Today is Sunday, March 29, the 88th day of 2009. There are 277 days left in the year.


Today's Highlight in History:

On March 29, 1973, the last United States combat troops left South Vietnam, ending America's direct military involvement in the Vietnam War.

On this date:

In 1638, Swedish colonists settled in present-day Delaware.

In 1790, the 10th president of the United States, John Tyler, was born in Charles City County, Va.

In 1847, during the Mexican-American War, victorious forces led by Gen. Winfield Scott occupied the city of Veracruz after Mexican defenders capitulated.

In 1867, Britain's Parliament passed the British North America Act to create the Dominion of Canada.

In 1882, the Knights of Columbus was chartered in Connecticut.

In 1943, World War II rationing of meat, fats and cheese began.

In 1951, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage. (They were executed in June 1953.)

In 1959, the Billy Wilder farce "Some Like It Hot," starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, opened in New York.

In 1962, Jack Paar hosted NBC's "Tonight" show for the final time.

In 1971, Army Lt. William L. Calley Jr. was convicted of murdering 22 Vietnamese civilians in the My Lai massacre. (Calley ended up serving three years under house arrest.)


Ten years ago: NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia continued for a sixth night. The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 10,000 for the first time, ending the day at 10,006.78. Connecticut beat top-ranked Duke, 77-74, for its first NCAA basketball championship. Legendary jazz singer Joe Williams died in Las Vegas at age 80.

Five years ago: President George W. Bush welcomed seven former Soviet-bloc nations (Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Latvia and Estonia) into NATO during a White House ceremony. In a stinging rebuke, Secretary-General Kofi Annan fired one top U.N. official and demoted another for security failures leading to the August bombing of the U.N.'s Baghdad headquarters that killed 22 people. At least 19 people were killed in a wave of terrorist violence in Uzbekistan.

One year ago: Anti-American Shiite militia leader Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his followers to defy orders from the Iraqi government to surrender their weapons. Zimbabweans voted in an election seen as the biggest test of Robert Mugabe's 28-year rule. (Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai claimed victory, but the Election Commission ordered a runoff; Mugabe claimed victory in that contest, which was widely denounced as a sham.)

Today's Birthdays: Political commentator John McLaughlin is 82. Author Judith Guest is 73. Former British Prime Minister Sir John Major is 66. Comedian Eric Idle is 66. Composer Vangelis is 66. Singer Bobby Kimball (Toto) is 62. Actor Christopher Lawford is 54. Olympic gymnast Kurt Thomas is 53. Actor Christopher Lambert is 52. Rock singer Perry Farrell (Porno for Pyros; Jane's Addiction) is 50. Comedian-actress Amy Sedaris is 48. Model Elle Macpherson is 46. Rock singer-musician John Popper (Blues Traveler) is 42. Actress Lucy Lawless is 41. Country singer Regina Leigh (Regina Regina) is 41. Country singer Brady Seals is 40. Tennis player Jennifer Capriati is 33. Pop singer Kelly Sweet is 21.

Thought for Today: "Tolerance always has limits - it cannot tolerate what is itself actively intolerant." - Sidney Hook, American philosopher and author (1902-1989).
________________

Source: Associated Press

Today is Monday, March 30, the 89th day of 2009. There are 276 days left in the year.


Today's Highlight in History:

On March 30, 1981, President Ronald Reagan was shot and seriously injured outside a Washington hotel by John W. Hinckley Jr. Also wounded were White House press secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy and District of Columbia police officer Thomas Delahanty.

On this date:

In 1822, Florida became a United States territory.

In 1842, Dr. Crawford W. Long of Jefferson, Ga., first used ether as an anesthetic during a minor operation.

In 1867, U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward reached agreement with Russia to purchase the territory of Alaska for $7.2 million, a deal roundly ridiculed as "Seward's Folly."

In 1870, the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, giving all citizens the right to vote regardless of race, was declared in effect by Secretary of State Hamilton Fish. Texas was readmitted to the Union.

In 1909, the Queensboro Bridge, linking the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Queens, opened.

In 1945, the Soviet Union invaded Austria during World War II.

In 1959, a narrowly divided U.S. Supreme Court, in Bartkus v. Illinois, ruled that a conviction in state court following an acquittal in federal court for the same crime did not violate the Constitution's protection against double jeopardy.

In 1964, John Glenn withdrew from the Ohio race for the U.S. Senate because of injuries suffered in a fall.

