HISTORY FOR MAY 29

Thursday May 29, 2008

Today is Thursday, May 29, the 150th day of 2008 with 216 to follow
The moon is waning. The morning stars are Venus, Jupiter, Neptune and Uranus. The evening stars are Mercury, Mars and Saturn.

This Day in History, May 29
On May 29th, 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary became the first person to reach the top of Mt. Everest.

History and Quotes
For Brenda
Thursday May 29, 2008

Today is Thursday, May 29, the 150th day of 2008 with 216 to follow.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Venus, Jupiter, Neptune and Uranus. The evening stars are Mercury, Mars and Saturn.


This Day in History, May 29
Other Notable Events, May 29

Notable Birthdays for May 29
Classic Quotes by Patrick Henry (1736-1799) U.S. patriot
Weekly Menu Planner for Families
Read online and look-up other dates in history.


This Day in History, May 29
On May 29th, 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary became the first person to reach the top of Mt. Everest.


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Other Notable Events, May 29
In 1453, Constantinople (now Istanbul), capital of the Byzantine Empire, was captured by the Turks.

In 1660, Charles II was restored to the English throne.

In 1790, Rhode Island became the last of the original 13 states to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

In 1848, following approval by the territory's citizens, Wisconsin entered the Union as the 30th state.

In 1865, U.S. President Andrew Johnson issued a proclamation giving a general amnesty to all who took part in the rebellion against the United States.

In 1953, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal became the first men to reach the top of Mount Everest.

In 1977, a flash fire swept through a nightclub in Southgate, Ky., killing 162 people and injuring 30.

In 1985, British soccer fans attacked Italian fans preceding the European Cup final in Brussels. The resulting stadium stampede killed 38 people and injured 400.

In 1989, Chinese students in Tiananmen Square erected a 33-foot statue similar to the Statue of Liberty.

In 1990, renegade communist Boris Yeltsin was elected president of Russia.

In 1991, scientists from Emory University discovered the gene that causes fragile-X syndrome, an untreatable mental retardation.

In 1996, in Israel's first selection of a prime minister by direct vote, Binyamin Netanyahu defeated Shimon Peres to become leader of Israel. The margin of victory was less than 1 percent.

In 1997, Lt. Kelly Flinn, the Air Force's first female B-52 bomber pilot, was discharged following an investigation stemming from adultery charges.

The same day, the Army relieved Brig. Gen. Stephen Xenakis of his command of the Dwight David Eisenhower Army Medical Center at Fort Gordon, Ga., because of an apparently "improper relationship" with a civilian nurse caring for his wife.

Also in 1997, Zaire rebel leader Laurent Kabila was sworn in as president of what was again being called the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In 2000, the Indonesian government placed former President Suharto under house arrest on charges of corruption and abuse of power.

In 2002, FBI Director Robert Mueller acknowledged that the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington might have been avoided if the FBI had acted on available information.

In 2003, comedian Bob Hope was honored by the White House on his 100th birthday with establishment of the Bob Hope Patriotism Award for those showing extraordinary love of country and devotion to the personnel of the U.S. armed forces.

Also in 2003, Microsoft agreed to pay AOL Time Warner $750 million to end a private antitrust suit brought by AOL's Netscape Communications.

In 2004, the World War II memorial was dedicated on the National Mall in Washington. Some 70,000 veterans of that war were on hand.

Also in 2004, a residential compound in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, was invaded by four armed militants who killed 22 and wounded 25, mostly workers in the oil industry from several counties.

In 2006, relief workers struggled to prevent sickness and hunger among hundreds of thousands of survivors from the Indonesian earthquake in Java. More than 5,000 people were killed in the 6.3 quake.

Also in 2006, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe won a second term by a sizable margin.

In 2007, U.S. President George Bush announced tougher economical sanctions against Sudan for failure to adequately help end the humanitarian crisis in the country's embattled Darfur region.

Also in 2007, two car bombings within an hour killed 38 people and injured at least 100 others in Baghdad. Elsewhere, reports said gunmen abducted five British workers at the Iraqi Finance Ministry headquarters.


Notable Birthdays for May 29
Those born on this date include:
- King Charles II of England in 1630
- Patriot Patrick Henry in 1736
- Ebenezer Butterick, inventor of the tissue paper dress pattern, in 1826
- English novelist G.K. Chesterton in 1874
- Movie composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold in 1897
- Entertainer Bob Hope in 1903
- John F. Kennedy, 35th president of the United States, in 1917
- Actor Anthony Geary ( General Hospital ) in 1948 (age 60)
- Actress Annette Bening in 1958 (age 50)
- Actor Rupert Everett in 1959 (age 49)
- Actor Adrian Paul in 1959 (age 49)
- Actress Lisa Whelchel in 1963 (age 45)
- Singer Melissa Etheridge in 1961 (age 47)
- Spice Girl Melanie "Scary Spice" Brown in 1975 (age 33)


Copyright 2008 by United Press International

HISTORY FOR MAY 27

This Day in History, May 27
On May 27th, 1883, Alexander III was crowned Tsar of Russia.

Other Notable Events, May 27
In 1703, Czar Peter the Great founded St. Petersburg as the new capital of Russia.

In 1930, Richard Gurley Drew received a patent for his adhesive tape, which was later manufactured by 3M as Scotch tape.

In 1937, San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge was opened. An estimated 200,000 people crossed it the first day.

In 1941, the British Navy sank the German battleship Bismarck 400 miles west of the French port of Brest.

In 1968, the U.S. nuclear submarine Scorpion disappeared in the Atlantic with 99 men aboard.

In 1988, the U.S. Senate voted 98-5 in favor of the U.S.-Soviet treaty to abolish intermediate-range nuclear missiles.

In 1990, Cesar Gaviria, 34, was elected president of Colombia after a campaign in which three candidates were killed. He vowed to make no deals with the cocaine cartels.

In 1992, hours after a Russian-brokered cease-fire went into effect in Bosnia, Serb guerrillas launched a surprise mortar bombardment on Sarajevo, killing at least 20 people and injuring up to 160 more waiting in lines to buy bread.

In 1993, U.S. sailor Terry Helvey was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to murder in the October 1992 death of gay shipmate Allen Schindler in Sasebo, Japan.

Also in 1993, five people were killed when a car bomb exploded near an art gallery in Florence, Italy. A few paintings by relatively minor artists were destroyed but masterpieces by Botticelli and Michelangelo survived.

In 1996, a cease-fire was signed in the Russian republic of Chechnya.

In 1997, Russian President Boris Yeltsin and the leaders of NATO nations signed an agreement clearing the way for NATO expansion to the east.

In 1999, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and four other Serbian leaders were indicted on murder and other war crimes. Milosevic went on trial in 2002 for war crimes but he died in 2006 before the trial ended.

In 2004, a federal appeals court in San Francisco upheld Oregon's law authorizing doctors to help their terminally ill patients commit suicide.

In 2005, the U.N. conference on the nuclear non-proliferation treaty ended with failure to reach any substantive agreement on policy.

Also in 2005, a suicide bomb killed 19 people at a crowded Muslim shrine in Islamabad, Pakistan, on the last day of a Shiite-Sunni religious festival.

In 2006, a major earthquake struck the Indonesian island of Java, killing a reported 5,000 people and leaving an estimated 200,000 homeless.

