Today in History - April 13

Today is Sunday, April 13, the 104th day of 2008. There are 262 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On April 13, 1958, American pianist Van Cliburn, 23, won the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.

On this date:

In 1598, King Henry IV of France endorsed the Edict of Nantes, which granted rights to the Protestant Huguenots. (The edict was abrogated in 1685 by King Louis the XIV, who declared France entirely Catholic again.)

In 1742, Handel's "Messiah" was first performed publicly, in Dublin, Ireland.

In 1743, Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, was born in Shadwell, Va.

In 1870, the Metropolitan Museum of Art was incorporated in New York. (The original museum opened in 1872.)

In 1943, President Roosevelt dedicated the Jefferson Memorial.

In 1964, Sidney Poitier became the first black performer in a leading role to win an Academy Award, for "Lilies of the Field."

In 1965, 16-year-old Lawrence Wallace Bradford Jr. was appointed by New York Republican Jacob Javits to be the first black page of the U.S. Senate.

In 1970, Apollo 13, four-fifths of the way to the moon, was crippled when a tank containing liquid oxygen burst. (The astronauts managed to return safely.)

In 1986, Pope John Paul II visited the Great Synagogue of Rome in the first recorded papal visit of its kind to a Jewish house of worship.

In 1992, the Great Chicago Flood took place as the city's century-old tunnel system and adjacent basements filled with water from the Chicago River.

Ten years ago: NationsBank and BankAmerica announced a merger which created Bank of America, while Banc One and First Chicago NBD said they would unite. A 500-pound steel joint fell from the upper level of New York's Yankee Stadium, crashing onto seats below. (No fans were inside the park at the time).

Five years ago: U.S.-led forces announced the capture of Watban Ibrahim Hasan, a half brother of and adviser to Saddam Hussein. After three weeks of captivity, seven U.S. POW's, including Army Specialist Shoshana Johnson, were released by Iraqi troops near Tikrit, Iraq. Mike Weir became the first Canadian to win the Masters after the first sudden-death playoff in 13 years.

One year ago: Iraq's parliament met in an extraordinary session on a Friday, the Muslim day of prayer, and declared it would not bow to terrorism; a bouquet of red roses and a white lily sat in the place of a lawmaker killed in a parliament dining hall suicide bombing.

Thought for Today: "I cannot give you the formula for success but I can give you the formula for failure _ which is: Try to please everybody." _ Herbert Bayard Swope, American journalist (1882-1958).

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Today in History - April 12

Today is Saturday, April 12, the 103rd day of 2008. There are 263 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On April 12, 1861, the American Civil War began as Confederate forces bombarded Fort Sumter in South Carolina.

On this date:

In 1606, England's King James I decreed the design of the original Union Flag, which combined the flags of England and Scotland.

In 1776, North Carolina's Fourth Provincial Congress authorized the colony's delegates to the Continental Congress to support independence from Britain.

In 1877, the catcher's mask was first used in a baseball game, by James Tyng of Harvard in a game against the Lynn Live Oaks.

In 1908, fire devastated the city of Chelsea, Mass.

In 1934, "Tender Is the Night" by F. Scott Fitzgerald was first published in book form by Charles Scribner's Sons after being serialized in Scribner's Magazine.

In 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Ga., at age 63; he was succeeded by Vice President Harry S. Truman.

In 1955, the Salk vaccine against polio was declared safe and effective.

In 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to fly in space, orbiting the earth once before making a safe landing.

In 1981, the space shuttle Columbia blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on its first test flight.

In 1983, Chicagoans went to the polls to elect Harold Washington the city's first black mayor.

Ten years ago: Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams appealed to IRA supporters to accept Northern Ireland's compromise peace accord. Golfer Mark O'Meara won the Masters title in Augusta, Ga.

Five years ago: Finance officials from the seven richest industrial countries, meeting in Washington, agreed to support a new U.N. Security Council resolution as part of a global effort to rebuild Iraq and promised to begin talks on reducing Iraq's massive foreign debt burden. Rescued POW Jessica Lynch returned to the United States after treatment at a U.S. military hospital in Germany. Women's activists took their fight against the all-male Augusta National as close as they could get to the Masters tournament.

