OK, so we've got little Lite-Brite looking displays of Ignignokt and Err, a couple of Duracell batteries, and a city is brought to its knees?? And now there's been one arrest (I believe for an unrelated suspicious device), and Boston's Mayor is considering what legal action should be taken against Cartoon Network?

At what point did we dive over the precipice into the pool of complete cluelessness?

1. Hell, even I knew that was Err, from Aqua Teen Hunger Force. And since Adult Swim's audience conveniently dovetails with a much sought-after voting block these days, maybe elected officials shouldn't be demonstrating exactly how out of touch they are with that demographic.

2. If Boston's finest can be completely baffled by a Lite-Brite, I'm afraid.

3. Bottom line is that Boston looks stupid, and in grand new millenium tradition, it's got to be someone else's fault. Instead of just saying, "Oops," they're going to roast Cartoon Network. I'm not a fan of Ted Turner's by any means, but this is just ridiculous.

We can't pull suspicious people off of airplanes because they are of Middle Eastern descent, but we can flame a network because we overreacted to displays that had been there for weeks?


Frankly, I think they were just profiling - Ignignokt and Err are Mooninites.

Atlantic Ocean (Jan. 27, 2007) - An aviation boatswain's mate signals to taxi forward an S-3B Viking, assigned to the "Checkmates" of Sea Control Squadron Two Two (VS-22), in order to set the launch bar into the catapult shuttle during flight operations on board Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75). Truman is currently underway conducting flight deck certification in the Atlantic Ocean. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kristopher Wilson

During the evening hours of Jan. 7, the team hit the road from Camp Taji for a convoy that would take them about 200 miles in the southeast direction.


By Spc. Dustin Perry
1/34th Battalion Combat Team Public Affairs

CAMP ADDER, Iraq, Jan. 31, 2007 — Thirty seconds. Within a short sliver of time, a dozen U.S. soldiers, conducting a routine convoy operation, endured an engagement with the enemy under the Baghdad twilight, quickly and safely quashed the threat with a textbook reaction, and came away with a war story they will be able to take home and tell to their grandkids one day.


Answering to the radio call sign "Earthpig 66," the 12 members of the 2nd Combined Arms Battalion, 136th Infantry Regiment convoy logistics patrol team regularly escort supply trucks and other vehicles to and from countless locations throughout Iraq.

During the evening hours of Jan. 7, the team hit the road from Camp Taji for a convoy that would take them about 200 miles in the southeast direction. Only a few hours into an otherwise routine mission, they encountered the first of many obstacles the night had in store for them.

"At approximately 10 p.m., we came up on an (improvised explosive device) in the middle of the road," said Staff Sgt. Steven Davis, convoy commander.

After securing the area they heard a loud explosion to the west of their position, Davis said.

"(Then), we had an Iraqi Army convoy come up that had stopped about 50 meters behind us, roughly," said Davis, a native of Owatonna, Minn. "Our rear gunner could see people running around their vehicles, and he called me up to let me know what was going on."

The gunner, Spc. Alexander Jimenez of Tacoma, Wash., said the Iraqi soldiers were telling him they had at least two of their own soldiers who were dead and an unknown amount of wounded after being hit by an IED and coming under rifle fire. Davis sent his No. 3 vehicle to the rear to assess the scene.

"They had a lot of guys with gunshot and shrapnel wounds," said Sgt. Josh Day, noncommissioned officer in charge of the convoy. "I told them to bring their wounded up to us because we weren't going to run around to the back of their convoy; we needed to secure our own."

Day instructed an Iraqi Army captain to split the injured soldiers into two groups, "which ones were worse or better." He then told his medic, Pfc. Joshua Livingston, they were going to have to call in a few helicopters and execute a small-scale medical evacuation for what they thought was only a few people.

"From there, it just escalated into a mass casualty evacuation - like that," said Day, with a quick snap of his fingers. "They just kept coming. They had wounded that were being carried by other Iraqi army. They were bringing trucks up that had even more wounded in them and a lot more who were dead."

With the increasingly complex situation, the rear Humvee in the convoy was immediately called to provide assistance. The driver, Spc. Steven Rockwell, a second medic in the Earthpig 66 patrol and a native of Cookville, Tenn. began administering medical care and helping with the evacuation.

Less than an hour after the convoy stopped, an EOD team destroyed both the improvised explosive device and an additional explosive device. Establishing a landing zone for the incoming aircraft and continuing the medical evacuation were the next priorities, Day said.

"We had already triaged all the patients who were getting ready to be medically evacuated," said Livingston. "The first two helicopters were on the ground, so we immediately

started loading the injured. At that time, I think one of the Iraqi soldiers was yelling that a truck pulled up. He yelled, 'Enemy!' and he notified us that we had an unidentified vehicle in the area."