In 1979, Airey Neave, a leading member of the British Parliament, was killed in London by a bomb planted in his car by the Irish National Liberation Army.

In 2002, Britain's Queen Mother Elizabeth died in her sleep at Royal Lodge, Windsor, outside London; she was 101 years old.

Ten years ago: Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic insisted that NATO attacks stop before he moved toward peace, declaring his forces ready to fight "to the very end." NATO answered with new resolve to wreck his military with a relentless air assault. A jury in Portland, Ore., ordered Philip Morris to pay $81 million to the family of a man who died of lung cancer after smoking Marlboros for four decades. (The U.S. Supreme Court twice struck down the punitive damages part of the award, which was repeatedly upheld by Oregon courts; the high court agreed in June 2008 to review the judgment a third time.)

Five years ago: In a reversal, President George W. Bush agreed to let National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice testify publicly and under oath before an independent panel investigating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. British-born American broadcaster Alistair Cooke died in New York at age 95.

One year ago: The Army said the remains of Sgt. Matt Maupin, captured in Iraq in 2004, had been found and identified. Chinese spectators cheered as Greece handed off the Olympic flame for its journey to Beijing and relay through 20 countries; but protesters brandishing Tibetan flags stole the limelight. President George W. Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Washington's new stadium, Nationals Park; the Washington Nationals defeated the Atlanta Braves, 3-2, in the first regular-season game played at the park. Cambodian-born journalist Dith Pran, whose story became the subject of the award-winning film "The Killing Fields," died in New Brunswick, N.J., at age 65.

Today's Birthdays: Game show host Peter Marshall is 83. Actor Richard Dysart is 80. Actor John Astin is 79. Actor-director Warren Beatty is 72. Rock musician Graeme Edge (The Moody Blues) is 68. Rock musician Eric Clapton is 64. Actor Justin Deas (TV: "Guiding Light") is 61. Actor Robbie Coltrane is 59. Actor Paul Reiser is 52. Rap artist MC Hammer is 46. Singer Tracy Chapman is 45. Actor Ian Ziering is 45. Singer Celine Dion is 41. Actor Mark Consuelos is 38. Disc jockey DJ AM is 36. Singer Norah Jones is 30.

Thought for Today: "If you keep on saying things are going to be bad, you have a good chance of being a prophet." — Isaac Bashevis Singer, Polish-born American Nobel Prize-winning author (1904-1991).
________________

Source: Associated Press

__________________
~Time owns each and everything~
~Useless youth if not useful for Pakistan~

Today is Tuesday, March 31, the 90th day of 2009. There are 275 days left in the year.


Today's Highlight in History:

On March 31, 1968, at the conclusion of a nationally broadcast address, President Lyndon B. Johnson shocked his listeners by announcing he would not seek another term of office.

On this date:

In 1809, English poet Edward FitzGerald, best known for his translation of "The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam," was born in Suffolk.

In 1880, Wabash, Ind., became the first town in the world to be illuminated by electrical lighting.

In 1889, French engineer Gustave Eiffel unfurled the French tricolor from atop the Eiffel Tower, officially marking its completion.

In 1917, the United States took possession of the Virgin Islands from Denmark.

In 1933, Congress approved, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed, the Emergency Conservation Work Act, which created the Civilian Conservation Corps.

In 1943, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "Oklahoma!" opened on Broadway.

In 1945, the Tennessee Williams play "The Glass Menagerie" opened on Broadway.

In 1949, Newfoundland (now called Newfoundland and Labrador) entered confederation as Canada's 10th province.

In 1976, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that Karen Ann Quinlan, who was in a persistent vegetative state, could be disconnected from her respirator. (Quinlan, who remained unconscious, died in 1985.)

In 2005, Terri Schiavo, 41, died at a hospice in Pinellas Park, Fla., 13 days after her feeding tube was removed in a wrenching right-to-die dispute.

Ten years ago: Three U.S. Army soldiers were captured by Serb forces near the Yugoslav-Macedonia border. (Staff Sgt. Andrew Ramirez, Staff Sgt. Christopher Stone and Spec. Steven M. Gonzales were released more than a month later.) Four New York City police officers were charged with murder for killing Amadou Diallo, an unarmed African immigrant, in a hail of bullets. (The officers were acquitted in February 2000.)

Five years ago: Four American civilian contractors were killed in Fallujah, Iraq; frenzied crowds dragged the burned, mutilated bodies and strung two of them from a bridge. Air America, intended as a liberal voice in network talk radio, made its debut on five stations.

