A thought for the day: Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. -- English writer Joseph Addison

On this date in history:

In 1884, construction began on the world's first skyscraper -- the 10-story Home Insurance Co. building in Chicago.

In 1893, U.S. President Grover Cleveland opened the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

In 1898, during the Spanish-American war, forces under U.S. Navy Adm. George ...Read more

Those born on this date include:

- Sharpshooter Calamity Jane, born Martha Jane Cannary Burke, in 1852
- U.S. Army Gen. Mark Clark in 1896
- musician Kate Smith in 1907
- actor Glenn Ford in 1916
- television personality Jack Paar in 1918
- author Joseph Heller in 1923
- game show host Art Fleming in...Read more

Today is Wednesday, May 1, the 122nd day of 2024 with 244 to follow.

The moon is waning. Morning stars are Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn and Venus. Evening star is Jupiter.

A thought for the day: Dutch Queen Juliana said of politics: You are interested in the kitchen of the world -- you want to find out what is cooking, who has a finger in the pie, and who will burn his finger.

On this date in history:

In 1789, George Washington was inaugurated as the first president of the United States.

In 1803, the United States more than doubled its land area with the Louisiana Purchase. It obtained all French territory west of the Mississippi River for $15 million.

In 1812, Louisiana entered the ...Read more

Those born on this date include:

- Hungarian composer Franz Lehar, who wrote the operetta The Merry Widow, in 1870
- actor Eve Arden in 1908
- Dutch Queen Juliana in 1909
- actor Cloris Leachman in 1926
- actor Gary Collins in 1938
- actor Burt Young in 1940
- musician Bobby Vee in 1943
- actor...Read more

Today is Tuesday, April 30, the 121st day of 2024 with 245 days to follow.

The moon is waning. Morning stars are Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn and Venus. Evening star is Jupiter.

A thought for the day: When free discussion is denied, hardening of the arteries of democracy has set in, free institutions are but a lifeless form and the death of the republic is at hand. -- American publisher William Randolph Hearst

On this date in history:

In 1854, Ashmun Institute in Pennsylvania, the first college founded solely for Black American students, was officially chartered. The private school was renamed Lincoln University in 1866 and became public in 1972.

In 1885, women were admitted for the first time to examinations at England's Oxford ...Read more

Those born on this date include:

- Publisher William Randolph Hearst in 1863
- bandleader/composer Edward Kennedy Duke Ellington in 1899
- Japanese Emperor Hirohito in 1901
- actor Celeste Holm in 1917
- musician Toots Thielemans, born Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans, in 1922
- British ...Read more

Today is Monday, April 29, the 120th day of 2024 with 246 to follow.

The moon is waning. Morning stars are Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn and Venus. Evening star is Jupiter.

A thought for the day: I have no regrets. I don't believe in looking back. What I am proudest of? Working really hard ... and achieving as much as I could. -- U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena Kagan

On this date in history:

In 1788, Maryland ratified the U.S. Constitution, becoming the seventh state of the Union.

In 1789, the most famous of all naval mutinies took place aboard the HMS Bounty en route from Tahiti to Jamaica.

In 1915, the International Congress of Women, convening in The Hague, selected Miss ...Read more

Those born on this date include:

- British King Edward IV in 1442
- James Monroe, fifth president of the United States, in 1758
- British engineer/mathematician/physicist/inventor Hertha Marks Ayrton in 1854
- actor Lionel Barrymore in 1878
- German industrialist Oskar Schindler, credited with saving almost 1,...Read more

Today is Sunday, April 28, the 119th day of 2024 with 247 to follow.

The moon is waning. Morning stars are Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn and Venus. Evening star is Jupiter.