Today In History.

Today is Thursday, April-23-2009.

What was happened on April-23 in

1909:The Italian Isotta Fraschini engineers the first fully functional front-wheel-brake for cars. His company built racing-cars and luxury cars such as Tipo 8.

1929: The theater director Max Reinhardt opened in Vienna (Austria) the Max-Reinhardt-Seminar with a four years training.

1990: A popular vote (76% majority) entailed the re-naming of Karl-Marx-Stadt (Karl-Marx-City) to Chemnitz.

For further informations use the links.

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Ingo

My source appears to have dried up!

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Today is Saturday, April 25, the 115th day of 2009. There are 250 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On April 25, 1945, during World War II, U.S. and Soviet forces linked up on the Elbe River, a meeting that dramatized the collapse of Nazi Germany's defenses.

On this date:

In 1507, German cartographer Martin Waldseemueller named a huge land mass in the Western Hemisphere ``America,'' in honor of Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci.

In 1792, highwayman Nicolas Jacques Pelletier became the first person under French law to be executed by the guillotine.

In 1859, ground was broken for the Suez Canal.

In 1898, the United States formally declared war on Spain.

In 1901, New York Gov. Benjamin Barker Odell Junior signed an automobile registration bill which imposed a 15 mph speed limit on highways.

In 1915, during World War I, Allied soldiers invaded the Gallipoli Peninsula in an unsuccessful attempt to take the Ottoman Empire out of the war.

In 1945, delegates from some 50 countries met in San Francisco to organize the United Nations.

In 1959, the St. Lawrence Seaway opened to shipping.

In 1983, Soviet leader Yuri V. Andropov invited Samantha Smith to visit his country after receiving a letter in which the Manchester, Maine, schoolgirl expressed fears about nuclear war.

In 1990, Violeta Barrios de Chamorro was inaugurated as president of Nicaragua, ending 11 years of leftist Sandinista rule.

Ten years ago: On the third and final day of their Washington summit, NATO leaders promised military protection and economic aid to Yugoslavia's neighbors for standing with the West against Slobodan Milosevic. More than 70,000 mourners gathered in Littleton, Colo., to remember the victims of the Columbine High School massacre. Lord Killanin, former president of the International Olympic Committee, died in Dublin at age 84.

Five years ago: Hundreds of thousands of abortion-rights supporters marched in Washington, D.C. to protest Bush administration policies.

One year ago: Three New York police detectives were acquitted in the 50-shot killing of Sean Bell, an unarmed groom-to-be, on his wedding day. Triathlete David Martin, 66, was killed by a great white shark in the waters off San Diego County.

Today's Birthdays: Movie director-writer Paul Mazursky is 79. Songwriter Jerry Leiber is 76. Actor Al Pacino is 69. Rock musician Stu Cook (Creedence Clearwater Revival) is 64. Singer Bjorn Ulvaeus (ABBA) is 64. Actress Talia Shire is 63. Actor Jeffrey DeMunn is 62. Rock musician Michael Brown (The Left Banke) is 60. Rock musician Steve Ferrone (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers) is 59. Country singer-songwriter Rob Crosby is 55. Actor Hank Azaria is 45. Rock singer Andy Bell (Erasure) is 45. Rock musician Eric Avery (Jane's Addiction) is 44. Country musician Rory Feek (Joey + Rory) is 44. TV personality Jane Clayson is 42. Actress Renee Zellweger is 40. Actress Gina Torres is 40. Actor Jason Lee is 39. Actor Jason Wiles is 39. Actress Emily Bergl is 34. Actress Marguerite Moreau is 32. Singer Jacob Underwood is 29. Actress Sara Paxton is 21

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One I have yet:

1974: In Portugal started the "carnations revolution" which stopped a 44 years dictatorship in this land.

In every year happens in Torgau (the town near the place where linked the forces) a great festivity in memorian this ongoing. Lots of people every year gather near the Torgau Elbe bridge to commemorate and celebrate by the slogan "down by the riverside". Over the years more and more people come to Torgau to experience this day there. A couple of years I lived near Torgau and of course I was very often there...
By the way, did you know that one of the involved American soldiers (Joe Polowsky) is buried in Torgau?
On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Elbe-Day somebody made a wonderful videoclip. Watch here.

Best regards

Ingo

Today is Sunday, April 26, the 116th day of 2009. There are 249 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On April 26, 1865, John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, was surrounded by federal troops near Bowling Green, Va., and killed.