The vehicle had been creeping up from the side of the road. Shortly after being spotted, someone exited the truck and began running toward the convoy and firing, said Cpl. Aaron Glasscock, a gunner from Opelousas, La.

"I started popping flares in the vicinity of where they had seen the truck," said Glasscock. "We started taking fire, and bullets were impacting all around the truck. I saw one guy, an insurgent, moving about 75 meters in front of me. He was firing and moving up closer to our position. That's when I opened up with my M-240 machine gun. I fired maybe a 40-round burst. As soon as I did that, I noticed a building about 25 meters in front of where I engaged the first enemy," continued Glasscock. "Small-arms fire and muzzle flashes were coming out of the windows, so I immediately turned my weapon and started engaging the building. At about the same time, the Iraqi army guys on the ground saw where our tracer rounds were flying and about 30 or 40 of them started opening fire on the same building."

Glasscock fired a single shot from his M203 grenade launcher, which ended the enemy's engagement after about half a minute, and a cease-fire was called. One Iraqi soldier was slightly wounded during the fire fight.

"In a matter of seconds, the threat was completely neutralized," said Day. "At that point, we started right back up with our medical evacuation sequence. We advised the medevac team that we were not receiving any more fire. The landing zone was clear for them to return."

A total of 12 Iraqi casualties were evacuated to a nearby medical treatment facility, Livingston said. Communication with the Iraqi Army went really smooth throughout the ordeal. Everyone involved was organized and coordinated, he said.

Many of the 2-136th soldiers also lauded their Iraqi counterparts for the quick and decisive way they reacted during the fire fight, despite the fact that several of them were already injured from the previous attack.

The Iraqi soldiers were tough said Glasscock. "They had one truck that rolled up with bullet holes in the doors. The guy who was sitting on that side, he got out and he had matching bullet holes all up and down his body. He got out of the truck and stood up. He lifted his shirt to show us he had been hit, but he said he was OK."

Asked how his soldiers handled the attack, 1st Sgt. Joseph Persing, the TC in the scout truck, said it "was kind of a remarkable deal." "It was a basic situation when it first started and it turned into a complex situation, which they handled very well," said Persing, a native of Heron Lake, Minn. "It was something that you only train on a little bit, but when we were put in the actual situation it appeared to me that it was like second nature." Day echoed the remark, saying he was "highly impressed" with the way the other soldiers in his company reacted.

"It was instinct over feelings," said Day. "We had a situation, we had a lot of wounded, we needed security, but we still had our primary mission to complete."

Close to 11:30 p.m., the convoy was back on the road. The remainder of the trip was without incident. Day said the attack hasn't done anything to set his team back or slow them down. He said they are being totally proactive and taking the event as a learning experience.

"We had a traumatic event, but it goes on all over theater," said Day. "Everybody who runs missions outside the wire will eventually have to deal with something similar to what we experienced. We're part of the big plan in this country, so we can't just say, 'Hey, we did our good deed.' We've still got an important piece of the puzzle to finish. We have just got to keep going."

CARRIER WATCH — U.S. Navy Seaman Ana Hinojosa stands aft watch on the fantail of USS John C. Stennis, Jan. 29, 2007. Stennis Carrier Strike Group and Carrier Air Wing 9 are under way in the Pacific Ocean en route to the U.S. Central Command area of operations. U.S. Navy photo by Seaman Josue Leopoldo Escobosa

News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Senators Join Forces to Oppose Troop Surge in Iraq
Report: US Botched Training of Iraqis
Obama Pushes for Iraq Pullout Deadline
Military.com Op-ed: The Real Game in Iraq
Chaos hastens Iraq brain-drain
Iraqi exodus: In London, on a "long-term lease"
Kissinger, Albright weigh in on Iraq
Iraq halts flights to and from Syria

Homeland Security / War on Terror / Hamas-Hezbollah Happenings
Military.com Blog: Al Qaeda Leader Killed in Africa
Arrest Made in Boston 'Device' Scare
Ad campaign for Cartoon Network's 'Aqua Teen Hunger Force' show brought city to standstill
Brits Bust Kidnap, Beheading Plot - VIDEO (of a Muslim soldier...)
Mideast quartet may be at turning point: envoy
Ailing NY Ground Zero workers demand more help
Losing hope, Lebanese seek future abroad
Palestinian truce holds despite sporadic attacks - Video
Judge tells Spain to declassify CIA flight papers
WTC steel found buried at ground zero

