 66.



Actress Samantha Eggar is 65.



Actor Michael Warren ("Hill Street Blues") is 58.



Actor Eddie Hodges is 57.



Singer Eddy Grant is 56.



Violinist Eugene Fodor is 54.



Rock musician Alan Clark (Dire Straits) is 52.



Actress-comedian Marsha Warfield ("Night Court") is 50.



Magician Penn Jillette is 49.



Rock singer Charlie Reid is 42.



Rock singer Craig Reid is 42.



Rock musician John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers) is 34.



Singer Rome is 34.



Actor Kevin Connolly is 30.



Actress Jolene Blalock ("Enterprise") is 29.



Model Niki Taylor is 29.



Actress Eva Mendes is 26.



Actor Jake Lloyd (young "Anakin Skywalker", Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace) is 15.



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Thought for Today:

"If you don't have enemies, you don't have character." -

- Paul Newman, American actor.

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Today is Thursday, March 4th.

The 64th day of 2004.

There are 302 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On March 4, 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated president, pledging to lead the country out of the Great Depression. “We have nothing to fear, but fear itself.” (The start of President Roosevelt's first administration brought with it the first woman to serve in the Cabinet: Labor Secretary Frances Perkins.)



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On this date:



In 1193, Saladin, the Muslim warrior who opposed the Crusades, died.



In 1634, Samuel Cole opened the first tavern in Boston, MA.



In 1681, King Charles II of England grants Quaker landowner William Penn a vast tract of land between New York and Maryland, including the last uncommitted piece of the Atlantic seaboard south of Massachusetts.



In 1766, The British Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, which had caused bitter and violent opposition in the U.S. colonies.



In 1789, the Constitution of the United States went into effect as the first Federal Congress met in New York. (The lawmakers then adjourned for lack of a quorum.)



In 1791, Vermont became the 14th state.



In 1837, the Illinois state legislature granted a city charter to Chicago.



In 1849, The US had no President. Polk's term ended on a Sunday, Taylor couldn't be sworn-in, Senator David Atchison's (pres pro tem) term had ended March 3rd.



In 1861, Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated president.



In 1861, The Confederate States of America adopted the "Stars and Bars" flag.



In 1877, Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake premieres at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, Russia.



In 1888, American football player and coach at the University of Notre Dame, Knute Kenneth Rockne was born in Voss, Norway. He led Notre Dame to three national collegiate championships (1924, 1929, 1930). In his 13 years as head coach, Notre Dame won 105 games, lost 12, and tied 5, and scored 2847 points while conceding only 667 points to its opponents. He died in 1931.



In 1902, the American Automobile Association (Triple A) was founded in Chicago.



In 1908, The New York board of education banned the act of whipping students in school.



In 1913, Department of Commerce & Labor split into separate departments



In 1917, Jeanette Rankin of Montana took her seat as the first woman elected to the House of Representatives.



In 1925, President Calvin Coolidge's inauguration was broadcast live on 21 radio stations nationwide.



In 1936, The airship Hindenburg makes its 1st flight.



In 1944, The U.S. Eighth Air Force launched the first American bombing raid against the Berlin, Germany.



In 1950, Walt Disney’s Cinderella was released.



In 1952, actors Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis were married in San Fernando Valley, Calif.



In 1955, The first radio facsimile transmission is sent across the continent.



In 1960, Lucille Ball files for divorce from Desi Arnaz



In 1966, London's "Evening Standard" newspaper published an interview with Beatle John Lennon in which he remarked: 'Christianity will... vanish and shrink... We're more popular than Jesus Christ right now.' The quote touched off a storm of international protest, resulting in burnings and boycotts of the Beatles' records.



In 1968, Joe Frazier defeats Buster Mathis for the heavyweight boxing championship title.



In 1977, The first CRAY super-computer is shipped to Los Alamos Laboratories in New Mexico.



In 1978, The Chicago Daily News, founded in 1875, publishes its last issue.



In 1979, The 100th episode of "The Waltons" aired.



In 1979, The 200th episode of "All in the Family" aired.



In 1981, a jury in Salt Lake City convicted Joseph Paul Franklin, an avowed racist, of violating the civil rights of two black men who were shot to death.



In 1986, "Today" debuted in London as England’s newest, national, daily newspaper.



In 1987, President Reagan addressed the nation on the Iran-Contra affair, acknowledging his overtures to Iran had "deteriorated" into an arms-for-hostages deal.



In 1989, Time, Inc. and Warner Communications Inc. announced a plan to merge.



In 1989, Actress Phoebe Cates marries actor Kevin Kline



In 1991, Sheik Saad al-Jaber al-Sabah, the prime minister of Kuwait, returned to his country for the first time since Iraq's invasion.



In 1993, Authorities announced the arrest of Mohammad Salameh. He was later convicted for his role in the World Trade Center Bombing in New York City.



In 1997, U.S. President Clinton barred federal spending on human cloning.



In 1998, Microsoft repaired software that apparently allowed hackers to shut down computers in government and university offices nationwide.



In 1998, The U.S. Supreme Court said that federal law banned on-the-job sexual harassment even when both parties are the same sex.



In 2002, Canada banned human embryo cloning but permitted government-funded scientists to use embryos left over from fertility treatment or abortions.



Ten years ago (1994):



In New York, four extremists were convicted of the World Trade Center bombing that killed six people and injured more than 1,000.



Bosnia's Croats and Moslems signed an agreement to form a federation in a loose economic union with Croatia.



The space shuttle Columbia blasted off on a two-week mission.



Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell announced he would not seek re-election.



Actor-comedian John Candy died in Durango, Mexico, at age 43.



Five years ago (1999):



Outraging Italian authorities, a military jury in North Carolina cleared a Marine pilot of charges he was flying recklessly when his jet sliced through a ski gondola cable in the Alps, sending 20 people plunging to their deaths.



Retired Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun, who wrote the 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide, died in Arlington, Va., at age 90.



Monica Lewinsky's book about her affair with U.S. President Clinton went on sale in the U.S.



One year ago (2003):



The Army's oldest armored division, "Old Ironsides," got orders to head for the Persian Gulf as the total of U.S. land, sea and air forces arrayed against Iraq or preparing to go neared 300,000.



A bomb in a backpack killed 22 at an airport terminal in the southern Philippines.



In the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir, at least 9 people were killed and 52 were injured when a bus fell into a deep gorge.



The deployment of Patriot missile systems began in Israel. The systems were put in place to back up the Arrow missile systems already in place. The Patriot systems were manned by U.S. soldiers.



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Today's Birthdays:



Folk singer Miriam Makeba is 72.



Actress-singer Barbara McNair is 70.



Actress Paula Prentiss is 65.



Movie director Adrian Lyne is 63.



Singer Bobby Womack is 60.



Rock musician Chris Squire (Yes) is 56.



Singer Shakin' Stevens is 56.



Singer Chris Rea is 53.



Actor Ronn Moss is 52.



Actress Kay Lenz is 51.



Musician Emilio Estefan is 51.



Movie director Scott Hicks is 51.



Actress Catherine O'Hara is 50.



Actress Patricia Heaton is 46.



Actress Kelly Lynch is 45.



Actor Mykelti Williamson is 44.



Actor Steven Weber is 43.



Rock musician Jason Newsted is 41.



Actress Stacy Edwards is 39.



Rapper Grand Puba is 38.



Rock musician Patrick Hannan (The Sundays) is 38.



Rock singer Evan Dando (Lemonheads) is 37.



Actress Patsy Kensit is 36.



Chastity Bono is 35.



Actor Nick Stabile is 34.



Rock musician Fergal Lawler (The Cranberries) is 33.



Country singer Jason Sellers is 33.



Jazz musician Jason Marsalis is 27.



Actress Jenna Boyd is 11.