On this date:

In 1607, English colonists went ashore at present-day Cape Henry, Va., on an expedition to establish the first permanent English settlement in the Western Hemisphere.

In 1909, Abdul Hamid II was deposed as sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

In 1937, planes from Nazi Germany raided the Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.

In 1945, Marshal Henri Philippe Petain, the head of France's Vichy government during World War II, was arrested.

In 1964, the African nations of Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged to form Tanzania.

In 1968, the United States exploded beneath the Nevada desert a 1.3 megaton nuclear device called ``Boxcar.''

In 1970, the Stephen Sondheim musical ``Company'' opened at the Alvin Theatre in New York.

In 1986, the world's worst nuclear accident occurred at the Chernobyl plant in the Soviet Union.

In 1989, actress-comedian Lucille Ball died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles at age 77.

In 2000, Vermont Gov. Howard Dean signed the nation's first bill allowing same-sex couples to form civil unions.

Ten years ago: The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Cornelio Sommaruga, met with three U.S. soldiers held captive by Yugoslavia. BBC anchorwoman Jill Dando, host of a crime-fighting program, was fatally shot on the steps of her London home. (Barry George was convicted in July 2001 of killing Dando; however, he was acquitted in a retrial.)

Five years ago: Following conservative criticism of his anti-war activities during the Vietnam era, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry accused President George W. Bush of failing to prove whether he'd fulfilled his commitment to the National Guard during the same period. The government unveiled its new, colorized $50 bill. Author Hubert Selby Jr. died in Los Angeles at age 75.

One year ago: Police in Austria arrested Josef Fritzl, freeing his daughter Elisabeth and her six children, whom he had fathered while holding her captive in a cellar for 24 years. (Fritzl was later sentenced to life in a psychiatric ward.) Yossi Harel, the ship commander whose attempt to bring Holocaust survivors to Palestine aboard the Exodus 1947 built support for Israel's founding, died in Tel Aviv at age 90. Avant-garde composer Henry Brant died in Santa Barbara, Calif., at age 94.

Today's Birthdays: Actress-comedian Carol Burnett is 76. R&B singer Maurice Williams is 71. Songwriter-musician Duane Eddy is 71. Singer Bobby Rydell is 67. Rock musician Gary Wright is 66. Actor Giancarlo Esposito is 51. Rock musician Roger Taylor (Duran Duran) is 49. Actress Joan Chen is 48. Rock musician Chris Mars is 48. Actor-singer Michael Damian is 47. Actor Jet Li is 46. Rock musician Jimmy Stafford (Train) is 45. Actor-comedian Kevin James is 44. Actress Marianne Jean-Baptiste is 42. Country musician Joe Caverlee (Yankee Grey) is 41. Rapper T-Boz (TLC) is 39. Country musician Jay DeMarcus (Rascal Flats) is 38. Country musician Michael Jeffers (Pinmonkey) is 37. Rock musician Jose Pasillas (Incubus) is 33. Actor Jason Earles (``Hannah Montana'') is 32. Actor Tom Welling is 32. Actress Jordana Brewster is 29. Actress Marnette Patterson is 29. Actor Channing Tatum is 29. Actor Aaron Weeks is 23.

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Today is Monday, April 27, the 117th day of 2009. There are 248 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

Five hundred years ago, on April 27, 1509, Pope Julius II placed the Republic of Venice under an interdict following its refusal to give up lands claimed by the Papal States. (The pope lifted the sanction the following year.)

On this date:

In 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan was killed by natives in the Philippines.

In 1570, Pope Pius V excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I.

In 1805, during the First Barbary War, an U.S.-led force of Marines and mercenaries captured the city of Derna, on the shores of Tripoli, Libya.

In 1822, the 18th president of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant, was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio.

In 1865, the steamer Sultana exploded on the Mississippi River near Memphis, Tenn., killing more than 1,400 people, mostly freed Union prisoners of war.

In 1932, American poet Hart Crane, 32, drowned after jumping from a steamer into the Gulf of Mexico while en route to New York.

In 1965, broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow died in Pawling, N.Y., two days after turning 57.

In 1967, Expo '67 was officially opened in Montreal by Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson.

In 1973, acting FBI Director L. Patrick Gray resigned after it was revealed that he had handed over bureau files on the Watergate burglary to the Nixon White House.

In 1978, convicted Watergate defendant John D. Ehrlichman was released from an Arizona prison after serving 18 months. Fifty-one construction workers plunged to their deaths when a scaffold inside a cooling tower at the Pleasants Power Station site in West Virginia fell 168 feet to the ground.

