Adv21

Adv21
For release Friday, May 21
Today in History
By The Associated Press
Today is Friday, May 21, the 142nd day of 2004. There are 224 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History:
On May 21, 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh landed his Spirit of St. Louis near Paris, completing the first solo airplane flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
On this date:
In 1542, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto died while searching for gold along the Mississippi River.
In 1832, the first Democratic National Convention got under way, in Baltimore.
In 1840, New Zealand was declared a British colony.
In 1881, Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross.
In 1892, the opera "I Pagliacci," by Ruggiero Leoncavallo, was first performed, in Milan, Italy.
In 1904, 100 years ago, jazz musician, singer and composer Thomas "Fats" Waller was born in New York City (he died in 1943 at the age of 39).
In 1924, 14-year-old Bobby Franks was murdered in a "thrill killing" committed by Nathan Leopold Jr. and Richard Loeb, two students at the University of Chicago.
In 1956, the United States exploded the first airborne hydrogen bomb over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.
In 1968, the nuclear-powered U.S. submarine Scorpion, with 99 men aboard, was last heard from. (The remains of the sub were later found on the ocean floor 400 miles southwest of the Azores.)
In 1991, former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated during national elections by a suicide bomber.
Ten years ago: Israeli commandos swept into Lebanon's eastern mountains and abducted Mustafa Dirani, a Shiite Muslim guerrilla leader. (Dirani was released last January as part of a complex prisoner exchange between Hezbollah and Israel.)
Five years ago: Presidential friend and fund-raiser Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations and agreed to cooperate in an investigation of illegal Asian donations to the Democrats. A luxury cruise liner, the Sun Vista, sank off Malaysia's western coast; nearly eleven-hundred passengers and crew escaped with no casualties. Susan Lucci won a Daytime Emmy Award for best actress on her 19th try.
One year ago: Christie Whitman resigned as Environmental Protection Agency administrator. The most devastating earthquake to hit Algeria in two decades killed at least 2,200 people. Ruben Studdard edged Clay Aiken to win the second "American Idol" competition on Fox.
Today's Birthdays: Actress Jeanne Bates ("Ben Casey") is 86. Actor David Groh is 65. Rhythm and blues singer Ron Isley (The Isley Brothers) is 63. Actor Richard Hatch is 59. Musician Bill Champlin (Chicago) is 57. Singer Leo Sayer is 56. Actress Carol Potter is 56. Comedian Al Franken is 53. Actor Mr. T is 52. Music producer Stan Lynch is 49. Actor Judge Reinhold is 47. Actor-director Nick Cassavetes is 45. Actor Brent Briscoe is 43. Jazz musician Christian McBride is 32. Actress Fairuza Balk is 30. Rapper Havoc (Mobb Deep) is 30. Actress Ashlie Brillault is 17. Actor Scott Leavenworth is 14. Actress Sarah Ramos is 13.
Thought for Today: "Being frustrated is disagreeable, but the real disasters of life begin when you get what you want." -- Irving Kristol, American editor.