It seems as though we highlight the negative things in these “Today in History” events.. but I guess those are typically the most memorable and the most reported. So, in a meme to Cool Jesus, I give you.. This Day in History.
Today is Thursday, May 11, the 131st day of 2006. There are 234 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
Twenty-five years ago, on May 11, 1981, legendary reggae artist Bob Marley died in a Miami hospital at age 36.
On this date:
- In 1647, Peter Stuyvesant arrived in New Amsterdam to become governor.
- In 1858, Minnesota became the 32nd state of the Union.
- In 1904, surrealist artist Salvador Dali was born in Figueras, Spain.
- In 1910, Glacier National Park in Montana was established.
- In 1943, during World War II, U.S. forces landed on the Aleutian island of Attu, which was held by the Japanese; the Americans took the island 19 days later.
- In 1944, Allied forces launched a major offensive against German lines in Italy.
- In 1946, the first CARE packages arrived in Europe, at Le Havre, France.
- In 1949, Israel was admitted to the United Nations as the world body’s 59th member.
- In 1973, charges against Daniel Ellsberg for his role in the “Pentagon Papers” case were dismissed by Judge William M. Byrne, who cited government misconduct.
- In 1985, 55 people died when a flash fire swept a jam-packed soccer stadium in Bradford, England.
Ten years ago: An Atlanta-bound ValuJet DC-9 caught fire shortly after takeoff from Miami and crashed into the Florida Everglades, killing all 110 people on board.
Five years ago: Attorney General John Ashcroft delayed Timothy McVeigh’s execution from May 16 to June 11 because of FBI mishandling of documents. A jury in Pittsburgh sentenced Richard Baumhammers to death for killing five people in a racially motivated shooting rampage. Miss Puerto Rico Denise Quinones August was crowned Miss Universe. Douglas Adams, author of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” died in Santa Barbara, Calif., at age 49.
One year ago: Shouting “Death to America!” more than 1,000 demonstrators rioted and threw stones at a U.S. military convoy in Afghanistan, as protests spread over a Newsweek report that interrogators had desecrated Islam’s holy book at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay. (Newsweek later apologized for what it termed errors in the article.) Actor Macaulay Culkin took the stand at Michael Jackson’s trial to denounce the molestation allegations against the pop star as “absolutely ridiculous.”
Today’s Birthdays: Comedian Mort Sahl is 79. Rock singer Eric Burdon (The Animals; War) is 65. Actress Shohreh Aghdashloo is 54. Actress Frances Fisher is 54. Actor Boyd Gaines is 53. Country musician Mark Herndon (Alabama) is 51. Actress Martha Quinn is 47. Actress Natasha Richardson is 43. Country singer-musician Tim Raybon (The Raybon Brothers) is 43. Actor Coby Bell is 31. Weblog Author Brandon Seils is 28. Actor Austin O’Brien is 26. Actor Jonathan Jackson is 24.
Thought for Today: “No idea is so antiquated that it was not once modern. No idea is so modern that it will not someday be antiquated.” — Ellen Glasgow, American author (1874-1945).