Ten years ago: A week after the Columbine High School massacre, President Bill Clinton called for new gun control measures, saying, ``People's lives are at stake here.'' Jazz trumpeter Al Hirt died in New Orleans at 76.

Five years ago: Iraqi police moved into the streets of the besieged city of Fallujah following hours of pounding by U.S. warplanes and artillery on Sunni insurgents. A ruptured pipeline began spilling 123,774 gallons of diesel fuel into Suisun Bay, east of San Francisco. Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania beat back a tough primary threat, barely defeating conservative Congressman Pat Toomey.

One year ago: Afghan President Hamid Karzai escaped an attempt on his life during a ceremony in Kabul marking Afghanistan's victory over Soviet occupation in the 1980s; three other people were killed in the shooting. Ashley Force, 25, became the first woman to win a national Funny Car race. She beat her father, drag-racing icon John Force, in the final round of the 28th annual Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals in Commerce, Ga.

Today's Birthdays: Actor Jack Klugman is 87. Actress Anouk Aimee is 77. Announcer Casey Kasem is 77. Actress Judy Carne is 70. R&B singer Cuba Gooding Sr. is 65. Singer Ann Peebles is 62. Rock singer Kate Pierson (The B-52's) is 61. R&B singer Herbie Murrell (The Stylistics) is 60. Actor Douglas Sheehan is 60. Rock musician Ace Frehley is 58. Pop singer Sheena Easton is 50. Actor James Le Gros is 47. Rock musician Rob Squires (Big Head Todd and the Monsters) is 44. Singer Mica Paris is 40. Actress Sally Hawkins is 33. Rock singer-musician Travis Meeks (Days of the New) is 30. Actress Ari Graynor is 26. Rock singer-musician Patrick Stump (Fall Out Boy) is 25. Actor William Moseley is 22.

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Today is Tuesday, April 28, the 118th day of 2009. There are 247 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On April 28, 1789, there was a mutiny on HMS Bounty as the crew of the British ship set Capt. William Bligh and 18 sailors adrift in a launch in the South Pacific. (Bligh and most of the men with him managed to reach Timor in 47 days.)

On this date:

In 1758, the fifth president of the United States, James Monroe, was born in Westmoreland County, Va.

In 1788, Maryland became the seventh state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

In 1918, Gavrilo Princip, the assassin of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and the archduke's wife, Sophie, died in prison of tuberculosis.

In 1945, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci, were executed by Italian partisans as they attempted to flee the country.

In 1952, war with Japan officially ended as a treaty signed in San Francisco the year before took effect.

In 1958, the United States conducted the first of 35 nuclear test explosions in the Pacific Proving Ground as part of Operation Hardtack I. Vice President Richard Nixon and his wife, Pat, began a goodwill tour of Latin America that was marred by hostile mobs in Lima, Peru, and Caracas, Venezuela.

In 1967, heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali refused to be inducted into the Army, the same day Gen. William C. Westmoreland told Congress the U.S. ``would prevail in Vietnam.''

In 1969, French President Charles de Gaulle resigned. (He was succeeded by Georges Pompidou.)

In 1988, a flight attendant was killed and more than 60 people injured when part of the roof of an Aloha Airlines Boeing 737 tore off during a flight from Hilo to Honolulu.

In 1996, a man armed with a semiautomatic rifle opened fire on tourists on the Australian island of Tasmania, killing 35 people; Martin Bryant was captured by police after a 12-hour standoff at a guest cottage. (Bryant is serving a life sentence.)

Ten years ago: In a sharp repudiation of President Bill Clinton's policies, the House rejected, on a tie vote of 213-213, a measure expressing support for NATO's five-week-old air campaign against Yugoslavia; the House also voted 249-180 to limit the president's authority to use ground forces in Yugoslavia. Actor Rory Calhoun died in Burbank, Calif., at 76.

Five years ago: First photos of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal were shown on CBS' ``60 Minutes II.'' A Spanish judge indicted Amer Azizi, a Moroccan fugitive, on charges of helping to plan the Sept. 11th hijackings. The U.N. Security Council put terrorists, black marketeers and crooked scientists on notice that they faced punishment for trafficking in weapons of mass destruction. Cable giant Comcast Corp. dropped its two-month-old unsolicited bid for The Walt Disney Co.

One year ago: The first tax rebates were direct-deposited into bank accounts from a $168 billion stimulus package. In a defiant appearance at the National Press Club in Washington, Democrat Barack Obama's longtime pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, said criticism surrounding his fiery sermons was an attack on black churches, and he rejected those who'd labeled him unpatriotic.

