DBKP Today in Weird History: February 8, 2008

WAR, TERRORISM, DISASTERS, BEHEADING, EDUCATION, POLITICS, GROUPS, MOVIES, MAINSTREAM MEDIA, EXECUTION, STRONGMAN, ASSASSINATION, SUICIDE, PROGRESS, CLOSE CALLS, PATENTS, PAPERS, NANNY STATE, METEORS, WATERGATE, KIDNAPPED, WEDDINGS, SPORTS, MUSIC, HOAX, ANGER MANAGEMENT, BORN, BIRTHDAYS, DEATH



1968 Three college students were killed in a confrontation with highway patrolmen in Orangeburg, S.C., during a civil rights protest against a whites-only bowling alley.

WAR!

1862 Battle of Roanoke Island NC, Federals gain control of Pamlico Sound.

1904 the Russo-Japanese War, a conflict over control of Manchuria and Korea, began as Japanese forces attacked Port Arthur.

1916 French cruiser "Admiral Charner" torpedoed off Syrian coast, kills 374.

2003 The chief U.N. arms inspectors arrived in Baghdad for a new round of crucial talks with Iraqi officials. In a jab at major U.S. allies, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told a security conference in Munich that countries such as France and Germany that favored giving Iraq another chance to disarm were undermining what slim chance existed to avoid war.

TERRORISM

2007 Rival Palestinian leaders signed an agreement on a power-sharing government at Saudi-brokered talks in Mecca.

DISASTER

1905 Cyclone hit Tahiti & adjacent islands, killing some 10,000 people.

1923 Coal mine explosion at Dawson NM kills 120.

1931 Gas explosion; Fire in Fushun-coal mine, Manchuria kills 3,000.

1965 Eastern DC-7B crashes into Atlantic off Jones Beach NJ, kills 84.

1989 144 people were killed when an American-chartered Boeing 707 filled with Italian tourists slammed into a fog-covered mountain in the Azores.

1995 6.4 earthquake at Trujillo, Colombia (46+ killed).

HOAX!

1993 GM sues NBC, alleging that "Dateline NBC" program had rigged 2 car-truck crashes to show that 1973-87 GM pickups were prone to fires.

ANGER MANAGEMENT

1994 Jack Nicholson uses a golf club to attack a car.

PROGRESS

1883 Louis Waterman begins experiments to invent the fountain pen.

1933 1st flight of all-metal Boeing 247.

KIDNAPPED

1983 Champion thoroughbred Shergar kidnapped in Ireland; never found Lloyds of London pays $10.6 million insurance.

CLOSE CALL

1743 Comet C/1743 C1 approaches within 0.0390 astronomical units (AUs) of Earth.

METEORS

1969 Meteorite weighing over 1 ton falls in Chihuahua, México.

PATENTS

1802 Simon Willard patents banjo clock.

1898 John Ames Sherman patents 1st envelope folding & gumming machine (Massachusetts).

MUSIC

1992 "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred peaks at #1.

NANNY STATE

1960 Congress opens hearings looking into payola.

PRO WRESTLING

1971 Pedro Morales beats Ivan Koloff in New York, to become WWF wrestling champion.

WEDDINGS

1975 1800 Unification church couples' wed in Korea in mass ceremony.

SPORTS

1986 5' 7" Spud Webb of Atlanta Hawks wins NBA Slam Dunk Competition.

BEHEADING

1587 Mary, Queen of Scots was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in England after she was implicated in a plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.

WATERGATE

1973 Senate names 7 members to investigate Watergate scandal.

ADVICE

1942 Congress advises FDR that, Americans of Japanese descent should be locked up en masse so they wouldn't oppose the US war effort.

CLIMATE

1989 5 cm of snow falls in outskirts of Los Angeles.

PAPERS

1918 "Stars & Stripes", weekly US armed forces newspaper, 1st published.

EDUCATION

1693 A charter was granted for the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va.

POLITICS

1837 The Senate selected the vice president of the United States, choosing Richard Mentor Johnson after no candidate received a majority of electoral votes.

GROUPS

1910 The Boy Scouts of America was incorporated.

ASSASSINATION

1963 Abdul Karim Kassem PM of Iraq (58-63), assassinated in Baghdad at 48.

MOVIES

1915 D.W. Griffith's groundbreaking as well as controversial silent movie epic about the Civil War, "The Birth of a Nation," premiered in Los Angeles.

SUICIDE

1990 Del Shannon Coopersville MI, rock vocalist (Runaway), shoots self at 55.

EXECUTION

1924 The first execution by gas in the United States took place at the Nevada State Prison in Carson City as Gee Jon, a Chinese immigrant convicted of murder, was put to death.

1932 Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll mobster, killed by Dutch Schultz gang.

