today in history archives

1607 Jamestown, Virginia was settled as a colony of England.
1846 The U.S. declared that war already existed with Mexico.
1861 Britain declared its neutrality in the American Civil War.
1864 The Battle of Resaca commenced as Union General Sherman fought towards Atlanta during the American Civil War.
1865 The last land engagement of the American Civil War was fought at the Battle of Palmito Ranch in far south Texas, more than a month after Gen. Lee's surrender at Appomattox, VA.
1917 Three peasant children near Fatima, Portugal, reported seeing a vision of the Virgin Mary.
1927 "Black Friday" occurred in Germany.
1940 Winston Churchill made his first speech as the prime minister of Britain.
1943 Allied forces defeated the Axis powers in North Africa.
1958 U.S. Vice President Nixon's limousine was battered by rocks thrown by anti-U.S. demonstrators in Caracas, Venezuela.
1968 Peace talks between the U.S. and North Vietnam began in Paris.
1985 A confrontation between Philadelphia authorities and the radical group MOVE ended as police dropped an explosive onto the group's headquarters. 11 people died in the fire that resulted.
1999 In Moscow, the impeachment of Russian President Boris Yeltsin began.

This Day In Music!

1993 The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bette Midler and Barry White lend their voices to the season finale of the Fox animated comedy series "The Simpsons." The episode, "Krusty Gets Kancelled," marks White's second "Simpsons" guest appearance.
1985 Bruce Springsteen marries actress Julianne Phillips in Lake Oswego, Ore. They divorce in 1989.
1975 Country & Western star Bob Wills dies of pneumonia at the age of 70. His group Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys have six No. 1 country singles. The most successful is "New Spanish Two Step" in 1946.
1966 Darius Carlos Rucker, lead singer of Hootie & The Blowfish, is born in Charleston, S.C.
1955 Elvis Presley's live act causes audience frenzy for first time, as most of his clothing is torn off by fans in Jacksonville, Fla.
1950 Stevie Wonder (Steveland Morris) is born in Saginaw, Mich. He is blind at birth. One of the most successful recording artists in history, his biggest solo single is "I Just Called to Say I Love You," which stays at No. 1 for three weeks in 1984.

1946 Bassist Danny Klein of the J. Geils Band is born in New York City.
1945 "Magic" Dick Salwitz of the J. Geils Band is born in New London, Conn.
1943 Mary Wells, the first artist to record on the Motown label, is born in Detroit. Her biggest pop hit is "My Guy," a No. 1 song in 1964.
1941 Ritchie Valens (Richard Valenzuela) is born in Pacoima, Calif. His biggest hit is "Donna," a No. 2 song in 1959. The flip side is "La Bamba," which Los Lobos takes to No. 1 in 1987. Valens is killed in the same plane crash that kills Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper.

Positive Quote

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children...to leave the world a better place...to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Daily Motivator
May 13, 2007

Choose your response

We often say things such as "She makes me furious. He makes me nervous. This job stresses me out. That's driving me crazy." As true as such statements may seem, they're not accurate.

When you are angry, or nervous, stressful, fearful, offended or excited, it's due to a choice you have made. The other person or situation does not make you that way. You have chosen to respond that way.

Most such responses are so familiar they've become automatic. Yet they don't have to be. They depend on your choices, and you control those choices.

The way you respond to every situation is up to you. When making that choice, it pays to consider what will happen as a result of that choice and to ask yourself if it will have a positive impact on your life. You can choose to respond in whatever way you wish. So rather than putting those responses on auto-pilot, select those which will move your life, and the world in which you live, positively forward.

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