Today is Thursday, Dec. 18, the 352nd day of 2003 with 13 to
go.
Those born on this date include German composer Carl Maria von Weber in 1786;
Joseph Grimaldi, known as the "greatest clown in history," in 1778;
English physicist Joseph Thompson, discoverer of the electron, in 1856; British
short story writer Saki (H.H. Munro) in 1870; Swiss modernist painter Paul Klee
in 1879; baseball pitcher Tyrus "Ty" Cobb in 1886; film director
George Stevens in 1904; actress Betty Grable in 1916; West German statesman
Willy Brandt in 1913; actor Ossie Davis in 1917 (age 86); Rolling Stones
guitarist Keith Richards in 1943 (age 60); film director Steven Spielberg in
1947 (age 56); movie critic Leonard Maltin in 1950 (age 53); actors Ray Liotta
in 1955 (age 48), Brad Pitt in 1964 (age 39) and Katie Holmes in 1978 (age 25);
and singer Christina Aguilera in 1980 (age 23).
On this date in history:
In 1865, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution abolished slavery in the United
States.
In 1912, after three years of digging in the Piltdown gravel pit in Sussex,
England, amateur archaeologist Charles Dawson announced the discovery of two
skulls that appeared to belong to a primitive hominid and ancestor of man.
In 1915, President Wilson, a widower for one year, married the widow Edith
Bolling Galt.
In 1969, singer Tiny Tim, 44, married 17-year-old Miss Vicky Budinger on Johnny
Carson's "The Tonight Show."
In 1972, the United States resumed heavy bombing and mining operations against
North Vietnam after the communists refused to agree to end the war.
In 1985, Congress approved the biggest overhaul of farm legislation since the
Depression, trimming price supports.
In 1989, a pipe bomb killed Savannah, Ga., City Councilman Robert Robinson,
hours after a pipe bomb is discovered at the Atlanta federal courthouse. A
racial motive was cited in a rash of bomb incidents.
Also in 1989, the Romanian government sealed the borders amid reports of a deadly
crackdown on dissidents.
In 1990, Moldavia became the sixth Soviet republic to refuse to participate in
a 10-day meeting in a mounting affront to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
In 1991, General Motors announced it would close 21 plants and eliminate 74,000
jobs in the next four years to offset record losses.
In 1993, Vice President Gore wrapped up a tour of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and
Russia -- during which he signed a series of agreements.
In 1996, new rating codes were announced for American television programs.
In 1997, South Koreans elected longtime leftist opposition leader Kim Dae Jong
president, marking the first time in the nation's history that a member of the
opposition had defeated a candidate of the New Korea Party and its
predecessors.
Also in 1997, the six-mile-long Tokyo Bay tunnel connecting the cities of
Kawasaki and Kisarazu opened. The project took 8 1/2 years to complete and cost
$17 billion.
In 2002, insurance giant Conseco filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection,
third largest such action in U.S. history behind only Enron and Worldcom.
Also in 2002, Lebanon's information minister said state television network
would not broadcast U.S.-supplied television spots aimed at repairing America's
image in the Arab world because they were inaccurate.
A thought for the day: Anatole France said, "To know is nothing at all; to
imagine is everything."
Charles
Mims
http://www.the-sandbox.org