On this day in history...

[Sirius]

On This Day: August 7

Today is Thursday, August 7, 2008. This is the 220th day of the year, with 146 days remaining in 2008.

Holidays:

Feast day of St. Donatus of Arezzo, St. Victricius, Saints Agapitus, Sixtus II and Felicissimus, St. Dogmetius the Persian, St. Albert of Trapani, St. Claudia, and St. Cajetan or Gaetano.

Colombia: Battle of Boyaca.

Cote d'Ivoire: National Day.

Events:

1789 - The U.S. War Department was established by the U.S. Congress.

1782 - George Washington created the Order of the Purple Heart.

1888 - Theophilus Van Kannel received a patent for the revolving door.

1914 - Germany invaded France.

1942 - U.S. forces landed at Guadalcanal, marking the start of the first major allied offensive in the Pacific during World War II.

1959 - The U.S. launched Explorer 6, which sent back a picture of the Earth.

1960 - The Cuban Catholic Church condemned the rise of communism in Cuba. Fidel Castro then banned all religious TV and radio broadcasts.

1971 - The Bee Gees' first No. 1 hit

1974 - French stuntman Philippe Petit walked a tightrope strung between the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center.

1976 - Scientists in Pasadena, CA, announced that the Viking 1 spacecraft had found strong indications of possible life on Mars.

1981 - After 128 years of publication, "The Washington Star" ceased all operations.

1987 - The presidents of five Central American nations, met in Guatemala City, and signed an 11-point agreement designed to bring peace to their region.

1990 - U.S. President Bush ordered U.S. troops and warplanes to Saudi Arabia to guard against a possible invasion by Iraq.

1998 - The U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania were bombed killing 224 people and injuring over 5,500. Osama bin Laden was later indicted by a U.S. federal grand jury in connection with the attacks.

2002 - Saudi Arabia's Prince Saud told the Associated Press that the Saudi royal family could not give the U.S. access to bases in the kingdom for an attack on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. In the same statement, it was said that the kingdom did not plan to expel American forces from an air base used for flights to monitor Iraq.

2003 - In California, Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that he would run for the office of governor.

2003 - Stephen Geppi bought a 1963 G.I. Joe prototype for $200,000.

2004 - In Baghdad, Iraq, closed Al-Jazeera's office to close for 30 days for inciting violence.

2005 - Israeli finance minister Benjamin Netanyahu resigned in protest of Israel's upcoming Gaza pullout.

2005 - Trapped Russian sub rescued

Births:

1742 - Nathanael Greene, general American Revolutionary War.

1876 - Mata Hari (Gertrud Margarete Zelle), Dutch-born dancer, courtesan, double agent.

1903 - Louis Leakey, British archaeologist.

1942 - Garrison Keillor, American humorist, radio host.

Deaths:

1957 - Oliver Hardy, American film comedian who teamed up with Stan Laurel to form the comic team of Laurel and Hardy.

[Layyouss]

Not To forget this:07/08/2001

7 آب ذكرى ....للعبر
جولي أبوعرّاج 2005 8 آب
السابع من آب عام 2001 يوم ليس ككل الأيام في التاريخ اللبناني ...

يوم تزاحمت فيه الغربان في سماء الحرية لتنال حصتها من الذبيحة التي ستقدم من اجل استقلال لبنان ..

يوم تزايد عواء الذئاب حول لبنان لتشارك في الجريمة التي رسموها لقتل الحرية في وطننا ..

يوم ذبحت فيه الوطنية الحقة لتبقى أفاعي الاحتلال ...

7 آب, كسر جدار الاستسلام لتبدأ مسيرة الحرية والسيادة الاستقلال...

اليوم نستذكر بقلوب يقطرها الألم ما حصل في ذلك اليوم وما تلاه من اعتقالات وحملات بوليسية همجية ...

لكن لتبقى الذكرى عبرة ..

ذكرى تجسد صرخة حق تعلو وسط دياجير الظلام. ...

ذكرى تعكس كلمة حق مرسلة مدوية ممهورة بأدلة واضحة وعبارات صريحة عن وحشية الاحتلال آنذاك وأساليب أقزامه البدائية ..