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Thought for Today:

"The world fears a new experience more than it fears anything. Because a new experience displaces so many old experiences." -

- D.H. Lawrence, English author (1885-1930).

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Wednesday, March 03, 2004

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Today is Wednesday, March 3rd.

The 63rd day of 2004.

There are 303 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On March 3, 1931, "The Star-Spangled Banner" officially became the national anthem of the United States.



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On this date:



In 1791, The United States Congress passes the nation's first tax law. The law divides the country into 14 tax zones and levies a duty on, among other items, distilled spirits.



In 1831, George Mortimer Pullman, American inventor, who designed the first modern railroad sleeping car and patented his innovations (folding upper berths and seats that could extend into lower berths—in 1863) was born in Brocton, New York.



In 1845, Florida became the 27th state.



In 1845, The U.S. Congress passed legislation overriding a U.S. President’s veto. It was the first time the Congress had achieved this.



In 1847, Inventor Alexander Graham Bell was born.



In 1849, the U.S. Department of the Interior was established.



In 1849, Congress created the Minnesota Territory.



In 1853, Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh was born.



In 1863, Free city delivery of mail was authorized by the U.S. Postal Service.



In 1875, The opera Carmen, written by French composer Georges Bizet, opens in Paris, France.



In 1877, Rutherford B. Hayes took the oath of office as the 19th president of the United States in a private ceremony (a public swearing-in took place two days later).



In 1879, Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood became the first woman to be admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court.



In 1885, The American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) was incorporated in New York as a subsidiary of the American Bell Telephone Company.



In 1885, the Indian Appropriations Act was passed by Congress. It made all American Indians wards of the federal government and nullified all previous treaties with the Indians.



In 1903, North Carolina becomes first state requiring registration of nurses.



In 1909, Aviators Herring, Curtiss and Bishop announced that airplanes would be made commercially in the U.S.



In 1910, In New York, Robert Forest founded the National Housing Association to fight deteriorating urban living conditions.



In 1911, Actress Jean Harlow [Harlean Carpentier] was born in Kansas City, MO.



In 1913, A gender war erupts in Washington, D.C., when 5,000 suffragists led by Alice Paul, are treated to abuse by crowds of scornful men. Some 40 people are wounded in the clash.



In 1918, The Treaty of Brest Litovsky is signed by Germany, Austria and Russia, ending Russia’s participation in World War I.



In 1933, Mount Rushmore honoring the Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, & Teddy Roosevelt was dedicated. It was completed on October 31, 1941.



In 1934, John Dillinger breaks out of jail using a wooden pistol.



In 1939, In Bombay, Ghandi began a fast to protest the state's autocratic rule.



In 1941, Moscow denounced the Axis rule in Bulgaria.



In 1945, During World War II, Finland declared war on the Axis.



In 1945, Superman encountered Batman and Robin for the first time on the Mutual Broadcasting System.



In 1957, The head of the Catholic archdiocese of Chicago (the largest in the world), Samuel Cardinal Strich, bans rock & roll from Catholic schools and "recreations" in his district. He cites the "tribal rhythms" and "encouragement to behave in a hedonistic manner." Chicago record sellers report no drop in sales of hedonism-encouraging records.



In 1959, The San Francisco Giants name their new stadium "Candlestick Park".



In 1965, The motion picture The Sound of Music, starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, premieres in American movie theaters.



In 1969, Sirhan Sirhan testified in a Los Angeles court that he killed Robert Kennedy.



In 1969, Apollo 9 blasted off from Cape Kennedy on a mission to test the lunar module.



In 1974, nearly 350 people died when a Turkish Airlines DC-10 crashed shortly after takeoff from Orly Airport in Paris.



In 1985, The TV series “Moonlighting,” starring Cybill Shepard and Bruce Willis, airs for the first time.



In 1987, comedian Danny Kaye died in Los Angeles at age 74.



In 1991, Operation Desert Storm ended. The purpose of the operation was remove Iraqi forces from Kuwait.



In 1991, in a case that sparked a national outcry, motorist Rodney King was severely beaten by Los Angeles police officers in a scene captured on amateur video.



In 1991, 25 people were killed when a United Airlines Boeing 737-200 crashed while approaching the Colorado Springs airport.



In 1992, President George H. W. Bush admits publicly that he is sorry that while he was President he raised taxes despite the fact that he had pledged during his election campaign that there would be "NO NEW TAXES!"



In 1995, A U.N. peacekeeping mission in Somalia ended. Several gunmen were killed by U.S. Marines in Mogadishu while overseeing the pull out of peacekeepers.



Ten years ago (1994):



Amid continuing trade tensions with Japan, President Clinton issued an executive order reviving an expired provision of U.S. trade law known as Super 301, which provided a strict timetable for results.



The Mexican government reached a peace agreement with the Chiapas rebels.



Five years ago (1999):



The Supreme Court ruled that public schools had to finance one-on-one nursing care for some disabled students throughout the school day.



Monica Lewinsky, in an ABC interview timed to coincide with the publication of her book, recounted for Barbara Walters some of the fondest, as well as most painful, aspects of her relationship with President Clinton.



In Egypt, 19 people were killed when a bus plunged into a Nile canal.



Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones began their attempt to circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon non-stop. They succeeded on March 20, 1999.



One year ago (2003):



Israeli troops arrested reclusive Hamas ideologue Mohammed Taha in a deadly raid.



President Bush offered a rough blueprint for adding drug benefits to Medicare.



The U.S. re-opened its embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.



Malcolm Kilduff, the White House spokesman who announced to a shocked world the death of President Kennedy, died in Beattyville, Ky., at age 75.



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Today's Birthdays:



Actor James Doohan ("Beam me up Scotty") is 84.



Lee Radziwill is 71.



Actress Hattie Winston is 59.



Singer Jennifer Warnes is 57.



Actor-director Tim Kazurinsky is 54.



Singer-musician Robyn Hitchcock is 51.



Actress Miranda Richardson is 46.



Actress Mary Page Keller (The blonde who undressed in the window in front of Belushi in "Animal House") is 43.



Olympic track and field gold medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee is 42.



Football player Herschel Walker is 42.



Rapper-actor Tone-Loc is 38.



Rock musician John Bigham is 35.



Actress Julie Bowen is 34.



Country singer Brett Warren (The Warren Brothers) is 33.



Actor David Faustino ("Bud" Bundy, "Married With Children") is 30.



Singer Ronan Keating (Boyzone) is 27.



Rapper Lil' Flip is 23.



Actress Jessica Biel is 22.



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Thought for Today:

"Nothing is really real unless it happens on television." -

- Daniel J. Boorstin, former Librarian of Congress.

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Tuesday, March 02, 2004

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Today is Tuesday, March 2nd.

The 62nd day of 2004.

There are 304 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



One hundred years ago, on March 2, 1904, children's author Theodor Seuss Geisel — popularly known as "Dr. Seuss" — was born in Springfield, Mass.



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On this date:



In 1498, Vasco de Gama's Portuguese expedition reaches the island of Mozambique, the most southerly port of call for Arab merchants on the east coast of Africa.



In 1776, Americans begin shelling British troops in Boston



In 1789, Pennsylvania ends prohibition of theatrical performances



In 1793, the first president of the Republic of Texas, Sam Houston, was born near Lexington, Va.



In 1799, Congress standardizes US weights & measures



In 1807, The U.S. Congress passed an act to "prohibit the importation of slaves into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States... from any foreign kingdom, place or country."



In 1819, Territory of Arkansas organized.



In 1824, Interstate commerce comes under federal control.



In 1836, Texas declared its independence from Mexico.



In 1853, Territory of Washington organized after separating from Oregon Territory.