One year ago: Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson announced his resignation amid the wreckage of the national housing crisis. A Bahamas jury ruled that Anna Nicole Smith's son, Daniel, died from an accidental drug overdose, just like his mother. American movie director Jules Dassin, whose Greek wife, Melina Mercouri, starred in his hit movie "Never on Sunday" and six more of his films, died in Athens at age 96.

Today's Birthdays: Actress Peggy Rea is 88. Actor William Daniels is 82. Hockey Hall-of-Famer Gordie Howe is 81. Actor Richard Chamberlain is 75. Actress Shirley Jones is 75. Country singer-songwriter John D. Loudermilk is 75. Musician Herb Alpert is 74. Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is 69. Actor Christopher Walken is 66. Comedian Gabe Kaplan is 64. Former Vice President Al Gore is 61. David Eisenhower is 61. Actress Rhea Perlman is 61. Actor Ed Marinaro is 59. Rock musician Angus Young (AC/DC) is 54. Actor Marc McClure is 52. Actor William McNamara is 44. Alt-country musician Bob Crawford (The Avett Brothers) is 38. Actor Ewan McGregor is 38. Rapper Tony Yayo is 31. Jazz musician Christian Scott is 26.

Thought for Today: "So often we rob tomorrow's memories by today's economies." — John Mason Brown, American critic and lecturer (1900-1969).
________________

Source: Associated Press

__________________
~Time owns each and everything~
~Useless youth if not useful for Pakistan~

Today is Wednesday, April 1, the 91st day of 2009. There are 274 days left in the year.


Today's Highlight in History:

On April 1, 1945, American forces launched the amphibious invasion of Okinawa during World War II.

On this date:

In 1853, Cincinnati established a fire department made up of paid city employees.

In 1918, the Royal Air Force was established in Britain.

In 1933, Nazi Germany began persecuting Jews with a boycott of Jewish-owned businesses.

In 1939, the United States recognized the government of Gen. Francisco Franco in Spain, the same day Franco went on radio to declare victory in the Spanish Civil War.

In 1946, tidal waves struck the Hawaiian islands, resulting in more than 170 deaths.

In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a $1.85 billion emergency housing measure.

In 1960, the first weather satellite, TIROS-1, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

In 1963, most of New York City's daily newspapers resumed publishing after settlement was reached in a 114-day strike.

In 1970, President Richard M. Nixon signed a measure banning cigarette advertising on radio and television, to take effect after Jan. 1, 1971.

In 1984, recording star Marvin Gaye was shot to death by his father, Marvin Gay Sr., in Los Angeles, the day before his 45th birthday. (The elder Gay pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, and received probation.)


Ten years ago: The United States branded as an illegal abduction the capture of three U.S. Army soldiers near the Macedonian-Yugoslav border; President Bill Clinton demanded their immediate release. A New Jersey man was arrested and charged with originating the "Melissa" e-mail virus. (David L. Smith later pleaded guilty to various state and federal charges.)

Five years ago: President George W. Bush signed into law new protections for the unborn that for the first time made it a separate federal crime to harm a fetus during an assault on the mother. Michigan won the NIT championship with a 62-55 victory over Rutgers. Actress Carrie Snodgress died in Los Angeles at age 57.

One year ago: The Pentagon made public a legal memo dated March 14, 2003, that approved the use of harsh interrogation techniques against terror suspects, saying that President George W. Bush's wartime authority trumped any international ban on torture. (The memo was rescinded in December 2003.) Top executives of the country's five biggest oil companies told a skeptical Congress they knew record fuel prices were hurting people, but argued it wasn't their fault and their huge profits were in line with other industries.

Today's Birthdays: Actress Jane Powell is 81. Actress Grace Lee Whitney is 79. Actress Debbie Reynolds is 77. Country singer Jim Ed Brown is 75. Actor Don Hastings is 75. Blues singer Eddie King is 71. Actress Ali MacGraw is 71. Rhythm-and-blues singer Rudolph Isley is 70. Reggae singer Jimmy Cliff is 61. Jazz musician Gil Scott-Heron is 60. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is 59. Rock musician Billy Currie (Ultravox) is 59. Actress Annette O'Toole is 57. Movie director Barry Sonnenfeld is 56. Country singer Woody Lee is 41. Rapper-actor Method Man is 38. Movie directors Albert and Allen Hughes are 37. Political commentator Rachel Maddow is 36. Tennis player Magdalena Maleeva is 34. Actor David Oyelowo is 33. Singer Bijou Phillips is 29. Actor Sam Huntington is 27. Country singer Hillary Scott (Lady Antebellum) is 25. Actor Josh Zuckerman is 24.