2007 A federal judge in Fargo, N.D., sentenced Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. to death for the slaying of college student Dru Sjodin.

MAINSTREAM MEDIA

1978 The deliberations of the Senate were broadcast on radio for the first time as members opened debate on the Panama Canal treaties.

1990 "60 Minutes" commentator Andy Rooney suspended by CBS for racial remarks attributed to him by a gay magazine.

STRONGMAN

2003 Tens of thousands of Venezuelans marched in support of 9,000 oil workers fired for leading a two-month strike against President Hugo Chavez.

BORN

1820 William Tecumseh Sherman Major General (Union Army), dies in 1891 (War is hell).

1918 John Intoxication resistance fighter.

1920 Lana Turner Wallace ID, actress (Survivors, Falcon Crest).

1931 James Dean Marion IN, stage/film actor (Giant, Rebel Without a Cause).

BIRTHDAYS

Composer-conductor John Williams is 76. Actor Jack Larson is 75. Former ABC News anchor Ted Koppel is 68. Actor Nick Nolte is 67. Comedian Robert Klein is 66. Actor-rock musician Creed Bratton is 65. Country singer Dan Seals is 60. Singer Ron Tyson is 60. Actress Brooke Adams is 59. Actress Mary Steenburgen is 55. Author John Grisham is 53. Rock singer Vince Neil (Motley Crue) is 47. Rock singer-musician Sammy LLanas (The BoDeans) is 47. Actor Gary Coleman is 40. Actress Mary McCormack is 39. Actor Seth Green is 34. Actor Josh Morrow is 34. Rock musician Phoenix (Linkin Park) is 31. Actor Ryan Pinkston is 20. Actress Karle Warren ("Judging Amy") is 16.

DEATH

1725 Peter the Great Tsar of Russia dies at 52.

2007 Model, actress and tabloid sensation Anna Nicole Smith died in Florida at age 39 of an accidental drug overdose.

February 8, the 39th day of 2008. There are 327 days left in the year.

compiled by Mondoreb
image: libcom
Sources:
* Today in History
* Today in History



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

DBKP Today in Weird History: February 7, 2008

WAR, TERRORISM, DISASTERS, TRIAL, RATIONING, IKE, WOMEN, SCIENCE, EXECUTION, QUACKS, POLITICS, BARE KNUCKLES, CLIMATE, CARTOONS, PREDICTIONS, MOVIES, WEDDINGS, JEWS, FLAVORS, MUSLIMS, SURGERY, NANNY STATE, UNREST, BUBBLE BOY, SHOCK JOCKS, BORN, BIRTHDAYS, DEATH


1964 The Beatles began their first American tour as they arrived at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

WAR!

1861 The general council of the Choctaw Indian nation adopted a resolution declaring allegiance with the South "in the event a permanent dissolution of the American Union takes place."

1862 Federal fleet attack on Roanoke Island NC.

1864 Federal troops occupy Jacksonville FL.

2003 President Bush courted the leaders of France and China in an uphill struggle to win U.N. backing for war with Iraq.

2007 U.S. officials confirmed a new security operation was under way in Baghdad; U.S. armor rushed through streets, and Iraqi armored personnel carriers guarded bridges and major intersections. A Marine CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter was shot down by insurgents in Anbar, killing all seven people on board.

TERRORISM

1969 Al-Fatah-leader Yasser Arafat becomes president of PLO.

2003 The government raised its terror threat level to "high risk" orange, warning of a growing possibility that the al-Qaida network would launch an attack against the United States to coincide with Muslim holy days.

2003 Colombian guerillas bombed the exclusive El Nogal social club in Bogota, killing 36 people and injuring 160 others.

DISASTER

1812 8.2 earthquake shakes New Madrid MO; this is the last of Midwest quakes (see 12/16).

1904 A fire began in Baltimore that raged for about 30 hours and destroyed more than 1,500 buildings in 80 blocks.

1962 Gas explosion in Luisanthal coal mine Voelklingen Germany kills 298.

FLAVORS

1964 Baskin-Robbins introduces Beatle Nut ice cream.

RATIONING

1943 the government announced the start of shoe rationing, limiting consumers to buying three pairs per person for the remainder of the year.