In 2007, the bodies of 45 people were found in southern Baghdad, authorities reported. The deaths brought the total number killed in April sectarian violence in Baghdad to 631.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International

Notable Birthdays for May 27
Those born on this date include:
- Financier Cornelius Vanderbilt in 1794
- Social reformer Amelia Bloomer, for whom the undergarment was named, in 1818
- Poet Julia Ward Howe, who wrote the lyrics for The Battle Hymn of the Republic, in 1819
- Financier and railroad developer Jay Gould in 1836
- Frontiersman Wild Bill Hickok in 1837
- Dancer Isadora Duncan in 1877
- Detective novelist Dashiell Hammett in 1894
- Composer Harold Rome in 1908
- U.S. Vice President Hubert Humphrey and actor Vincent Price, both in 1911
- Golfer Sam Snead in 1912
- Author Herman Wouk in 1915 (age 93)
- Actor Christopher Lee in 1922 (age 86)
- Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in 1923 (age 85)
- Jazz musician Ramsey Lewis and actress Lee Meriwether, both in 1935 (age 73)
- Actor Lou Gossett Jr. in 1936 (age 72)
- Actor Bruce Weitz in 1943 (age 65)
- Singer/songwriter Don Williams in 1939 (age 69)
- Actress Peri Gilpin ( Frasier ) in 1961 (age 47)
- Actor Todd Bridges ( Diff'rent Strokes ) in 1965 (age 43)
- Actor Joseph Fiennes in 1970 (age 38)


Copyright 2008 by United Press International

HISTORY FOR MAY 26

I was off line yesterday so I decided to post this blog anyway as it is good info. Today's blog will be posted later today!

This Day in History, May 26
On May 26th, 1897, Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula" went on sale in London.

Other Notable Events, May 26
In 1864, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, anxious to create new free territories during the Civil War, signed an act establishing the Montana Territory. Montana became a state 25 years later.

In 1868, at the end of a historic two-month trial, the U.S. Senate failed to convict President Andrew Johnson of impeachment charges levied against him by the House of Representatives. Johnson won acquittal by one vote on each count.

In 1940, the evacuation of Dunkirk began. Sailing vessels of every kind were pressed into service to ferry across the English Channel the British, French and Belgian soldiers trapped by advancing German forces in northern France. All 200,000 were safely across by June 2.

In 1954, more than 100 crewmembers of the aircraft carrier USS Bennington died in an explosion off Rhode Island.

In 1972, at a Moscow summit, U.S. President Richard Nixon and Soviet Communist Party leader Leonid Brezhnev signed a pact limiting nuclear weapons.

In 1985, a cyclone struck the Bay of Bengal, killing 1,400 people in Bangladesh.

In 1991, a Lauda Air Boeing 767-300 exploded over Thailand after take-off, killing all 223 people on board.

In 1992, the Philippines' former first lady, Imelda Marcos, formally demanded the government return billions of dollars in assets seized after her husband's ouster from power in 1986.

In 1994, the United States and Vietnam resumed diplomatic relations.

Also in 1994, Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of Elvis Presley, were married in the Dominican Republic. They divorced in 1996.

In 2000, Canadian medical researchers reported they had transplanted insulin-producing cells into eight diabetic patients, freeing them from insulin injections.

In 2003, a plane crash in Turkey killed all 74 aboard, including 62 Spanish soldiers returning from peacekeeping duties in Afghanistan.

In 2004, Terry Nichols, serving a life sentence after a federal conviction in the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building was found guilty of 161 killings in a state court.

In 2006, U.S. Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to become director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

In 2007, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran was accelerating its nuclear program to try to become an exporter of nuclear fuel.

Also in 2007, al-Qaida remained determined to create nuclear weapons for mass destruction, a former U.N. weapons inspector said.

And, a lightning strike during a fierce storm at a school in southwest China killed seven children and injured 39 others.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International

Notable Birthdays for May 26
Those born on this date include:
- English Gen. John Churchill, ancestor of statesman Winston Churchill, in 1650
- Entertainer Al Jolson in 1886
- Actor John Wayne (born Marion Robert Morrison) in 1907
- Actor Robert Morley in 1908
- Actor Peter Cushing in 1913
- Actor James Arness in 1923 (age 85)
- Trumpeter Ziggy Elman in 1914
- Singer Peggy Lee in 1920
- Singer Stevie Nicks in 1948 (age 60)
- Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis in 1926
- Sportscaster Brent Musburger in 1939 (age 69)
- Singer Hank Williams Jr. in 1949 (age 59)
- Actor Philip Michael Thomas in 1949 (age 59)
- Sally Ride, first U.S. woman in space, in 1951 (age 57)
- Actress Genie Francis in 1962 (age 46)
- Actress Helena Bonham Carter in 1966 (age 42)

Copyright 2008 by United Press International

HISTORY FOR MAY 25

This Day in History, May 25
On May 25th, 1940, the Battle of Dunkirk began.


Other Notable Events, May 25
In 1787, the first regular session of the Constitutional Convention convened at Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

In 1935, winding up his legendary career with the Boston Braves, Babe Ruth hit his 714th and last home run in his final game. The home run record stood for 39 years until Hank Aaron, also with the Braves, broke it in 1974.

In 1949, Chinese communist forces entered Shanghai as Nationalist troops abandoned the city and prepared to move to the island of Formosa, now called Taiwan.

In 1979, 275 people were killed when an American Airlines DC-10 crashed on takeoff from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

In 1986, 5 million people formed a broken 4,000-mile human chain from Los Angeles to New York in Hands Across America, to benefit the nation's homeless. The event raised $24.5 million.

In 1991, the United States reversed its decision to allow HIV-infected people to enter the country.

Also in 1991, Cuban soldiers withdrew from Angola after 16 years of fighting South Africa and U.S.-backed rebels.

In 1993, the U.N. Security Council voted to establish a war-crimes tribunal to deal with atrocities in the civil war in Bosnia.

In 1994, after living 20 years in exile, mostly in the United States, Russian author Alexander Solzhenitsyn returned to his homeland. He had been expelled after "The Gulag Archipelago," an expose of the Soviet prison camp system, was published in the West in 1974.

In 1995, the level of tension in war-torn Bosnia increased dramatically when the Serbs began taking U.N. peacekeepers hostage for use as human shields.

In 1997, mutinous soldiers seized power in Sierra Leone.

In 1999, a report by a U.S. House of Representatives committee on espionage said China stole information on the most advanced U.S. nuclear weapons.

In 2003, the Israeli Cabinet officially accepted the Palestinian claim to eventual statehood.

In 2004, a U.S. Army report said U.S. mistreatment of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan was more widespread than previously known.

In 2005, Amnesty International accused the Bush administration of "atrocious" human rights violations at Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Also in 2005, some 1,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops mounted a surprise offensive in western Iraq, targeting insurgent hideouts and munitions caches.

In 2006, the U.S. Senate approved a compromise immigration reform bill that had few similarities to a House bill passed in December, setting the stage for a possible congressional showdown on the issue.

Also in 2006, Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, former officers of Enron Corp., were convicted in Houston federal court of conspiracy and securities fraud.

In 2007, North Korea fired several missiles toward Japan in an apparent drill exercise, the Kyodo news agency reported. A government source said the missiles ''would not pose a threat to Japan-U.S. security.''

Also in 2007, the United States sent supplies to Lebanon to help government troops fighting al-Qaida-backed militants at a Palestinian refugee camp. At least 58 combatants were reported killed in what was described as the worst fighting since the country's 1975-90 civil war.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International


Notable Birthdays for May 25
Those born on this date include:
- Poet/philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1803
- Dancer Bill Bojangles Robinson in 1878
- Aircraft designer Igor Sikorsky in 1889
- Yugoslavian leader Josip Broz Tito in 1892
- Heavyweight boxing champion Gene Tunney in 1897
- Humorist and publisher Bennett Cerf in 1898
- Actor Claude Akins in 1926
- Spy novelist Robert Ludlum in 1927
- Opera singer Beverly Sills (born Belle Miriam Silverman) in 1929 (age 79)
- Actress Dixie Carter in 1939 (age 69)
- Actor Ian McKellen in 1939 (age 69)
- Singer/actress Leslie Uggams in 1943 (age 65)
- Frank Oz (born Richard Frank Oznowicz) director, actor, puppeteer (Miss Piggy of The Muppets), in 1944 (age 64)
- Actress Karen Valentine in 1947 (age 61)
- Actress Connie Selleca in 1955 (age 53)
- Comedian Mike Myers in 1963 (age 45)
- Actress Anne Heche in 1969 (age 39)

Copyright 2008 by United Press International

HISTORY FOR MAY 24

This Day in History, May 24
On May 24th, 1830, Sarah Hale published the poem "Mary Had a Little Lamb."

