DAILY CHUCKLE 8-360

"Let's all be careful out there!"

Today is Wednesday, Dec. 24, the 359th day of 2008.
There are seven days left in the year.
This is Christmas Eve.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Dec. 24, 1968, the Apollo 8 astronauts, orbiting the moon, read passages from the Old Testament Book of Genesis during a Christmas Eve telecast that featured live images of Earth.

On this date:

• In 1524, Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama — who had discovered a sea route around Africa to India — died in Cochin, India.
• In 1814, the War of 1812 officially ended as the United States and Britain signed the Treaty of Ghent in Belgium.
• In 1851, fire devastated the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., destroying about 35,000 volumes.
• In 1865, several veterans of the Confederate Army formed a private social club in Pulaski, Tenn., called the Ku Klux Klan.
• In 1871, Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Aida" had its world premiere in Cairo, Egypt.
• In 1908, citing morality concerns, New York Mayor George B. McClellan Jr. temporarily closed the city's movie theaters. (The action gave rise to creation of a motion picture censorship board.)
• In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower supreme commander of Allied forces as part of Operation Overlord.
• In 1951, Gian Carlo Menotti's "Amahl and the Night Visitors," the first opera written specifically for television, was first broadcast by NBC-TV.
• In 1980, Americans remembered the U.S. hostages in Iran by burning candles or shining lights for 417 seconds — one second for each day of captivity.
• In 1993, the Rev. Norman Vincent Peale, who blended Christian and psychiatric principles into a message of "positive thinking," died in Pawling, N.Y., at age 95.

Ten years ago:

• Ignoring NATO warnings, Serb tanks and troops struck an ethnic Albanian stronghold in Kosovo.
• Most of California's citrus crop was considered ruined after three straight nights of freezing cold.

Five years ago:

• A roadside bomb exploded north of Baghdad, killing three U.S. soldiers in the deadliest attack on Americans to that time following Saddam Hussein's capture.
• Talk show host David Letterman visited U.S. troops in Baghdad.
• Air France canceled several flights to the United States after U.S. officials passed on what were termed "credible" security threats.

One year ago:

• President Bush made Christmas Eve calls to 10 U.S. troops serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and other spots around the world, thanking them for their sacrifice and wishing them a happy holiday.
• French news cameraman Gwen Le Gouil, abducted by Somali gunmen Dec. 16 outside the town of Bossaso, was released.

Today's Birthdays:

• Songwriter-bandleader Dave Bartholomew is 88.
• Author Mary Higgins Clark is 81.
• Federal health administrator Anthony S. Fauci is 68.
• Recording company executive Mike Curb is 64.
• Rock singer-musician Lemmy (Motorhead) is 63.
• Actor Grand L. Bush is 53.
• Actor Clarence Gilyard is 53.
• Actress Stephanie Hodge is 52.
• The president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, is 51.
• Rock musician Ian Burden (The Human League) is 51.
• Designer Kate Spade is 46.
• Rock singer Mary Ramsey (10,000 Maniacs) is 45.
• Actor Mark Valley is 44.
• Actor Diedrich Bader is 42.
• Actor Amaury Nolasco is 38.
• Singer Ricky Martin is 37.
• "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest is 34.

Thought for Today:

"Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful."
The Rev. Norman Vincent Peale (1898-1993).

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DAILY CHUCKLE 8-359

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DECEMBER 23RD

Today is Tuesday, Dec. 23, the 358th day of 2008.
There are eight days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Dec. 23, 1968, 82 crew members of the U.S. intelligence ship Pueblo were released by North Korea, 11 months after they had been captured.

On this date:

• In 1783, George Washington resigned as commander in chief of the Continental Army and retired to his home at Mount Vernon, Va.
• In 1788, Maryland passed an act to cede an area "not exceeding ten miles square" for the seat of the national government; about two-thirds of the area became the District of Columbia.
• In 1823, the poem "Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas" was published anonymously in the Troy (N.Y.) Sentinel; the verse, more popularly known as "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," was later attributed to Clement C. Moore.
• In 1893, the Engelbert Humperdinck opera "Haensel und Gretel" was first performed, in Weimar, Germany.
• In 1908, portrait photographer Yousuf Karsh was born in Mardin in present-day Turkey.
• In 1928, the National Broadcasting Company set up a permanent, coast-to-coast network.
• In 1941, during World War II, American forces on Wake Island surrendered to the Japanese.
• In 1948, former Japanese premier Hideki Tojo and six other Japanese war leaders were executed in Tokyo.
• In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson held an unprecedented meeting with Pope Paul VI at the Vatican.
• In 1986, the experimental airplane Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, completed the first non-stop, non-refueled, round-the-world flight as it landed safely at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Ten years ago:

• Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat freed Hamas spiritual leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin from house arrest, a move denounced by Israel.
• Lebanese guerrillas attacked Israel's northern border with rockets, in retaliation for an Israeli air raid a day earlier.

Five years ago:

• The government announced the first suspected (later confirmed) case of mad cow disease in United States.
• A jury in Chesapeake, Va., sentenced teen sniper Lee Boyd Malvo to life in prison, sparing him the death penalty.
• A gas well accident in southwestern China killed 233 people.
• New York Gov. George Pataki posthumously pardoned comedian Lenny Bruce for his 1964 obscenity conviction.