Today's Birthdays: Author Harper Lee is 83. Former Secretary of State James A. Baker III is 79. Actress-singer Ann-Margret is 68. Actress Marcia Strassman is 61. Actor Paul Guilfoyle (``CSI'') is 60. ``Tonight Show'' host Jay Leno is 59. Rock musician Chuck Leavell is 57. Actress Mary McDonnell is 56. Rock singer-musician Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth) is 56. Rapper Too Short is 43. Actress Simbi Khali is 38. Actress Bridget Moynahan is 38. Actor Chris Young is 38. Rapper Big Gipp is 36. Actor Jorge Garcia is 36. Actress Elisabeth Rohm is 36. Actress Penelope Cruz is 35. Football player Jamal Williams is 33. Actor Nate Richert is 31. Actress Jessica Alba is 28. Actress Aleisha Allen is 18.

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There are two more...

April-28 in

1939: Germany cancelled the non-aggression-pact with Poland and the German-British naval pact.

1994: The Protestant-Luthern pastor Mrs. Gertraud Knoll became the first female superintendent of the Protestant-Lutheran church in Austria.

Best regards

Ingo

Today is Wednesday, April 29, the 119th day of 2009. There are 246 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On April 29, 1945, during World War II, American soldiers liberated the Dachau concentration camp; the same day, Adolf Hitler married Eva Braun and designated Adm. Karl Doenitz president.
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On this date:

In 1429, Joan of Arc entered the besieged city of Orleans to lead a French victory over the English.

In 1798, Joseph Haydn's oratorio ``The Creation'' was rehearsed in Vienna, Austria, before an invited audience.

In 1861, Maryland's House of Delegates voted against seceding from the Union.

In 1901, Japanese Emperor Hirohito was born in Tokyo.

In 1916, the Easter Rising in Dublin collapsed as Irish nationalists surrendered to British authorities.

In 1946, 28 former Japanese officials went on trial in Tokyo as war criminals; seven ended up being sentenced to death.

In 1968, the counterculture musical ``Hair'' opened on Broadway following limited engagements off-Broadway.

In 1974, President Richard M. Nixon announced he was releasing edited transcripts of some secretly made White House tape recordings related to Watergate.

In 1983, Harold Washington was sworn in as the first black mayor of Chicago.

In 1992, deadly rioting erupted in Los Angeles after a jury in Simi Valley, Calif., acquitted four Los Angeles police officers of almost all state charges in the videotaped beating of Rodney King.

Ten years ago: Yugoslavia filed World Court cases against 10 alliance members, including the United States, claiming their bombing campaign breached international law. (The World Court ended up rejecting Yugoslavia's request for an immediate cease-fire.) The Rev. Jesse Jackson arrived in Belgrade on a mission to win freedom for three American POWs held by Yugoslavia.

Five years ago: President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney met behind closed doors with the Sept. 11th commission. A national monument to the 16 million U.S. men and women who'd served during World War II opened to the public in Washington, D.C. Internet search engine leader Google Inc. filed its long-awaited IPO plans.

One year ago: Democrat Barack Obama angrily denounced his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, for what he termed ``divisive and destructive'' remarks on race. Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann, the discoverer of LSD, died in Burg im Leimental, Switzerland, at 102.

Today's Birthdays: Actress Celeste Holm is 92. R&B singer Carl Gardner (The Coasters) is 81. Poet Rod McKuen is 76. Actor Keith Baxter is 76. Bluesman Otis Rush is 75. Conductor Zubin Mehta is 73. Pop singer Bob Miranda (The Happenings) is 67. Country singer Duane Allen (The Oak Ridge Boys) is 66. Singer Tommy James is 62. Movie director Phillip Noyce is 59. Country musician Wayne Secrest (Confederate Railroad) is 59. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is 55. Actor Leslie Jordan is 54. Actress Kate Mulgrew is 54. Actor Daniel Day-Lewis is 52. Actress Michelle Pfeiffer is 51. Actress Eve Plumb is 51. Rock musician Phil King is 49. Country singer Stephanie Bentley is 46. Singer Carnie Wilson (Wilson Phillips) is 41. Actress Uma Thurman is 39. Tennis player Andre Agassi is 39. Rapper Master P is 39. Country singer James Bonamy is 37. Gospel/R&B singer Erica Campbell (Mary Mary) is 37. Rock musician Mike Hogan (The Cranberries) is 36. Actor Tyler Labine is 31. Chicago Bears defensive tackle Tommie Harris is 26. Actor Zane Carney is 24.