History and Quotes
For Brenda
Saturday May 24, 2008

Today is Saturday, May 24, the 145th day of 2008 with 221 to follow.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Venus, Jupiter, Neptune and Uranus. The evening stars are Mercury, Mars and Saturn.


This Day in History, May 24
On May 24th, 1830, Sarah Hale published the poem "Mary Had a Little Lamb."


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Other Notable Events, May 24
In 1626, the Dutch West Indies Trading Co. bought the island of Manhattan from the Indians, paying with goods worth about $24.

In 1844, the first U.S telegraph line was formally opened between Baltimore and Washington.

In 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was opened to the public, linking Brooklyn and Manhattan Island.

In 1935, the first night major league baseball game saw the Cincinnati Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-1, at Crosley Field in Cincinnati.

In 1962, Mercury astronaut Scott Carpenter became the second American to orbit the Earth, circling it three times.

In 1983, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled private religious schools that practice racial discrimination are not eligible for church-related tax benefits.

In 1987, 250,000 people jammed San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge on its 50th anniversary, temporarily flattening the arched span.

In 1990, the U.S. Navy reopened the much-criticized probe of the USS Iowa explosion that killed 47 sailors, citing a test that showed the blast could have been an accident.

In 1991, Israel began a mass evacuation of 14,500 Ethiopian Jews from Ethiopia to Israel. The operation took 36 hours.

In 1993, the archbishop of Guadalajara, Mexico, was killed at Guadalajara's airport when his car was caught in a shootout between rival drug cartels.

In 2003, residents of Kirkuk in northern Iraq went to the polls in what the U.S. commander of the region called "the beginning of the process of democratization" for the post-war country.

In 2005, the U.S. House of Representatives approved by a significant margin a bill to provide more funding for embryonic stem cell research.

In 2006, Iran was reported stepping up its call for direct talks with the United States over its nuclear program.

Also in 2006, the U.S. Postal Service began allowing companies to create their own branded postage stamps in an attempt to reverse a decline in first-class mailings.

In 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate passed legislation to give the Bush administration $100 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Also in 2007, the U.S. Congress voted to increase the minimum wage for the first time in 10 years, going from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 over a three-year period.



Notable Birthdays for May 24
Those born on this date include:
- French journalist and revolutionary Jean Paul Marat in 1743
- British Queen Victoria in 1819
- Hostess and party-giver Elsa Maxwell, credited with introducing the scavenger hunt, in 1883
- Actress Lilli Palmer in 1914
- Comedian Tommy Chong of Cheech and Chong in 1938 (age 70)
- Musician Bob Dylan in 1941 (age 67)
- Actor Gary Burghoff ( M*A*S*H ) in 1943 (age 65)
- Singer Patti LaBelle (born Patricia Louise Holte) in 1944 (age 64)
- Actress Priscilla Presley, former wife of Elvis Presley, in 1945 (age 63)
- Actor Alfred Molina in 1953 (age 55)
- Singer Rosanne Cash in 1955 (age 53)
- Actress Kristin Scott Thomas in 1960 (age 48)


Copyright 2008 by United Press International

HISTORY FOR MAY 23

This Day in History, May 23
On May 23rd, 1618, the Second Defenestration of Prague helped to instigate the Thirty Years' War.

Notable Birthdays for May 23
Those born on this date include:
- Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus, the father of modern systematic botany, in 1707
- Austrian physician and hypnotist Franz Mesmer in 1734
- Social reformer Margaret Fuller in 1810
- Gen. Ambrose Burnside, who later was a U.S. senator and for whom sideburns were named, in 1824
- Actor Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in 1883
- Clarinetist/bandleader Artie Shaw in 1910
- Singer Helen O'Connell in 1920
- Singer Rosemary Clooney in 1928
- Actresses Barbara Barrie in 1931 (age 75) and Joan Collins in 1933 (age 73)
- Robert Moog, inventor of the Moog Synthesizer, in 1934 (age 72)
- Actor Charles Kimbrough ("Murphy Brown") in 1936 (age 70)
- And comedian Drew Carey in 1961 (age 45).

Copyright 2006 by United Press International

Other Notable Events, May 23
In 1701, Capt. William Kidd was hanged in London for piracy and murder.

In 1900, Sgt. William H. Carney became the first black to win the Congressional Medal of Honor, for his efforts during the Battle of Fort Wagner, S.C., in June 1863.

In 1939, the U.S. Navy submarine "Squalus" went down off New Hampshire in 240 feet of water. Thirty-three of the 59 men aboard were saved in a daring rescue with a diving bell.

In 1960, Israeli agents captured Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in Argentina and spirited him back to Israel, where he was tried, convicted and hanged.

In 1988, Maryland Gov. Donald Schaefer signed the nation's first law banning the manufacture and sale of cheap handguns, known as "Saturday Night Specials."

In 1991, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld federal regulations prohibiting federally funded women's clinics from discussing or advising abortion with patients.

In 1994, four men convicted in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center were each sentenced to 240 years in prison.

Also in 1994, former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was laid to rest next to her first husband, President John F. Kennedy, in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

In 1995, a man with an unloaded handgun climbed over a fence and ran toward the White House. He was tackled by one Secret Service agent and shot and wounded by a second.

In 1997, Mohammed Khatami, a "moderate" who favored improved economic ties with the West, was elected president of Iran.

In 2002, Archbishop Rembert Weakland of Milwaukee acknowledged paying $450,000 in church funds in response to a claim that he had sexually assaulted a graduate student, then 33. Weakland, 75, who retired after the 1998 settlement became known, denied any sexual misconduct.

In 2003, a modified version of President George W. Bush's tax reduction proposal got final congressional approval when Vice President Dick Cheney cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate.

In 2004, a double-decker ferry carrying more than 200 passengers sank off the Bangladesh coast during a storm with fewer than half of the people reported surviving.

Also in 2004, a 2-day Arab summit ended in Tunis with a commitment to the Middle East peace process and a condemnation of Israel for its actions against Palestinian people.

In 2005, Newsweek's chairman said the magazine would restrict the use of unnamed sources in the wake of an item that alleged desecration of the Koran, sparking violent riots and forcing a printed retraction.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International

HISTORY FOR MAY 22

This Day in History, May 22
On May 22nd, 1906, the Wright Brothers patented the airplane.

Other Notable Events, May 22
In 334 B.C., Alexander the Great defeated Persian King Darius III at Granicus, Turkey.

In 1868, seven members of the Reno gang stole $98,000 from a railway car at Marshfield, Ind. It was the original "Great Train Robbery."

In 1924, the discovery of the body of Bobby Franks, 13, of Chicago led to the arrest of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb. They were sentenced to 99 years in prison for the so-called "thrill killing."

In 1972, U.S. President Richard Nixon became the first U.S president to visit Moscow.

In 1987, a tornado flattened Saragosa, Texas, population 185, killing 29 residents and injuring 121.

In 1991, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev asked the world's industrialized nations for $100 billion in economic loans and grants to bolster the Soviet economy.

In 1992, Johnny Carson ended his nearly 30-year career as host of "The Tonight Show" with what NBC said was the highest-rated late-night TV show ever.