Thought for Today: "Si mi abuela tuviera ruedas seria una bicicleta." (If my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a bicycle.) — Spanish proverb.
________________

Source: Associated Press

__________________
~Time owns each and everything~
~Useless youth if not useful for Pakistan~

Today is Thursday, April 2, the 92nd day of 2009. There are 273 days left in the year.


Today's Highlight in History:

On April 2, 1792, Congress passed the Coinage Act, which authorized establishment of the U.S. Mint.

On this date:

In 1513, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon landed in present-day Florida.

In 1860, the first Italian Parliament met at Turin.

In 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and most of his Cabinet fled the Confederate capital of Richmond, Va., because of advancing Union forces.

In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare war against Germany, saying, "The world must be made safe for democracy." (Congress declared war four days later.)

In 1932, aviator Charles A. Lindbergh and John F. Condon went to a cemetery in the Bronx, N.Y., where Condon turned over $50,000 to a man called "John" in exchange for Lindbergh's kidnapped son. (The child, who was not returned, was found dead the following month.)

In 1968, the influential science-fiction film "2001: A Space Odyssey," produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, had its world premiere in Washington.

In 1974, French president Georges Pompidou died in Paris.

In 1982, several thousand troops from Argentina seized the disputed Falkland Islands, located in the south Atlantic, from Britain. (Britain seized the islands back the following June.)

In 1986, four American passengers were killed when a bomb exploded aboard a TWA jetliner en route from Rome to Athens, Greece.

In 2005, Pope John Paul II, who'd led the Roman Catholic Church for 26 years, died in his Vatican apartment at age 84.


Ten years ago: The Labor Department reported that the nation's unemployment rate fell to a 29-year low of 4.2 percent in March 1999.

Five years ago: A judge in New York declared a mistrial in the grand-larceny case against two former Tyco executives after a juror apparently received an intimidating letter and phone call for supposedly siding with the defense. (Former CEO L. Dennis Kozlowski and CFO Mark H. Swartz were convicted in a retrial of looting Tyco of more than $600 million in corporate bonuses and loans; each was sentenced to 8 1/3 to 25 years in prison.) Flags of seven new NATO members from former communist Europe rose at alliance headquarters in Brussels for the first time, marking the biggest expansion in NATO's 55-year history.

One year ago: President George W. Bush suffered a painful diplomatic setback when NATO allies rebuffed his passionate pleas to put former Soviet republics Ukraine and Georgia on the path toward membership. Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, who'd helped broker peace in Northern Ireland but couldn't survive a scandal over his collection of cash from businessmen, announced he would resign.

Today's Birthdays: Actress Rita Gam is 81. Actress Sharon Acker is 74. Singer Leon Russell is 67. Jazz musician Larry Coryell is 66. Actress Linda Hunt is 64. Singer Emmylou Harris is 62. Actress Pamela Reed is 60. Rock musician Dave Robinson (The Cars) is 56. Country singer Buddy Jewell is 48. Actor Christopher Meloni is 48. Singer Keren Woodward (Bananarama) is 48. Country singer Billy Dean is 47. Actor Clark Gregg is 47. Actress Jana Marie Hupp is 45. Rock musician Greg Camp is 42. Rock musician Tony Fredianelli (Third Eye Blind) is 40. Actress Roselyn Sanchez is 36. Country singer Jill King is 34. Actor Adam Rodriguez is 34. Actor Jeremy Garrett is 33. Rock musician Jesse Carmichael (Maroon 5) is 30. Actress Bethany Joy Lenz is 28. Actor Jesse Plemons is 21.

Thought for Today: "We crucify ourselves between two thieves: regret for yesterday and fear of tomorrow." — Fulton Oursler, American journalist and author (1893-1952).
________________

Source: Associated Press

__________________
~Time owns each and everything~
~Useless youth if not useful for Pakistan~

Today is Friday, April 3, the 93rd day of 2009. There are 272 days left in the year.


Today's Highlight in History:

On April 3, 1860, the legendary Pony Express began service between St. Joseph, Mo., and Sacramento, Calif.

On this date:

In 1776, George Washington received an honorary doctor of laws degree from Harvard College.

In 1865, Union forces occupied the Confederate capital of Richmond, Va.