In 1861, US Congress creates Dakota & Nevada Territories out of the Nebraska & Utah territories



In 1877, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was declared the winner of the 1876 presidential election over Democrat Samuel J. Tilden, even though Tilden had won the popular vote.



In 1897, U.S. President Cleveland vetoed legislation that would have required a literacy test for immigrants entering the country.



In 1899, U.S. President McKinley signed a measure that created the rank of Admiral for the U.S. Navy. The first admiral was George Dewey.



In 1899, Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state was established.



In 1901, The U.S. Congress passed the Platt amendment, which limited Cuban autonomy as a condition for withdrawal of U.S. troops.



In 1909, baseball hall of famer (New York Giants)Mel Ott was born. The 1st National League-er to hit 500 homeruns,



In 1917, Puerto Ricans were granted U.S. citizenship.



In 1917, Actor-producer-director-musician Desi Arnaz (Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III ) was born in Santiago, Cuba. He died of cancer December 2, 1986.



In 1923, Time magazine made its debut.



In 1925, State and federal highway officials develop a nationwide route-numbering system and adopt the shield-shaped, number marker.



In 1928, Author Philip K. Dick was born.



In 1933, the motion picture "King Kong," starring Fay Wray, had its world premiere in New York.



In 1939, Roman Catholic Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli was elected pope; he took the name Pius XII.



In 1940, The first televised intercollegiate track meet was seen on TV in New York City on W2XBS. The game presented live from Madison Square Garden. New York University won the meet.



In 1943, the World War II Battle of the Bismarck Sea began.



In 1946, Ho Chi Minh, the Vietnamese Communist leader, is elected the first president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.



In 1956, Morocco gained independence from France.



In 1962, Wilt "The Stilt" Chamberlain scores a record 100 points in an NBA game, leading the Philadelphia Warriors over the New York Knicks, 169-147.



In 1970, Rhodesia becomes independent republic.



In 1970, Supreme Court ruled draft evaders can not be penalized after 5 years



In 1972 The first outer-planetary probe, Pioneer 10, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. On December 3, 1973 the probe sent back the first close-up images of Jupiter.



In 1974, First class postage stamps go up in price from eight to ten cents.



In 1974, Stevie Wonder wins five Grammy awards for his album Innervisions.



In 1977, the U.S. House of Representatives adopted a strict code of ethics.



In 1998, The United Nation’s Security Council endorses U.N. chief Kofi Annan’s deal to open Iraq’s presidential palaces to arms inspectors.



In 1998, Images from the American spacecraft Galileo indicated that the Jupiter moon, Europa, has a liquid ocean and a source of interior heat.



In 2000, In Great Britain, Chile's former President Augusto Pinochet Ugarte was freed from house arrest and allowed to return to Chile. Britain's Home Secretary Jack Straw had concluded that Pinochet was mentally and physically unable to stand trial. Belgium, France, Spain and Switzerland had sought the former Chilean leader on human-rights violations.



Ten years ago (1994):



The government of Mexico and Indian rebels reached a tentative accord on most insurgent demands for the ending the rebellion, including sweeping political reforms.



Five years ago (1999):



Conservative commentator Pat Buchanan launched a third White House bid.



Texas Governor George W. Bush announced he was forming a presidential exploratory committee.



Singer Dusty Springfield died at her home west of London at age 59.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



One year ago (2003):



Over the Sea of Japan, there was a confrontation between four armed North Korean fighter jets and a U.S. RC-135S Cobra Ball. No shots were fired in the encounter in international airspace about 150 miles off North Korea's coast. The U.S. Air Force announced that it would resume reconnaissance flights on March 12.



Iraq crushed another six Al Samoud Two missiles, as ordered by U.N. weapons inspectors.



Landlocked Switzerland became the first European country to win the America's Cup as "Alinghi" swept Team New Zealand in five races.



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Today's Birthdays:



Actress Jennifer Jones is 85.



Bluegrass singer-musician Doc Watson is 81.



Actor John Cullum is 74.



Former Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev is 73.



Author Tom Wolfe is 73.



Actress Barbara Luna is 65.



Actor Jon Finch is 63.



Author John Irving ("The World According To Garp") is 62.



Singer Lou Reed is 62.



Actress Gates McFadden ("Beverly Crusher" - Star Trek Next Generation) is 55.



Actress Cassie Yates is 53.



Actress Laraine Newman is 52.



Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., is 51.



Singer Jay Osmond is 49.



Pop musician John Cowsill (The Cowsills) is 48.



Tennis player Kevin Curren is 46.



Country singer Larry Stewart (Restless Heart) is 45.



Rock singer Jon Bon Jovi is 42.



Rock musician Casey (Jimmie's Chicken Shack) is 28.



Rock singer Chris Martin (Coldplay) is 27.



Actress Heather McComb is 27.



Actor Robert Iler ("The Sopranos") is 19.



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Thought for Today:

"Be who you are and say what you feel 'cause people who mind don't matter, and people who matter don't mind.'" -

— Theodor Seuss Geisel, American children's author (1904-1991).

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Monday, March 01, 2004

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Today is Monday, March 1st.

The 61st day of 2004.

There are 305 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



Fifty years ago, on March 1, 1954, Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire from the gallery of the U.S. House of Representatives, wounding five congressmen.



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On this date:



In 1260, The city of Damascus surrenders to the Mongols, who now occupy all Syria, extinguishing the Ayyubid Sultanate.



In 1692, The Salem Witch Hunt begins as Sarah Goode, Sarah Osborne and Tituba, an Indian slave from Barbados, are charged with the illegal practice of witchcraft in Salem Village, Massachusetts.



In 1781, the Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation.



In 1790, Congress authorized the first U.S. Census.



In 1803, Ohio enters the Union as the 17th state.



In 1810, Polish composer and pianist Frédéric Chopin was born.



In 1845, U.S. President Tyler signed the congressional resolution to annex the Republic of Texas.



In 1862, Prussia formally recognized the Kingdom of Italy.



In 1864, Rebecca Lee became the first black woman to receive an American medical degree, from the New England Female Medical College in Boston.



In 1867, Nebraska became the 37th state.



In 1872, Congress authorized creation of Yellowstone National Park.



In 1875, The United States Congress passes the Civil Rights Act of 1875, guaranteeing African Americans equal access to public facilities.



In 1904, bandleader Glenn Miller was born in Clarinda, Iowa.



In 1907, In New York, the Salvation Army opened an anti-suicide bureau.



In 1909, British actor David Niven was born.



In 1912, Captain Albert Berry made the first parachute jump from a moving airplane.



In 1913, Federal income tax takes effect in the United States as per the 16th amendment.



In 1914, American author and educator Ralph Ellison was born



In 1917, popular singer and television performer Dinah Shore was born.



In 1922, Israeli prime minister and Nobel laureate Yitzhak Rabin was born.



In 1932, 20-month-old Charles A. Lindbergh Jr., the son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh, was kidnapped from the family home near Hopewell, N.J. (Remains identified as those of the child were found the following May.)



In 1937, The first permanent automobile license plates are issued in Connecticut.



In 1941, Bulgaria joined the Axis powers by signing the Tripartite Pact.



In 1943, U.S. reconnaissance planes spotted 16 Japanese ships en route to Lae and Salamaua in New Guinea. The next day, the U.S. and Australia began an offensive against the ships.



In 1948, In Israel, the People's Council was formed.



In 1950, Klaus Fuchs was convicted of giving U.S. atomic secrets to the Soviet Union.



In 1959, Archbishop Makarios returned to Cyprus from exile.



In 1961, President Kennedy established the Peace Corps.



In 1965, The 150th episode of "The Andy Griffith Show" aired.



In 1966, Venera 3, a Soviet probe, collides with the planet Venus. Although the mission is unsuccessful, it is the first unmanned spacecraft to land on the surface of another planet.