In 1993, France, Great Britain, Russia, Spain and the United States approved a joint policy calling for a negotiated settlement of the war in Bosnia. However, the Muslim president of Bosnia rejected the plan.

In 1994, a tougher U.N.-approved economic embargo against Haiti took effect.

In 1998, a federal judge ruled that members of the U.S. Secret Service could be required to testify before a grand jury investigating U.S. President Bill Clinton's relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

Also in 1998, voters in Ireland and Northern Ireland approved a plan to bring peace to violence-torn Ulster.

In 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal law requiring cable TV systems to limit sexually explicit channels to late-night hours.

In 2002, authorities in Birmingham, Ala., convicted the fourth and final suspect in the 1963 church bombing that killed four young black girls. Bobby Frank Cherry, 71, a former Ku Klux Klansman, was sentenced to life in prison.

In 2003, NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft orbiting Mars took a unique photo of Earth, the first from another planet, showing Earth as a tiny world in the vast darkness of space.

In 2003 sports, Annika Sorenstam of Sweden, considered the best female golfer of the day, became the first woman in 59 years to compete in a PGA event. Her 5-over-par 145 through two rounds of the Bank of America Colonial tournament failed to make the cut.

In 2004, President George W. Bush was slightly injured when he fell off his bicycle toward the end of a 17-mile ride on his Texas ranch.

Also in 2004, U.S. lawmakers overwhelmingly approved legislation aimed at expanding high-level military cooperation between the Taiwanese and U.S. militaries.

And, Prince Felipe of Asturias, heir to the Spanish throne, married television newscaster Letizia Ortiz in a Roman Catholic ceremony in Madrid.

In 2005, officials said about 100 U.S. military installations in Iraq will be consolidated into four heavily fortified, strategically located air bases.

Also in 2005, relatives of 45 Chilean soldier recruits reported missing in a march during a severe Andes snowstorm accused army officers of abandoning the men.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International


Notable Birthdays for May 22
Those born on this date include:
- German composer Richard Wagner in 1813
- Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, in 1859
- Actor Laurence Olivier in 1907
- Pioneering jazz musician Sun Ra (born Herman Blount) in 1914
- Critic Judith Crist in 1922 (age 84)
- French singer Charles Aznavour in 1924 (age 82)
- Pianist/composer Peter Nero in 1934 (age 72)
- Actor/director Richard Benjamin in 1938 (age 68)
- Actor Michael Sarrazin in 1940 (age 66)
- Actor Paul Winfield in 1941
- And model/actress Naomi Campbell in 1970 (age 36).

HISTORY FOR MAY 21

This Day in History, May 21
On May 21st, 1881, the American Red Cross was established by Clara Barton.
Other Notable Events, May 21
In 1832, the first Democratic Party national convention met in Baltimore.

In 1881, Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross.

In 1927, Charles Lindbergh landed the "Spirit of St. Louis" in Paris, completing the first non-stop solo flight across the Atlantic in 33 1/2 hours.

In 1932, five years to the day after Charles Lindbergh's historic flight, Amelia Earhart became the first pilot to repeat the feat, flying solo across the Atlantic from Newfoundland, Canada, to Ireland. She completed her flight in 13 1/2 hours.

In 1941, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed "an unlimited state of national emergency," seven months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

In 1972, a Hungarian man, Lazlo Tooth, attacked Michelangelo's sculpture "The Pieta" while screaming "I am Jesus Christ!" The statue was badly damaged.

In 1985, after taking fertility drugs, Patti Frustaci of Orange, Calif., gave birth to the first recorded American septuplets. Six of the seven infants were born alive. Three survived.

In 1991, former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated while campaigning.

Also in 1991, Ethiopian President Mengistu Haile Mariam resigned and fled to Zimbabwe after 14 years in power.

And in 1991, South Korean Prime Minister Ro Jai-bong quit after four weeks of student protests demanding his resignation.

In 1992, royal intervention ended four days of the bloodiest urban unrest in Thailand's history.

In 1993, the Venezuelan Senate authorized the country's Supreme Court to try President Carlos Andres Perez on corruption charges. Perez was suspended from office.

In 1998, two students were killed and 22 others wounded when a classmate opened fire in a high school cafeteria in Eugene, Ore. A 15-year-old boy was arrested in connection with the shootings; police found his parents shot to death at home.

Also in 1998, weeks of demonstrations led to the resignation of Indonesian President Suharto.

In 2003, an earthquake, which measured 6.8 on the Richter scale, struck near Algiers, killing more than 2,200 people and injuring another 10,000.

Also in 2003, a three-judge panel in Florida threw out a $145 billion punitive damage award against cigarette manufacturers.

In 2004, explorers in the former Soviet republic of Georgia reported finding rich gold deposit linked to the legend of the Golden Fleece near Supsa on the shore of the Black Sea.

In 2006, the FBI accused U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and claimed to have found $90,000 of the money in a freezer at his home.

Also in 2006, in its first full day in office, Iraq's new government was greeted by a series of Baghdad bombings that killed four and wounded 37 others.

In 2007, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter called the George W. Bush presidency "the worst in history." A Bush spokesman said Carter had become increasingly irrelevant with such "reckless" remarks.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International

Notable Birthdays for May 21
Those born on this date include:
- German painter Albrecht Durer in 1471
- King Philip II of Spain, who launched the Spanish Armada, in 1527
- English poet and satirist Alexander Pope in 1688
- French painter Henri Rousseau in 1844
- Industrialist Armand Hammer in 1898
- Architect Marcel Breuer in 1902
- Composer and barrelhouse piano player Thomas Fats Waller in 1904
- Author Harold Robbins in 1916
- Singer Dennis Day in 1916
- Actor Raymond Burr in 1917
- Soviet physicist-turned-humanitarian Andrei Sakharov in 1921
- Actress Peggy Cass in 1924
- Romance novelist Janet Dailey in 1944 (age 64)
- Comedian Al Franken in 1951 (age 57)
- Actor Mr. T, born Lawrence Tureaud, in 1952 (age 56)
- Actor Judge Reinhold in 1957 (age 51)

Copyright 2008 by United Press International

HISTORY FOR MAY 20

This Day in History, May 20
On May 20th, 1916, the Saturday Evening Post published its first cover drawn by Norman Rockwell.

Other Notable Events, May 20
In 1506, Christopher Columbus died in Spain.

In 1927, Charles Lindbergh took off from New York in his single-engine monoplane, "The Spirit of St. Louis," bound for Paris. He landed 33 1/2 hours later, completing the first solo, non-stop trans-Atlantic flight.

In 1974, Judge John Sirica ordered U.S. President Richard Nixon to turn over tapes and other records of 64 White House conversations on the Watergate affair.

In 1989, Chinese Premier Li Peng declared martial law in Beijing in response to heightened student demonstrations in Tiananmen Square.

In 1991, national elections in India sparked political violence that left 40 dead and hundreds injured.

In 1993, U.S. President Bill Clinton signed the so-called motor voter bill, making it easier to register to vote.

In 1996, the United Nations agreed to let Iraq sell oil for the first time since the Gulf War if it complied with the terms of the cease-fire.

In 1999, a high school student in Georgia opened fire on his classmates, wounding six of them before surrendering to school authorities. The same day, U.S. President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Clinton met in Littleton, Colo., with students, teachers and families of the victims of the previous month's deadly shootings at Columbine High School.

In 2002, East Timor, a small Pacific Coast nation, gained its independence from Indonesia.

In 2003, North Korea warned that South Korea would suffer an "unspeakable disaster" if it supports Washington's hard-line stance over Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.

In 2004, U.S. forces and Iraqi police raided the Baghdad offices of key U.S. ally and Shiite leader Ahmed Chalabi. He had been accused of having misinformed the Pentagon about the situation in pre-war Iraq and was accused in one report of passing U.S. intelligence to Iran.

