DECEMBER 19TH

Today is Friday, Dec. 19, the 354th day of 2008.
There are 12 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Dec. 19, 1843, "A Christmas Carol," by Charles Dickens, was first published in England.

On this date:

• In 1777, Gen. George Washington led his army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, Pa., to camp for the winter.
• In 1813, British forces captured Fort Niagara during the War of 1812.
• In 1907, 239 workers died in a coal mine explosion in Jacobs Creek, Pa.
• In 1932, the British Broadcasting Corporation began transmitting overseas with its Empire Service to Australia.
• In 1946, war broke out in Indochina as troops under Ho Chi Minh launched widespread attacks against the French.
• In 1957, Meredith Willson's musical play "The Music Man" opened on Broadway.
• In 1972, Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific, winding up the Apollo program of manned lunar landings.
• In 1974, Nelson A. Rockefeller was sworn in as the 41st vice president of the United States.
• In 1986, Lawrence E. Walsh was appointed independent counsel to investigate the Iran-Contra affair.
• In 1997, a SilkAir Boeing 737-300 plunged from the sky, crashing into an Indonesian river and killing all 104 people aboard.

Ten years ago:

• President Bill Clinton was impeached by the Republican-controlled House for perjury and obstruction of justice (he was later acquitted by the Senate).
• Two days after his confession of marital infidelity, Bob Livingston told the House he wouldn't serve as its next speaker.
• President Clinton halted airstrikes against Iraq after a fourth day of attacks.

Five years ago:

• Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi agreed to halt his nation's drive to develop nuclear and chemical weapons.
• Design plans were unveiled for the signature skyscraper — a 1,776-foot glass tower — at the site of the World Trade Center in New York City.
• Death claimed actress Hope Lange at age 70 and actor Les Tremayne at age 90.

One year ago:

• President George W. Bush signed legislation increasing fuel-efficiency standards for vehicles and requiring wider use of ethanol.
• An explosion and fire at a chemical plant in Jacksonville, Fla., killed four workers.
• An express train derailed in southern Pakistan, killing at least 40 people.
• Former Hyundai CEO Lee Myung-bak won South Korea's presidency.
• Rescuers found Frederick Dominguez and his three children, who had been lost in the mountains for three days during a snowstorm, in a northern California ravine.

Today's Birthdays:

• Country singer Little Jimmy Dickens is 88.
• Composer-lyricist Robert Sherman ("Mary Poppins") is 83.
• Actress Cicely Tyson is 75.
• Rhythm-and-blues singer-musician Maurice White (Earth, Wind and Fire) is 67.
• Actor Tim Reid is 64.
• Paleontologist Richard E. Leakey is 64.
• Rock singer Alvin Lee (Ten Years After) is 64.
• Actress Elaine Joyce is 63.
• Musician John McEuen is 63.
• Singer Janie Fricke is 61.
• Jazz musician Lenny White is 59.
• Actor Mike Lookinland is 48.
• Actress Jennifer Beals is 45.
• Actor Scott Cohen is 44.
• Actor Robert MacNaughton is 42.
• Magician Criss Angel is 41.
• Rock musician Kevin Shepard is 40.
• Actress Kristy Swanson is 39.
• Model Tyson Beckford is 38.
• Actress Amy Locane is 37.
• Actress Rosa Blasi is 36.
• Actress Alyssa Milano is 36.
• Actor Jake Gyllenhaal is 28.
• Actress Marla Sokoloff is 28.
• Rapper Lady Sovereign is 23.

Thought for Today:

"Politics is the art of preventing people from taking part in affairs which properly concern them."
Paul Valery, French poet and critic (1871-1945).

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DAILY CHUCKLE 8-354

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DECEMBER 18TH

Today is Thursday, Dec. 18, the 353rd day of 2008.
There are 13 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Dec. 18, 1865, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery, was declared in effect by Secretary of State William H. Seward.