QUACKS

1979 Josef Mengele concentration camp doctor, drowns.

WEDDINGS

1993 Pebbles Flintstone & Bamm Bamm Rubble wed.

SURGERY

1965 George Harrison of the Beatles, has his tonsils removed.

BUBBLE BOY

1984 David (born without immunity system) at 12, touches mom for 1st time.

SPORTS

1985 Marshall University's Bruce Morris scores a basket from 92'5¼".

UNREST

1990 Karachi police kill 22 anti-nationalistic demonstrators.

EXECUTIONS

1920 Alexander Koltsjak Admiral/leader Russian counter-revolutionary, executed.

SHOCK JOCKS

1994 Howard Stern stops a would-be jumper on the George Washington Bridge.

POLITICS

1839 Henry Clay declares in Senate "I had rather be right than president".

1905 Oklahoma admitted to statehood.

BARE KNUCKLES

1882 Last bare knuckle champion John L Sullivan KOs Paddy Ryan in Mississippi.

PREDICTIONS

1945 General Douglas MacArthur returns to Manila.

NANNY STATE

1976 FCC raids & shuts down pirate radio station WCPR (Brooklyn NY).

JEWS

1947 Arabs & Jews reject British proposal to split Palestine.

MUSLIMS

1964 Cassius Clay becomes a Muslim & adopts the name Muhammad Ali.

TRIAL

1857 A French court acquitted author Gustave Flaubert of obscenity for his serialized novel "Madame Bovary."

CLIMATE

1891 Great Blizzard of 1891 begins.

COMMIES

1950 Senator Joe McCarthy finds communists in US Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

IKE

1948 Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower resigned as Army chief of staff; he was succeeded by General Omar Bradley.

WOMEN

1983 Elizabeth H. Dole was sworn in as the first female secretary of transportation by the first woman to sit on the Supreme Court, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

SCIENCE

1984 Space shuttle astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart went on the first untethered space walk.

CARTOONS

1936 Felix the Cat, Cartoon Character, by Van Beuren from Otto Messmer.

MOVIES

1940 Walt Disney's 2nd feature-length movie, "Pinocchio", premieres (New York NY).

1974 Mel Brooks' "Blazing Saddles" opens in movie theaters.

BORN

1478 Sir Thomas More lawyer/lord chancellor of England/saint (Utopia).

1804 John Deere pioneer manufacturer of agricultural implements.

1812 Author Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England.

1817 Frederick Douglass Maryland, 1st high ranking black in US government.

1885 Sinclair Lewis novelist/social critic (Main Street, Nobel 1930).

1908 Clarence Clarence Linden "Buster" Crabbe Oakland CA, swimmer (Olympics-gold-1932)/actor (Tarzan the Fearless, Flash Gordon).

BIRTHDAYS

Country singer Wilma Lee Cooper is 87. Author Gay Talese is 76. Actor Miguel Ferrer is 53. Reggae musician Brian Travers (UB40) is 49. Actor James Spader is 48. Country singer Garth Brooks is 46. Rock musician David Bryan (Bon Jovi) is 46. Actor-comedian Eddie Izzard is 46. Actor-comedian Chris Rock is 43. Actor Jason Gedrick is 41. Actor Ashton Kutcher is 30. Actress Tina Majorino is 23.

DEATH

1993 Arthur Ashe tennis star (Wimbledon 1975), dies of AIDS at 49.

1998 It was announced that Carl Wilson, a founding member of The Beach Boys, had died in Los Angeles from complications of lung cancer; he was 51.

2003 Tom Christerson, the longest-living recipient of a fully self-contained artificial heart, died at Jewish Hospital in Louisville, Ky., after 512 days on the AbioCor; he was 71.

February 7, the 38th day of 2008. There are 328 days left in the year. This is the Lunar New Year of the Rat.

compiled by Mondoreb
image: rhythms-riffs
Sources:
* Today in History
* Today in History



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Today in History: January 14, 2008

WHITEWATER, WAR!, DISASTERS, UNCLE SUGAR, EXECUTION, REVOLT, REMORSE, CONQUEST, JEWS, POLITICS, INVENTIONS, MEDICINE, CONSPIRACY, ASSASSINATION, CONSTITUTION, TRADEMARKS, CIVIL RIGHTS, CUTBACKS, LABOR, PROGRESS, SOCIETIES, RECORDS, MOVIES, DIPLOMACY, MAINSTREAM MEDIA, RATIONING, MARRIAGE, DIVORCE, MUSIC, THE KING, SEGREGATION, The 60s, GERMS, SPORTS, SCIENCE, DRUGS, HOLIDAYS, DEREGULATION, FINANCE, SEETHE, KIDNAPPED, DUI, FUNERAL, LOSER, PLEAS, BORN, DEATH



WHITEWATER

1998 Whitewater prosecutors questioned Hillary Rodham Clinton at the White House for 10 minutes about the gathering of FBI background files on past Republican political appointees. (Sources quoted the first lady as saying she knew nothing about any such collection of files.)

WAR!