One year ago:

• A Cessna 172 crashed in Panama, killing California businessman Michael Klein and his daughter, Talia, as well as the pilot; the sole survivor was 12-year-old Francesca Lewis, a friend of Talia's.
• The New England Patriots set an NFL record with their 15th win, the best start in league history, as they beat the Miami Dolphins 28-7.
• Jazz pianist Oscar Peterson died in Mississauga, Canada, at age 82.
• Choreographer Michael Kidd died in Los Angeles. (His age was reported as 88 or 92.)
• Britain's Queen Elizabeth II launched her own special Royal Channel on YouTube.

Today's Birthdays:

• Actor Gerald S. O'Loughlin is 87.
• Actor Ronnie Schell is 77.
• Emperor Akihito of Japan is 75.
• Actor Frederic Forrest is 72.
• Actor James Stacy is 72.
• Rock musician Jorma Kaukonen is 68.
• Rock musician Ron Bushy is 67.
• Actor-comedian Harry Shearer is 65.
• Actress Susan Lucci is 62.
• Singer-musician Adrian Belew is 59.
• Rock musician Dave Murray (Iron Maiden) is 52.
• Actress Joan Severance is 50.
• Singer Terry Weeks is 45.
• Rock singer Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam) is 44.
• The first lady of France, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, is 41.
• Actor Corey Haim is 37.
• Rock musician Jamie Murphy is 33.
• Jazz musician Irvin Mayfield is 31.
• Actress Estella Warren is 30.
• Actress Anna Maria Perez de Tagle is 18.

Thought for Today:

"It ain't no use putting up your umbrella till it rains."
Alice Caldwell Rice, American author (1870-1942).

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DAILY CHUCKLE 8-358

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DECEMBER 22ND

Today is Monday, Dec. 22, the 357th day of 2008.
There are nine days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Dec. 22, 1858, opera composer Giacomo Puccini was born in Lucca, Italy.

On this date:

• In 1775, Esek Hopkins was appointed the commander-in-chief of the Continental Navy.
• In 1808, Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67, and Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, also known as the "Pastoral Symphony," had their world premieres in Vienna, Austria.
• In 1864, during the Civil War, Union Gen. William T. Sherman wrote a message to President Abraham Lincoln which said in part: "I beg to present you as a Christmas-gift the city of Savannah."
• In 1894, French army officer Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of treason in a court-martial that triggered worldwide charges of anti-Semitism. (Dreyfus was eventually vindicated.)
• In 1944, during the World War II Battle of the Bulge, U.S. Brigadier General Anthony C. McAuliffe rejected a German demand for surrender, writing "Nuts!" in his official reply.
• In 1968, Julie Nixon married David Eisenhower in a private ceremony in New York.
• In 1977, three dozen people were killed when a 250-foot-high grain elevator at the Continental Grain Company plant in Westwego, La., exploded.
• In 1984, New York City resident Bernhard Goetz shot and wounded four youths on a Manhattan subway, claiming they were about to rob him.
• In 1988, Brazilian environmentalist Chico Mendes was shot and killed. (A rancher, Darly Alves da Silva, was sentenced in 1990 to 19 years in jail for ordering Mendes slain.)
• In 2001, Richard C. Reid, a passenger on an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami, tried to ignite explosives in his shoes, but was subdued by flight attendants and other passengers. (Reid is serving a life sentence.)

Ten years ago:

• A Chinese dissident (Qin Yongmin) was sentenced to prison for trying to organize an opposition party. (Qin remains in prison.)

Five years ago:

• A magnitude 6.5 earthquake hit California's central coast, killing two people.
• A federal judge ruled the Pentagon couldn't enforce mandatory anthrax vaccinations for military personnel.
• Colombian rebels freed four Israelis and a Briton held hostage for 101 days.

One year ago:

• A jury in Riverhead, N.Y., convicted John White, a black man, of second-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of Daniel Cicciaro, a white teenager, during a confrontation outside White's house. (The 17-year-old was shot in the face after he showed up with two carloads of friends to confront White's son after a dispute at a party.)

Today's Birthdays:

• Actress Barbara Billingsley is 93.
• Former House Speaker Jim Wright is 86.
• Actor Hector Elizondo is 72.
• Country singer Red Steagall is 70.
• Baseball Hall-of-Famer Steve Carlton is 64.
• ABC News correspondent Diane Sawyer is 63.
• Rock singer-musician Rick Nielsen (Cheap Trick) is 62.
• Baseball All-Star Steve Garvey is 60.
• Singer Robin Gibb is 59.
• Golfer Jan Stephenson is 57.
• Actress BernNadette Stanis is 55.
• Rapper Luther Campbell is 48.
• Country singer-musician Chuck Mead (BR549) is 48.
• Actor Ralph Fiennes is 46.
• Actress Lauralee Bell is 40.
• Country singer Lori McKenna is 40.
• Actress Dina Meyer is 40.
• Actress Heather Donahue is 34.
• Actor Chris Carmack is 28.
• Singer Jordin Sparks ("American Idol") is 19.

Thought for Today:

"Anger makes dull men witty, but it keeps them poor."
Attributed to Queen Elizabeth I of England (1533-1603).

"Let's all be careful out there!"