ذكرى علمتنا علم اليقين أن الأوطان لا تبنى إلا بالتمرد على الطغيان والظلم والاستبداد ...

ذكرى نستلهم منها كفاح الشباب في مسيرة البناء, وفي وضع حجر الأساس للبنان الحلم ...

.ذكرى نستلهم منها الدروس والعبر في حب الوطن والوطنية, في رغبة شعب يريد أن يعيش بكرامة, في إرادة مواطنين أرادوا الحياة...

وها قد استجاب القدر للبنان وشعبه ... فعادت له سيادته وحريته واستقلاله..

لولا 7 آب لما كان 30 نيسان 2005..

لولا 7 آب لما كنا اليوم نعيش تحت سقف الحرية ,,

فليكن هذا التاريخ عبرة لعدم الرضوخ والاستسلام ... عبرة في آلية انتزاع حقوق شعب مشروعه الوحيد العيش بحرية وكرامة في وطنه

[Sirius]

2006 Aug 7, The death toll in an Israeli airstrike on a Shiite neighborhood in south Beirut reached 41. Across the country 77 Lebanese were killed along with three Israeli soldiers. The UN said an oil spill caused by Israeli raids on a Lebanese power plant could rival the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster that despoiled the Alaskan coast if not urgently addressed. the Jiyyeh plant, which was bombed by Israel on July 14 and July 15 a few days into its offensive against Hezbollah. 12,000 tons of leaking oil had already polluted more than 140 kilometers (87 miles) of the Lebanese coast and spread north into Syrian waters.

[Sirius]

On This Day: August 8

Today is Friday, August 8, 2008. This is the 221st day of the year, with 145 days remaining in 2008.

Holidays:

Feast day of St. Dominic, Saints Cyriacus, Largus, and Smaragdus, St. Hormidas the Martyr, and the Fourteen Holy Helpers.

Tanzania: Farmers' Day.

Events:

117 - Hadrian became emperor of Rome following the death of his father Trajan.

1844 - Brigham Young was chosen to head The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, succeeding Joseph Smith.

1876 - Thomas A. Edison received a patent for his mimeograph.

1899 - The first household refrigerating machine was patented.

1940 - The Battle of Britain, or "The Blitz," began when the German air force waged a sustained series of daytime air attacks on Britain.

1942 - During World War II, six German saboteurs who secretly entered the United States on a mission to attack its civil infrastructure were executed by the United States for spying; two others were imprisoned.

1945 - President Harry Truman signed the United Nations Charter.

1963 - Britain's "Great Train Robbery" took place as thieves made off with 2.6 million pounds.

1974 - President Richard M. Nixon announced he would resign following new damaging revelations in the Watergate scandal.

1994 - Israel and Jordan opened the first road link between the two countries.

Lebanon's related events:

1991 - Lebanese kidnappers freed British TV producer John McCarthy, held hostage for more than five years; however, a rival group abducted Frenchman Jerome Leyraud, threatening to kill him if any more hostages were released Leyraud was freed three days later.

1997 - Fighting broke out on the Israel-Lebanon border when guerrillas fired rockets into northern Israel and Israeli warplanes struck back. 13 people have died since Aug 4 when Israeli commandos set off bombs behind the front line killing 3 guerrilla field commanders and 2 fighters.

1999 - In southern Lebanon Israeli warplanes bombed suspected rebel positions after Hezbollah guerrillas struck an Israeli outpost at Blatt.

2001 - In Lebanon up to 250 people were arrested in protests that demanded Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon.

2003 - Hezbollah guerrillas shelled Israeli positions in a disputed Lebanese border region for the first time in eight months, drawing Israeli airstrikes and artillery fire.

2006 - Israeli forces battled Hezbollah guerrillas across southern Lebanon as diplomats at the United Nations struggled to keep a peace plan from collapsing over Arab demands for an immediate Israeli withdrawal. At least 19 Lebanese civilians were killed in Israeli airstrikes. Israel reported five soldiers killed.

Births:

1865 - Matthew A. Henson, American explorer who accompanied Robert Peary to North Pole.

1879 - Emiliano Zapata, Mexican revolutionary leader.

1896 - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, American journalist, short story writer, novelist.

