Sunday, May 10, 2009

10 May: Rock Rock Rock & Roll (And "Pep Pills")

By The Associated Press 1 hr 29 mins ago Today is Sunday, May 10, the 130th day of 2009. There are 235 days left in the year. This is Mother's Day. [Only half the word? — Ed.] AP. A/V. UPI Almanac. Today's Highlight in History: One hundred forty years ago, in 1869, a golden spike was driven in Promontory, Utah, marking the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the United States.On this date: Two hundred thirty-five years ago, in 1774, Louis XVI acceded to the throne of France. In 1775, Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys, along with Col. Benedict Arnold, captured the British-held fortress at Ticonderoga, N.Y. In 1865, Union forces captured Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Irwinville, Ga. In 1908, the first Mother's Day observance in the United States, inspired by Anna Jarvis, took place during church services in Grafton, W.Va., and Philadelphia. In 1924, J. Edgar Hoover was given the job of FBI director. In 1933, the Nazis staged massive public book burnings in Germany.In 1940, during World War II, German forces began invading the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium and France. That same day, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigned, and Winston Churchill formed a new government. In 1941, Adolf Hitler's deputy, Rudolf Hess, parachuted into Scotland on what he claimed was a peace mission. In 1968, preliminary Vietnam peace talks began in Paris. In 1978, Britain's Princess Margaret and the Earl of Snowdon announced they were divorcing after 18 years of marriage. In 1984, the International Court of Justice said the United States should halt any actions to blockade Nicaragua's ports (the U.S. had already said it would not recognize World Court jurisdiction on this issue). Ten years ago: China broke off talks on arms control with the United States, and allowed demonstrators to hurl stones at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing for a third day to protest NATO's bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia. A military jury at Camp Lejeune, N.C., sentenced Capt. Richard Ashby, a Marine pilot whose jet had clipped an Italian gondola cable, sending 20 people plunging to their deaths, to six months in prison and dismissed him from the corps for helping destroy a videotape made during the flight. (Ashby had been acquitted earlier of manslaughter.) Cartoonist, playwright and songwriter Shel Silverstein was found dead in his Key West, Fla., apartment; he was 66. Five years ago: President George W. Bush reacted with "deep disgust and disbelief" during a Pentagon visit as he examined new photos and video clips of American soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners. Citigroup agreed to pay $2.65 billion to settle a lawsuit brought by WorldCom investors who'd lost billions when the company went bankrupt in an accounting scandal. One year ago: Barack Obama erased Hillary Rodham Clinton's once-imposing lead among superdelegates as he added endorsements from Utah, Ohio and the Virgin Islands. A tornado in Picher, Okla., killed seven people. Jenna Bush married Henry Hager, the son of a Virginia Republican party official, at the Bush family ranch in Crawford, Texas. Today's Birthdays: Sportscaster Pat Summerall is 79. Author Barbara Taylor Bradford is 76. R&B singer Henry Fambrough (The Spinners) is 71. TV-radio personality Gary Owens is 70. Actor David Clennon is 66. Writer-producer-director Jim Abrahams is 65. Singer Donovan is 63. Singer Dave Mason is 63. R&B singer Ron Banks (The Dramatics) is 58. Actor Bruce Penhall is 52. Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) is 51. Actress Victoria Rowell is 50.Rock singer Bono (U2) is 49. Rock musician Danny Carey (Tool) is 48. Playwright Suzan-Lori Parks is 46. Model Linda Evangelista is 44. Rapper Young MC is 42. Actor Erik Palladino is 41. Rock singer Richard Patrick (Filter) is 41. Country musician David Wallace (Cole Deggs and the Lonesome) is 37. Race car driver Helio Castroneves is 34. Rock musician Jesse Vest is 32. Actor Kenan Thompson is 31. Today In Entertainment History -- In 1963, the Rolling Stones began their first recording session in London for Decca Records. The band recorded the Chuck Berry song "Come On" and Willie Dixon's "I Want To Be Loved." In 1967, Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones was formally charged with illegal possession of pep pills, while fellow Stone Keith Richards was charged with allowing pot to be smoked on his premises. As the case was going to court, police arrested another Stone, Brian Jones, at his London apartment and charged him with drug possession. Forty years ago, in 1969, The Turtles played at the White House at the invitation of Tricia Nixon. Stories later circulated that the band was snorting cocaine on Abraham Lincoln's desk. [We wouldn't put it past them to do it or to start the rumors. — Ed.]
[A yr. & a half later, still singing the same songs:]
In 1975, Human Kindness Day was celebrated in Washington with a concert by Stevie Wonder in front of the Washington Monument. About 125,000 people attended. In 1977, actress Joan Crawford died in New York. Adam and the Ants played their first public concert at a restaurant in London's Institute of Contemporary Arts. Singer Adam Ant had told the booker they were a country band but showed up wearing leather, a hood and chains. The booker paid them their $15 fee after one song and asked them to leave. In 1983, Metallica began recording their first album in Rochester, New York. In 1986, Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee married actress Heather Locklear. They later divorced. Lee married actress Pamela Lee, and Locklear married guitarist Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi. In 1991, Madonna's "Truth or Dare" concert tour documentary opened in North America. In 2005, model Heidi Klum married singer Seal. Thought for Today: "The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook." — William James, American psychologist and philosopher (1842-1910). 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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