In 2005, U.S. first lady Laura Bush opened a Middle East tour in Jordan, followed by appearances in Israel, the West Bank and Egypt. She encountered demonstrators at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

In 2006, in an unprecedented move, the FBI searched the Capitol Hill office of U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., in an ongoing bribery investigation.

Also in 2006, Iraq's parliament approved a new Cabinet although three key ministerial posts -- Defense, Security and Interior -- were left open so opposing parties could work out a compromise.

In 2006 sports, Barbaro, the unbeaten Kentucky Derby winner, entered the Preakness a heavy favorite but pulled up shortly after it began when he fractured his left hind leg. It ended his racing career and eventually, led to his death. The race was won by Bernardini, owned by the Dubai royal family.

In 2007, the U.S. military placed the Iraq war combat death toll for Americans at 3,422.

Also in 2007, spring flooding caused by ice jams on four rivers forced the evacuation of more than 3,500 people in the Russian Yakutia Republic.

Notable Birthdays for May 20
Those born on this date include:
- William Thornton, architect of the Capitol building in Washington, in 1759
- Dolley Madison, wife of the fourth U.S. president James Madison, in 1768
- French novelist Honore de Balzac in 1799
- English philosopher and economist John Stuart Mill in 1806
- German Emile Berliner, inventor of the flat phonograph record, in 1851
- Actor James Stewart in 1908
- Israeli military commander and politician Moshe Dayan in 1915
- Comedian George Gobel in 1919
- Actor Anthony Zerbe in 1936 (age 72)
- British singer/songwriter Joe Cocker in 1944 (age 64)
- Singer/actress Cher in 1946 (age 62)
- Ronald Prescott Reagan, son of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, in 1958 (age 50)
- Actor Bronson Pinchot in 1959 (age 49)


Copyright 2008 by United Press International

THIS DAY IN HISTORY - MAY 18

This Day in History, May 18
On May 18th, 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte was declared emperor of France.

Other Notable Events, May 18
In 1860, the Republican Party nominated Abraham Lincoln for U.S. president at its convention in Chicago.

In 1933, the U.S. Congress created the Tennessee Valley Authority for flood control and rural electrification.

In 1944, Allied troops captured Monte Cassino in Italy after one of the longest and bloodiest battles of World War II.

In 1979, a U.S. court jury in Oklahoma City awarded $10.5 million to the estate of Karen Silkwood, a laboratory technician contaminated by radiation at a Kerr-McGee plutonium plant in 1974.

In 1980, Mount St. Helen's in southwestern Washington state erupted, blowing the top off the mountain and killing at least 55 people.

In 1990, East and West Germany signed a treaty for economic, monetary and social union. West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl said the pact marked the "birth of a free and unified Germany."

In 1991, chemist Helen Sharmon became the first Briton in space when she blasted off from the Baikonur Space Center aboard a Soviet spacecraft,

In 1992, bandleader Lawrence Welk, whose bubbly champagne dance music made him a millionaire, died at age 89.

In 1994, the last Israeli soldiers pulled out of the Gaza Strip as Palestinian police took their place.

In 2003, Morocco's King Mohamed VI personally oversaw the investigation into the suicide bombings that killed 41 and wounded another 100 in Casablanca.

In 2004, Sonia Gandhi, a member through marriage of India's dominant political family, declined to accept the post of prime minister after her Indian National Congress party had won an upset victory in parliamentary elections.

In 2004 sports, Randy Johnson, Arizona's 40-year-old lefthander, pitched a perfect game in a 2-0 win over Atlanta. He was the oldest major league pitcher to accomplish that feat.

In 2005, the White House confirmed that a grenade found on May 10 in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi was capable of exploding and had posed a threat to U.S. President George Bush who spoke nearby. Earlier, officials said it was a harmless training device.

In 2006, the U.S. House narrowly passed a $2.7 trillion federal budget bill, similar to a Senate version the day before. The Senate also approved building 370 miles of heavy fencing along the Mexican border for $1 billion.

Also in 2006, a wave of bombings, executions and kidnapping swept Iraq with an many as 26 soldiers, police and civilian killed. Fifteen members of Iraq's tae kwon do Olympic team were reported kidnapped.

In 2007, a powerful explosion at an historic mosque in Hyderabad, India, followed by police shooting to control rioters left a dozen people dead and more than 50 injured.

Also in 2007, reports said Chiquita Brands International was fined $25 million for paying alleged right-wing Colombian terrorist groups $1.7 million over seven years for protection. Several other U.S. companies reputedly followed suit.



Notable Birthdays for May 18
Those born on this date include:
- English philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell in 1872
- German architect Walter Gropius, founder of the Bauhaus, in 1883
- Film director Frank Capra ( It Happened One Night, It's a Wonderful Life) in 1897
- American composer Meredith Willson ( The Music Man) in 1902
- Singer Perry Como in 1912
- Director/screenwriter Richard Brooks ( Key Largo, Elmer Gantry) in 1912
- Ballet dancer Margot Fonteyn in 1919
- Pope John Paul II, born Karol Wojtyla, in 1920
- Actor Pernell Roberts ( Bonanza ) in 1928 (age 80)
- Actor Robert Morse in 1931 (age 77)
- Former baseball star Reggie Jackson in 1946 (age 62)
- Country singer George Strait in 1952 (age 56)
- Actor Chow Yun-Fat in 1955 (age 53)

Copyright 2008 by United Press International

BLOGGERS, AYUDAMOS A UNA FAMILIA EN BUSCA DE UNA HIJA

If MAN is able to lend a helping hand to those around him, the world can become a network of friendship, love and happiness. Brenda A. Ysaguirre

Dear Bloggers,
Please post this page to your blog so we can help this family find their missing three year old daughter, Jewel.
Thanks,
Brenda A. Ysaguirre



If this was your daughter you would forward it.
Missing 3 year Old Girl -
You never know who knows whom.
PLEASE HELP US BY FORWARDING THIS EMAIL UNTIL THIS REACHES A WORLD-WIDE
AUDIENCE AND JEWEL IS RETURNED HOME SAFELY. These phone numbers are for the USA.

Racharel Strong (father) - 404-357-1881
Simona Strong (mother) - 404-313-4255
Tiesa Locklear (aunt) - 678-234-4902
Tramesa Locklear (aunt) 678-480-1635
Ursala Williams (aunt) 678-362-5246

THIS DAY IN HISTORY - MAY 15

A Day in History is a Day of Events that can never be erased but cherished as MEMORIES whether they be good or bad. (Brenda A. Ysaguirre)


The Newfoundland Attack

On May 15th, 1756, the Seven Years' War began when England declared war on France.


Other Notable Events, May 15
In 1918, the first regular U.S. air mail service was established between Washington and New York City.

In 1930, Ellen Church became the first airline stewardess, flying on a United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Cheyenne, Wyo.

In 1940, nylon stockings went on sale in U.S. stores for the first time.

In 1941, the jet-propelled Gloster-Whittle E 28/39 aircraft flew over Cranwell, England, in the first successful test of an Allied aircraft using jet propulsion.

In 1962, Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper was launched into space atop an Atlas rocket and completed 22 orbits.

In 1969, Justice Abe Fortas, under fire for a money deal with jailed financier Louis Wolfson, resigned from the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1972, Alabama Gov. George Wallace was shot and seriously wounded at a presidential campaign rally in Laurel, Md. Partially paralyzed but still a Southern political power for years, he died in 1998.

In 1988, Soviet forces began their withdrawal from Afghanistan in compliance with the Geneva accords.

In 1990, at an auction, Japanese millionaire Ryoei Saito bid a record $82.5 million for Van Gogh's 1890 "Portrait of Dr. Gachet." Two days later, he spent $78.1 million for Renoir's 1876 "Au Moulin De La Galette," also a record.

