Sunday, April 19, 2009

Warsaw Ghetto Uprising; Ratzi Becomes Pope

By The Associated Press 2 hrs 7 mins ago Today is Sunday, April 19, the 108th day of 2009. There are 256 days left in the year. AP. A/V. UPI. Today's Highlight in History: On April 19, 1775, the American Revolutionary War began with the battles of Lexington and Concord. On this date: In 1897, the first Boston Marathon was held; winner John J. McDermott ran the course in 2 hours, 55 minutes and 10 seconds. In 1933, the United States went off the gold standard. In 1939, Connecticut became the last of the original 13 colonies to ratify the Bill of Rights, 147 years after it took effect. In 1943, during World War II, tens of thousands of Jews living in the Warsaw Ghetto began a valiant but futile battle against Nazi forces. In 1951, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, relieved of his Far East command by President Harry S. Truman, bid farewell in an address to Congress in which he quoted a line from a ballad: "Old soldiers never die; they just fade away." Gen. Douglas MacArthur In 1982, astronauts Sally K. Ride and Guion S. Bluford Jr. became the first woman and first African-American to be tapped for U.S. space missions. In 1989, 47 sailors were killed when a gun turret exploded aboard the USS Iowa in the Caribbean. (The Navy initially suspected that a dead crew member, Clayton Hartwig, had deliberately sparked the blast, but later said there was no proof of that.) In 1989, Trisha Meili, a jogger in New York's Central Park, was brutally beaten and raped. (Five teenagers were convicted of the crime; all served prison time. But they were cleared in 2002 after another man, Matias Reyes, confessed.) In 1993, the 51-day siege at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, ended as fire destroyed the structure after federal agents began smashing their way in; dozens of people, including leader David Koresh, were killed. In 1995, a truck bomb destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people. (Timothy McVeigh was later convicted of federal murder charges and executed.)Ten years ago: The German parliament inaugurated its new home in the restored Reichstag in Berlin, its prewar capital. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a federal law aimed at limiting e-mail smut did not violate free-speech rights. Joseph Chebet of Kenya won the Boston Marathon, in 2 hours, nine minutes, 52 seconds; Fatuma Roba of Ethiopia won the women's race in 2 hours, 23 minutes, 25 seconds. Five years ago: A Russian rocket soared into space carrying an American, a Russian and a Dutchman to the international space station on the third manned mission since the halt of the U.S. shuttle program. Catherine Ndereba won the Boston Marathon for the third time, finishing in 2 hours, 24 minutes and 27 seconds; Timothy Cherigat won the men's race in 2 hours, 10 minutes, 37 seconds to complete a Kenyan sweep. One year ago: President George W. Bush wrapped up two days of talks at Camp David with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak. A Russian capsule carrying South Korea's first astronaut, Yi So-yeon, touched down 260 miles off target in northern Kazakhstan after hurtling through the atmosphere in a bone-jarring descent from the international space station. Today's Birthdays: Actor Hugh O'Brian is 84. Actress Elinor Donahue is 72. Rock musician Alan Price (The Animals) is 67. Actor Tim Curry is 63. Pop singer Mark "The Phlorescent Leech" Volman (The Turtles; The Mothers; Flo and Eddie) is 62.Actor Tony Plana ("Ugly Betty") is 57. Former tennis player Sue Barker is 53. Recording executive Suge Knight is 44. Singer-songwriter Dar Williams is 42. Actress Ashley Judd is 41. Singer Bekka Bramlett is 41. Latin pop singer Luis Miguel is 39. Jazz singer Madeleine Peyroux is 35. Today in Entertainment History - April 19, 2009 3:13 AM ET On April 19th, 1945, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "Carousel" opened on Broadway. In 1968, George Harrison, John Lennon and their wives left the religious retreat run by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi before their studies were completed. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr had left earlier. Later, all four renounced their association with the Maharishi. In 1982, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel announced that they would continue their reunion. They had gotten back together for a concert in New York's Central Park. After their announcement, they toured Europe but drifted apart again in 1983. In 1988, Sonny Bono was inaugurated as mayor of Palm Springs, Calif. In 1997, actress Brooke Shields married tennis star Andre Agassi in Monterey, Calif. They've since separated. On that same day, actor Chris O'Donnell married kindergarten teacher Caroline Fentress in Washington. In 2002, singer Layne Staley of Alice In Chains was found dead in his apartment in Seattle. He was 34. Thought for Today: "There is a Law that man should love his neighbor as himself. In a few hundred years it should be as natural to mankind as breathing or the upright gait; but if he does not learn it he must perish." — Alfred Adler, Austrian psychoanalyst (1870-1937). 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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1 comment:

bloggabix said...

Just want to raise a point on your comment "In 1968, George Harrison, John Lennon and their wives left the religious retreat run by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi before their studies were completed. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr had left earlier. Later, all four renounced their association with the Maharishi."

On April 4th Paul and Ringo (and others) gave a benefit concert in radio City New York to raise funds for the Transcendental Meditation program, founded by Maharishi, to be taught to 1 million kids.

Alos, in a recent interview with Roling Stone, Yoko said: "If Lennon were alive were alive today, says Yoko Ono, he probably would have reconciled with (Maharishi). "John would have been the first one now, if he had been here, to recognize and acknowledge what Maharishi has done for the world and appreciate it," she says."

TM is great. More at www.tm.org