In 1969, Mickey Mantle announces his retirement from Major League Baseball.



In 1971, A bomb exploded in a restroom in the Senate wing of the U.S. Capitol. There were no injuries. A U.S. group protesting the Vietnam War claimed responsibility.



In 1972, The 100th episode of "Adam-12" aired on NBC.



In 1972, Wilt Chamberlain becomes the first NBA basketball player to score 30,000 points.



In 1974, seven people, including former Nixon White House aides H.R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman, former Attorney General John Mitchell and former assistant Attorney General Robert Mardian, were indicted on charges of conspiring to obstruct justice in connection with the Watergate break-in. (These four defendants were convicted the following January, although Mardian's conviction was later reversed.)



In 1981, Irish Republican Army member Bobby Sands began a hunger strike at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland; he died 65 days later.



In 2000, Operation Anaconda began in eastern Afghanistan. Allied forces were fighting against Taliban and Al Quaida fighters.



Ten years ago (1994):



Falling four votes shy of a two-thirds majority, the Senate rejected a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.



A Lebanese immigrant opened fire on a van of Hasidic students on New York's Brooklyn Bridge, killing one of them.



Israel released about 500 Arab prisoners in an effort to placate Palestinians over the Hebron massacre.



At the 36th annual Grammy Awards, Whitney Houston won best female pop vocalist and record of the year for "I Will Always Love You"; "The Bodyguard" won album of the year.



Five years ago (1999):



The General Accounting Office released an audit of the Internal Revenue Service that found chronic problems in the agency's record-keeping.



An attack by Rwandan Hutu rebels in a Ugandan national park left eight foreign tourists, including two Americans, and a park guard dead.



One year ago (2003:



Suspected Sept 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was captured by CIA and Pakistani agents.



Iraq began complying with orders from U.N. weapons inspectors to destroy its Al Samoud Two missiles.



The United Arab Emirates called for Saddam Hussein to step down, the first Arab country to do so publicly.



Turkey's parliament dealt a stunning blow to U.S. war planning by failing to approve a bill allowing in American combat troops to open a northern front against Iraq.



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Today's Birthdays:



Actor Robert Clary is 78.



Singer Harry Belafonte is 77.



Former U.S. Solicitor General Robert H. Bork is 77.



Actor Robert Conrad is 69.



Rock singer Mike D'Abo (Manfred Mann) is 60.



Sen. John Breaux, D-La., is 60.



Rock singer Roger Daltrey is 60.



Actor Dirk Benedict is 59.



Actor Alan Thicke is 57.



Actor-director Ron Howard is 50.



Actress Catherine Bach is 50.



Country singer Janis Gill (aka Janis Oliver Cummins) (Sweethearts of the Rodeo) is 50.



Actor Tim Daly is 48.



Singer-musician Jon Carroll is 47.



Rock musician Bill Leen is 42.



Actor Russell Wong is 41.



Actor John David Cullum is 38.



Actor George Eads is 37.



Actor Mark-Paul Gosselaar is 30.



Actor Jensen Ackles is 26.



TV host Donovan Patton is 26.



Rock musician Sean Woolstenhulme (Lifehouse) is 23.



Rhythm and blues singer Sammie is 17.



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Thought for Today:

"If you are able to state a problem, it can be solved." -

- Edwin H. Land, American inventor (born 1909, died on this date in 1991).

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Sunday, February 29, 2004

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Today is Sunday, Feb. 29th.

The 60th day of 2004.

There are 306 days left in the year.

This is Leap Day.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On Feb. 29, 1940, "Gone with the Wind" won eight Academy Awards, including best picture of 1939. Victor Fleming was named best director, Vivien Leigh best actress, and Hattie McDaniel best supporting actress, the first black performer to receive an Oscar. Best actor went to Robert Donat for "Goodbye, Mr. Chips."



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On this date:



In 1504, Christopher Columbus, stranded in Jamaica during his fourth voyage to the West, used a correctly predicted lunar eclipse to frighten hostile natives into providing food for his crew.



In 1692, The Salem witch trials begin when Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba are accused of using witchcraft.



In 1792, composer Gioacchino Antonio Rossini was born in Pesaro, Italy.



In 1860, Herman Hollerith invents the first electric tabulating machine



In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed a seven-member commission to facilitate completion of the Panama Canal.



In 1904, bandleader Jimmy Dorsey was born in Shenandoah, Pa.



In 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act. The new act rewards farmers for growing soil-enhancing crops.



In 1952, In Times Square, NYC, four electronic signs are installed at 44th Street and Broadway to tell pedestrians when to “walk.”



In 1956, President Eisenhower announced he would seek a second term of office.



In 1960, The first Playboy Club, featuring bunnies, opens in Chicago, Illinois.



In 1960, An earthquake hits Agadir, Morocco, killing 12,000 people. It is the worst earthquake recorded in Africa to date.



In 1968, the discovery of the first "pulsar," a star which emits regular radio waves, was announced by Dr. Jocelyn Bell Burnell at Cambridge, England.



In 1968, President Johnson's National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (also known as the Kerner Commission) warned that racism was causing America to move "toward two societies, one black, one white -- separate and unequal."



In 1968, at the Grammy Awards, the Fifth Dimension's "Up, Up and Away" won record of the year for 1967, while album of the year honors went to the Beatles for "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."



In 1972, Hank Aaron becomes the first baseball player to sign a deal worth $200,00 a year.



In 1980, former Israeli foreign minister Yigal Allon, who had played an important role in the Jewish state's fight for independence, died at age 61.



In 1984, Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau announced he was stepping down after more than 15 years in power.



Twelve years ago (1992):



Muslims and Croats in Bosnia-Herzegovina began casting ballots in an independence referendum; Serbs boycotted the vote, calling it illegal.



Eight years ago (1996):



About 30 television and entertainment industry executives met with President Clinton at the White House, where they promised to devise a TV ratings system.



Daniel Green was convicted in Lumberton, N.C., of murdering James R. Jordan, the father of basketball star Michael Jordan, during a 1993 roadside holdup. (Green was sentenced to life in prison.)



A Peruvian commercial jetliner crashed in the Andes, killing all 123 people on board.



Four years ago (2000):



George W. Bush won Republican presidential primaries in Virginia, Washington state and North Dakota, defeating John McCain; Vice President Al Gore crushed fellow Democrat Bill Bradley in Washington state.



Six-year-old Kayla Rolland was fatally shot by a fellow first-grader at Buell Elementary School in Mount Morris Township, Mich.



Puff Daddy plead not guilty to charges that he had attempted to bribe a professional driver to take responsibility for a 9mm handgun that had been found in a vehicle with Puff Daddy following a shooting in 1999.



The city of Autlan de Navarro, Mexico announced plans to build a public monument to tribute Carlos Santana.



Sparky Anderson was elected to the baseball Hall of Fame along with Turkey Stearnes of the Negro leagues and 19th-century second baseman Bid McPhee.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Today's Birthdays:



Actress Michele Morgan is 84.



Actor Arthur Franz is 84.



Actor James Mitchell is 84.



Actor Joss Ackland is 76.



Actor Alex Rocco is 68.



Former space shuttle astronaut Jack Lousma is 68.



Actor Dennis Farina is 60.



Actress Phyllis Frelich is 60.



Actor Antonio Sabato Jr. is 32.



Rapper Ja Rule is 28.



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Thought for Today:

"There are many fine things which you mean to do someday, under what you think will be more favorable circumstances. But the only time that is yours is the present." -

- Grenville Kleiser, American author (1868-1953).



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Saturday, February 28, 2004

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Today is Saturday, Feb. 28th.

The 59th day of 2004.

There are 307 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On Feb. 28, 1953, scientists James D. Watson and Francis H.C. Crick discovered the double-helix structure of DNA, the molecule that contains the human genes.