In 1882, outlaw Jesse James was shot to death in St. Joseph, Mo., by Robert Ford, a member of James' gang.

In 1936, Bruno Hauptmann was electrocuted in Trenton, N.J., for the kidnap-murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr.

In 1946, Lt. Gen. Masaharu Homma, the Japanese commander responsible for the Bataan Death March, was executed by firing squad outside Manila, Philippines.

In 1948, President Harry S. Truman signed into law the Marshall Plan, designed to help European allies rebuild after World War II and resist Communism.

In 1968, the day before he was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "mountaintop" speech to a rally of striking sanitation workers. North Vietnam agreed to meet with U.S. representatives to set up preliminary peace talks.

In 1974, deadly tornadoes struck wide parts of the South and Midwest before jumping across the border into Canada; more than 300 fatalities resulted.

In 1979, Jane M. Byrne was elected mayor of Chicago, defeating Republican Wallace D. Johnson.

In 1996, an Air Force jetliner carrying Commerce Secretary Ron Brown and American business executives crashed in Croatia, killing all 35 people aboard.


Ten years ago: NATO missiles struck downtown Belgrade for the first time, destroying the headquarters of security forces accused of waging a campaign against Kosovo Albanians.

Five years ago: Surrounded by police, five suspects in the Madrid railway bombings blew themselves up in a building outside the Spanish capital, also killing a special forces agent. Soccer player Freddy Adu, age 14, became the youngest athlete in a major American professional sport in well over a century as he entered a game between his team, D.C. United, and the San Jose Earthquakes (D.C. United won 2-1).

One year ago: NATO allies meeting in Bucharest, Romania, gave President George W. Bush strong support for a missile defense system in Europe and urged Moscow to drop its angry opposition to the program. Model Naomi Campbell was arrested at London Heathrow Airport after getting into an altercation with police during a dispute about lost luggage aboard a British Airways plane. (Campbell was later sentenced to 200 hours of community service and fined 2,300 pounds.) Ohio State defeated Massachusetts 92-85 for basketball's National Invitation Tournament title.

Today's Birthdays: Actress-singer Doris Day is 86. Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl is 79. Actor William Gaunt is 72. Actor Eric Braeden is 68. Actress Marsha Mason is 67. Singer Wayne Newton is 67. Singer Billy Joe Royal is 67. Singer Tony Orlando is 65. Comedy writer Pat Proft is 62. Folk-rock singer Richard Thompson is 60. Country musician Curtis Stone (Highway 101) is 59. Blues singer-guitarist John Mooney is 54. Rock musician Mick Mars (Motley Crue) is 53. Actor Alec Baldwin is 51. Actor David Hyde Pierce is 50. Rock singer John Thomas Griffith (Cowboy Mouth) is 49. Comedian-actor Eddie Murphy is 48. Rock singer-musician Mike Ness (Social Distortion) is 47. Rock singer Sebastian Bach is 41. Rock musician James MacDonough is 39. Actress Jennie Garth is 37. Comedian Aries Spears is 34. Actress Cobie Smulders is 27. Minnesota Vikings star Jared Allen is 27. Rock-pop singer Leona Lewis is 24. Actress Amanda Bynes is 23.

Thought for Today: "Laugh at yourself first, before anyone else can." — Elsa Maxwell, American socialite (1883-1963).
________________

Source: Associated Press

__________________
~Time owns each and everything~
~Useless youth if not useful for Pakistan~

Today is Saturday, April 4, the 94th day of 2009. There are 271 days left in the year.


Today's Highlight in History:

On April 4, 1968, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., 39, was shot to death at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn. (James Earl Ray later pleaded guilty to assassinating King, then spent the rest of his life claiming his innocence before dying in prison in 1998.)

On this date:

In 1818, Congress decided the United States flag would consist of 13 red and white stripes and 20 stars, with a new star to be added for every new state of the Union.

In 1841, President William Henry Harrison succumbed to pneumonia one month after his inaugural, becoming the first U.S. chief executive to die in office.

In 1850, the city of Los Angeles was incorporated.

In 1859, 150 years ago, "Dixie" was performed publicly for the first time by Bryant's Minstrels at Mechanics' Hall in New York. (The song is popularly attributed to Daniel Decatur Emmett, although his authorship has been called into question.)

In 1887, Susanna Madora Salter became the first woman elected mayor of an American community: Argonia, Kan.

In 1945, during World War II, U.S. troops on Okinawa encountered the first significant resistance from Japanese forces at the Machinato Line.

