Today’s Highlight in History:

On this date:

On Nov. 2, 1947, Howard Hughes piloted his huge wooden flying boat, the Hughes H-4 Hercules (popularly known as the Spruce Goose”), on its only flight, which lasted about a minute over Long Beach Harbor in California.

On this date:

In 1783, Gen. George Washington issued his Farewell Address to the Continental Army near Princeton, N.J.
In 1906, Italian movie director Luchino Visconti was born in Milan.
In 1936, the British Broadcasting Corp. inaugurated high-definition” television service from Alexandra Palace in London.
In 1959, game show contestant Charles Van Doren admitted to a House subcommittee that he’d been given questions and answers in advance when he appeared on the NBC TV program Twenty-One.”

Ten years ago: A tentative labor contract was reached between General Motors Corp. and the United Auto Workers, averting a national strike.


One year ago: The Bush administration released details of its potential flu pandemic strategy, saying a pandemic that hit the United States would force cities to ration scarce drugs and vaccine and house the sick in hotels or schools if hospitals were to overflow. A Detroit church packed with 4,000 mourners celebrated the life of Rosa Parks in an impassioned, song-filled funeral.

Today’s Birthdays: Country singer Charlie Walker is 80. Rhythm-and-blues singer Earl Speedo” Carroll (The Cadillacs; The Coasters) is 69. Singer Jay Black (Jay and the Americans) is 68. Commentator Patrick J. Buchanan is 68. Actress Stefanie Powers is 64. Author Shere Hite is 64. Rock musician Keith Emerson (Emerson, Lake and Palmer) is 62. Rock musician Carter Beauford (The Dave Matthews Band) is 49. Singer-songwriter k.d. lang is 45. Rock musician Bobby Dall (Poison) is 43. Actor David Schwimmer is 40. Rhythm-and-blues singer Alvin Chea (Take 6) is 39. Rock singer-musician John Hampson (Nine Days) is 35. Rapper Nelly is 32. Prodigy (Mobb Deep) is 32. Actor Danny Cooksey is 31. Country singer Erika Jo (Nashville Star”) is 20.

Thought for Today: The amount of sleep required by the average person is just five minutes more.” – Anonymous.