Today in History - April 15

Today is Tuesday, April 15, the 106th day of 2008. There are 260 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:
In the early hours of April 15, 1912, the British luxury liner RMS Titanic sank in the North Atlantic off Newfoundland, less than three hours after striking an iceberg. Some 1,500 people died.

On this date:
In 1817, the first American school for the deaf opened in Hartford, Conn.

In 1850, the city of San Francisco was incorporated.

In 1861, three days after the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, S.C., President Lincoln declared a state of insurrection and called out Union troops.

In 1865, President Lincoln died, several hours after being shot at Ford's Theater in Washington by John Wilkes Booth. Andrew Johnson became the nation's 17th president.

In 1945, during World War II, British and Canadian troops liberated the Nazi concentration camp Bergen-Belsen.

In 1947, Jackie Robinson, baseball's first black major league player, made his official debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers on opening day. (The Dodgers defeated the Boston Braves, 5-3.)

In 1959, Cuban leader Fidel Castro arrived in Washington to begin a goodwill tour of the United States.

In 1986, the United States launched an air raid against Libya in response to the bombing of a discotheque in Berlin on April 5; Libya said 37 people, mostly civilians, were killed.

In 1989, 96 people died in a crush of soccer fans at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England.

In 1990, actress Greta Garbo died in New York at age 84.

Ten years ago: Pol Pot, the notorious leader of the Khmer Rouge, died at age 73, evading prosecution for the deaths of 2 million Cambodians.

Five years ago: Looters and arsonists ransacked Iraq's National Library, as well as Iraq's principal Islamic library. In the Netherlands, Volkert van der Graaf, the killer of politician Pim Fortuyn, was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Umpire Laz Diaz was attacked by a fan during a game between the Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox; the fan, Eric Dybas, was later sentenced to six months in jail and 30 months probation.

One year ago: Riot police beat and detained dozens of anti-Kremlin demonstrators in St. Petersburg, Russia, on a second day of protests against the government of President Vladimir Putin. Brant Parker, who illustrated "The Wizard of Id" comic strip, died in Lynchburg, Va., at age 86, just days after the passing of the strip's writer, Johnny Hart.

Thought for Today: "Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." _ Bernard Shaw, Irish-born playwright (1856-1950).

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Telemachus

Telemachus, a fourth-century monk who lived in a monastery, felt God calling him to Rome. He couldn't figure out why God would want him in Rome, but he felt the pressure to go. Putting his possessions in a little satchel, he threw the bag over his shoulder and started out over the dusty, westward roads to Rome.

When he got to Rome, people were running about the city in great confusion. He had arrived on a day when the gladiators were going to fight both other gladiators and animals in the amphitheater. Everyone was heading to the amphitheater to watch the entertainment.
Telemachus thought this must be why God had called him to Rome. He walked into the amphitheater. He sat down among 80,000 people who cheered as the gladiators came out proclaiming, "'Hail Caesar! We die to the glory of Caesar."

The little monk thought to himself, Here we are, four centuries after Christ, in a civilized nation, and people are killing one another for the entertainment of the crowd. This isn't Christian!
Telemachus got up out of his seat, ran down the steps, climbed over the wall, walked out to the center of the amphitheater, and stood between two large gladiators. Putting his hands up, he meekly cried out, "In the name of Christ, stop!" The crowd laughed and jeered. One of the gladiators slapped Telemachus in the stomach with his sword and sent him spinning off into the dust.

Telemachus got up and again stood between the two huge gladiators. He repeated, "In the name of Christ, stop." This time the crowd chanted "Run him through!" One of the gladiators took his sword and ran it through Telemachus's stomach. He fell into the dust and the sand turned red as blood ran out of him. One last time, Telemachus weakly cried out, "'In the name of Christ, stop." He died on the amphitheater floor.

The crowd grew silent, and within minutes they emptied out of the amphitheater. History records that, thanks to Telemachus, this was the last gladiatorial contest in the history of the Roman Empire.

Telemachus changed the course of history. So can you. God loves to use one person to make a big difference in the world--and God wants to use you.

The best example we have is when God sent His son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins. One man made the greatest difference in the history of the world. God still works through individuals to accomplish His will. Will you be the one He uses next?


Source: Hot Illustrations For Youth TalksWayne Rice, Zonderzan, pp. 195-197.

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Today in History - April 14

Today is Monday, April 14, the 105th day of 2008. There are 261 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On April 14, 1865, President Lincoln was shot and mortally wounded by John Wilkes Booth while attending the comedy "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theater in Washington. (Lincoln died the following morning.)

On this date:

In 1775, the first American society for the abolition of slavery was formed in Philadelphia.

In 1828, the first edition of Noah Webster's "American Dictionary of the English Language" was published.