On this date:

• In 1787, New Jersey became the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
• In 1892, Tchaikovsky's ballet "The Nutcracker" publicly premiered in St. Petersburg, Russia.
• In 1915, President Woodrow Wilson, widowed the year before, married Edith Bolling Galt at her Washington home.
• In 1940, Adolf Hitler ordered secret preparations for Nazi Germany to invade the Soviet Union. (Operation Barbarossa was launched in June 1941.)
• In 1944, in a pair of rulings, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the wartime relocation of Japanese-Americans, but also said undeniably loyal Americans of Japanese ancestry could not continue to be detained.
• In 1956, Japan was admitted to the United Nations.
• In 1957, the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, the first public, full-scale commercial nuclear facility to generate electricity in the United States, went on line. (It was taken out of service in 1982.)
• In 1958, the world's first communications satellite, SCORE (Signal Communication by Orbiting Relay Equipment), nicknamed "Chatterbox," was launched by the United States aboard an Atlas rocket.
• In 1972, the United States began heavy bombing of North Vietnamese targets during the Vietnam War. (The bombardment ended 11 days later.)
• In 1980, former Soviet Premier Alexei N. Kosygin died at age 76.

Ten years ago:

• The House debated articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton.
• U.S. and British forces blasted Iraq with a third day of airstrikes.
• South Carolina carried out the nation's 500th execution since capital punishment resumed in 1977.

Five years ago:

• Two federal appeals courts ruled the U.S. military could not indefinitely hold prisoners without access to lawyers or American courts.
• A jury in Chesapeake, Va., convicted teenager Lee Boyd Malvo of two counts of capital murder in the Washington-area sniper shootings (he was later sentenced to life in prison without parole).
• A judge in Seattle sentenced confessed Green River Killer Gary Ridgway to 48 consecutive life terms.
• Michael Jackson was formally charged with molesting a cancer-stricken boy at his Neverland Ranch; Jackson was acquitted at trial.

One year ago:

• The White House said President George W. Bush had approved "a significant reduction" in the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, cutting it to less than one-quarter its size at the end of the Cold War.
• The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to extend the U.S.-led multinational force in Iraq for one year.
• Jacob Zuma was elected leader of the African National Congress, South Africa's ruling party, defeating imcumbent Thabo Mbeki.

Today's Birthdays:

• Television writer-producer Hal Kanter is 90.
• Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark is 81.
• Actor Roger Smith is 76.
• Blues musician Lonnie Brooks is 75.
• Rock singer-musician Keith Richards is 65.
• Writer-director Alan Rudolph is 65.
• Movie producer-director Steven Spielberg is 62.
• Blues artist Ron Piazza is 61.
• Movie director Gillian Armstrong is 58.
• Movie reviewer Leonard Maltin is 58.
• Rock musician Elliot Easton is 55.
• Actor Ray Liotta is 53.
• Comedian Ron White is 52.
• Actor Brad Pitt is 45.
• Actress Rachel Griffiths is 40.
• Singer Alejandro Sanz is 40.
• Country/rap singer Cowboy Troy is 38.
• Rapper DMX is 38.
• Tennis player Arantxa Sanchez Vicario is 37.
• DJ Lethal (Limp Bizkit) is 36.
• Actress Katie Holmes is 30.
• Singer Christina Aguilera is 28.
• Christian rock musician Dave Luetkenhoelter (Kutless) is 26.

Thought for Today:

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage."
Anais Nin, American author (1903-1977).

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DAILY CHUCKLE 8-353

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DECEMBER 17TH

Today is Wednesday, Dec. 17, the 352nd day of 2008.
There are 14 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Dec. 17, 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright of Dayton, Ohio, conducted the first successful manned powered-airplane flights, near Kitty Hawk, N.C., using their experimental craft, the Wright Flyer.

