Today In History

[Kit Kat P]

Today is Friday, April 18, the 109th day of 2008. There are 257 days left in the year.

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.

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.

[jadnifer]

Is there a website or a book that you got on that information from? That's really interesting.

[Kit Kat P]

yahoo news

Today in history - April 21

By The Associated PressMon Apr 21, 12:01 AM ET

Today is Monday, April 21, the 112th day of 2008. There are 254 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On April 21, 1918, Baron Manfred von Richthofen, the German ace known as the "Red Baron," was killed in action during World War I.

On this date:

In 1649, the Maryland Toleration Act, which provided for freedom of worship for all Christians, was passed by the Maryland assembly.

In 1789, John Adams was sworn in as the first vice president of the United States.

In 1816, Charlotte Bronte, author of "Jane Eyre," was born in Thornton, England.

In 1836, an army of Texans led by Sam Houston defeated the Mexicans at San Jacinto, assuring Texas independence.

In 1910, author Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, died in Redding, Conn., at age 74.

In 1940, the quiz show that asked the "$64 question," "Take It or Leave It," premiered on CBS Radio.

In 1960, Brazil inaugurated its new capital, Brasilia, transferring the seat of national government from Rio de Janeiro.

In 1972, Apollo 16 astronauts John Young and Charles Duke explored the surface of the moon.

In 1975, South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu resigned after 10 years in office.

In 1977, the musical play "Annie," based on the "Little Orphan Annie" comic strip, opened on Broadway.

Ten years ago: Astronomers announced in Washington they had discovered possible signs of a new family of planets orbiting a star 220 light-years away, the clearest evidence to date of worlds forming beyond our solar system.

Five years ago: Military officials in Iraq announced the arrest of Muhammad Hamza al-Zubaydi, a key figure in the bloody suppression of the Shiite Muslim uprising of 1991. State-run media in China reported the government had dismissed Beijing's mayor following the disclosure of a steep increase in SARS cases in the Chinese capital. Scott Peterson pleaded innocent in the deaths of his pregnant wife and unborn son. Robert Cheruiyot became the 12th Kenyan in 13 years to win the Boston Marathon; Svetlana Zakharova of Russia won the women's race. Jazz singer Nina Simone died in France at age 70.

One year ago: The Fallujah, Iraq, city council chairman, Sami Abdul-Amir al-Jumaili, a critic of al-Qaida who had taken the job after his three predecessors were assassinated, was himself killed by attackers in a passing car. American billionaire Charles Simonyi returned to Earth from a dream voyage to the international space station, riding a Russian capsule to a soft landing in Kazakhstan. Professional sailor Reid Stowe and his girlfriend, Soanya Ahmad, set off from from North Hoboken, N.J., on a 1,000-day, nonstop globe-girdling cruise. (Ahmad abandoned the cruise in February 2008, citing seasickness.)

Today's Birthdays: Ice skater Werner Groebli ("Mr. Frick") is 93. Britain's Queen Elizabeth II is 82. Actress-comedian-writer Elaine May is 76. Actor Charles Grodin is 73. Singer-musician Iggy Pop is 61. Singer-songwriter Paul Davis is 60. Actress Patti LuPone is 59. Actor Tony Danza is 57. Actress Andie MacDowell is 50. Rock singer Robert Smith (The Cure) is 49. Rock musician Michael Timmins (Cowboy Junkies) is 49. Actor John Cameron Mitchell is 45. Rapper Michael Franti (Spearhead) is 42. Rock singer-musician Glen Hansard (The Frames) is 38. Comedian Nicole Sullivan is 38. Actor James McAvoy is 29.

Thought for Today: "Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first." — Mark Twain (1835-1910).

[wingdazrael]

I wish a laundromat was still called a washateria. Maybe I'll refer to them as washaterias from now on.

[sass_in_the_pants]

I wish a laundromat was still called a washateria. Maybe I'll refer to them as washaterias from now on.

That's exactly what I was thinking! At the very least, MY laundry room will now be called a washateria.