1919 - Dino DeLaurentis, American film producer.

1923 - Esther Williams, American swimmer, actress.

[Nadnoud]

August 8, 1974

Lead History: Nixon resigns
In an evening televised address, President Richard M. Nixon announces his intention to become the first president in American history to resign. With impeachment proceedings underway against him for his involvement in the Watergate affair, Nixon was finally bowing to pressure from the public and Congress to leave the White House. "By taking this action," he said in a solemn address from the Oval Office, "I hope that I will have hastened the start of the process of healing which is so desperately needed in America."


August 8, 1956

Disaster: Fire traps 262 miners
A coal-mine fire kills 262 workers in Marcinelle, Belgium, on this day in 1956. This highly publicized disaster was the worst ever in a Belgian mine and led to many policy changes.

The disaster itself was typical of coal-mine tragedies. A fire broke out in the coalface underground and spread to all levels of the mine, trapping the miners. With the families of the miners waiting aboveground at the scene, it was not until August 23—more than two weeks later--that rescue workers could reach the deepest level of the mine. Reportedly they said, "tutti cadaveri" immediately, which is Italian for "all corpses."

The rescue workers were speaking Italian because the majority of workers at the Le Bois du Cazier mine were Italian. At the time, Belgium was experiencing a labor shortage and had made agreements with Italy to trade work visas for coal. The tragic fire resulted in 136 Italian workers losing their lives; the immigration agreement between the two countries was terminated immediately.

Belgium also called a conference on safety in coal mines in the aftermath of the disaster. In September 1956, the Mines Safety Commission was established. It was charged with monitoring safety procedures and developing new regulations. The country’s prompt response to the disaster led to much improved safety in Belgian and other European mines.

Years later, an Italian movie called Marcinelle was produced about the disaster. The mining complex at Marcinelle also became the Museum of Industry after the mine was permanently shut down. One part of the museum is a memorial to those workers who lost their lives.

[Nadnoud]

August 8 : Quote of the day

Old age is not so bad when you consider the alternatives. - Maurice Chevalier

August 8 : Song quote

I've long since retired and my son's moved away.
I called him up just the other day.
I said, "I'd like to see you if you don't mind."
He said, "I'd love to, dad, if I could find the time.
You see, my new job's a hassle, and the kid's got the flu,
But it's sure nice talking to you, dad.
It's been sure nice talking to you."
And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to me,
He'd grown up just like me.
My boy was just like me. - Harry Chapin, Cats in the Cradle

August 8 : Quote about Music

I have no pleasure in any man who despises music. It is no invention of ours: it is a gift of God. I place it next to theology. Satan hates music: he knows how it drives the evil spirit out of us. - Martin Luther

[Nadnoud]

August 8 : Music History

1857 - Composer Cecile Chaminade was born.

1923 - Benny Goodman, at the age of 14, took a job as a clarinet player on a Chicago-based excursion boat on Lake Michigan.

1960 - 25,000 copies of "Tell Laura I Love Her" were destroyed by Decca Records. It was said that the song was "too tasteless and vulgar for English sensibility."

1970 - CCR's "Looking Out My Back Door" was released.

1970 - Janis Joplin bought a headstone for the grave of blues singer Bessie Smith. Smith was one of Joplin's idols.

1975 - Hank Williams, Jr. fell 500 feet down a mountain in Montana. After, two years of surgeries he returned to music.

1982 - Mickey Thompson (Jefferson Starship) married Sara Kendrick.

1986 - David Crosby (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) was released from prison after serving a sentence for drug and weapons possession.

1989 - Danny Elfman's musical score "Batman: Motion Picture Score" was released.

1992 - James Hetfield (Metallica) was injured by a stage explosion at a concert in Montreal. A riot occurred at the same show when Axl Rose cut Guns 'N' Roses' set short because of a sore throat.

2000 - In Portugal, Oasis walked off stage for the second time in two weeks when drummer Alan White was hit by a rock.

2000 - Attorney generals in 28 states filed a lawsuit that alleged that record companies forced discount stores to raise CD prices in 1995.

2006 - Travis Barker (Blink-182) filed for a divorce from ex-beauty queen Shanna Moakler.