One year ago: A suicide bomber breached security in Iraq's parliament and blew himself up in the dining hall; a Sunni parliament member was killed. CBS fired Don Imus from his radio program for insulting the Rutgers women's basketball team on the air. In the evening, Imus met with team members at the New Jersey governor's mansion in Princeton; Gov. Jon S. Corzine, who was en route to that meeting, was seriously injured when his official vehicle, an SUV, crashed.

Thought for Today: "Eternal truths will be neither true nor eternal unless they have fresh meaning for every new social situation." _ President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945).

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Today in History - April 11

Today is Friday, April 11, the 102nd day of 2008. There are 264 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On April 11, 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which included the Fair Housing Act, a week after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

On this date:

In 1689, William III and Mary II were crowned as joint sovereigns of Britain.

In 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated as Emperor of the French and was banished to the island of Elba.

In 1898, as tensions with Spain continued to rise, President McKinley asked Congress to authorize military intervention in Cuba.

In 1899, the treaty ending the Spanish-American War was declared in effect.

In 1945, during World War II, American soldiers liberated the notorious Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald in Germany.

In 1951, President Truman relieved Gen. Douglas MacArthur of his commands in the Far East.

In 1970, Apollo 13 blasted off on its ill-fated mission to the moon. (The astronauts managed to return safely).

In 1979, Idi Amin was deposed as president of Uganda as rebels and exiles backed by Tanzanian forces seized control.

In 1988, the hijackers of a Kuwait Airways jetliner killed a second hostage, dumping his body onto the ground in Larnaca, Cyprus.

In 1988, "The Last Emperor" won best picture and best director (Bernardo Bertolucci) at the 60th annual Academy Awards ceremony; Cher won best actress for "Moonstruck," Michael Douglas best actor for "Wall Street."

Ten years ago: The executive committee of the Ulster Union Party voted 55-23 to support the Northern Ireland peace accord and its leader, David Trimble, who had outmaneuvered rebels in his ranks.

Five years ago: Ten of the main suspects in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole escaped from prison in Yemen. American troops took the northern Iraqi city of Mosul without a fight. In Cuba, three men convicted of hijacking a passenger ferry the previous week were executed by firing squad, a swift response by Fidel Castro's government to a recent string of hijackings to the United States.

One year ago: North Carolina's top prosecutor dropped all charges against three former Duke University lacrosse players accused of sexually assaulting a stripper at a party, saying the athletes were innocent victims of a "tragic rush to accuse." MSNBC announced it was dropping its simulcast of the "Imus in the Morning" radio program, responding to growing outrage about host Don Imus' racial slur against the Rutgers women's basketball team. (CBS Radio followed suit the next day.) Death claimed author Kurt Vonnegut in New York at age 84 and actor Roscoe Lee Browne in Los Angeles at age 81.

Thought for Today: "We have enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another." Jonathan Swift, English satirist (1667-1745).


Source: The Associated Press

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Today in History - April 10

Today is Thursday, April 10, the 101st day of 2008. There are 265 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On April 10, 1912, the RMS Titanic set sail from Southampton, England, on its ill-fated maiden voyage.

On this date:

In 1790, President Washington signed into law the first United States Patent Act.

In 1866, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was incorporated.

In 1925, the novel "The Great Gatsby," by F. Scott Fitzgerald, was first published.

In 1932, German president Paul Von Hindenburg was re-elected in a runoff, with Adolf Hitler coming in second.

In 1957, Egypt reopened the Suez Canal to all shipping traffic. (The canal had been closed due to wreckage resulting from the Suez Crisis.)

In 1957, John Osborne's play "The Entertainer," starring Laurence Olivier, opened in London.

In 1963, the nuclear-powered submarine USS Thresher sank during deep-diving tests off Cape Cod, Mass., in a disaster that claimed 129 lives.

In 1972, the United States and the Soviet Union joined some 70 nations in signing an agreement banning biological warfare.

In 1978, Arkady Shevchenko, a high-ranking Soviet citizen employed by the United Nations, sought political asylum in the United States.

