 Today's Highlight in History:On May 24, 1844, Samuel F.B.
Morse transmitted the message, "What hath God wrought" from
Washington to Baltimore as he formally opened America's first
telegraph line.
On this date:
In 1819, Queen Victoria was born in London.
In 1881, some 200 people died when the Canadian ferry Princess
Victoria sank near London, Ontario.
In 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge, linking two New York City boroughs,
Brooklyn and Manhattan, was opened to traffic.
In 1941, the German battleship Bismarck sank the British
dreadnought Hood in the North Atlantic.
In 1957, anti-American rioting broke out in Taipei, Taiwan.
In 1962, astronaut Scott Carpenter became the second American to
orbit the Earth as he flew aboard Aurora 7.
In 1976, Britain and France opened trans-Atlantic Concorde
service to Washington.
In 1977, in a surprise move, the Kremlin ousted Soviet President
Nikolai Podgorny from the Communist Party's ruling Politburo.
In 1986, the Union Flag was flown in Israel for the first time in
38 years as Margaret Thatcher became the first British prime
minister to visit the Jewish state.
In 2001, 23 people died when the floor of a Jerusalem wedding
hall collapsed beneath dancing guests in a horrifying scene captured
on video.
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 Ten years ago: The space shuttle Atlantis returned to
Earth, bringing with it NASA astronaut Jerry Linenger, who'd spent
four months aboard the Russian Mir space station.
Five years ago: President Bush and Russian President
Vladimir Putin signed a landmark nuclear arms reduction treaty in
Moscow. U.S. Olympic Committee president Sandra Baldwin resigned, a
day after she admitted lying about her academic credentials.
One year ago: In rare, election-year harmony, House
Republican and Democratic leaders jointly demanded the FBI return
documents taken in a Capitol Hill raid as part of a bribery
investigation of Rep. William Jefferson of Louisiana. Taylor Hicks
was named the new "American Idol" over runner-up Katharine McPhee.
Today's Birthdays: Comedian Tommy Chong is 69. Singer Bob
Dylan is 66. Singer Patti LaBelle is 63. Actress Priscilla Presley
is 62. Country singer Mike Reid is 60. Actor Jim Broadbent is 57.
Actor Alfred Molina is 54. Singer Rosanne Cash is 52. Actress
Kristin Scott Thomas is 47. Rock musician Vivian Trimble is 44.
Actor John C. Reilly is 42. Actor Eric Close is 40. Rapper-recording
executive Heavy D is 40. Rock musician Rich Robinson is 38. Actor
Billy L. Sullivan is 27. Actor-rapper Big Tyme is 24. Country singer
Billy Gilman is 19. Actor Cayden Boyd is 13.
Thought for Today: "Man is what he believes." -- Anton
Chekhov, Russian author-dramatist (1860-1904).
[Text copied
from file received from AP
Digital] |