On this date:

• In 1777, France recognized American independence.
• In 1830, South American patriot Simon Bolivar died in Colombia.
• In 1925, Col. William "Billy" Mitchell was convicted at his court-martial of insubordination for accusing senior military officials of incompetence and criminal negligence; he was suspended from active duty.
• In 1933, in the inaugural NFL championship football game, the Chicago Bears defeated the New York Giants, 23-21, at Wrigley Field.
• In 1939, the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee was scuttled by its crew, ending the World War II Battle of the River Plate off Uruguay.
• In 1944, the U.S. Army announced it was ending its policy of excluding Japanese-Americans from the West Coast.
• In 1957, the United States successfully test-fired the Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time.
• In 1975, Lynette Fromme was sentenced in Sacramento, Calif., to life in prison for her attempt on the life of President Gerald R. Ford.
• In 1981, members of the Red Brigades kidnapped Brig. Gen. James L. Dozier, the highest-ranking U.S. Army official in southern Europe, from his home in Verona, Italy. (Dozier was rescued 42 days later.)
• In 1986, Eugene Hasenfus, the American convicted by Nicaragua for his part in running guns to the Contras, was pardoned, then released.

Ten years ago:

• The United States hit Iraq with a second wave of punishing airstrikes.
• Republicans advanced the impeachment case against President Bill Clinton to the House floor for a debate the following day.
• House Speaker-designate Bob Livingston shocked fellow Republicans by admitting he'd had extramarital affairs.

Five years ago:

• Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan was indicted on corruption charges. (Ryan is serving a 6 1/2-year federal prison sentence for racketeering.)
• The British government announced the first reported case of a person dying from the human form of mad cow disease after a blood transfusion from an infected donor.
• An attempt to re-create the Wright brothers' first flight on the 100th anniversary failed to take off.

One year ago:

• President George W. Bush, addressing a Rotary Club meeting, tried to reassure an edgy public that the economy is "pretty good" despite the mix of a failing housing market, a national credit crunch and surging energy costs.
• Iran received its first nuclear fuel from Russia, paving the way for the startup of its reactor.
• Gov. Jon S. Corzine signed a measure making New Jersey the first state to abolish the death penalty in more than 40 years.
• NBC announced that Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien were planning to return to their late-night shows in early 2008, even as the writers' strike continued.

Today's Birthdays:

• Newspaper columnist William Safire is 79.
• Actor Armin Mueller-Stahl is 78.
• Magazine publisher Robert Guccione is 78.
• Actor George Lindsey is 73.
• Singer-actor Tommy Steele is 72.
• Rock singer-musician Art Neville is 71.
• Actor Bernard Hill is 64.
• Actor Christopher Cazenove is 63.
• Actor Ernie Hudson is 63.
• Comedian-actor Eugene Levy is 62.
• Actor Wes Studi is 61.
• Pop musician Jim Bonfanti (The Raspberries) is 60.
• Rock singer Paul Rodgers is 59.
• Rhythm-and-blues singer Wanda Hutchinson (The Emotions) is 57.
• Actor Bill Pullman is 55.
• Actor Barry Livingston is 55.
• Country singer Sharon White is 55.
• Producer-director-writer Peter Farrelly is 52.
• Rock musician Mike Mills (R.E.M.) is 50.
• Pop singer Sarah Dallin (Bananarama) is 47.
• Country musician Tim Chewning is 46.
• Country singer Tracy Byrd is 42.
• Country musician Duane Propes is 42.
• DJ Homicide (Sugar Ray) is 38.
• Actor Sean Patrick Thomas is 38.
• Pop-rock musician Eddie Fisher (OneRepublic) is 35.
• Actress Sarah Paulson is 34.
• Actress Marissa Ribisi is 34.
• Actor Giovanni Ribisi is 34.
• Actress Milla Jovovich is 33.
• Singer Bree Sharp is 33.
• Actress Jennifer Carpenter is 29.
• Actress Vanessa Zima is 22.
• Actor-singer Nat Wolff is 14.

Thought for Today:

"The only people who never fail are those who never try."
Ilka Chase, American author, actress, humorist (1905-1978).

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DAILY CHUCKLE 8-352

"Let's all be careful out there!"