In 1992, comedian Sam Kinison, 38, was killed in a car crash outside Needles, Calif.

Ten years ago: The Northern Ireland peace talks concluded as negotiators reached a landmark settlement to end 30 years of bitter rivalries and bloody attacks.

Five years ago: Iraqi television aired videotaped greetings from President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The House passed a bill creating a national Amber Alert system and strengthening child pornography laws. A fire in a boarding school for the deaf in southern Russia killed 30 children. Eva Narcissus Boyd, the singer formerly known as "Little Eva," died in Kinston, N.C.

One year ago: A woman wearing an explosives vest strapped underneath her black robe blew herself up in the midst of 200 Iraqi police recruits in Muqdadiyah, killing 16. Two Russian cosmonauts and U.S. billionaire Charles Simonyi arrived at the international space station. DNA tests showed that former boyfriend Larry Birkhead was the father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby.

Thought for Today: "Take from me the hope that I can change the future, and you will send me mad." _ Israel Zangwill, English dramatist (1864-1926).

Source: The Associated Press

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World's Smallest Waist

I can't help but post these pictures here...

Cathie Jung has the smallest waist in the world. Her waistline is only 15 inches (38.1 cm), about the same size as a regular jar of mayonnaise. She's been wearing a corset for virtually every hour of the day and night since 1983 . The only time that she is not wearing the corset is probably the hour it takes her to shower and dry herself thoroughly. She has suffered no ill effects from wearing a corset virtually 24 hours a day since 1983. In fact, it has bolstered her spinal support. Bob Jung says: "As for the ribs, you would be surprised by how much the chest is not impacted. Only the two lower ribs, but those are the so-called floating ribs, two on each side. Everything in the midriff is flexible. The bowels and the stomach are hollow.

Source: Guiness World Records

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Fun at Philfest

We went to the Philippine Festival in Tampa last Saturday and we had so much fun. I have never seen so many Filipinos at one gathering since I came here. For a brief moment I felt like I was back in my own country. It was really nice to see hundreds of my own countrymen. I already knew that there are many Filipinos here in Florida but seeing them altogether is so different. Going there made me realized how much I miss my family and the Philippines. It reminded me of those fiesta days back in Iligan City with my siblings. Even so, I wouldn't exchange it for anything else. I enjoyed the day so much. And I will say it over and over again - I had so much fun!

Almost everything reminded me of the Philippines - the food, the merchandise that they were selling...everything Filipino! And oh, I found my sweet mango. I just knew that they're going to sell mangoes there. T'was one of the main reasons why we went there in the first place. We also had halo-halo for refreshment as it was a very hot day. Then we had chicken adobo, fried tilapia and steamed rice for lunch. When we got home, I immediately washed and sliced the mango. It was very sweet indeed - the sweetest i've ever tasted since I came here. My craving for sweet mangoes has now been satisfied.

Next year's Philippine Festival is already marked on my calendar. The dates, of course, are still unofficial but it will be a day that I will never miss.

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2:13 AM

Yup, it's already 2:13 am...and i'm not even sleepy yet! Somehow, I really do need to go to bed real soon 'coz we're supposed to go to Tampa tomorrow for the Philippine Festival. It's gonna be my first time going to the Philfest in Tampa. I was so excited about it until today. I was planning to take pictures but I broke my digital camera earlier today - it was purely an accident. I dropped it as I was getting out of the car. Gosh, how clumsy was I. I was really hoping that it was still ok. But it wasn't. Every picture I took after that were all blurred and distorted. I can't believe I broke it! Ugh! I am irked.

Yes, I love taking pictures, like most people I know. And now that I have no more camera to use ('coz I broke it) , it only means one thing - I can't take pictures, at least good ones! Granted I can use my phone but it won't be the same. And I just can't buy a new one 'coz it's not cheap - the one I like isn't. And now I just realized something that aggravates me even more. We have an upcoming business trip next week to Miami . I purposely asked J* to extend the trip for at least one more day so we can explore the city of Miami and I can take pictures at the same time.
Now what?
I won't even say it...

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