In 1991, Edith Cresson, a Socialist and former trade minister, became the first woman prime minister of France.

In 1992, the United States warned Saddam Hussein that allied military forces may "respond" if his troops attempted to repress Kurdish elections in northern Iraq.

In 2002, the White House said that President George W. Bush had received a CIA briefing in August 2001, the month before the terrorist attack on New York and Washington, warning that Osama bin Laden planned to hijack airplanes but nothing was said about possibly crashing them into buildings.

In 2003, authorities arrested several people who allegedly had planned attacks on the U.S. Embassy and other targets in Lebanon.

Also in 2003, New York scientists uncovered a natural cancer-fighting mechanism that could help make tumors more vulnerable to radiation therapy.

In 2004, the U.S. State Department warned that tensions in Iraq had increased the potential threat to U.S. citizens and interests abroad.

In 2005, Uzbek security forces were reported to have sealed off the center of Andijan where as many as 450 people may have been killed during anti-government protests.

In 2006, the U.S. State Department said it would restore diplomatic relations with Libya for the first time since 1980 and remove the country from its terrorism sponsors list.

In 2007, U.S. President George Bush appointed U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute to become America's first so-called "war czar," to coordinate operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Also in 2007, a national survey said Miami was the worst city in the United States for road rage. Portland, Ore., drew the most-courteous tag.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International



Notable Birthdays for May 15
Those born on this date include:
- Author L. Frank Baum ( The Wizard of Oz ) in 1856
- French chemist Pierre Curie in 1859
- Author Katherine Anne Porter in 1890
- Former Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley in 1902
- Actor Joseph Cotten in 1905
- Actor James Mason in 1909
- Country singer Eddy Arnold in 1918 (age 90)
- Actress Anna Maria Alberghetti in 1936 (age 72)
- Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in 1937 (age 71)
- Singer Trini Lopez in 1937 (age 71)
- Singer Lainie Kazan in 1940 (age 68)
- Filmmaker David Cronenberg in 1943 (age 65)
- Actor Chazz Palminteri in 1951 (age 57)


Copyright 2008 by United Press International

HISTORY FOR MAY 13

This Day in History, May 13
On May 13th, 1950, the first all-time Formula One Grand Prix took place.

Other Notable Events, May 13
In 1607, Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in North America, was founded near the James River in Virginia.

In 1846, the United States declared war on Mexico.

In 1981, Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca wounded Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square. The pope later, from his hospital bed, forgave his assailant.

In 1985, 11 people died when a Philadelphia police helicopter bombed the fortified house of a radical organization, MOVE, to end a 24-hour siege. The ensuing fire destroyed 53 homes.

In 1989, U.S. President George H.W. Bush called for the overthrow of Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega.

In 1991, Winnie Mandela was convicted of being an accessory in the assault of four youths who had been kidnapped and taken to her Soweto, South Africa, home in 1988.

In 1992, astronauts from the shuttle Endeavor made an unprecedented three-man spacewalk to salvage an errant communications satellite.

In 1994, U.S. President Bill Clinton nominated Judge Stephen Breyer to succeed Justice Harry A. Blackmun on the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1998, as India conducted more nuclear test blasts, U.S. President Bill Clinton announced he would impose economic sanctions against New Delhi as required by the 1994 Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Act.

In 2002, the sex abuse scandal involving Roman Catholic clergy grew violent when a Baltimore priest accused of molesting a youth years earlier was shot by the alleged victim. The following day, a Connecticut priest hanged himself at a Maryland treatment center for priests accused of molestation.

Also in 2002, U.S. President George Bush signed a bill that would increase federal payments to farmers by at least $83 billion over 10 years. Congressional critics called it a budget buster.

And, Bush announced that he and Russian President Putin would sign a treaty committing the United States and Russia to a two-thirds reduction in their nuclear arsenal over 10 years.

In 2003, suicide bombers, in four coordinated attacks, killed 34 people in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

In 2005, Colombian authorities said they made the biggest drug bust in the nation's history when they grabbed 12 tons of cocaine valued at $300 million.

Also in 2005, government troops in Uzbekistan put down an uprising they blame on Islamic militants. Opponents say the troops fired into crowds and killed hundreds of people.

In 2006, health officials said the virulent bird flu that raised fears of a human pandemic mostly had been snuffed out in Southeast Asia where it claimed its first victims.

In 2007, Hamas and Fatah gunmen traded gunfire in Gaza, killing at least two people after a weekend of renewed factional Palestinian fighting. Within a few days, 40 Palestinians were reported dead from violent exchanges.

Also in 2007, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said if the Iraqi Parliament votes to ask the United States to leave Iraq, "We'll be glad to comply."

Notable Birthdays for May 13
Those born on this date include:
- Composer Arthur Sullivan, of Gilbert and Sullivan, in 1842
- French cubist painter Georges Braque in 1882
- English novelist Daphne Du Maurier in 1907
- Heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis in 1914
- Singer Mary Wells in 1943
- Actress Beatrice Arthur in 1923 (age 85)
- Actor Harvey Keitel in 1939 (age 69)
- Singer Stevie Wonder, born Steveland Hardaway, in 1950 (age 58)
- Former pro basketball star Dennis Rodman in 1961 (age 47)
- Actress Julianne Phillips in 1960 (age 48)
- Poet and Author of this Blog Brenda A. Ysaguirre born in Mexico DF (age 50)

Copyright 2008 by United Press International

HISTORY FOR MAY 11

Today is Sunday, May 11, the 132nd day of 2008 with 234 to follow.

This is Mother's Day.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Venus, Neptune, Uranus and Jupiter. The evening stars are Mars, Mercury and Saturn.

This Day in History, May 11
On May 11th, 1928, the first analogue TV service was begun in New York
Other Notable Events, May 11
In 1858, Minnesota, dubbed the "Land of 10,000 Lakes," joined the United States as the 32nd state.

In 1862, the Confederate navy destroyed its iron-clad vessel Merrimac to prevent it from falling into the hands of advancing Union forces.

In 1910, Glacier National Park in Montana was created by an act of Congress.

In 1928, the first regularly scheduled television programs were begun by station WGY in Schenectady, N.Y.

In 1969, in one of the more infamous and bloody battles of the Vietnam War, U.S. troops seized Dong Ap Bia mountain, commonly known as "Hamburger Hill."

In 1987, Emmanuel Vitria died in Marseilles in southern France at age 67, some 18 years after receiving a transplanted human heart. He was the longest-surviving heart transplant patient.

In 1994, Joseph Hazelwood, captain of the Exxon Valdez, told a federal court in Anchorage, Alaska, he'd had three vodkas just hours before the tanker ran aground, spilling 11 million gallons of oil into Prince William Sound in 1989.

In 1996, a ValuJet airliner crashed in the Florida Everglades, killing 110 people.

In 1997, world chess champion Gerry Kasparov was defeated by a computer, IBM's Deep Blue, in a six-game match in New York.

In 1998, India conducted the first of five underground nuclear tests.

In 2000, five pharmaceutical companies offered to negotiate cuts in the price of AIDS drugs for Africa and other poor regions.

In 2003, The New York Times devoted four pages to a story documenting major inaccuracies and deceptions by one of its reporters, Jayson Blair, in a scandal that cost the paper's two top editors their jobs.

Also in 2003, more than 50 Democratic members of the Texas House of Representatives crossed over into Oklahoma to leave the House without a quorum and block action on a redistricting bill unfavorable to their party.

In 2004, a video showing the beheading of a U.S. civilian was posted on the Web site of an Islamic militant group believed to be linked to al-Qaida. The victim, Nick Berg of Philadelphia, had been repairing Iraq telecommunications infrastructure.