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One I have yet:

April-29 in

1991: The Bangladesh-cyclone impact with a windspeed of 260km/h (161mph) the South-East of Bangladesh. The cyclone breed a 6 m (19 ft) high flood wave - 138.000 people die, 10 million people become homeless.

Best regards

Ingo

Today is Thursday, April 30, the 120th day of 2009. There are 245 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

One hundred and fifty years ago, on April 30, 1859, the Charles Dickens novel ``A Tale of Two Cities'' was first published in serial form in the premiere issue of All the Year Round, a literary magazine owned by Dickens. (The novel was presented in 31 weekly installments.)

On this date:

In 1789, George Washington took office in New York as the first president of the United States.

In 1803, the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France for 60 million francs, the equivalent of about $15 million.

In 1812, Louisiana became the 18th state of the Union.

In 1904, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition opened in St. Louis.

In 1909, Juliana, queen of the Netherlands from 1948 to 1980, was born in The Hague.

In 1939, the New York World's Fair officially opened with a ceremony that included an address by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

In 1945, as Russian troops approached his Berlin bunker, Adolf Hitler committed suicide along with his wife of one day, Eva Braun.

In 1948, the Charter of the Organization of American States was signed in Bogota, Colombia.

In 1970, President Richard M. Nixon announced the U.S. was sending troops into Cambodia, an action that sparked widespread protest.

In 1973, Nixon announced the resignations of top aides H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, along with Attorney General Richard G. Kleindienst and White House counsel John Dean.

Ten years ago: A bomb exploded at a gay pub in London, killing three people and injuring more than 70. (David Copeland, a white supremacist, was later convicted of murder for a series of bombings in London and sentenced to six life sentences.) The Rev. Jesse Jackson met with each of the three U.S. soldiers being held prisoner by Yugoslavia.

Five years ago: Arabs expressed outrage at graphic photographs of naked Iraqi prisoners being humiliated by U.S. military police; President George W. Bush condemned the mistreatment of prisoners, saying ``that's not the way we do things in America.'' On ABC's ``Nightline,'' Ted Koppel read aloud the names of 721 U.S. servicemen and women killed in the Iraq war (the Sinclair Broadcast Group refused to air the program on seven ABC stations). Michael Jackson pleaded not-guilty in Santa Maria, Calif., to a grand jury indictment that expanded the child molestation case against him. (Jackson was acquitted at trial.) Former NBA star Jayson Williams was acquitted of aggravated manslaughter in the shotgun slaying of a limousine driver at his New Jersey mansion, but found guilty of trying to cover up the shooting. (Williams faces retrial on a reckless manslaughter count.)

One year ago: The Federal Reserve cut interest rates for a seventh straight time, reducing the federal funds rate a quarter-point to 2 percent. An avalanche in Italy's northwestern Alps killed five French ski-mountaineers.

Today's Birthdays: Actress Cloris Leachman is 83. Singer Willie Nelson is 76. Actor Gary Collins is 71. Actor Burt Young is 69. Singer Bobby Vee is 66. Actress Jill Clayburgh is 65. Movie director Allan Arkush is 61. Actor Perry King is 61. Singer Merrill Osmond is 56. Movie director Jane Campion is 55. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is 50. Actor Paul Gross is 50. FIU coach Isiah Thomas is 48. Country musician Robert Reynolds (The Mavericks) is 47. Actor Adrian Pasdar is 44. Rapper Turbo B (Snap) is 42. Rock musician Clark Vogeler is 40. R&B singer Chris ``Choc'' Dalyrimple (Soul For Real) is 38. Rock musician Chris Henderson (3 Doors Down) is 38. Country singer Carolyn Dawn Johnson is 38. Actress Lisa Dean Ryan is 37. R&B singer Akon is 36. R&B singer Jeff Timmons (98 Degrees) is 36. Actor Johnny Galecki is 34. Singer-musician Cole Deggs (Cole Deggs and the Lonesome) is 33. Rapper Lloyd Banks is 27. Actress Kirsten Dunst is 27. Country singer Tyler Wilkinson (The Wilkinsons) is 25

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Today is Saturday, May 2, the 122nd day of 2009. There are 243 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On May 2, 1945, the Soviet Union announced the fall of Berlin, and the Allies announced the surrender of Nazi troops in Italy and parts of Austria.