[Sirius]

On This Day: August 9

Today is Saturday, August 9, 2008. This is the 222nd day of the year, with 144 days remaining in 2008.

Fact of the Day: Alaska

"Alaska is the largest of the United States, but among the least populated. The 49th state to join the Union (January 3, 1959), Alaska contains Point Barrow, the northernmost point of the U.S. and Mount McKinley, the highest mountain in North America. About one-third of the state lies within the Arctic Circle and its westernmost point is only 50 miles (80 km) from Russia. Most of the inhabitants live in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and the capital, Juneau. Alaska is known for its oil industry, discovered in 1969, and for gold, natural gas, minerals, fishing, and lumber. There are many active volcanoes and the state has had several bad earthquakes. Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867 for about $7 million or two cents an acre. Its name comes from the Aleut word ""alakshak"", meaning peninsula."

Holidays:

Feast day of St. Oswald of Northumbria, Saints Nathy and Felim, St. Romanus, and St. Emygius.

Singapore: Independence Day.

South Africa: National Women's Day.

Events:

378 - A large Roman army under Valens, Roman emperor of the East, was defeated by the Visigoths at the Battle of Adrianople in present-day Turkey.

1678 - American Indians sold the Bronx to Jonas Bronck for 400 beads.

1790 - The Columbia returned to Boston Harbor after a three-year voyage. It was the first ship to carry the American flag around the world.

1831 - The first steam locomotive began its first trip between Schenectady and Albany, NY.

1842 - The U.S. and Canada signed the Webster-Ashburton Treaty, which solved a border dispute.

1848 - Martin Van Buren was nominated for president by the Free-Soil Party in Buffalo, NY.

1854 - "Walden" was published by Henry David Thoreau.

1859 - The escalator was patented by Nathan Ames.

1893 - "Gut Holz" was published. It was America's first bowling magazine.

1902 - After the death of Queen Victoria, Edward VII was crowned king of England.

1910 - A.J. Fisher received a patent for the electric washing machine.

1930 - Betty Boop had her beginning in "Dizzy Dishes" created by Max Fleischer.

1936 - Jesse Owens won his fourth gold medal at the Berlin Olympics. He was the first American to win four medals in one Olympics.

1942 - Mohandas K. Gandhi was arrested Britain. He was not released until 1944.

1942 - CBS radio debuted "Our Secret Weapon."

1944 - The Forest Service and Wartime Advertising Council created "Smokey the Bear."

1945 - The U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki. The bombing came three days after the bombing of Hiroshima. About 74,000 people were killed. Japan surrendered August 14.

1945 - The first network television broadcast occurred in Washington, DC. The program announced the bombing of Nagasaki, Japan.

1956 - The first statewide, state-supported educational television network went on the air in Alabama.

1958 - Jordan uncovered a large pro-Nasser spy ring.

1965 - Singapore proclaimed its independence from the Malaysian Federation.

1969 - Sharon Tate and four other people were found murdered at Tate's residence in Los Angeles, CA. Charles Manson and several members of his cult were later convicted of the crime.

1973 - The U.S. Senate committee investigating the Watergate affair filed suit against President Richard Nixon.

1974 - U.S. President Richard Nixon formally resigned. Gerald R. Ford took his place, and became the 38th president of the U.S.

1984 - Daley Thompson, of Britain, won is second successive Olympic decathlon.

1985 - Arthur J. Walker, a retired Navy officer, was found guilty of seven counts of spying for the Soviet Union.

1988 - Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers was traded. The trade was at Gretzky's request. He was sent to the Los Angeles Kings.

1989 - 112 people were killed when a train fell into the San Rafael River in Mexico. The incident was caused by a bridge that collapsed.

1990 - The U.N. declared the Iraqi annexation of Kuwait void.

1996 - Boris Yeltsin was sworn in as president of Russia for the second time.

1999 - Russian President Boris Yeltsin fired Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin and his entire cabinet for the fourth time in 17 months.

2000 - Former Dallas Cowboy Michael Irvin was arrested on a Class B misdemeanor of possession of less than 2 ounces of marijuana.

2001 - U.S. President Bush announced he would support federal funding for limited medical research on embryonic stem cells.