In 2005, about 50 Iraqis were reported killed and dozens wounded in a string of bombings that rocked several Iraqi regions.

In 2006, a published report in USA Today said the National Security Agency had obtained government-requested records of phone calls made by millions of Americans since late 2001.

Also in 2006, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told students in Indonesia that Israel was an "evil regime" that would soon be "annihilated."

In 2007, tourists and residents were evacuated from the historic resort town of Avalon on California's Santa Catalina Island where a massive brushfire destroyed homes and thousands of acres. Military hovercraft flew in fire engines to fight the blaze.

Also in 2007, a slim majority of Iraqi lawmakers were reported supportive of a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from their country.

Notable Birthdays for May 11
Those born on this date include:
- Ottmar Mergenthaler, inventor of the Linotype typesetting machine, in 1854
- songwriter Irving Berlin in 1888
- Dancer/choreographer Martha Graham in 1893
- Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dali in 1904
- Comic actor Phil Silvers in 1911
- Comedian "Doodles" Weaver, in 1911
- Actor Denver Pyle in 1920
- Actor Bernard Fox and satirist Mort Sahl, both in 1927 (age 81)
- The Rev. Louis Farrakhan, Nation of Islam leader, in 1933 (age 75)
- Artificial heart developer Dr. Robert Jarvik in 1946 (age 62)
- Actor Doug McClure in 1935
- Actress Natasha Richardson in 1963 (age 45)


Copyright 2008 by United Press International

HISTORY FOR MAY 10

Today is Saturday, May 10, the 131st day of 2008 with 235 to follow.

The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Venus, Neptune, Uranus and Jupiter. The evening stars are Mars, Mercury and Saturn.



This Day in History, May 10
On May 10th, 1497, Amerigo Vespucci left for his voyage to the New World.


Other Notable Events, May 10
In 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis was captured by Union troops and spent the next two years in prison.

In 1869, the "golden spike" was driven at Promontory, Utah, joining the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific lines to form America's first transcontinental railway.

In 1940, Nazi Germany invaded Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, swinging 89 army divisions around France's so-called impregnable Maginot Line. One month later, German forces entered Paris.

In 1973, a federal grand jury investigating the Watergate scandal indicted former Attorney General John Mitchell and former Commerce Secretary Maurice Stans on perjury charges.

In 1984, a federal judge in Utah found the U.S. government negligent in above-ground Nevada nuclear tests from 1951 to 1962 that exposed downwind residents to radiation.

In 1992, at least 14 coal miners were killed in an underground explosion at a mine in Nova Scotia, Canada.

In 1993, the FDA approved the sale of the first female condom.

In 1994, Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as South Africa's first black president.

Also in 1994, the Michigan Court of Appeals struck down the state's ban on assisted suicide.

And in 1994, John Wayne Gacy, the convicted killer of 33 young men and boys, was executed in Illinois.

In 1995, a second man, Terry Nichols, was charged in the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City. Timothy McVeigh earlier had been charged in the case.

Also in 1995, the World Health Organization said a mysterious disease in Zaire was caused by the Ebola virus. By the time the outbreak was declared over in late August, 244 of the 315 known victims had died.

In 2000, Pentagon officials said an investigation had concluded that the U.S. Army's highest-ranking woman had been the victim of sexual harassment from another Army general.

In 2002, former FBI agent Robert Hanssen, who had spied for the Soviet Union and Russia for more than 20 years, was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.

In 2003, a record outburst of tornadoes in the Midwest and South over the past few days claimed 48 lives, injured hundreds and leveled hundreds of buildings. The total of 400 twisters was twice the previous U.S. weekly record.

In 2004, U.S. Army forces leveled the Baghdad headquarters of radical cleric Moqtada Sadr and killed 35 of his people.

In 2005, the Secret Service said it was investigating reports a hand grenade was found about 100 feet from where U.S. President George Bush spoke in the former Soviet state of Georgia. It turned out to be a harmless training device.

Also in 2005, Jordanian authorities reportedly confiscated copies of the controversial bestseller, "The Da Vinci Code," for allegedly slandering Christianity.

In 2006, Indonesian officials ordered the evacuation of about 17,000 residents of the island of Java as Mount Merapi spewed lava and poisonous smoke and appeared about to erupt.

In 2007, British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced he would leave office on June 27 after 10 years.

Also in 2007, Afghan officials said the latest U.S. airstrikes may have killed as many as 50 civilians.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International


Notable Birthdays for May 10
Those born on this date include:
- British statesman and scholar James Bryce in 1838
- Swiss theologian Karl Barth in 1886
- Max Steiner, who composed musical scores for movies, including Gone With The Wind and Casablanca, in 1888
- Actor/dancer Fred Astaire in 1899
- Movie producer David O. Selznick ( Gone With The Wind ) in 1902
- Pediatrician/author T. Berry Brazelton in 1918 (age 90)
- Actress Nancy Walker in 1922
- Actor Gary Owens ( Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In ) in 1936 (age 72)
- U2 lead singer Bono in 1960 (age 48)

Today is Saturday, May 3, the 124th day of 2008 with 242 to follow.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Venus, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. The evening stars are Mercury, Mars and Saturn.

This Day in History, May 3
On May 3rd, 1956, the first judo world championships were held.

Other Notable Events, May 3
In 1919, U.S. airplane passenger service began when pilot Robert Hewitt flew two women from New York to Atlantic City, N.J.

In 1946, the International Military Tribunals for the Far East began hearing the case in Tokyo against 28 Japanese military and government officials accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during World War II.

In 1948, the "CBS Evening News" premiered, with Douglas Edwards as anchor.

In 1952, a ski-modified U.S. Air Force C-47 piloted by Lt. Col. Joseph O. Fletcher of Oklahoma and Lt. Col. William P. Benedict of California became the first aircraft to land at the North Pole.

In 1968, the United States and North Vietnam agreed to open peace talks in Paris.

In 1979, Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative Party won the British general election, making her the first woman prime minister of a major European nation.

In 1989, Chinese leaders rejected students' demands for democratic reforms as some 100,000 students and workers marched in Beijing.

Also in 1989, former national security aide Oliver North was found guilty on three charges but innocent of nine others in the Iran-Contra scandal.

In 1990, U.S. President George H.W. Bush canceled the modernization of NATO short-range nuclear missiles and artillery, accelerating the pace of the removal of U.S. and Soviet ground-based nuclear weapons from "the transformed Europe of the 1990s."

In 1993, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi attacked Muslim fundamentalists, saying they should be killed "like dogs."

In 1994, a U.S. district judge in Seattle struck down Washington state's assisted-suicide law.

In 1997, a standoff by armed separatists near Fort Davis, Texas, ended with the surrender of six people, including leader Richard McLaren. Two escaped on foot; one was shot to death by police two days later.

In 1999, 76 tornadoes tore across the U.S. Plains states, killing about 50 people and injuring more than 700 more.

In 2000, the trial of two Libyan men accused in the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, began in the Netherlands.

In 2002, the finance council of the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Boston withdrew from an agreement to settle claims by 86 alleged sexual abuse victims against a former priest. The council said the archdiocese could not afford the anticipated costs of up $30 million.

In 2004, the U.S. military commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, reprimanded six commissioned and non-commissioned officers who supervised the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, where many reported abuses occurred.

In 2005, as violence continued, the Iraqi Cabinet was sworn in, more than three months after the elections.

In 2006, an Armenian A-320 aircraft plunged into the Black Sea off Russia's southern coast, killing all 113 people aboard. Officials said bad weather was the probable cause.

In 2007, tens of thousands of Israeli protesters in Tel Aviv called for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his government to resign over their handling of the 2006 Lebanon war.