On this date:

In 1519, artist Leonardo da Vinci died at Cloux, France, at 67.

In 1670, the Hudson Bay Company was chartered by England's King Charles II.

In 1863, Confederate Gen. Thomas ``Stonewall'' Jackson was accidentally wounded by his own men at Chancellorsville, Va.; he died eight days later.

In 1890, the Oklahoma Territory was organized.

In 1908, the original version of ``Take Me Out to the Ball Game,'' with music by Albert Von Tilzer and lyrics by Jack Norworth, was copyrighted by Von Tilzer's York Music Co.

In 1936, ``Peter and the Wolf,'' a symphonic tale for children by Sergei Prokofiev, had its world premiere in Moscow.

In 1957, Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, the controversial Republican from Wisconsin, died at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland.

In 1960, Caryl Chessman, who became a best-selling author while on death row for kidnapping, robbery and sexual offenses, was executed at San Quentin Prison in California.

In 1965, Intelsat 1, also known as the Early Bird satellite, was first used to transmit television pictures across the Atlantic.

In 1972, J. Edgar Hoover died in Washington at age 77 after serving 48 years as head of the FBI.

Ten years ago: Yugoslav authorities handed over to the Rev. Jesse Jackson three American prisoners of war who'd been held for a month. Actor Oliver Reed died in Malta at age 61 while making the movie ``Gladiator.''

Five years ago: American truck driver Thomas Hamill escaped from his kidnappers in Iraq; that same day, nine U.S. servicemen were killed across the country. Martin Torrijos, the son of a former dictator, won Panama's first presidential vote since the handover of the Panama Canal in December 1999.

One year ago: President George W. Bush sent lawmakers a $70 billion request to fund U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan into the following spring. Al-Jazeera TV cameraman Sami al-Haj was released from U.S. custody in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and returned home to Sudan after six years in prison. Tropical Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar, leading to an eventual official death toll of 84,537, with 53,836 listed as missing. Mildred Loving, a black woman whose challenge to Virginia's ban on interracial marriage led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling striking down such laws across the United States, died in Milford, Va., at age 68.

Today's Birthdays: Actor Theodore Bikel is 85. Singer Engelbert Humperdinck is 73. Actress and political activist Bianca Jagger is 64. Country singer R.C. Bannon is 64. Singer Lesley Gore is 63. Actor David Suchet is 63. Singer-songwriter Larry Gatlin is 61. Rock singer Lou Gramm (Foreigner) is 59. Actress Christine Baranski is 57. Singer Angela Bofill is 55. Movie director Steven Daldry (``The Reader'') is 49. Actress Elizabeth Berridge is 47. Country singer Ty Herndon is 47. Rock musician Todd Sucherman (Styx) is 40. Wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne ``The Rock'' Johnson is 37. Soccer star David Beckham is 34. Actress Jenna Von Oy is 32. Actor Gaius Charles (``Friday Night Lights'') is 26. Pop singer Lily Allen is 24. Olympic gold medal skater Sarah Hughes is 24. Rock musician Jim Almgren (Carolina Liar) is 23. Actress Kay Panabaker is 19.

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Today is May-02-2009.
Exactly 20 years ago on May-02-1989 began Hungarian soldiers to demolish the Iron Curtain. As they cut open the border became apparent disruptions in the socialist part of the world.

I want to remind of this important day in the European history.