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On this date:



In 1784, The English evangelist John Wesley signs a deed of declaration as the charter of Wesleyan Methodism and ordains two “Presbyters” for the American Mission.



In 1827, the first U.S. railroad chartered to carry passengers and freight, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Co., was incorporated.



In 1844, a 12-inch gun aboard the USS Princeton exploded, killing Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur, Navy Secretary Thomas W. Gilmer and several others.



In 1849, the ship California arrived at San Francisco, carrying the first of the gold-seekers.



In 1854, The Republican Party was organized in Ripon, WI.



In 1861, the Territory of Colorado was organized.



In 1922, After 40 years of occupation, Great Britain grants independence to Egypt, but retains the Suez Canal.



In 1933, Francis Perkins is appointed U.S. Secretary of Labor, becoming the first female cabinet member in American history.



In 1933, Adolf Hitler persuades president Paul von Hindenburg to issue an emergency order that suppresses civil liberties and freedom of the press and allows the Nazis to arrest thousands of their opponents.



In 1940, The first televised basketball game is aired from Madison Square Garden featuring Fordham University and the University of Pittsburgh.



In 1951, the Senate committee headed by Estes Kefauver, D-Tenn., issued a preliminary report saying at least two major crime syndicates were operating in the United States.



In 1953, In Tehran, Iran, supporters of the Shah drove Mohammed Mossadegh out of his home. Mobs were rioting outside.



In 1960, The United States wins the Olympic hockey gold medal by defeating Czechoslovakia, 9-4.



In 1962, TheJohn Glenn for President Club was formed by a group of Las Vegas republicans.



In 1972, U.S. President Nixon ended a visit to China that had begun on February 21st.



In 1974, the United States and Egypt re-established diplomatic relations after a seven-year break.



In 1975, more than 40 people were killed in London's Underground when a subway train smashed into the end of a tunnel.



In 1979, Mr. Ed, the talking horse, died.



In 1983, "M*A*S*H" became the most watched television program in history when the final episode aired.



In 1984, Michael Jackson's album Thriller wins an unprecedented eight Grammy Awards.



In 1986, Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was shot to death in central Stockholm.



In 1989, In Lebanon, Israeli bombs killed three children. The bombs were intended for terrorist bases.



In 1991, U.S. President H.W. Bush declared a cease-fire and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein pledged to honor future United Nations peace terms.



In 1993, a gun battle erupted at a compound near Waco, Texas, when Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents tried to serve warrants on the Branch Davidians; four agents and six Davidians were killed as a 51-day standoff began.



In 1996, Britain's Prince Charles and Princess Diana agreed to divorce.



In 2001, The Northwest region of the U.S., including the state of Washington, was hit by an earthquake that measured 6.9 on the Richter Scale. There were no deaths reported.



In 2002, The Israeli military attacked two West Bank refugee camps. The attacks were an attempt to break strongholds of Palestinian militants. It was Israels largest military operation since the 1982 invasion of Lebanon.



Ten years ago (1994):



Two U.S. F-16 fighter jets downed four Serb warplanes that U.N. officials said had bombed an arms plant run by Bosnia's Muslim-led government.



Five years ago (1999):



Guerrillas detonated two bombs beside a military convoy in southern Lebanon, killing a brigadier general and three other Israelis; Israel retaliated with air raids on suspected guerrilla hideouts.



One year ago (2003):



NASA released video taken aboard Columbia that had miraculously survived the fiery destruction of the space shuttle with the loss of all seven astronauts; in the footage, four of the crew members can be seen doing routine chores and admiring the view outside the cockpit.



The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stood by its ruling that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools was unconstitutional because of the words "under God."



The Food and Drug Administration announced that every bottle of ephedra would soon bear stern warnings that the popular herb could cause heart attacks or strokes, even kill.



It was reported that Iraq would began destroying its Al Samoud 2 missiles the next day. U.N. weapons inspectors deemed that the missiles violated U.N. limits on ranges.



-----------------------------------------------------



Today's Birthdays:



Actor Charles Durning is 81.



Svetlana Alliluyeva, daughter of Josef Stalin, is 78.



Actor Gavin MacLeod is 73.



Actor Don Francks is 72.



Actor-director-dancer Tommy Tune is 65.



Auto racer Mario Andretti is 64.



Singer Joe South is 64.



Actor Frank Bonner is 62.



Actress Kelly Bishop is 60.



Football player Bubba Smith is 59.



Actress Stephanie Beacham is 57.



Actress Mercedes Ruehl is 56.



Actress Bernadette Peters is 56.



Comedian Gilbert Gottfried is 49.



Basketball player Adrian Dantley is 48.



Actor John Turturro is 47.



Rock singer Cindy Wilson is 47.



Actress Rae Dawn Chong is 43.



Actor Robert Sean Leonard is 35.



Rock singer Pat Monahan (Train) is 35.



Actress Maxine Bahns is 33.



Singer FeFe Dobson is 19.



Actor Bobb'e J. Thompson ("The Tracy Morgan Show") is 8.



----------------------------------------------------



Thought for Today:

"Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers." -

- Voltaire, French author-philosopher (1694-1778 ).



----------------------------------------------------

Friday, February 27, 2004

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Today is Friday, Feb. 27th.

The 58th day of 2004.

There are 308 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On Feb. 27, 1933, Germany's parliament building, the Reichstag, caught fire. The Nazis, blaming the Communists, used the fire as a pretext for suspending civil liberties.



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On this date:



In 1594, Henry IV is crowned king of France in Chartres.



In 1801, the District of Columbia was placed under the jurisdiction of Congress.



In 1807, poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine.



In 1827, The first open celebration of Mardi Gras in New Orleans begins.



In 1883, Oscar Hammerstein patented the first cigar-rolling machine.



In 1902, Pulitzer Prize winning (Grapes of Wrath) American author John Steinbeck was born in Salinas, Calif.



In 1922, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the 19th Amendment to the Constitution that guaranteed the right of women to vote.



In 1939, the Supreme Court outlawed sit-down strikes.



In 1947, In Baltimore, the first closed-circuit broadcast of a surgical operation takes place at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Observers in four classrooms are able to see the procedure simultaneously.



In 1949, Chaim Weizmann became the first Israeli president.



In 1960, the U.S. Olympic hockey team defeated the Soviets, 3-2, at the Winter Games in Squaw Valley, Calif. (The United States went on to win the gold medal.)



In 1972, President Nixon and Chinese Premier Chou En-lai issued the Shanghai Communique at the conclusion of Nixon's historic visit to China.



In 1973, Sioux Native Americans seize and hold Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, demanding a United States Senate investigation of Native American problems.



In 1974, The first issue of People magazine, a weekly publication featuring entertainment and social-interest news, hits the newsstands.



In 1979, Jane M. Byrne confounded Chicago's Democratic political machine as she upset Mayor Michael A. Bilandic to win their party's mayoral primary. (Byrne went on to win the election.)



In 1982, Wayne B. Williams was found guilty of murdering two of the 28 young blacks whose bodies were found in the Atlanta area over a 22-month period.



In 1990, The Exxon Corporation is indicted on five criminal charges relating to the 1989 Alaskan oil spill.



In 1991, Kuwait was liberated by U.S. troops. The U.S. had began a ground assault to drive Iraqi troops out of Kuwait on February 24.



In 1997, divorce became legal in Ireland.



In 1998, Britain's House of Lords agreed to give a monarch's first-born daughter the same claim to the throne as any first-born son. This was the end to 1,000 years of male preference.



In 2002, In Boston, twenty people working at Logan International Airport were charged with lying to get their jobs or security badges.



Ten years ago (1994):



The Winter Olympic Games ended in Lillehammer, Norway.