In 1949, 12 nations, including the United States, signed the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington.

In 1975, more than 130 people, most of them children, were killed when a U.S. Air Force transport plane evacuating Vietnamese orphans crash-landed shortly after take off from Saigon.

In 1979, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the deposed prime minister of Pakistan, was hanged after he was convicted of conspiring to murder a political opponent.

In 1983, the space shuttle Challenger roared into orbit on its maiden voyage.


Ten years ago: NATO warplanes and missiles attacked an army headquarters, oil refineries and other targets in and around Belgrade, Yugoslavia. The Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres 8-2 in baseball's first season opener held in Mexico.

Five years ago: Supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr, an anti-American cleric, rioted in four Iraqi cities, killing dozens of Iraqis, eight U.S. troops and a Salvadoran soldier.

One year ago: Texas authorities started removing the first of more than 400 girls from a compound built by a polygamist sect. Lisa Montgomery was sentenced to death in Kansas City, Mo., for killing Bobbie Jo Stinnett, a mother-to-be, and cutting the baby from her womb. Pirates seized the French luxury yacht Le Ponant and its 30 crew members off the coast of Somalia. (The crew was released a week later; six alleged pirates ended up being captured.)

Today's Birthdays: Actress Elizabeth Wilson is 88. Author-poet Maya Angelou is 81. Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., is 77. Recording executive Clive Davis is 77. Bandleader Hugh Masekela is 70. Author Kitty Kelley is 67. Actor Craig T. Nelson is 65. Actor Walter Charles is 64. Actress Caroline McWilliams is 64. Actress Christine Lahti is 59. Country singer Steve Gatlin (The Gatlin Brothers) is 58. Writer-producer David E. Kelley is 53. Actor Phil Morris is 50. Actress Lorraine Toussaint is 49. Actor Hugo Weaving is 49. Rock musician Craig Adams (The Cult) is 47. Actor David Cross is 45. Actor Robert Downey Jr. is 44. Actress Nancy McKeon is 43. Actor Barry Pepper is 39. Country singer Clay Davidson is 38. Rock singer Josh Todd (Buckcherry) is 38. Singer Jill Scott is 37. Rock musician Magnus Sveningsson (The Cardigans) is 37. Magician David Blaine is 36. Singer Kelly Price is 36. R&B singer Andre Dalyrimple (Soul For Real) is 35. Actor James Roday is 33. Actress Natasha Lyonne is 30. Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo is 30. Actress Amanda Righetti is 26. Actress Jamie Lynn Spears is 18.

Thought for Today: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." — Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968).
________________

Source: Associated Press

__________________
~Time owns each and everything~
~Useless youth if not useful for Pakistan~

Today is Palm Sunday, April 5, the 95th day of 2009. There are 270 days left in the year.


Today's Highlight in History:

On April 5, 1621, the Mayflower sailed from Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts on a monthlong return trip to England.

On this date:

In 1614, Pocahontas, daughter of the leader of the Powhatan tribe, married English colonist John Rolfe in Virginia. (A convert to Christianity, she went by the name Lady Rebecca.)

In 1792, George Washington cast the first presidential veto, rejecting a congressional measure for apportioning representatives among the states.

In 1887, in Tuscumbia, Ala., teacher Anne Sullivan achieved a breakthrough as her blind and deaf pupil, Helen Keller, learned the meaning of the word "water" as spelled out in the Manual Alphabet. British historian Lord Acton wrote in a letter, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men."

In 1895, Oscar Wilde lost his criminal libel case against the Marquess of Queensberry, who'd accused the writer of homosexual practices.

In 1951, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were sentenced to death following their conviction in New York on charges of conspiring to commit espionage for the Soviet Union; co-defendant Morton Sobell was sentenced to 30 years in prison. (He was released in 1969.)

In 1964, Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur died in Washington at age 84.

In 1975, nationalist Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek died at age 87.

In 1976, reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes died in Houston at age 70.

In 1986, two American servicemen and a Turkish woman were killed in the bombing of a West Berlin discotheque, an incident which prompted a U.S. air raid on Libya more than a week later.

In 1988, a 15-day hijacking ordeal began as gunmen forced a Kuwait Airways jumbo jet to land in Iran.


Ten years ago: NATO missiles and aircraft blasted Serbian targets inside Yugoslavia for a 13th straight day. The United Nations suspended sanctions against Libya after Moammar Gadhafi surrendered two suspected Libyan intelligence agents for trial in the 1988 Pan Am bombing. In Laramie, Wyo., Russell Henderson pleaded guilty to kidnapping and felony murder in the death of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student. (Henderson was later sentenced to life in prison.)