Of course there was no accident that the demolition of the Iron Curtain began in Hungary. This country staged already decades before a variation of socialism, named as "goulash-socialism". This special position within the Eastern bloc started in the 1960's as Hungary realized economic reforms and since the middle of the 1980's Hungary began to open into Western direction steadily.
The then Soviet state president Mikhail Gorbatshov signalized apparent goodwill as in 1989 the reforms reached a phase, where Hungary complete frankly aimed for a close cooperation with the Western countries.
That also included the compilance of international agreements such as the UN Convention of Human Rights in spirit and letters. Hungary stopped the partial "Eastern way" of interpretation these documents.
On May-02-1989 finally occured a something revolutionary - Hungarian soldiers started the demolition of the electronic border protection (spring-guns) and the barbwire entangelments.
Hungary herewith gave notice to withdrawal the solidarity of the East-Bloc countries and the principle of the Iron Curtain was queried the first time.
The Soviet Union kept still anymore and so occured on June-26-1989 near St. Margarethen a symbolic political act. The then Hungarian foreign minister Gyula Horn and his Austrian counterpart Alois Mock proved themselves as "border cutting craftsmen" - a picture that went round the world...
As I said - a symbolical act - because although the curtain was fallen the border was still closed. Soldiers patroled with loaded weapons but all over the border opened loopholes through the borderline and especially citziens of GDR tried to use these to get away to the West. The Hungarians didn't counter this very resolutely.
Already in August got away hundreds of East-Germans to the West. More tan 600 in one fell swoop got away on August-19 during the legendary Pan-European picinic near Sopron.
This meeting was planned as a peace demonstration. With the acceptance of both countries (Hungary and Austria) should opened a border gate on the old Bratislavian country road between St. Margarethen (Austria) and Sopronkohida (Hungary) in a timeframe of three hours.
Between the GDR-citziens, which waited for an ability to escape, this news spreaded like wildfire. A lot of escape willing people appeared, but not everybody had the heart to escape. Thousands of people waited a bit apart for their chance to cross the border but because they held off they missed their chance. But anyway 600 determined GDR-citziens succeed the escape to Austria.
In defiance of the effective firing order and on the base of a "standstill-agreement" by States minister, Interior Minister and the chief of the Hungarian border patrols the Hungarian soldiers "looked the other way" while this rush.
This "look the other way" considered as a test by the Hungarian government in which extent Moscow will accept the Hungarian proceeding. Today remind near St. Margarethen a statue by Hungarian performing artists in form of an opening door of this occurence.
The Pan-European picnic considers as an essential milestone on the way to the end of GDR und to the German Re-Union in 1990. By the way: The patrons of this "picnic" was the then delegate of the European parliament Otto von Habsburg and the Hungarian States minister and reformer Imre Pozsgay.
A lot of East Germans escaped not only while this massive escape, but during lots of solo attempts. The most of them reached Austria where they received assistance by the Austrian citziens. Via the embassy in Vienna they reached the then German Federal Republic. A bit later should be a lot easier. On September-10-1989 the Hungarian television informed, that the government will open the Western border for GDR-refugees. One day later they opened the border really....

Best regards

Ingo

Today in History - May 3

Today is Sunday, May 3, the 123rd day of 2009. There are 242 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On May 3, 1909, a wireless news dispatch was transmitted from The New York Times to the Chicago Tribune in the first such communication between the two cities.

On this date:

In 1469, political theorist Niccolo Machiavelli was born in Florence, Italy.

In 1802, Washington, D.C., was incorporated as a city.

In 1916, Irish nationalist Padraic Pearse and two others were executed by the British for their roles in the Easter Rising.

In 1933, Nellie T. Ross became the first female director of the U.S. Mint.

In 1944, U.S. wartime rationing of most grades of meats ended.

In 1945, during World War II, Allied forces captured Rangoon, Burma, from the Japanese.

In 1948, the Supreme Court, in Shelley v. Kraemer, ruled that covenants prohibiting the sale of real estate to blacks or members of other racial groups were legally unenforceable.

In 1978, ``Sun Day'' fell on a Wednesday as thousands of people extolling the virtues of solar energy held events across the country.

In 1979, Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher was chosen to become Britain's first female prime minister as the Tories ousted the incumbent Labor government in parliamentary elections.

In 1986, in NASA's first post-Challenger launch, an unmanned Delta rocket lost power in its main engine shortly after liftoff, forcing safety officers to destroy it by remote control.

Ten years ago: Some 70 tornadoes roared across Oklahoma and Kansas, killing 46 people and injuring hundreds. The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 11,000, just 24 trading days after passing 10,000. Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi met with President Bill Clinton at the White House during the first official U.S. visit by a Japanese premier in 12 years.

Five years ago: The U.S. military said it had reprimanded seven officers in the abuse of inmates at Baghdad's notorious Abu Ghraib prison, the first known punishments in the case; two of the officers were relieved of their duties. Former postmaster general Marvin Runyon died in Nashville, Tenn., at age 79.

One year ago: Barack Obama defeated Hillary Rodham Clinton by seven votes in the Guam Democratic presidential caucuses, meaning the candidates split the pledged delegate votes. Big Brown won the Kentucky Derby by 4 3/4 lengths. (Filly Eight Belles finished second and then broke both front ankles; she was euthanized on the track.)