1783 Congress ratifies peace treaty between US & England

1784 Revolutionary War ends; Congress ratifies the Treaty of Paris

1861 Fort Pikens FL falls into state hands

1863 Battle between gunboats at Bayou Teched LA

1864 Battle of Cosby Creek TN

1864 General Sherman begins his march to the South

1942 Japanese troops land at oil center Balikpapan in Borneo

1943 FDR & Winston Churchill confer in Casablanca concerning WWII

1943 Heinrich Himmler views Warsaw

1944 Soviet army begins offensive at Oranienbaum/Wolchow

DISASTER

1916 Dutch South Sea dike cracks

1946 2 jetties collapse in Ganges-160 Hindu pilgrims are crushed

1952 Snow storm in Sierra NV kills 26

1960 Tuindorp-Oostzaan in Northern Amsterdam, flooded

1967 Earthquake in Sicily kills 231

1969 25 members of US aircraft carrier Enterprise die during maneuvers

1993 Polish ferry boat capsizes in storm, 50 die

UNCLE SUGAR

1799 Eli Whitney receives government contract for 10,000 muskets

EXECUTION

1717 German mob leader "Sjako" sentenced to death in Amsterdam

1948 Anna "Ans" van Dike Dutch Jewish Nazi-collaborator, executed at 42

REVOLT

1847 Governor Bent 5 others in US occupation, killed by revolt in New Mexico

1949 Black/Indian race rebellion in Durban, South Africa; 142 die

REMORSE

1699 Massachusetts holds day of fasting for wrongly persecuting "witches"

CONQUEST

1641 United East Indian Company conquerors city of Malakka, 7,000 killed

JEWS

1601 Church authorities burn Hebrew books in Rome

POLITICS

1639 1st Connecticut constitution (Fundamental Orders) adopted in Hartford

1639 Rodger Ludlow publishes"Fundamental Orders of Connecticut"

2007 President Bush, facing opposition from both parties over his plan to send more troops to Iraq, said on CBS' "60 Minutes" that he had the authority to act no matter what Congress wanted. On "Fox News Sunday," Vice President Dick Cheney asserted that lawmakers' criticism would not influence Bush's plans and he dismissed any effort to "run a war by committee."

INVENTIONS

1690 Clarinet is invented, in Nüremberg, Germany

MEDICINE

1794 Dr Jessee Bennet of Edom VA, performs 1st successful Cesarean section operation on his wife

CONSPIRACY

1847 Conspiracy in New Mexico against US

ASSASSINATION

1858 French Emperor Napoleon III escapes attempt on his life by Felice Orsini, an Italian patriot who was later executed

CONSTITUTION

1868 North Carolina constitutional convention meets in Raleigh

1868 South Carolina constitutional convention, meets with a black majority

TRADEMARKS

1873 "Celluloid" registered as a trademark

CIVIL RIGHTS

1878 US Supreme court rules race separation on trains unconstitutional

CUTBACKS

2003 Kmart Corp. announced its biggest round of cutbacks yet, saying it would close 326 more stores and eliminate 37,000 more jobs in hopes of getting out of bankruptcy by the end of April 2003. (Kmart emerged from Chapter 11 protection in May 2003.)

LABOR

2003 Thousands of General Electric Co. employees across the country began a two-day strike to protest higher health insurance costs.

PROGRESS

1914 Henry Ford introduces assembly line, for T-Fords

SOCIETIES

1938 National Society for the Legalization of Euthanasia formed (NY)

RECORDS

1973 Tap dancer Ray Castle measured at 1440 taps/minutes on BBC TV

MOVIES

1980 "Blues Brothers" movie with Dan Akroyd & John Belushi opens

DIPLOMACY

1950 US recalls all consular officials from China

MAINSTREAM MEDIA

1952 "Today Show" premieres with Dave Garroway & Jack Lescoulie on NBC-TV

1972 "Sanford & Son" starring Redd Foxx premieres on NBC TV

1976 "The Bionic Woman" with Lindsay Wagner debuts on ABC (later NBC)

1990 "Simpsons" premiered on Fox-TV

1990 11th ACE Cable Awards

1993 David Letterman announces his show is moving from NBC to CBS

1998 100th episode of "Ellen" airs

1998 NBC agreed to pay Warner Brothers $13 million per episode to retain the highly rated TV show "ER."

RATIONING

1952 Rationing of coffee in Netherlands ends

MARRIAGE

1954 Marilyn Monroe marries baseball star, New York Yankee, Joe DiMaggio

DIVORCE

1994 Kathleen Kinmont files for divorce from Lorenzo Lamas

MUSIC

1956 Little Richard releases "Tutti Frutti"

1966 David Bowie releases his 1st record (Can't Help Thinking About Me)

1967 Sonny & Cher release "The Beat Goes On"

THE KING

1960 US Army promoted Elvis Presley to Sergeant

SEGREGATION

1963 George C Wallace sworn in as Governor of Alabama, his address states "segregation now; segregation tomorrow; segregation forever!"

