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An unseasonal thunderstorm clears just as the sun sets over the flightline at Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan, where KC-135 Stratotanker aircrews waited out the worst of the lightning before taking off. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Lara Gale)
Way to go Trixie, April, and the GA Soldiers' Angels - and to all who helped with this project.
CENTCOM: News Releases
NO SLACK FOR INSURGENT CELL LEADERS
SIX KILLED, 19 WOUNDED IN VBIED ATTACK
AFGHAN POLICE SECURE TOWR KHAM BORDER
ZARQAWI, AL QAEDA IN IRAQ REAL THREATS TO IRAQ'S SECURITY AND STABILITY
SUSPECTS DETAINED, ONE KILLED NEAR BALAD
ANA MILITARY COURTS IN SESSION
Department of Defense
Iraqis 'Determined to Live in Freedom' - Story - Remarks - Iraqi Freedom Day Special
Zarqawi, al Qaeda Threaten Iraqi Security - Story
New Government Will Validate Iraqi Courage - Commentary - Iraqi Freedom Day Special
Strategy Preserved Iraqi Infrastructure, Lives - Story
Afghan Police Secure Towr Kham Border - Story
ON THE GROUND
Coalition Trains Iraqi Police to Protect Leaders - Story
3 Electrical Substations Completed in Najaf - Story
U.S. Troops Train Iraqis on GPS, Lifesaving - Story
Riggers Prepare Supplies for Afghans in Need - Story
IN IRAQ
Bayji Council Coordinates Security Efforts
Cleaner Water Available for Basra Residents
IN AFGHANISTAN
Governor, Khost Residents Celebrate Project
Forward Deployed B-52 Pilot Surpasses 5,000 Hours
FACE OF DEFENSE
Enlisted Soldier Fulfills Dream of Becoming a Pilot - Story
AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
Group Raises Funds for Hospitals - Story
TOP NEWS
IRAQ
Joint Effort Targets Insurgents
Khalilzad Emphasizes Progress
3 U.S. Soldiers Die in Anbar Action
Rumsfeld Urges Caution
Troops Note Progress
Day More than Falling Statue
Forces Kill, Capture Terrorists
Fact Sheet: Progress and Work Ahead
Report: Strategy for Victory in Iraq
Iraq Daily Update
This Week in Iraq (PDF)
Multinational Force Iraq
State Dept. Weekly Iraq Report (PDF)
'Boots on the Ground' Audio Archive
Iraq Reconstruction
Maps
AFGHANISTAN
Leaders Urge Close Cooperation
Forces Kill Taliban Commander
PRT Commanders' Topic: Security
Forces Destroy Rocket in Ghazni
Afghanistan Update
Maps
WAR ON TERRORISM
Defense Backs Down in Teen's Case
Commission Argues Representation
Proceedings Begin Despite Boycott
Supplemental Funds Security
Defense Chiefs: Time to Stand Firm
Fact Sheet: Budget Request
Fact Sheet: War on Terror
Fact Sheet: Terror Plots Disrupted
Waging and Winning the War on Terror
Terrorism Timeline
Terrorism Knowledge Base
MILITARY NEWS
Nassau Group Transits Suez Canal
OEF, OIF Vets Get Job Preference
England Named Deputy Secretary
Enlisted Advisor Talks to Grads
IED Survivors Apply Experiences
National Guard, Reserve Update
CASUALTIES
Officials Identify Army Casualty - Story
Weather
Iraq
Al Azamiyah Al Basrah Al Hillah Al Karkh Al Kazimiyah
An Nasiriyah Baghdad Baqubah Mosul Najaf Nineveh Tall Kayf
Afghanistan
Bost/Laskar Ghurian Herat Kabul Qandahar
Gitmo
Today in History
0672 - Deusdedit III begins his reign as Catholic Pope
0678 - Donus ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1471 - King Edward IV of England conquers London from Henry VI
1512 - Battle at Ravenna - France under Gaston de Foix beats Spanish Army
1551 - English premier John Dudley appointed duke of Northumberland
1564 - England & France sign Peace of Troyes; Liege Prince-Bishop Robert van Bergen resigns
1567 - Dutch Prince William of Orange flees from Antwerp to Breda
1579 - Venlo joins Union of Utrecht
1580 - Drenthe joins Union of Utrecht