Five years ago: A U.S.-Canadian task force investigating the massive power blackout of Aug. 14, 2003, called for urgent approval of mandatory reliability rules to govern the electric transmission industry. Flash floods killed some three dozen people in northern Mexico. The Los Angeles Times won five Pulitzer Prizes; the Pulitzer for fiction went to Edward P. Jones for "The Known World." The Connecticut Huskies defeated Georgia Tech 82-73 to win the men's NCAA basketball championship. Clyde Drexler was one of six former players, coaches and team executives announced as the newest members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

One year ago: President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin opened farewell talks at Putin's heavily wooded retreat on the Black Sea. Actor Charlton Heston, big-screen hero and later leader of the National Rifle Association, died in Beverly Hills, Calif., at age 84.

Today's Birthdays: Actress Gale Storm is 87. Movie producer Roger Corman is 83. Country music producer Cowboy Jack Clement is 78. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell is 72. Country singer Tommy Cash is 69. Actor Michael Moriarty is 68. Pop singer Allan Clarke (The Hollies) is 67. Writer-director Peter Greenaway is 67. Actor Max Gail is 66. Actress Jane Asher is 63. Singer Agnetha Faltskog (ABBA) is 59. Actor Mitch Pileggi is 57. Rock musician Mike McCready (Pearl Jam) is 43. Country singer Troy Gentry is 42. Singer Paula Cole is 41. Actress Krista Allen is 38. Country singer Pat Green is 37. Rapper-producer Pharrell Williams is 36.

Thought for Today: "Time was invented by Almighty God in order to give ideas a chance." — Nicholas Murray Butler, American educator (1862-1947).
________________

Source: Associated Press

__________________
~Time owns each and everything~
~Useless youth if not useful for Pakistan~

Today is Monday, April 6, the 96th day of 2009. There are 269 days left in the year.


Today's Highlight in History:

One hundred years ago, on April 6, 1909, American explorers Robert E. Peary and Matthew A. Henson and four Inuits became the first men to reach the North Pole.

On this date:

In 1830, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was organized by Joseph Smith in Fayette, N.Y.

In 1862, the Civil War Battle of Shiloh began in Tennessee as Confederate forces launched a surprise attack against Union troops, who beat back the Confederates the next day.

In 1896, the first modern Olympic games formally opened in Athens, Greece.

In 1917, Congress approved a declaration of war against Germany.

In 1954, after being criticized by newsman Edward R. Murrow on CBS' "See It Now," Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, R-Wis., was given the opportunity to reply with a filmed response in which he charged that Murrow had in the past "engaged in propaganda for Communist causes."

In 1959, "Gigi" won the Academy Award for best picture of 1958; Susan Hayward was named best actress for "I Want to Live!" and David Niven was named best actor for "Separate Tables." (To the embarrassment of the show's producers, the scheduled two-hour ceremony fell about 20 minutes short.)

In 1963, the United States signed an agreement to sell the Polaris missile system to Britain.

In 1965, the United States launched the Intelsat I, also known as the "Early Bird" communications satellite, into orbit.

In 1983, rock-and-roll fans reacted with outrage and dismay to a published report in The Washington Post that Interior Secretary James Watt had decided to exclude groups like the Beach Boys from Washington's 4th of July celebration — a stand he later reversed.

In 1994, the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi were killed in a mysterious plane crash near Rwanda's capital; widespread violence and killings erupted in Rwanda over claims the plane had been shot down.


Ten years ago: Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic declared a unilateral cease-fire in his campaign to crush rebels in Kosovo; Western leaders called the move a sham and pledged to press ahead with airstrikes.

Five years ago: Jordan's military court convicted eight Muslim militants and sentenced them to death for the 2002 killing of U.S. aid official Laurence Foley in a terror conspiracy linked to al-Qaida. Lawmakers ousted Lithuania's scandal-ridden president Rolandas Paksas for abuse of office. The University of Connecticut's women's basketball team beat Tennessee 70-61 to win a third consecutive NCAA title, a day after UConn also won the men's championship.

One year ago: President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin, meeting at the Black Sea resort of Sochi, failed to overcome sharp differences over a U.S. missile defense system as they closed their seven-year relationship. Anti-China demonstrators caused chaos as the Olympic torch was relayed through London ahead of the Beijing games.