Five years ago:



The Rev. Henry Lyons, president of the National Baptist Convention USA, was convicted in Largo, Fla., of swindling millions of dollars from companies seeking to do business with his followers. (Lyons, who served nearly five years in prison, was released last December.)



Nigerians elected Olusegun Obasanjo to be president as their country marked the final phase of its return to democracy.



Colin Prescot and Andy Elson set a new hot-air balloon endurance record when they stayed aloft for 233 hours and 55 minutes. The two were in the process of trying to circumnavigate the Earth.



One year ago (2003):



A design by architect Daniel Libeskind is selected to be built on the former site of the twin towers of New York City's World Trade Center.



The Bush administration lowered the national terror alert from orange to yellow.



Iraq agreed in principle to destroy its Al Samoud Two missiles, two days before a U.N. deadline.



Former Bosnian Serb leader Biljana Plavsic was sentenced by the U.N. tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, to 11 years in prison.



Children's television host Fred Rogers died in Pittsburgh at age 74.



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Today's Birthdays:



Actress Joanne Woodward is 74.



Actress Elizabeth Taylor is 72.



Consumer advocate Ralph Nader is 70.



Actress Barbara Babcock (Faye Furillo, "Hill Street Blues") is 67.



Actor Howard Hesseman (Dr. Johnny Fever, "WKRP") is 64.



Actress Debra Monk is 55.



Rock singer-musician Neal Schon (Journey) is 50.



Rock musician Paul Humphreys (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) is 44.



Basketball player James Worthy is 43.



Actor Adam Baldwin is 42.



Actor Grant Show is 42.



Rock musician Mike Cross (Sponge) is 39.



Actor Donal Logue is 38.



Rhythm and blues singer Chilli (TLC) is 33.



Rock musician Jeremy Dean (Nine Days) is 32.



Rhythm and blues singer Roderick Clark is 31.



Chelsea Clinton is 24.



Rhythm and blues singer Bobby Wilson (Mista) is 24.



Singer Josh Groban is 23.



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Thought for Today:

"All that is human must be retrograde if it does not advance." -

— Edward Gibbon, English historian (1737-1794).



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Thursday, February 26, 2004

Today is Thursday, Feb. 26th.

The 57th day of 2004.

There are 309 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On Feb. 26, 1993, a bomb built by a group of Islamic extremists exploded in the parking garage of New York's World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000 others.



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On this date:



In 1766, Empress Catherine II (the Great) grants freedom of worship in Russia.



In 1802, French poet, novelist, and playwright Victor Hugo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) was born in Besançon, France. He died in 1885



In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from the Island of Elba to begin his second conquest of France.



In 1829, Levi Strauss, creator of blue jeans was born.



In 1846, American guide, scout, and showman William Frederick (Buffalo Bill) Cody was born in Scott County, Iowa. He died in 1917. The town of Cody, Wyoming, is named after him.



In 1848, the Second French Republic was proclaimed.



In 1848, Karl Marx and Friederich Engels publish the Communist Manifesto in London.



In 1863, U.S. President Lincoln signed the National Currency Act.



In 1907, The U.S. Congress raised their own pay to $7500.



In 1916, Comedian and actor Herbert John ("Jackie") Gleason was born in Brooklyn, New York. He ided in 1987.



In 1919, Congress established Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.



In 1929, President Coolidge signed a measure establishing Grand Teton National Park.



In 1930, New York City installed traffic lights.



In 1932, Country music singer Johnny Cash (known for the sincerity of his singing and for his deep bass voice) was born in Kingsland, Arkansas. He died in 2003.



In 1940, the United States Air Defense Command was created.



In 1945, In the U.S., a nationwide midnight curfew went into effect.



In 1945, During World War II, Syria declared war on Germany and Japan.



In 1946, Captain James Gallagher and 14 crew members take off aboard Lucky Lady II as they begin what will become the first non-stop flight around the globe. The plane will be refueled four times while in the air before landing back in the U.S. on March 2.



In 1951, the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, limiting a president to two terms of office, was ratified.



In 1952, Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced that Britain had developed its own atomic bomb.



In 1962, after becoming the first American to orbit the Earth, John Glenn told a joint meeting of Congress, "Exploration and the pursuit of knowledge have always paid dividends in the long run."



In 1979, a total solar eclipse cast a moving shadow 175 miles wide from Oregon to North Dakota before moving into Canada.



In 1985, Tina Turner wins two Grammy Awards for her hit song "What's Love Got to Do With It?"



In 1987, the Tower Commission, which probed the Iran-Contra affair, issued its report, which rebuked President Reagan for failing to control his national security staff.



In 1990, The 100th episode of "MacGyver" aired.



In 1991, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein announced on Baghdad Radio that Iraqi troops were being withdrawn from Kuwait.



In 1998, A federal jury in Armarillo, Texas, rules in favor of Oprah Winfrey in a lawsuit filed against her by Texas cattlemen. The lawsuit stems from a beef comment the popular talk show host made concerning mad cow disease.



In 1998, In Oregon, a health panel rules that taxpayers must help to pay for doctor-assisted suicides.



In 2000, Pope John Paul II visited Mount Sinai in Egypt, revered as the place where Moses received the Ten Commandments.



In 2002, In Rome, Italy, a bomb exploded near the Interior Ministry. No injuries were reported.



In 2002, U.S. officials confirmed that small groups of U.S. diplomats and intelligence analysts had been infiltrating northern Iraq periodically to confer with Kurds and other opponents of Saddam Hussein's government.



Ten years ago (1994):



A jury in San Antonio acquitted 11 followers of David Koresh of murder, rejecting claims they'd ambushed federal agents; five were convicted of manslaughter.



Five years ago (1999):



President Clinton, outlining foreign policy goals for the final two years of his administration, urged continued American engagement in the quest for peace and freedom abroad during a news conference in San Francisco.



One year ago (2003):



President Bush, offering new justification for war in Iraq, told a think tank that "ending this direct and growing threat" from Saddam Hussein would pave the way for peace in the Middle East and encourage democracy throughout the Arab world.



In a victory for abortion foes, the Supreme Court ruled that federal racketeering and extortion laws had been wrongly used to try to stop blockades, harassment and violent protests outside clinics.



A fire at the Greenwood Health Center in Hartford, Conn., killed 16 nursing home patients; a patient charged with setting the blaze was later ruled incompetent to stand trial.



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Today's Birthdays:



Actor Mason Adams is 85.



Actor Tony Randall is 84.



Actress Betty Hutton is 83.



Singer Fats Domino is 76.



Political columnist Robert Novak is 73.



Country-rock musician Paul Cotton (Poco) is 61.



Actor-director Bill Duke is 61.



Singer Mitch Ryder is 59.



Rock musician Jonathan Cain (Journey) is 54.



Singer Michael Bolton is 51.



Actor Greg Germann is 46.



Bandleader John McDaniel is 43.



Actress Jennifer Grant is 38.



Singer Erykah Badu is 33.



Rhythm and blues singer Rico Wade (Society of Soul) is 32.



Country singer Rodney Hayden is 24.



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Thought for Today:

"The wise make proverbs and fools repeat them." -

- Isaac D'Israeli, English author (1766-1848 ).

_____________________________________

Wednesday, February 25, 2004

Today is Wednesday, February. 25th.

The 56th day of 2004.

There are 310 days left in the year.

Today Is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent



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Today's Highlight in History:



On Feb. 25, 1793, the department heads of the U.S. government met with President Washington at his home for the first Cabinet meeting on record.



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On this date:



In 1570, Pope Pius V excommunicated England's Queen Elizabeth I.



In 1601, Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, is executed (beheaded) for high treason after his revolt against Queen Elizabeth I of England's ministers.



In 1836, inventor Samuel Colt patented his revolver.