The 60s

1967 20,000 attend the Human Be-In, San Francisco

GERMS

1967 New York Times reports Army is conducting secret germ warfare experiments

SPORTS

1968 Super Bowl II Green Bay Packers beat Oakland Raiders, 33-14 in Miami; Super Bowl MVP Bart Starr, Green Bay, Quarterback

1973 Super Bowl VII Miami Dolphins beat Washington Redskins, 14-7 in Los Angeles; Super Bowl MVP Jake Scott, Miami, Safety

1974 World Football League founded

1976 Ted Turner becomes CEO of Atlanta Braves

SCIENCE

1969 Soyuz 4 launched; rendezvous with Soyuz 5 two days later

1994 Russian manned space craft TM-17, lands

DRUGS

1973 Grateful Dead bass player, Phil Lesh, busted for drugs in California

HOLIDAYS

1979 President Carter proposes Martin Luther King's birthday be a holiday

DEREGULATION

1981 FCC frees stations to air as many commercials an hour as they wish

FINANCE

1985 British pound (£) sinks to record low-$1.11

SEETHE

1989 1,000 muslims burn Rushdies' "Satanic Verses" in Bradford England

KIDNAPPED

1989 Former Belgian premier Paul Vanden Boeynants kidnapped

LOSERS

1990 Perez de Cuellar says he has lost all hope for peace in the Gulf

DUI

1991 Tyne Daly arrested for drunk driving in Van Nuys CA

FUNERAL

1995 10,000s South Africans attend state funeral of Joe Slovo

PLEAS

1998 Charles Barkley pleads not guilty to an assault charge

BORN

1730 William Whipple merchant/judge/patriot (Declaration of Independence signer)
1741 Benedict Arnold US General turned traitor (Revolutionary War)
1791 Calvin Phillips became shortest known adult male (67cm; 2'2")
1861 Mehmed VI last sultan of Ottoman Empire (1918-22)
1892 Hal Roach early film director/producer (1 Million BC)
1892 Martin Niemöller clergyman (German Protestant); imprisoned by Hitler
1896 John dos Passos novelist (1919, Big Money, 42nd Parallel)
1906 William Bendix New York City NY, actor (Lifeboat, Babe Ruth Story, Life of Riley)
1919 Andy Rooney Albany NY, CBS news correspondent (60 Minutes)
1924 Guy Williams New York City NY, actor (Zorro, Lost in Space)
1936 Clarence Carter US singer (Thread the Needle, Patches)
1937 Billie Jo Spears country singer
1938 Jack Jones Los Angeles CA, singer (Love Boat Theme)
1938 Allen Toussaint [Naomi Neville], pianist/songwriter (Ride Your Pony, Wild Sign of New Orleans)
1940 Julian Bond Nashville TN, (D-GA) civil rights leader
1941 [Dorothy] Faye Dunaway Bascom FL, actress (Chinatown, Bonnie & Clyde)
1948 Carl Weathers New Orleans LA, actor (Apollo Creed-Rocky)
1948 T-Bone Burnett musician/producer
1949 Lawrence Kasdan Miami FL, director/writer (Accidental Tourist)
1952 Sydney Biddle Barrow madam/author (Mayflower Madam)
1958 Colin Ferguson murderer (6 people on the Long Island Railroad on Dec 7, 1993)
1959 Susan Smith Beloit WI, playmate (Sept, 1981)
1964 Steven Soderbergh writer (Mimi, Schizoplis)
1965 Vanity [Dee Dee Williams], singer/actress (Action Jackson)
1968 L L Cool J [James Todd Smith], St Albans NY, rapper (Bigger & Deffer)
1969 Jason Kent Bateman Rye NY, actor (David-Valerie, Hogan Family)
1969 Dave Grohl drummer (Nirvana, Foo Fighters)
1973 Lethon Flowers NFL defensive back (Pittsburgh Steelers)
1988 Jamie Altman son of Lynda Carter & Robert Altman
1989 Sextuplets Paris France, (to a 29-year-old woman)

DEATH

1595 Ferdinand archduke of Austria/mayor of Bohemenia, dies
1742 Edmund Halley genius eclipsed by Newton, dies at 86
1898 Reverend Charles L Dodgson better known as Lewis Carroll, dies at 66
1957 Humphrey Bogart actor (Casablanca, Caine Mutiny), dies at 57
1965 Jeanette MacDonald soprano (When I'm Calling You), dies at 63
1977 Anthony Eden British premier (1955-57), dies at 79
1977 Peter Finch actor (Network, Nun's Story, Judith), dies at 60
1978 Blossom Rock actress (Grandmamma-Addams Family), dies at 81
1984 Ray Kroc founder of MacDonalds/owner San Diego Padres, dies at 82
1986 Donna Reed actress (Donna Reed Show, Dallas), dies of cancer at 64
2007 Actress Darlene Conley, feisty fashion mogul Sally Spectra on "The Bold and the Beautiful," died in Los Angeles at age 72.

