Today: is the 318th day of 2009. There are 47 days left in the year. Advertisement
On this date
-- In 1851, Herman Melville's novel "Moby-Dick; Or, The Whale" was first published in the United States.
-- In 1889, inspired by Jules Verne, New York World reporter Nellie Bly (Elizabeth Cochrane) set out to travel around the world in less than 80 days. (She made the trip in 72 days.)
-- In 1940, during World War II, German planes destroyed most of the English town of Coventry.
-- In 1969, Apollo 12 blasted off for the moon.
-- In 1999, The United Nations imposed sanctions on Afghanistan for refusing to hand over suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden.
Today's birthdays
Jazz musician Ellis Marsalis is 75. Writer P.J. O'Rourke is 62. Britain's Prince Charles is 61. Singer Stephen Bishop is 58. Pianist Yanni is 55. Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is 55. Actress Laura San Giacomo is 48. Actor D.B. Sweeney is 48. Retired All-Star pitcher Curt Schilling is 43. Actress Olga Kurylenko is 30.
The sun sets 4:44 p.m. today, rises 6:48 a.m. Sunday.
The moon sets 3:07 p.m. today, rises 5:41 a.m. Sunday. It is six days after the last quarter.
100 years ago today
1909: A 20-year-old Pen Argyl man was accidently shot dead by a friend while hunting rabbits on a farm between Bangor and Pen Argyl. "When a doctor was secured and a party of neighbors reached the spot they found the young man as he had fallen and his faithful dog sitting beside the body, keeping watch over his dead master."
-- A 36-year-old man's mutilated remains were found along the Central Railroad tracks in Freemansburg: "It was shortly after midnight when (the man) reached Freemansburg and started down the track on his way to his home. An eastbound freight train struck him and ground him to death beneath the wheels."
50 years ago today
1959: A colony of beavers is wreaking havoc along the Raritan River near Water Street, practically in downtown Clinton: "Dozens of trees, ranging from an inch to a foot in diameter, have fallen prey to teeth. Dozens of tree stumps mark the area around the beaver house. Water Street residents say it is not unusual to hear the beavers gnawing during the night."
-- The chairman of the building committee of the new Muhlenberg Medical Center in Bethlehem said work will be halted at the end of the month if deliveries of structural steel, held up by the national steel strike, are not received. The center's foundations are being poured and Bethlehem approved installation of storm sewers to the site.
25 years ago today
1984: An open house was held at the new $5.85 million Nazareth Area Junior High School. "The school became a controversial issue as some taxpayers wanted the old school renovated and others wanted a new one."
-- Former CBS President Fred W. Friendly led a journalism symposium at Lehigh University, "National Security and Freedom of the Press," challenging students to interpret the Constitution as a living document.
Quote of the day

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