In 1888, John Foster Dulles was born in Washington, DC. Secretary of State from 1953 to 1959, he is remembered as an uncompromising foe of communism. He resigned from office a few weeks before his death, on May 24, 1959.



In 1890, Vlacheslav Mikhaylovich Skryabin was born in Kurkaka, Russia. He was the foreign minister of the Soviet Union who took the revolutionary name Molotov. Molotov had advocated the use of throwing bottles filled with flamable liquid stuffed with a burning rag, known as a "Molotov cocktail," at the enemy.



In 1901, United States Steel Corp. was incorporated by J.P. Morgan.



In 1913, the 16th Amendment to the United States Constitution, giving Congress the power to levy and collect income taxes, was declared in effect.



In 1917, Anthony Burgess, British novelist and critic, best known for his controversial novel A Clockwork Orange (1962), was born in Manchester, United Kingdom. He died in 1993.



In 1919, Oregon became the first state to place a tax on gasoline. The tax was 1 cent per gallon.



In 1925, A remote part of southeastern Alaska that is only accessible by boat or plane is designated as the Glacier Bay National Monument. It will become a National Park and Preserve on December 2, 1980



In 1928, The Federal Radio Commission (forerunner to the Federal Communications Commission) issued the first U.S. television license to Charles Jenkins Laboratories in Washington, DC.



In 1933, The first aircraft carrier, "Ranger", was launched.



In 1940, The New York Rangers and the Montreal Canadiens played in the first hockey game to be televised in the U.S. The game was aired on W2WBS in New York with one camera in a fixed position.



In 1943, during World War II, U.S. troops reoccupied the Kasserine Pass.



In 1948, Communists seized power in Czechoslovakia.



In 1950, "Your Show of Shows" debuted on NBC.



In 1956, Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, criticized the late Josef Stalin in a speech before a Communist Party congress in Moscow.



In 1961, Henry Kissinger is named National Security Adviser by President John F. Kennedy.



In 1964, Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali) became world heavyweight boxing champion by defeating Sonny Liston in Miami Beach.



In 1972, Germany gave a $5 million ransom to Arab terrorists who had hijacked a jumbo jet.



In 1973, the Stephen Sondheim musical "A Little Night Music" opened at Broadway's Shubert Theater.



In 1982, The final new show of "The Lawrence Welk Show" aired, ending an amazing 27-year run on television.



In 1986, President Ferdinand E. Marcos fled the Philippines after 20 years of rule in the wake of a tainted election; Corazon Aquino assumed the presidency.



In 1991, during the Persian Gulf War, 28 Americans were killed when an Iraqi Scud missile hit a U.S. barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.



In 1993, The University of Vermont women's basketball team extends its winning streak to 50 straight victories by beating Northeastern, 50-40. This breaks the women's Division I college basketball record for consecutive regular-season wins.



In 1998, Bob Dylan wins three awards, including album of the year for Time Out of Mind, and his son Jakob wins two awards at the 40th annual Grammy Awards in New York City.



In 2000, In Albany, NY, a jury acquitted four New York City police officers of second-degree murder and lesser charges in the February 1999 shooting death of Amadou Diallo.



Ten years ago (1994):



American-born Jewish settler Baruch Goldstein opened fire with an automatic rifle inside the Tomb of the Patriarchs in the West Bank, killing 29 Muslims before he was beaten to death by worshippers.



At the Winter Olympics in Norway, Oksana Baiul of Ukraine won the gold medal in ladies' figure skating while Nancy Kerrigan won the silver and Chen Lu of China the bronze; Tonya Harding came in 8th.



Five years ago (1999):



A jury in Jasper, Texas, sentenced white supremacist John William King to death for chaining James Byrd Jr., a black man, to a pickup truck and dragging him to pieces.



Israel's Supreme Court blocked the extradition of American teenager Samuel Sheinbein to the United States to face charges stemming from a grisly slaying in Maryland.



In Moscow, China's Prime Minister Zhu Rongji and Russia's President Boris Yeltsin discussed trade and other issues.



One year ago (2003):



Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix said Iraq was showing new signs of real cooperation, but President Bush was dismissive, predicting Saddam Hussein would try to "fool the world one more time."



Roh Moo-hyun became South Korea's new president.



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Today's Birthdays:



Country singer Ralph Stanley is 77.



Producer-writer Larry Gelbart is 76.



Musician Tommy Newsom is 75.



Actor Tom Courtenay is 67.



CBS newsman Bob Schieffer is 67.



Actress Diane Baker is 66.



Talk show host Sally Jessy Raphael is 61.



Actress Karen Grassle is 60.



Movie director Neil Jordan is 54.



Rock singer-musician Mike Peters (The Alarm) is 45.



Actress Veronica Webb is 39.



Actor Alexis Denisof is 38.



Actress Tea Leoni is 38.



Actress Lesley Boone ("Ed") is 36.



Actor Sean Astin is 33.



Rhythm and blues singer Justin Jeffre (98 Degrees) is 31.



Rock musician Richard Liles is 31.



Actor Anson Mount is 31.



Actress Rashida Jones is 28.



Actor Justin Berfield ("Malcolm in the Middle") is 18.



Actors Oliver and James Phelps ("Harry Potter" movies) are 18.



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Thought for Today:

"Hero-worship is strongest where there is least regard for human freedom." -

- Herbert Spencer, British philosopher (1820-1903).
Today is Tuesday, Feb. 24th.

The 55th day of 2004.

There are 311 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On Feb. 24, 1868, the House of Representatives impeached President Andrew Johnson following his attempted dismissal of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton; Johnson was later acquitted by the Senate.



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On this date:



In 1209, Saint Francis of Assisi's vocation, to live in complete poverty and to preach, is revealed to him.



In 1786, Wilhelm Grimm (The Brothers Grimm, Grimm's Fairy Tales) was born. He died December 16, 1859.



In 1803, Marbury v. Madison establishes the authority of the Supreme Court of the United States to decide whether acts of Congress are legitimate under the U.S. Constitution and ruled itself the final interpreter of constitutional issues.



In 1821, Mexico declared its independence from Spain.



In 1863, Arizona was organized as a territory.



In 1868, The first parade to use floats took place in New Orleans at Mardi Gras.



In 1885, Admiral Chester William Nimitz was born. He died in 1966.



In 1900, New York City Mayor Van Wyck signed the contract to begin work on New York's first rapid transit tunnel. The tunnel would link Manhattan and Brooklyn. The ground-breaking ceremony was on March 24, 1900.



In 1903, the United States signed an agreement acquiring a naval station at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.



In 1920, a fledgling German political party held its first meeting of importance in Munich; it became known as the Nazi Party, and its chief spokesman was Adolf Hitler.



In 1924, Johnny ‘Tarzan’ Weissmuller broke the world’s record in the 100-meter swimming event. He did it in 57 2/5 seconds.



In 1942, the Voice of America (VOA) went on the air for the first time.



In 1942, In order to make more weapons ready for war production, deliveries of all 12-gauge shotguns for sporting use are shut down by the U.S. government.



In 1945, American soldiers liberated the Philippine capital of Manila from Japanese control during World War II.



In 1945, During World War II, Egyptian Premier Ahmed Maher Pasha was killed after reading a decree that declared war on the Axis powers.



In 1946, Juan Peron was elected president of Argentina.



In 1949, Egypt announced that their agreement to a cease fire was not an accectance of the state of Israel.



In 1955 Turkey and Iraq signed the military alliance known as the Baghdad Pact.



In 1980, the U.S. hockey team defeated Finland, 4-2, to clinch the gold medal at the Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, N.Y.



In 1981, Buckingham Palace announced the engagement of Britain's Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer.



In 1983, a congressional commission released a report condemning the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II as a "grave injustice."