1677 - Battle at Montcassel - French troops beat Prince William III
1689 - William III & Mary II crowned as joint rulers of Britain
1713 - Peace of Utrecht; France cedes Maritime provinces to Britain - English, Prussian, Savoois, Portuguese & French peace treaty
1814 - 1st abdication of France by Napoleon; he is exiled to Elba
1848 - Hungary becomes constitutional monarchy under King Ferdinand of Austria
1856 - Battle of Rivas; Costa Rica beats Wm Walker's invading Nicaraguans
1862 - Rebels surrender Fort Pulaski, GA
1863 - Battle of Suffolk, VA (Norfleet House)
1865 - Battle of Mobile AL - evacuated by Confederates; Lincoln urges a spirit of generous conciliation during reconstruction
1876 - Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks is organized; Sir Charles Gordon ends religious tolerance in Sudan
1881 - River ferry "Princess Victoria" sinks in Thames River Ontario, 180 die
1890 - Ellis Island designated as an immigration station
1891 - 8 year old Jewish tailor's daughter disappears in Greece, rumour spreads that she was a Christian girl ritually killed by Jews
1898 - President William McKinley asks for Spanish-American War declaration
1899 - Treaty of Paris is ratified, ending war; Spain cedes Puerto Rico to US
1900 - US Navy's 1st submarine made its debut
1902 - Battle at Rooiwal, South-Africa
1906 - Einstein introduces his Theory of Relativity
1921 - Iowa imposes 1st state cigarette tax; Turkestan ASSR is established in Russian SFSR
1924 - Socialists win Denmark's parliamentary elections
1925 - Abd el-Krims Rifkabylen beats French army in Morocco
1926 - Flemish Economic Covenant (VEV) forms in Ghent
1927 - Chilean General Carlos Ibáñez names himself president
1929 - Loetafoon celluloid film system demonstrated in Amsterdam
1933 - Hermann Göring becomes premier of Prussia
1939 - Hungary leaves League of Nations
1941 - Germany blitzes Conventry, England; Jewish Weekly newspaper taken control by Nazis; Nazi occupiers in Netherlands confiscate Jewish assets
1942 - Distinguished Service Medal for Merchant Marines authorized
1943 - Frank Piasecki, Vertol founder, flies his 1st (single-rotor) craft
1944 - RAF bombs census bureau in The Hague
1945 - Allies liberate 1st Nazi concentration camp, Buchenwald, Germany; SS burns & shoots 1,100 at Gardelegen; US captures Tsugen Shima; US troops conquer Mülheim, Oberhausen, Bochum, Unna, Essen
1950 - Prince Rainier III becomes ruler of Monaco; US B-29 bomber shot down above Latvia
1951 - President Harry Truman fires General Douglas McArthur
1953 - Oveta Culp Hobby becomes 1st at Health, Education, & Welfare
1956 - Singer Nat Cole attacked on stage of Birmingham theater by whites; French government decides to sends 200,000 reservists to Algeria
1957 - Ryan X-13 Vertijet becomes 1st jet to take-off & land vertically; Pablo Neruda arrested in Buenos Aires
1959 - Dutch prince Bernhard visits Lockheed factory
1960 - 1st weather satellite launched (Tiros 1)
1961 - Israel begins the Adolf Eichman WWII crimes trial; Austrian 4th & last government of Raab resigns
1965 - 40 tornadoes strike US midwest, killing 272 & injuring 5,000
1968 - President Lyndon Johnson signs 1968 Civil Rights Act; Polish Marshal Spychalski succeeds Ochab as president; West Berlin student Rudi Dutschke seriously wounded at demonstration
1970 - Apollo 13 launched to Moon; unable to land, returns in 6 days
1972 - Benjamin L. Hooks named to the FCC
1974 - WWII war criminal JP Philippa arrested
1979 - Ugandan dictator Idi Amin overthrown; Tanzania takes Kampala
1980 - Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulates sexual harrassment