January 14, the 14th day of 2008. There are 352 days remaining.

compiled by Mondoreb
[image:
Source:
* Today in History
* Today in History



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Today in History: December 29, 2007

WAR!, TERRORISM, POLITICS, EXECUTION, DISASTER, DISEASE, DEATH, MURDER, BIRTH, CULTURE, BIRTHDAYS



In 1916, Grigory Rasputin, the so-called "Mad Monk" who'd wielded great influence with Czar Nicholas II, was murdered by a group of Russian noblemen in St. Petersburg.

WAR!

In December 29, 1890, the Wounded Knee massacre took place in South Dakota as an estimated 300 Sioux Indians were killed by U.S. troops sent to disarm them.

In 1940, during World War II, Germany dropped incendiary bombs on London, setting off what came to be known as "The Second Great Fire of London."

TERRORISM

In 1975, a bomb exploded in the main terminal of New York's LaGuardia Airport, killing 11 people.

In 2002, Secretary of State Colin Powell, making the rounds of the Sunday TV talk shows, said there was still time to find a diplomatic resolution to North Korea's development of nuclear weapons, and that the situation hadn't yet reached the crisis stage.

POLITICS

In 1845, Texas was admitted as the 28th state.

In 1989, playwright Vaclav Havel was elected president of Czechoslovakia by the country's Federal Assembly, becoming the first non-Communist to attain the post in more than four decades.

EXECUTION

In 2006, word reached the United States of the execution of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (because of the time difference, it was the morning of December 30th in Iraq when the hanging took place). In a statement, President Bush called Saddam's execution a milestone on Iraq's road to democracy.

DISASTER

In 2006, more than 400 people died when a crowded Indonesian ferry sank in the Java Sea.

DISEASE

In 1997, Hong Kong began killing 1.4 million chickens to stem the spread of a mysterious bird flu that had already killed four people.

DEATH

In 2006, Gerald R. Ford's flag-draped casket was carried into a church in Palm Desert, California, for a public viewing that marked the start of six days of mourning for the former president.

MURDER

In 1170, Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral in England by knights loyal to King Henry II.

BIRTH

In 1808, the 17th president of the United States, Andrew Johnson, was born in Raleigh, North Carolina.

CULTURE

In 1851, the first American Young Men's Christian Association was organized, in Boston.

In 1957, singers Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme were married in Las Vegas, Nevada.

BIRTHDAYS

Actor Clarence Swensen ("The Wizard of Oz")
is 90. Actress Inga Swenson is 75. ABC newscaster Tom Jarriel is
73. Actress Mary Tyler Moore is 70. Actor Jon Voight is 69. Country
singer Ed Bruce is 68. Rock musician Ray Thomas is 66. Singer Marianne Faithfull is 61. Jockey Laffit Pincay Junior is 61. Actor Ted Danson is 60. Actor Jon Polito is 57. Singer-actress Yvonne Elliman is 56. Actress Patricia Clarkson is 48. Comedian Paula Poundstone is 48. Rock singer-musician Jim Reid (The Jesus and Mary Chain) is 46. Rock singer Dexter Holland (The Offspring) is 42. Actor-comedian Mystro Clark is 41. Actor Jason Gould is 41. Movie director Andy Wachowski is 40. Actress Jennifer Ehle is 38. Rock singer-musician Glen Phillips is 37. Actor Kevin Weisman is 37. Actor Jude Law is 35. Actor Mekhi Phifer is 33. Actor Shawn Hatosy is 32. Actor Diego Luna is 28. Country singer Jessica Andrews is 24.

December 29, the 363rd day of 2007. There are two days left in the year.

compiled by Mondoreb
[image: curiouschapbooks]
Source: Today in History





Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Today in History: December 28, 2007

WAR!, TERRORISM, POLITICS, EXECUTION, TURBULENCE, CULTURE, CRIME, RIOTS, DEATH, BIRTH, BIRTHDAYS



In 1832, John C. Calhoun became the first vice president of the United States to resign, stepping down over differences with President Jackson.

WAR!

1n 2006, in Somalia, troops of the U.N.-backed interim government rolled into Mogadishu unopposed, putting an end to six months of domination of the capital by a radical Islamic movement.

In 2006, President Bush worked nearly three hours at his Texas ranch to design a new U.S. policy in Iraq.

TERRORISM

In 2002, the U.N. nuclear watchdog decided to pull its inspectors out of North Korea by New Year's Eve, a step demanded by the North.

POLITICS

In 1846, Iowa became the 29th state to be admitted to the Union.

In 1945, Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance.

EXECUTIONS

In 2006, Saddam Hussein's lawyer made a last-ditch effort to impede his client's execution.

TURBULENCE

In 1997, one woman was killed, more than 100 other people hurt, when a United Airlines jumbo jet en route from Narita, Japan, to Honolulu encountered severe turbulence over the Pacific.