Today's Birthdays: Nobel Prize-winning scientist James D. Watson is 81. Composer-conductor Andre Previn is 80. Country singer Merle Haggard is 72. Actor Billy Dee Williams is 72. Actor Roy Thinnes is 71. Movie director Barry Levinson is 67. Actor John Ratzenberger is 62. Actress Marilu Henner is 57. Olympic bronze medal figure skater Janet Lynn is 56. Actor Michael Rooker is 54. Rock musician Warren Haynes is 49. Rock singer-musician Frank Black is 44. Author Vince Flynn is 43. Actress Ari Meyers is 40. Actor Paul Rudd is 40. Actor-producer Jason Hervey is 37. Rock musician Markku Lappalainen is 36. Actor Zach Braff is 34. Actress Candace Cameron Bure is 33. Actor Bret Harrison is 27.

Thought for Today: "To be really cosmopolitan, a man must be at home even in his own country." — Thomas Wentworth Higginson, American clergyman-author (1823-1911).
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Source: Associated Press

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~Time owns each and everything~
~Useless youth if not useful for Pakistan~

Today is Tuesday, April 7, the 97th day of 2009. There are 268 days left in the year.


Today's Highlight in History:

On April 7, 1862, Union forces led by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant defeated the Confederates at the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee.

On this date:

In 1199, King Richard I of England (also known as The Lion-Heart) died in the Limousin region of France at age 41 after being mortally wounded by an arrow.

In 1859, Walter Camp, the "Father of American Football," was born in New Britain, Conn.

In 1927, an audience in New York watched as the image as well as voice of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover were transmitted live from Washington in the first successful long-distance demonstration of television.

In 1939, Italy invaded Albania, which was annexed less than a week later.

In 1949, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "South Pacific" opened on Broadway.

In 1953, the U.N. General Assembly elected Dag Hammarskjold of Sweden to be secretary-general.

In 1959, a referendum in Oklahoma repealed the state's ban on alcoholic beverages.

In 1969, the Supreme Court, in Stanley v. Georgia, unanimously struck down laws prohibiting private possession of obscene material.

In 1978, President Jimmy Carter announced he was deferring development of the neutron bomb, a high-radiation weapon.

In 1983, space shuttle astronauts Story Musgrave and Don Peterson took the first U.S. space walk in almost a decade as they worked in the open cargo bay of Challenger for nearly four hours.


Ten years ago: NATO stepped up its airstrikes in Yugoslavia after rejecting President Slobodan Milosevic's cease-fire declaration. Yugoslav authorities, meanwhile, closed the main exit route where a quarter-million ethnic Albanians had fled Kosovo.

Five years ago: Mounir el Motassadeq, the only Sept. 11 suspect ever convicted, was freed after a Hamburg, Germany, court ruled that the evidence was too weak to hold him pending a retrial.

One year ago: Anti-China protesters disrupted the Olympic torch relay in Paris, at times forcing Chinese organizers to put out the flame and take the torch onto a bus to secure it. Kansas won the NCAA championship, defeating Memphis 75-68. Coach Pat Riley, Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, Adrian Dantley and broadcaster Dick Vitale were among those selected to Basketball's Hall of Fame.

Today's Birthdays: Actor R.G. Armstrong is 92. Sitar player Ravi Shankar is 89. Actor James Garner is 81. Country singer Cal Smith is 77. Actor Wayne Rogers is 76. Media commentator Hodding Carter III is 74. Country singer Bobby Bare is 74. Rhythm-and-blues singer Charlie Thomas (The Drifters) is 72. California Attorney General Jerry Brown is 71. Movie director Francis Ford Coppola is 70. TV personality David Frost is 70. Singer Patricia Bennett (The Chiffons) is 62. Singer John Oates is 60. Singer Janis Ian is 58. Country musician John Dittrich is 58. Actor Jackie Chan is 55. Football Hall-of-Famer Tony Dorsett is 55. Actor Russell Crowe is 45. Rhythm-and-blues singer Mark Kibble (Take 6) is 45. Actor Bill Bellamy is 44. Rock musician Dave "Yorkie" Palmer (Space) is 44. Former football player-turned-analyst Tiki Barber is 34. Actress Heather Burns is 34. Actor Conner Rayburn is 10.

Thought for Today: "No date on the calendar is as important as tomorrow." — Roy W. Howard, American newspaper publisher (1883-1964).
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Source: Associated Press

__________________
~Time owns each and everything~
~Useless youth if not useful for Pakistan~