1981 - Ronald Reagan arrives home from hospital after Hinkley shot him; Race riot in London area of Brixton
1983 - NASA launches RCA-F
1984 - Challenger astronauts complete 1st in space satellite repair; Soyuz T-11 returns to Earth; Chinese troops invade Vietnam; General Secretary Konstantin U Chernenko named President of Soviet Union
1986 - Dodge Morgan completes nonstop sail solo around the world in 150 days; Halley's Comet makes closest approach to Earth this trip, 63 million km; A Canadain 1921 50¢ piece auctioned in NYC for $22,000
1991 - Space Shuttle STS 37 (Atlantis 8) lands; UN Security Council issues formal cease fire with Iraq declaration
1992 - Euro-Disney opens near Paris, France; Irish Republican Army bombs London financial district, killing 3
1993 - Kirsan Ilumzjinov installed as President of Kalmukkie
Birthdays
1370 - Frederick I, the Warlike elector of Saxony
1770 - George Canning, British PM (1827)
1794 - Edward Everett, (Governor-MA), statesman/orator
1825 - Ferdinand Lassalle, French politician/founder (Allgemeiner)
1837 - Ephraim Elmer Ellsworth Union Army Colonel
1862 - Charles Evans Hughs, 11th Chief Justice of Supreme Court (1930-41)
1862 - William W. Campbell, US astronomer/director Lick Observatory
1867 - John P. Lotsy, Dutch botanist/geneticist (Genetics)
1893 - Dean G. Acheson, statesman/US Secretary of State (1949-53)
1902 - Quentin Reynolds, newscaster (Its News to Me)/author (FBI)
1910 - Antonio Sebastiao Ribiero de Spínola General/President of Portugal
1918 - Richard Wainwright, MP
1919 - Hugh Carey (Governor-NY)
1929 - Lawrence Coughlin (Representative-PA)
1930 - Nicholas F. Brady, US Secretary of Treasury (1988-93)
1930 - W. G. [Bill] Hefner (Representative-NC)
1932 - F. Gregory Neubeck, USAF pilot
1938 - Michael Deaver, politician/influence peddler (S&L scandal)
1941 - Frederick "Rick" Hauck, astronaut (STS-7, STS 51-A, STS-26); David Lyle Boren (Senator-OK)
1942 - Anatoli Nikolayevich Berezovoi Enem Adygeya, cosmonaut (Soyuz T-5)
1947 - Michael Hindley, British Member of European Parliament
1955 - Piers J. Sellers, PhD/astronaut
Passings
0678 - Donus, Italian Pope (676-78)
1034 - Romanus III Argyrus, Byzantine emperor (1028-34), assasinated by wife
1240 - Llywelyn ab Iorwerth the Great, monarch of Wales (1194-1240)
1512 - Gaston de Foix, French pretender to Navarra throne, dies in battle
1783 - Nikita I Panin, Russian earl/ambassador in Denmark, dies at 64
1875 - Heinrich Schwabe, discoverer of 11-year sunspot cycle
1902 - Hendrik Potgieter, South African Boer General, dies in battle
1903 - Gemma Galgani, Italian saint, dies at 25
1906 - James A. Bailey, circus showman (Barnum & Bailey), dies at 58
1916 - Richard Harding Davis, journalist, dies at 52
1921 - Augusta Victoria, Queen of Prussia/wife of Emperor Wilhelm II
1945 - Kamiel van Baelen, Flemish resistance fighter (in Dachau), dies at 29
1970 - John H. O'Hara, US journalist (Pal Joey, Rage to Live), dies at 65
1985 - Enver Hoxha, party leader/premier of Albania, dies at 76
1989 - Henk van Galen, Last Dutch journalist, dies at 68
1993 - Mohammed el-Himi, Brigadier-General of Egyptian police, murdered; Rachmon Nabiyev, President of Tadzjikistan (1973-92), dies at 63
1994 - Johan Block, Dutch aviation pioneer (Martinair/Transavia), dies at 64
1996 - Daniel Wolf, journalist, dies at 80; Jessica Dubroff, hoped to be youngest to fly across US, crashed at 7
Reported Missing in Action
1965
Swanson, William E., USNR (MN); A1H hit by flak and crashed, Killed, BNR
1968
Whittemore, Frederick H., USN (NV); A4F shot down, KIA/BNR
1970
Nelson, Jan Houston, USMC (FL); A4E shot down, KIA/BNR
1971
Buerk, William Carl, USAF (CA); F100D shot down, KIA/BNR