CRIME

In 1987, the bodies of 14 relatives of Ronald Gene Simmons were found at his home near Dover, Ark., following a shooting rampage by Simmons in Russellville that claimed two other lives. (Simmons was later executed.)

RIOTS

In 1982, Nevell Johnson Jr., a black man, was mortally wounded by a police officer in a Miami video arcade, setting off three days of race-related disturbances that left another man dead.

CULTURE

In 1897, the play "Cyrano de Bergerac," by Edmond Rostand, premiered in Paris.

In 1917, the New York Evening Mail published "A Neglected Anniversary," a facetious essay by H.L. Mencken supposedly recounting the history of bathtubs in America. (For example, Mencken "claimed" the first American bathtub made its debut in the Cincinnati home of grain dealer Adam Thompson on Dec. 20, 1842, and that the first White House bathtub was installed in 1851 at the order of President Millard Fillmore.)

In 1973, Alexander Solzhenitsyn published "Gulag Archipelago," an expose of the Soviet prison system.

DEATH

In 1694, Queen Mary II of England died after more than five years of joint rule with her husband, King William III.

In 1937, composer Maurice Ravel died in Paris at age 62.

BIRTH

In 1856, the 28th president of the United States, Thomas Woodrow Wilson, was born in Staunton, Va.

BIRTHDAYS

Actor Lou Jacobi is 94. Bandleader Johnny Otis is 86. Comic book creator Stan Lee is 85. Former United Auto Workers union president Owen Bieber is 78. Actor Martin Milner is 76. Actress Dame Maggie Smith is 73. Rock singer-musician Charles Neville is 69. Rock singer-musician Edgar Winter is 61. Rock singer-musician Alex Chilton (The Box Tops; Big Star) is 57. Actor Denzel Washington is 53. Country singer Joe Diffie is 49. Country musician Mike McGuire (Shenandoah) is 49. Actor Chad McQueen is 47. Country singer-musician Marty Roe (Diamond Rio) is 47. Actor Malcolm Gets is 43. Actor Mauricio Mendoza is 38. Comedian Seth Meyers is 34. Rhythm-and-blues singer John Legend is 29. Actress Sienna Miller is 26. Actor Thomas Dekker is 20. Actress Mackenzie Rosman is 18.

Dec. 28, the 362nd day of 2007. There are three days left in the year.

compiled by Mondoreb
[image:kudzumonthly]
Source: Today in History



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Today in History: December 26, 2007

DISASTERS, WAR!, CRIME, EXECUTION,
CULTURE, JACKPOT!, DEATH, BIRTHDAYS




On Dec. 26, 2004, more than 200,000 people, mostly in southern Asia, were killed by a tsunami triggered by the world's most powerful earthquake in 40 years beneath the Indian Ocean.

DISASTER

In 1947, heavy snow blanketed the Northeast, burying New York City under 26.4 inches of snow in 16 hours; the severe weather was blamed for some 80 deaths.

UNUSUAL FACT

Three U.S. Presidents died on this day in history.

WAR!

In 1776, the British suffered a major defeat in the Battle of Trenton during the Revolutionary War.

In 1917, during World War I, President Wilson issued a proclamation authorizing the government to take over operation of the nation's railroads.

In 1941, Winston Churchill became the first British prime minister to address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress.

In 1944, during World War II's Battle of the Bulge, the embattled U.S. 101st Airborne Division in Bastogne, Belgium, was relieved by units of the 4th Armored Division.

In 2002, Israeli soldiers killed seven Palestinians in West Bank raids and reimposed a curfew on Bethlehem after briefly withdrawing over Christmas.

CRIME

In 1996, 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family's home in Boulder, Colo. (To date, the slaying remains unsolved, despite a widely publicized "confession" by John Mark Karr.)

EXECUTIONS

Iraq's highest court rejected Saddam Hussein's appeal of his conviction and death sentence and said the former president should be hanged within 30 days. (Saddam was executed on Dec. 30, 2006, Iraq time.)

CULTURE

In 1957, the Ingmar Bergman film "Wild Strawberries," starring Victor Sjostrom, opened in Sweden.

In 1967, "Magical Mystery Tour," The Beatles' critically drubbed one-hour special, aired on BBC-1 television.

JACKPOT!

In 2002, it was announced that West Virginia resident Jack Whittaker had won the $314.9 million Powerball lottery jackpot, at that time a record prize.

DEATH

In 1799, George Washington was eulogized by Col. Henry Lee as "first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen."

In 1972, the 33rd president of the United States, Harry S. Truman, died in Kansas City, Mo., at age 88.

In 2006, Gerald R. Ford, who took over the White House after Richard Nixon resigned over the Watergate scandal, died in Rancho Mirage, Calif., at age 93.