Today's Birthdays: Folk singer Pete Seeger is 90. Actress Ann B. Davis is 83. Singer Frankie Valli is 75. Sports announcer Greg Gumbel is 63. Pop singer Mary Hopkin is 59. Singer Christopher Cross is 58. Country musician Cactus Moser (Highway 101) is 52. Rock musician David Ball (Soft Cell) is 50. Country singer Shane Minor is 41. Actor Bobby Cannavale is 39. Music and film producer-actor Damon Dash is 38. Country musician John Hopkins (Zac Brown Band) is 38. Country-rock musician John Neff (Drive-By Truckers) is 38. Country singer Brad Martin is 36. Actor Dule Hill is 34. Country singer Eric Church is 32. Colts running back Joseph Addai is 26. Dancer Cheryl Burke (TV: ``Dancing with the Stars'') is 25. Actress Jill Berard is 19.


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Today is Monday, May 4, the 124th day of 2009. There are 241 days left in the year.
    
Today's Highlight in History:

Fifty years ago, on May 4, 1959, the first-ever Grammy Awards ceremony was held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Domenico Modugno won Record of the Year and Song of the Year for ``Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)''; Henry Mancini won Album of the Year for ``The Music from Peter Gunn.''

On this date:

In 1626, Dutch explorer Peter Minuit landed on present-day Manhattan Island.

In 1886, at Haymarket Square in Chicago, a labor demonstration for an eight-hour work day turned into a deadly riot when a bomb exploded.

In 1904, the United States took over construction of the Panama Canal.

In 1916, responding to a demand from President Woodrow Wilson, Germany agreed to limit its submarine warfare, thereby averting a diplomatic break with Washington. (However, Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare the following year.)

In 1932, mobster Al Capone, convicted of income-tax evasion, entered the federal penitentiary in Atlanta. (Capone was later transferred to Alcatraz Island.)

In 1945, during World War II, German forces in the Netherlands, Denmark and northwest Germany agreed to surrender.

In 1946, a two-day riot at Alcatraz prison in San Francisco Bay ended, the violence having claimed five lives.

In 1961, a group of ``Freedom Riders'' left Washington, D.C., for New Orleans to challenge racial segregation on interstate buses and in bus terminals.

In 1970, Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on anti-war protesters at Kent State University, killing four students and wounding nine others.

In 2001, Bonny Lee Bakley, wife of actor Robert Blake, was shot to death as she sat in a car in Los Angeles. (Blake, accused of the killing, was acquitted in a criminal trial but was found liable by a civil jury and ordered to pay damages.)

Ten years ago: Work crews struggled to restore electricity across Serbia after NATO strikes on major power grids left Belgrade and other cities in the dark. Five New York City police officers went on trial for the torture of Haitian immigrant Abner Louima. (One officer later pleaded guilty to civil rights violations; a second later pleaded guilty to perjury; the remaining three were acquitted of brutality charges. Two of those three were later convicted of conspiring to obstruct justice; those convictions were overturned.) Tornadoes roared across the Plains for a second straight day.

Five years ago: The Army disclosed that the deaths of 10 prisoners and abuse of 10 more in Iraq and Afghanistan were under criminal investigation, as U.S. commanders in Baghdad announced interrogation changes. The United States walked out of a U.N. meeting to protest its decision minutes later to give Sudan a third term on the Human Rights Commission.

One year ago: President George W. Bush visited Greensburg, Kan., where he hailed the resilience of the town and its tiny high school graduating class, one year after a tornado barreled through with astonishing fury. A river boat sank in a remote Amazon region in northern Brazil, killing at least 48 people. Iraq's first lady, Hiro Ibrahim Ahmed, escaped unharmed from a bomb attack in downtown Baghdad that struck her motorcade.

Today's Birthdays: The president of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, is 81. Opera singer Roberta Peters is 79. Jazz musician Ron Carter is 72. Rock musician Dick Dale is 72. Singer-songwriter Nick Ashford is 67. Pop singer Peggy Santiglia (The Angels) is 65. Actor Richard Jenkins is 62. Country singer Stella Parton is 60. Actor-turned-clergyman Hilly Hicks is 59. Irish musician Darryl Hunt (The Pogues) is 59. Singer Jackie Jackson (The Jacksons) is 58. R&B singer Oleta Adams is 56. R&B singer Sharon Jones is 53. Country singer Randy Travis is 50. Actress Mary McDonough is 48. Comedian Ana Gasteyer is 42. Actor Will Arnett is 39. Rock musician Mike Dirnt (Green Day) is 37. Contemporary Christian singer Chris Tomlin is 37. TV personality and fashion designer Kimora Lee Simmons is 34. Rock musician Jose Castellanos is 32. Singer Lance Bass ('N Sync) is 30. Actor Alexander Gould is 15.

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