In 1987, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar hits his first three-point shot. Up to this date, he has scored 36,000 points, but only scoring two points at a time.



In 1989, A United Airlines 747 jet rips open in flight killing 9 people. The flight was from Honolulu to New Zealand.



In 1989, Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini sentenced Salman Rushdie to death for his novel "The Satanic Verses". A bounty of one to three-million-dollars was also put on Rushidie's head.



In 1989, a state funeral was held in Japan for Emperor Hirohito, who had died the month before at age 87.



In 1991, The United States begins their ground invasion of Kuwait and Iraq.



In 1997, The Food and Drug Administration named six brands of birth control as safe and effective "morning-after" pills for preventing pregnancy.



Ten years ago (1994):



Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders labeled smoking an "adolescent addiction," and accused the tobacco industry of trying to convince teenagers that cigarettes will make them sexy and successful.



Entertainer Dinah Shore died in Beverly Hills, Calif., at age 76.



Five years ago (1999):



The Senate voted overwhelmingly to give the nation's military the biggest benefits increase since the early 1980s.



Lauryn Hill won a record five Grammys, including album of the year and best new artist, on the strength of her solo debut album, "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill."



One year ago (2003):



Seeking U.N. approval for war against Iraq, the United States, Britain and Spain submitted a resolution to the Security Council declaring that Saddam Hussein had missed "the final opportunity" to disarm peacefully and indicating that he had to face the consequences.



A powerful earthquake in China's western region of Xinjiang killed at least 268 people and injured more than 1,000.



CMT featured an entire day of Shania Twain programming.



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Today's Birthdays:



Actor Abe Vigoda is 83.



Actor Steven Hill is 82.



Actor-singer Dominic Chianese ("The Sopranos") is 73.



Movie composer Michel Legrand is 72.



Actor John Vernon is 72.



Opera singer Renata Scotto is 69.



Actor James Farentino is 66.



Actor Barry Bostwick is 59.



Actor Edward James Olmos is 57.



Singer-writer-producer Rupert Holmes is 57.



Actress Debra Jo Rupp is 53.



Actress Helen Shaver is 53.



Apple co-founder Steven Jobs is 49.



News anchor Paula Zahn is 48.



Country singer Sammy Kershaw is 46.



Singer Michelle Shocked is 42.



Movie director Todd Field is 40.



Actor Billy Zane is 38.



Rhythm and blues singer Brandon Brown (Mista) is 21.



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Thought for Today:

"Nothing is more difficult for Americans to understand than the possibility of tragedy." -

- Henry A. Kissinger, former U-S Secretary of State (1923- ).

Monday, February 23, 2004

Today is Monday, Feb. 23rd.

The 54th day of 2004.

There are 312 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On Feb. 23, 1945, during World War II, U.S. Marines on Iwo Jima captured Mount Suribachi, where they raised the American flag.



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On this date:



In 1792, The Humane Society of Massachusetts was incorporated.



In 1822, Boston was granted a charter to incorporate as a city.



In 1836, Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna begins his military siege of the Alamo in San Antonio.



In 1847, 5,000 U.S. troops under Gen. Zachary Taylor defeated Mexican Gen. Santa Anna, commanding 15,000 troops, at the Battle of Buena Vista in Mexico.



In 1848, the sixth president of the United States, John Quincy Adams, died of a stroke at age 80.



In 1861, President-elect Lincoln arrived secretly in Washington to take office, an assassination plot having been foiled in Baltimore.



In 1870, Mississippi was readmitted to the Union.



In 1896, The Tootsie Roll was introduced by Leo Hirshfield.



In 1904, The U.S. acquired control of the Panama Canal Zone for $10 million.



In 1905, The Rotary Club is founded in Chicago, Illinois.



In 1915, Nevada began enforcing convenient divorce law.



In 1924, The twenty-eighth president of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, died.



In 1934, Casey Stengel, who had previously been the team's coach, becomes the manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers.



In 1940, The Walt Disney animated motion picture "Pinocchio", about a wooden puppet who longs to become human, is released.



In 1942, the first shelling of the U.S. mainland during World War II occurred as a Japanese submarine fired on an oil refinery in Ellwood (just west of Santa Barbara), California. No one is hurt and the damage caused by the 20-minute attack is approximately $500.



In 1945, During World War II, Turkey declared war on Germany and Japan.



In 1954, the first mass inoculation of children against polio with the Salk vaccine began in Pittsburgh.



In 1966, The Bitar government in Syria was ended with a military coup.



In 1968, Wilt Chamberlain, of the Philadelphia 76ers, became the first pro basketball player to score 25,000 career points.



In 1980, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini declared that Iran's new parliament would have to decide the fate of the hostages taken on November 4, 1979, at the U.S. embassy in Tehran.



In 1981, an attempted coup began in Spain as 200 members of the Civil Guard invaded the Parliament, taking lawmakers hostage. (However, the attempt collapsed 18 hours later.)



In 1987, Astronomer Ian Shelton spots an exploding star in the sky - the first supernova visible with the naked eye since 1604.



In 1991, During the Persian Gulf War, ground forces crossed the border of Saudi Arabia into the country of Iraq. Less than four days later the war was over due to the surrender or withdraw of Iraqi forces.



In 1997, scientists in Scotland announced they had succeeded in cloning an adult mammal, producing a lamb named "Dolly." (Dolly, however, was put down Feb. 14, 2003, after a short life marred by premature aging and disease.)



Ten years ago (1994):



The military chiefs of Bosnia's Muslim-led government and their second-strongest foes, Bosnia's Croats, signed a truce.



Russia's new parliament took a swipe at President Boris Yeltsin by granting amnesty to leaders of the 1991 Soviet coup and the hard-liners who'd fought him in 1993.



Nancy Kerrigan led the women's figure skating short program at the Winter Olympics in Norway, while Tonya Harding placed 10th.



Five years ago (1999):



A jury in Jasper, Texas, convicted white supremacist John William King of murder in the gruesome dragging death of a black man, James Byrd Jr.; King was sentenced to death two days later.



Serbs agreed in principle to give limited self-rule to majority ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, thereby avoiding for the time being threatened NATO air strikes, but the two sides failed to conclude a deal for ending their yearlong conflict during talks in Rambouillet, France.



In Ankara, Turkey, Abdullah Ocalan was charged with treason. The prosecutors were seeking the death penalty for the Kurdish rebel leader.



The first of two avalanches that claimed 38 lives over two days struck in Austria.



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One year ago (2003):



In West Warwick, R.I., relatives of the victims of a deadly nightclub fire were allowed to walk up to the charred rubble to pray and say goodbye.



Norah Jones won five Grammys, including album and record of the year, at the Grammy Awards in New York.



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Today's Birthdays:



Songwriter Bob Willis is 70.



Actor Peter Fonda is 64.



Author John Sandford is 60.



Singer-musician Johnny Winter is 60.



Country-rock musician Rusty Young is 58.



Actress Patricia Richardson is 53.



Rock musician Brad Whitford (Aerosmith) is 52.



Singer Howard Jones is 49.



Rock musician Michael Wilton (Queensryche) is 42.



Country singer Dusty Drake is 40.



Actress Kristin Davis is 39.



Tennis player Helena Sukova is 39.



Actor Marc Price is 36.



Rock musician Jeff Beres (Sister Hazel) is 33.



Country singer Steve Holy is 32.



Rock musician Lasse Johansson (The Cardigans) is 31.



Actress Dakota Fanning is 10.



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Thought for Today:

"Men are more often bribed by their loyalties and ambitions than by money." -

- Robert H. Jackson, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (1892-1954).

Friday, February 06, 2004

My step-daughter gave birth to her second son on Monday (02-02-2004). 6 lbs. 13 oz. Evan Israel. Welcome to the new world Evan. <.gif=BIG smile>