BIRTHDAYS

Actor Richard Widmark is 93. Actor Donald Moffat is 77. Rhythm-and-blues singer Abdul "Duke" Fakir (The Four Tops) is 72. Record producer Phil Spector is 67. "America's Most Wanted" host John Walsh is 62. Country musician Bob Carpenter (The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) is 61. Baseball Hall of Fame catcher Carlton Fisk is 60. Former baseball player Chris Chambliss is 59. Rock musician James Kottak (The Scorpions) is 45. Country musician Brian Westrum (Sons of the Desert) is 45. Rock musician Lars Ulrich (Metallica) is 44. Actress Nadia Dajani is 42. Rock musician J is 40. Country singer Audrey Wiggins is 40. Rock musician Peter Klett (Candlebox) is 38. Rock singer James Mercer (The Shins) is 37. Actor Jared Leto is 36. Rock singer Chris Daughtry is 28. Actor Zach Mills is 12.

Dec. 26, the 360th day of 2007. There are five days left in the year. The seven-day African-American holiday Kwanzaa begins today. This is Boxing Day.

compiled by Mondoreb
[image:awitness]
Source: Today in History



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Grupero Murders: Gang Execution or Part of a Border War?

Murdered singer shot, execution-style
Another grupero singer has been murdered in Mexico. Twenty eight-year-old Zayda Pena was shot dead in the back, gangland style in the emergency room of a Matamoros, Mexico, hospital. This after she had been treated for a gunshot wound to the back from an altercation the day before.

Pena was one of several grupero singers and band members who have been recently gunned down in gangland slayings in Mexico.

Peña — the front woman in a band named Zayda y los Culpables, or "Zayda and the Guilty Ones" — enjoyed a following on both sides of the border playing music known as grupero, which features basses, electric guitar, drums, accordions and synthesizers.

Grupero lyrics focus on love, unrequited or not, and on the exploits of narcotics gangsters and other borderlands themes. The genre's bands are popular draws in dance halls across provincial Mexico. Gangsters are said to be among the bands' many fans. [1]

A year earlier another singer, Valentin Elizaide, was shot after performing a concert in the border town of Reynosa, 60 miles north of Matamoras, the site of Pena's death.

In February, four members of another grupero band were shot to death after playing a hall in central Michoacan state, where much of this year's gangland violence has occurred.

Another popular grupero singer was gunned down in a Michoacan park last December.

Mexican newspapers last weekend reported that the lead singer of yet another band went missing Saturday, along with two businessmen, following a performance in Morelia, the Michoacan state capital. [1]

The rampant violence along the Texas-Mexico border is due to the presence of a drug cartel known as the Gulf Cartel. President Calderon ordered hundreds of troops over the weekend to Reynosa.

Pena was another of the nearly 2500 victims who have murdered in gangland violence this year.

by LBG
[image:islamusicals]
Source - Houston Chronicle - Singer Shot To Death after surgery in Matamoros




Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Castillo Execution Stopped: ACLU's Last Minute Stays of Execution are Cruel and Unusal, Not Lethal Injection

[photo:CNN]Death Penalty Opposition Gives ACLU It's Only Chance to Speak Up For Life

by Mondoreb
The ACLU stopped a killer's execution, 90 minutes before he was set to die amid arguments from death penalty opponents that the state should wait until the U.S. Supreme Court reviews the constitutionality of lethal injections. Was it lethal injection or the last minute stay that was cruel and unusal?

The ACLU won't speak up for the unborn nor the comatose. But if you've beaten an old lady to death with a tire tool, their voice is deafening. "All-Death, All-the-time", ceases to be their slogan when it comes to the capital punishment of convicted killers.

From CNN:

CARSON CITY, Nevada (AP) -- A killer's execution was halted 90 minutes before he was set to die amid arguments from death penalty opponents that the state should wait until the U.S. Supreme Court reviews the constitutionality of lethal injections.
The Nevada Supreme Court issued the last-minute stay Monday for William Castillo, who beat an elderly woman to death with a tire iron.

Castillo, 34, had declined to file appeals of his own and prison officials have said he was ready to die. The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada appealed to halt any executions in the state.

The same organization works relentlesly to keep America free of any symbols of higher moral authority other than the ACLU. Killers are not the threat but killing the killers is.

Lee Rowland, one of the ACLU lawyers who argued the case Monday before the Supreme Court, welcomed the decision, which was signed by all seven justices.

"Clearly, this was the right thing to do, legally and morally," she said. "We are heartened that this decision will bring Nevada in line with the rest of the country, which has decided to await guidance from the U.S. Supreme Court."

Whether the ACLU admits it or not, lethal injection is not cruel and unusual; stays of execution 90 minutes before a convicted killer is ready to die are.



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