today in history archives

1807 The U.S. Congress passed an act to "prohibit the importation of slaves into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States... from any foreign kingdom, place or country."
1877 In the U.S., Rutherford B. Hayes was declared the winner of the 1876 presidential election by the U.S. Congress. Samuel J. Tilden, however, had won the popular vote on November 7, 1876.
1901 The U.S. Congress passed the Platt amendment, which limited Cuban autonomy as a condition for withdrawal of U.S. troops.
1917 Citizens of Puerto Rico were granted U.S. citizenship with the enactment of the Jones Act.
1923 The first issue of "TIME" magazine appears on newsstands.
1925 State and federal highway officials develop a nationwide route-numbering system and adopt the shield-shaped, number marker.
1946 Ho Chi Minh, the Vietnamese Communist leader, is elected the first president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
1962 Wilt "The Stilt" Chamberlain scores a record 100 points in an NBA game, leading the Philadelphia Warriors over the New York Knicks, 169-147.
1972 The first outer-planetary probe, Pioneer 10, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. On December 3, 1973 the probe sent back the first close-up images of Jupiter.
1974 First class postage stamps go up in price from eight to ten cents.
1998 The United Nation’s Security Council endorses U.N. chief Kofi Annan’s deal to open Iraq’s presidential palaces to arms inspectors.
1998 Images from the American spacecraft Galileo indicated that the Jupiter moon, Europa, has a liquid ocean and a source of interior heat.
2000 In Great Britain, Chile's former President Augusto Pinochet Ugarte was freed from house arrest and allowed to return to Chile. Britain's Home Secretary Jack Straw had concluded that Pinochet was mentally and physically unable to stand trial. Belgium, France, Spain and Switzerland had sought the former Chilean leader on human-rights violations.
2003 Over the Sea of Japan, there was a confrontation between four armed North Korean fighter jets and a U.S. RC-135S Cobra Ball. No shots were fired in the encounter in international airspace about 150 miles off North Korea's coast. The U.S. Air Force announced that it would resume reconnaissance flights on March 12.
2004 NASA announced that the Mars rover Opportunity had discovered evidence that water had existed on Mars in the past.

TODAY IN MUSIC HISTORY

1999 Dusty Springfield, the blue-eyed soul singer whose husky voice ignited such tracks as "Son Of A Preacher Man" and "Wishin' and Hopin'," passes away at her home in Henley-on-Thames, England. The cause of death is breast cancer, which the singer had been battling for five years. She is 59.
1999 Neil Young launches a solo tour in Vancouver, B.C. It is his first completely solo outing in more than 25 years.
1999 Tony McCarroll, the drummer fired by British rock band Oasis, settles his legal action against the group - but for far less than the millions legal experts had predicted. Tony McCarroll, 27, accepts an award of 550,000 pounds ($880,000).
1974 Neil Diamond wins a Grammy for ``Jonathan Livingston Seagull,'' Best Film Soundtrack.
1974 Gladys Knight & the Pips wins Grammys for ``Neither One of Us'' (Best Pop Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group or Chorus) and ``Midnight Train to Georgia.'' (best R&B vocal performance by a group).
1967 The Mamas & the Papas wins a Grammy for ``Monday Monday,'' Best Contemporary Group Performance.
1967 Herb Alpert wins a Grammy for ``What Now My Love,'' Best Non-Jazz Instrumental.
1964 The Beatles start work on their first film, ``A Hard Day's Night.''
1962 Jon Bon Jovi (John Francis Bongiovi, Jr.), lead singer of the group Bon Jovi, is born in Perth Amboy New Jersey. He scores a solo No. 1 hit in 1990 with the million-selling ``Blaze of Glory,'' the theme song of the film ``Young Guns II.''
1949 Eddie Money (Edward Mahoney) is born in Brooklyn, N.Y. His biggest hit is the No. 4 song ``Take Me Home Tonight.''
1942 Lou Reed (Louis Firbank) is born in Freeport, N.Y. He is the lead singer of the New York rock band the Velvet Underground. His biggest solo single is the 1973 top 20 hit ``Walk on the Wild Side.'' Rap group Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch ``sample'' the song in their 1991-92 top 10 hit ``Wildside.''

Positive Quote

Some day, in years to come, you will be wrestling with the great temptation, or trembling under the great sorrow of your life. But the real struggle is here, now, in these quiet weeks. Now it is being decided whether, in the day of your supreme sorrow or temptation, you shall miserably fail or gloriously conquer. Character cannot be made except by a steady, long continued process.

Daily Motivator

Make the world sparkle
You are more beautiful than the most beautiful thing you have ever seen, because you are able to see it and appreciate it. What good is beauty, if it can not be enjoyed? The essence of the beauty is within you.

You make the world sparkle by your delight and participation in it. You bring the world to life by your living each day. You give meaning to the words of others by listening to what they say.

All that you experience is a part of you, and you a part of it. You're an active participant in the warm and shimmering reality of this day. This day, this world is yours and you are a vital part of it.

It is your experience, it is your joy, it is your responsibility. Live it to the fullest.

-- Phillips Brooks

Word of the Day

MISSIVE
Definition:
note or letter
Example:
The husband left his wife a MISSIVE, informing his wife of his whereabouts that evening.
Synonyms:
epistle, correspondence

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