Thursday, April 2, 2009

This Date In 1865: Treasonous Rebs On The Run

By The Associated Press 21 mins ago Today is Thursday, April 2, the 92nd day of 2009. There are 273 days left in the year. [A quarter of the yr. gone, like, like the, the, the air around us ... — Ed.] AP. AP A/V. UPI Almanac. 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. 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. In 2005, Pope John Paul II, who'd led the Roman Catholic Church for 26 years, died in his Vatican apartment at age 84. 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.[Don't think she's always that posed & arty. — Ed.]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. Today in Entertainment History - April 2, 2009 3:13 AM ET On April second, 1956, the soap operas "As the World Turns" and "The Edge of Night" premiered on CBS. In 1971, Ringo Starr's first solo single, "It Don't Come Easy," was released. It became a Top Five hit. In 1974, "The Sting" won the best picture Academy Award. "The Way We Were" from the movie of the same name won the best original song and score awards. In 1987, jazz drummer Buddy Rich died of a heart attack. In 1992, country singer Wynonna Judd began her first solo tour in Midland, Texas. In 1997, singer Joni Mitchell was reunited with Kilauren Gibb, the daughter she gave up for adoption 32 years earlier. In 1998, Rob Pilatus (pih-LAY'-tus) of Milli Vanilli died after consuming alcohol and pills in a hotel room in Frankfurt, Germany. He was 32. In 2003, dozens of fans walked out of a Pearl Jam show in Denver after singer Eddie Vedder impaled a mask of President George W. Bush with a microphone stand. Thought for Today: "We crucify ourselves between two thieves: regret for yesterday and fear of tomorrow." — Fulton Oursler, American journalist and author (1893-1952). Copyright ©2009 The Associated Press. All rights reversed. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
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