In 1890, the First International Conference of American States met in Washington, where delegates agreed to form the International Union of American Republics, a forerunner of the Organization of American States.

In 1902, James Cash Penney opened his first store, called The Golden Rule, in Kemmerer, Wyo.

In 1912, the British liner RMS Titanic collided with an iceberg in the North Atlantic and began sinking.

In 1931, King Alfonso XIII of Spain went into exile, and the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed.

In 1939, the John Steinbeck novel "The Grapes of Wrath" was first published.

In 1968, the gay-themed play "The Boys in the Band," by Matt Crowley, opened in New York.

In 1981, the first test flight of America's first operational space shuttle, the Columbia, ended successfully with a landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

In 1986, Americans got first word of a U.S. air raid on Libya. (Because of the time difference, it was the early morning of April 15 when the attack occurred.)

Ten years ago: Despite international pleas for leniency, the state of Virginia executed Angel Francisco Breard, a Paraguayan convicted of murder. President Clinton moderated a town meeting on race with an all-star panel of sports figures. The Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald won the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for public service; author Philip Roth received the Pulitzer fiction award, his first, for "American Pastoral."

Five years ago: Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit fell with unexpectedly light resistance, the last Iraqi city to succumb to overpowering U.S.-led ground and air forces. U.S. commandos in Baghdad captured Abul Abbas, leader of the Palestinian group that killed an American on the hijacked cruise liner Achille Lauro in 1985. (Abbas died in March 2004 while in U.S. custody.) Four Islamic militants were convicted in a deadly bombing outside the U.S. Consulate in Pakistan. Assailants armed with an AK-47 assault rifle and a handgun opened fire at John McDonogh High School in New Orleans, killing one youth and wounding three others.

One year ago: Riot police beat and detained protesters as thousands defied an official ban and attempted to stage a rally in Moscow against Russian President Vladimir Putin's government. A car bomb exploded near one of Shiite Islam's holiest shrines in Karbala, Iraq, killing 47 people. Don Ho, who'd entertained tourists to Waikiki for decades, died in Honolulu, Hawaii, at age 76.

Thought for Today: "If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, 10 angels swearing I was right would make no difference." _ Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865).

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BEING B-U-S-Y (The Devil's Convention)

Satan called a worldwide convention. In his opening address to his evil angels, he said "We can't keep the Christians from going to church. We can't keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth. We can't even keep them from conservative values.

But we can do something else. We can keep them from forming an intimate, abiding relationship in Christ. If they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken.

So let them go to church, let them have their conservative lifestyles, but steal their time so they can't gain that experience in Jesus Christ. This is what I want you to do, angels. Distract them from gaining hold of their Savior and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!"

"How shall we do this?" shouted his angels.

"Keep them busy in the nonessentials of life and invent unnumbered schemes to occupy their minds," he answered.

"Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, then borrow, borrow, borrow. Convince the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work 6 or 7 days a week, 10 to 12 hours a day, so they can afford their lifestyles. Keep them from spending time with their children. As their family fragments, soon their homes will offer no escape from the pressures of work."

"Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that small still voice. Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive, to keep the TV, VCR, DVDs, CDs and their PCs going constantly in their homes. And see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-biblical, contradictory music constantly. This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ."

"Fill their coffee-tables with magazines and newspapers. Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day. Invade their driving moments with billboards. Flood their mailboxes with junk-mail, sweepstakes, mail-order catalogues and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services and false hopes."

"Even in their recreation let them be excessive. Have them return from the recreation exhausted, disquieted and unprepared for the coming week. Don't let them go out to nature to reflect on God's wonders. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, concerts and movies instead."

"And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences and unsettled emotions."

"Let them be involved in soul-winning, but crowd their lives with so many causes that they have no time to seek power from Christ. Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family for the good of the cause."

It was quite a convention in the end. The evil angels went to their assignments causing Christians everywhere to get busy, busy, busy and rush here and there.

Has the devil been successful in his scheme?
You be the judge.

Does BUSY means:

B - being

U - under

S - satan's

Y - yoke

Satan's goal is to take our minds away from Christ and steer us towards the cares of the world. GOD WANTS US TO ENJOY LIFE, BUT HE MUST BE FIRST. IF WE ARE TOO BUSY FOR GOD, THEN WE ARE TOO BUSY!


Note: I first read the above article when it was posted at the Bulletin Board of the church I used to go to in the Philippines.

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Killer Bees

A man died after being stung over a 100 times by Africanized honey bees.
Medical officials said the man had a fatal reaction to the bee stings, which are not always fatal.
If tests are confirmed, it would be the first death in Florida caused by the aggressive bees. Before this incident, there have been at least 17 deaths caused by the bees across the United States since 1990.
Experts said the bees have been in Florida since 2002, and there have been a few reports about swarms of the bees attacking people.

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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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