2001 - In Jerusalem, a Palestinian suicide bomber detonated an explosive inside a pizzeria. The lunchtime bombing killed 15 and wounded about 90 others.

2003 - The Israeli army killed two of Hamas' bombmakers in a raid. Hamas claimed responsibility for a bomb at an Israeli bus stop on August 12 in response.

2004 - Donald Duck received the 2,257th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

2004 - Trump Hotel and Casion Resorts announced plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Lebanon's related events:

2006 - Israel's Security Cabinet approved a wider ground offensive in south Lebanon that was expected to take 30 days as part of a new push to badly damage Hezbollah. Al-Jazeera reported that 11 Israeli soldiers were killed in heavy fighting with Hezbollah guerrillas near the border in south Lebanon. Israeli's military struck Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp, killing at least one person and wounding three others.

Births:

1631 - John Dryden, first official Poet Laureate of Great Britain.

1633 - Izaak Walton, English biographer and author.

1896 - Jean Piaget, Swiss psychologist.

Deaths:

1962 - Hermann Hesse, Nobel Prize-winning German author.

1995 - Jerry Garcia - guitarist and lead singer of the psychedelic rock band The Grateful Dead.

[Nadnoud]

August 9 : Quote of the day

You can get more with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone
- Al Capone

August 9 : Song quote

I know your eyes in the morning sun
I feel you touch me in the pouring rain
and the moment that you wander far from me
I wanna feel you in my arms again
- Bee Gees, How Deep Is Your Love

August 9 : Quote about Music

"... the biggest difference between me and other guitar players is that I don't use effects to color my guitar parts, I create guitar parts using effects ... they're a crucial part of what I do ... I don't consider effects a crutch ... they're part of the art..."
- The Edge (U2)

[Nadnoud]

August 9, 1957

Entertainment: Melanie Griffith is born
Actress Melanie Griffith is born this day to actress Tippi Hedren and real estate developer Peter Griffith.

Griffith grew up near Los Angeles and at age 14 fell in love with 19-year-old Don Johnson, who was co-starring with her mother in The Harrad Experiment. She soon moved in with him and launched her own acting career, beginning with Night Moves (1975). She and Johnson married the following year but divorced soon after. Griffith gave impressive performances in Brian De Palma's Body Double (1984), playing a porn actress, and Something Wild (1986), directed by Jonathan Demme.

Her breakthrough came in 1988 with Working Girl, in which the baby-voiced actress played a savvy secretary who outmaneuvers her villainous boss (Sigourney Weaver) while falling in love with her boss's business rival (Harrison Ford). The movie was a hit and launched Griffith to stardom.

Along the way, though, Griffith had become dependent on drugs and alcohol. After Working Girl, she checked into a rehab clinic. When she came out, she and Johnson decided to give marriage a second chance but divorced again later. While continuing to appear in films, she helped launch an Internet company in 2000. She has three children, the youngest by her current husband, actor Antonio Banderas.

August 9, 1963

Entertainment: Whitney Houston is born
On this day in 1963, singer and actress Whitney Houston is born in Newark, New Jersey. The cousin of singer Dionne Warwick and the daughter of a gospel singer, Houston grew up singing in a church choir and landed professional management by the time she turned 15. She made numerous live appearances and provided guest vocals for several recordings. She also developed a modeling and acting career, appearing on magazine covers and sitcoms, including Silver Spoons. In 1985, she released her first album, Whitney Houston, which yielded several hit singles, including "You Give Good Love" and "Saving All My Love for You." Her next album, Whitney (1987), scored seven consecutive No. 1 singles. In the early '90s, she developed her acting career with starring roles in The Bodyguard (1992) and Waiting to Exhale (1995).

August 9, 1995

Entertainment: Jerry Garcia dies
Jerry Garcia, lead singer of the Grateful Dead, dies just days after his 53rd birthday. Garcia helped form the psychedelic rock group in 1965 and toured with it for more than 30 years, developing a tremendously loyal fan following. When one 19-year-old fan using LSD died in 1989, the band began broadcasting announcements asking fans to act responsibly. Garcia, who struggled with heroin addiction, was arrested for drug possession in 1985. He died of a heart attack while at a drug rehab center in California.