|
 Today's highlight in history:
On April 18, 1906, a devastating earthquake struck San Francisco, followed by raging fires; estimates of the final death toll range between 3,000 and 6,000.
On this date:
In 1775, Paul Revere began his famous ride from Charlestown to Lexington, Mass., warning American colonists that the British were coming.
In 1907, San Francisco's Fairmont Hotel opened, a year to the day after the earthquake.
In 1934, the first laundromat (called a "washateria") opened, in Fort Worth, Texas.
In 1942, an air squadron from the USS Hornet led by Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle raided Tokyo and other Japanese cities.
In 1945, famed American war correspondent Ernie Pyle, 44, was killed by Japanese gunfire on the Pacific island of Ie Shima, off Okinawa.
In 1946, the League of Nations went out of business.
In 1978, the Senate approved the Panama Canal Treaty, providing for the complete turnover of control of the waterway to Panama on the last day of 1999.
In 1980, the independent nation of Zimbabwe, formerly Zimbabwe Rhodesia, came into being.
In 1983, 63 people, including 17 Americans, were killed at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, by a suicide bomber.
In 1988, an Israeli court convicted John Demjanjuk, a retired auto worker from Cleveland, of committing war crimes at the Treblinka death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland. (However, Israel's Supreme Court later overturned Demjanjuk's conviction.)
Ten years ago: Despite fierce internal dissent, Northern Ireland's main Protestant party, the Ulster Unionists, approved a peace agreement. The remains of Pol Pot were cremated, three days after the Khmer Rouge leader blamed for the killings of up to 2 million Cambodians died at age 73. Former North Carolina Gov. and U.S. Sen. Terry Sanford died in Durham at age 80.
[to top of second column]
 |
 Five years ago: Iraqi police arrested Saddam Hussein's former finance minister (Hikmat Mizban Ibrahim al-Azzawi) and turned him over to the U.S. Marines. Scott Peterson was arrested in San Diego in the death of his wife, Laci, who was eight months pregnant when she vanished on Christmas Eve. (Peterson was later convicted and sentenced to death.)
One year ago: The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, upheld the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act that Congress passed and President Bush signed into law in 2003. Four large bombs exploded in mainly Shiite locations of Baghdad, killing at least 183 people. Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox faced the minimum 27 batters in a 6-0 no-hit victory over the Texas Rangers. Curtis Strange and Hubert Green joined the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Today's birthdays: Actress Barbara Hale is 87. Actor Clive Revill is 78. Actor James Drury is 74. Actor Robert Hooks is 71. Actress Hayley Mills is 62. Actor James Woods is 61. Actress-director Dorothy Lyman is 61. Actress Cindy Pickett is 61. Country musician Walt Richmond (The Tractors) is 61. Country musician Jim Scholten (Sawyer Brown) is 56. Actor Rick Moranis is 55. Actress Melody Thomas Scott is 52. Actor Eric Roberts is 52. Actor John James is 52. Rock musician Les Pattinson (Echo and the Bunnymen) is 50. Actress Jane Leeves is 47. Talk show host Conan O'Brien is 45. Bluegrass singer-musician Terry Eldredge is 45. Actor Eric McCormack is 45. Actress Maria Bello is 41. Rock musician Greg Eklund (The Oolahs) is 38. Country musician Marvin Evatt is 34. Rhythm-and-blues singer Trina (Trina and Tamara) is 34. Actress Melissa Joan Hart is 32. Actor Sean Maguire is 32. Actress America Ferrera is 24. Actress Alia Shawkat is 19.
Thought for today: "It's what you learn after you know it all that counts."
-- Earl Weaver, baseball manager
[Associated Press]
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed. |