Also in 2007, Queen Elizabeth II opened her U.S. visit by meeting with survivors and relatives of the victims of the Virginia Tech shooting rampage. She later addressed Virginia lawmakers on the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, Va., the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States.

Notable Birthdays for May 3
Those born on this date include:
- Italian political philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli in 1469
- British explorer John Speke, who discovered the source of the Nile, in 1827
- French perfume maker Francois Coty in 1874
- Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir in 1898
- Singer/actor Bing Crosby in 1903
- Actress Mary Astor in 1906
- Broadway gossip columnist Earl Wilson in 1907
- Folk singer Pete Seeger in 1919 (age 89)
- Boxer Sugar Ray Robinson, born Walker Smith Jr., in 1921
- 'Godfather of Soul' James Brown in 1933
- Singer Frankie Valli in 1937 (age 71)
- TV personality Greg Gumbel in 1946 (age 62)
- Magician Doug Henning in 1947
- Singer/songwriter Christopher Cross in 1951 (age 57)


Copyright 2008 by United Press International

Today is Friday, May 2, the 123rd day of 2008 with 243 to follow.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Venus, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. The evening stars are Mercury, Mars and Saturn.



This Day in History, May 2
On May 2nd, 1885, "Good Houekeeping" went on sale for the first time.


Other Notable Events, May 2
In 1519, Leonardo da Vinci, Italian artist, scientist and inventor, died at age 67.

In 1611, a new translation of the Bible in England, popularly called the King James Bible after King James I, was published.

In 1863, Confederate Gen. Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson was mistakenly shot by his own soldiers. He died eight days later.

In 1941, the Federal Communications Commission approved the regular scheduling of commercial television broadcasts.

In 1933, the modern legend of the Loch Ness monster surfaced when a sighting made the local news. There had been accounts of an aquatic beast living in Scotland's Loch Ness date back 1,500 years.

In 1972, 91 people were killed in a mine fire in Kellogg, Idaho.

Also in 1972, J. Edgar Hoover died after nearly five decades as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In 1989, some 60 Chinese students rode bicycles into Beijing to present demands for democratic reforms to Chinese leaders.

In 1993, Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic signed an internationally mediated peace plan to end the Bosnian conflict.

Also in 1993, a U.S. sailor pleaded guilty to murder charges in the 1992 beating death of a homosexual shipmate in a park restroom near Sasebo Naval Base in southwestern Japan.

In 1994, Nelson Mandela claimed victory in the South African elections held in late April. He was inaugurated as the country's first black president eight days later.

Also in 1994, a Wayne County, Mich., jury acquitted "Dr. Death" Jack Kevorkian of violating a state law forbidding assisted suicides.

In 1995, the Clinton administration announced that Cuban boat people seeking asylum would be henceforth returned to Cuba.

In 1999, a meeting between the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic led to the release of three U.S. soldiers captured a month earlier by Serbian troops.

In 2002, Israeli forces pulled out of the West Bank city of Ramallah allowing Yasser Arafat to leave his compound.

In 2003, India announced it was restoring diplomatic relations and transportation connections with Pakistan, which reciprocated a few days later.

In 2004, Nigerian Christian militants attacked the Muslim town of Yelwa with firearms and machetes. The Nigerian Red Cross put the death toll at 630.

In 2005, U.S. Army Pvt. Lynndie England pleaded guilty to seven counts related to alleged mistreatment of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

In 2006, already taking flak over high gasoline prices, U.S. Senate Republicans yanked a wide-ranging tax proposal that had been added to the pending energy bill.

In 2007, Afghan officials reported that 42 Afghan civilians had been killed in a U.S. military operation. President Hamid Karzai criticized U.S. and NATO forces for not being more careful in avoiding civilian casualties.

Also in 2007, Rupert Murdoch, chief executive officer of the News Corp., announced a $5 billion offer to take over Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal.


Notable Birthdays for May 2
Those born on this date include:
- Catherine the Great, empress of Russia, in 1729
- Gen. Henry Robert, author of Robert's Rules of Order, in 1837
- Pioneer Zionist Theodor Herzl in 1860
- Broadway composer Lorenz Hart in 1895
- Child care specialist Dr. Benjamin Spock in 1903
- Singer/actor Theodore Bikel in 1924 (age 84)
- Singer Engelbert Humperdinck, born Arnold Dorsey, in 1936 (age 72)
- Activist/singer Bianca Jagger in 1945 (age 63)
- Pop singer Leslie Gore in 1946 (age 62)
- Country singer Larry Gatlin in 1948 (age 60)
- Actress Christine Baranski in 1952 (age 56)


Copyright 2008 by United Press International

HISTORY ON MAY 1

Today is Thursday, May 1, the 122nd day of 2008 with 244 to follow.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Venus, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. The evening stars are Mercury, Mars and Saturn.



This Day in History, May 1
On May 1st, 1851, the Great Exhibition opened in London.

Other Notable Events, May 1
In 1884, construction began on the world's first skyscraper -- the 10-story Home Insurance Company building in Chicago.

In 1893, U.S. President Grover Cleveland opened the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

In 1898, during the Spanish-American war, U.S. Navy Adm. George Dewey routed the Spanish fleet in the Philippines.

In 1931, the Empire State Building was dedicated in New York City. It remained the world's tallest building for 40 years.

In 1960, the Soviet Union shot down an American U-2 spy plane flown by Francis Gary Powers, who was captured.

In 1971, Amtrak, the national passenger rail service that combined the operations of 18 passenger railroads, went into service.

In 1992, U.S. President George H.W. Bush ordered 4,000 military troops into the riot-ravaged streets of Los Angeles.

In 1993, Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa and others in his entourage were killed in a suicide bomb blast.

In 1997, 18 years of Conservative Party rule in Great Britain ended with a Labor Party victory in elections, which allowed party leader Tony Blair to succeed John Majors as prime minister.

In 1999, Charismatic, a 31-1 long shot, won the 125th Kentucky Derby in Louisville. It was the third highest payoff in Derby history.

In 2001, a former member of the Ku Klux Klan was convicted in Birmingham, Ala., in the 1963 church bombing that killed four black girls. He was give four life-in-prison sentences.

In 2003, U.S. President George Bush, speaking from the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, declared that major combat in Iraq was over.

And, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced the end of major U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan.

Also in 2003, an earthquake killed 176 in Turkey, including scores of children in a school dormitory.

In 2004, the European Union added 10 member countries, including Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, running the total to 25.

In 2005, at least 35 Iraqis were killed by insurgents with car bombs at a Kurdish funeral near Mosul.

Also in 2005, five men in Madain, Iraq, confessed to the kidnapping and slaying of British aid worker Margaret Hassan, who was abducted in October.

In 2006, hundreds of thousands of immigrants and their supporters marched and rallied throughout the United States to focus attention on the importance of immigration.

In 2007, U.S. President George Bush vetoed the Iraq war funding bill because it contained deadlines he considered tantamount to setting a date for defeat. The measure would have required U.S. troops to start leaving Iraq by Oct. 1.

Also in 2007, the U.S. government announced plans to open millions of acres off the coasts of Alaska and Virginia to oil and gas drilling, some as early as 2008.

Notable Birthdays for May 1
Those born on this date include:
- Arthur Wellesley, the first duke of Wellington, in 1769
- American labor leader Mary Harris Mother Jones in 1830
- U.S. Army Gen. Mark Clark in 1896
- Singer Kate Smith in 1907
- Actor Glenn Ford in 1916
- Television personality Jack Paar in 1918
- Author Joseph Heller in 1923
- Mercury astronaut Scott Carpenter in 1925 (age 83)
- Singer Sonny James in 1929 (age 79)
- Singer Judy Collins in 1939 (age 69)
- Singer Rita Coolidge in 1945 (age 63)
- Singer Tim McGraw in 1967 (age 41)


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