Worldwide Wackos
Venezuela's Congress Grants Chavez Special Powers to Remake Country (Dictatorial powers, no less)
Castro still holds sway in Cuba: U.S.
Israel's Peretz says 2007 critical year on Iran

Politics / Government
Biden Defends Foot-in-Mouth Comments About Dem Rivals Obama, Edwards, Clinton (If a Republican had said this, he/she'd have been mincemeat by now...)
Eye on '08: Biden Stumbles Out of the Gate With Backfiring Shots at Dem Rivals
State Senator Censured for Page Misconduct
Al Franken to Make Senate Run in Minnesota (We are in the End Times...)
Bill Clinton's Stepfather Richard Kelley Dies
U.S. lets lawmakers see court spying documents
House approves huge spending bill
Bush: Link exec salaries to performance

Immigration / Border Control
U.S. plans hike in immigration, citizenship fees

In the Courts / Crime and Punishment / Law and Order
Cops Want Prison for 'Break' Actor - Lane Garrison could face manslaughter charge
Pregnant Woman: Cops Ignored Pleas for Aid
One of Three Pregnant Teens Sought in Frying Pan Attack Surrenders in Utah
New York Teen Fights Back Against Music-Downloading Lawsuit
Sister Says Man Who Decapitated Daughter Was Schizophrenic
Florida Police Kill Two Suspects in Murder of Sheriff's Wife and Deputy

Media in the Media / Bloggers in the News / Watching the Web
Liberal Columnist Molly Ivins Dead at 62

Science / Nature
Mexico discovery shows Olmecs had greater influence
Space station astronauts hook up cooling system
Astronauts Step Into Void - PHOTOS
Climate change doom reports don't stack up

News from My Neck of the Woods
Lawmakers push for gay marriage in Connecticut

Oddities
Couple Wins Lotto, Buys Ticket, Wins Again
Student Seeks to 'Rent' Girlfriend for Holidays
Ultimate 'Whatever Happened to...'
Docs Remove 93-Pound Cyst From Woman
Michael Jackson's Nanny Locks His Father Out
Cow Attacks, Kills Ohio Farmer
Town to immigrants: you can't kill women
Massage chairs recalled after fires

Other News of Note
119 Americans Stranded After Cruise Ship Runs Aground off Antarctic Island
Mother Accidentally Smothers Baby to Death While Trying to Fend Off Rats (This is horrible)

Fox News
Texas Mulls Fine for Missing PTA Meetings
Well-Known Computer Whiz Jim Gray Missing
Fed Holds Rates Steady
Stocks Soar
Report: Sienna Miller's 'Factory Girl' Sex Scenes the Real Thing
Reality Check: Disturbing Parenting on 'American Idol'
Brandy Sued for $50 Million in Fatal Crash

Reuters: Top News
Maya Nobel winner Menchu eyes Guatemala presidency
New Orleans plan sees 10-year, $14 bln rebuilding
Napster boss eyes strong mobile future
Grape juice good for the heart: study
High body count clouds sequel to "The Departed"
Fallen Miss USA admits cocaine use, alcoholism
Oil rises to $58 on U.S. distillates draw
Google falls after posting results
Boeing net up sharply on jet sales
U.S. steel shares climb on takeover speculation
Google profit rises
Founder back in charge of Dell
Starbucks first quarter profit up 18 percent
Boeing net up sharply on jet sales
Microsoft says Zune executive to leave the company
Fed holds rates steady, sees housing stabilizing

AP World News
Oils may cause breast growth in boys
Michael Dell returns to CEO role at Dell
Indiana ends Badgers' 17-game win streak .
Agent: Bonds won't sign revised contract
'Harry Potter' stage strip stirs storm
Google 4Q earnings nearly triple
Blood or urine? HGH testing feud simmers
Site tabs Beyonce top fantasy girlfriend
Yankee Stadium to host '08 All-Star game
US Airways withdraws bid for Delta
French health minister seeks nap study
Author Sidney Sheldon dies at 89

Military.com
Learn to use Your GI Bill
World's Largest Veteran Job Board
Understanding TRICARE
A Guide to Military Travel Benefits

CENTCOM: News Releases
BATAAN TRANSITS SUEZ CANAL, ENTERS U.S. 5TH FLEET
IRAQI POLICEMEN RECOGNIZED FOR SACRIFICE, DEDICATION
EMERGENCY RESPONSE UNIT COMPOUND IN RAMADI ATTACKED BY SVBIED
MORTAR ATTACK ON WESTERN BAGHDAD SCHOOL

USJFCOM
USJFCOM begins Integrated Battle Command Experiment Series - podcast
USJFCOM, others evaluate individual augmentee process - podcast
Training comes to a close in exercise for Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa - podcast
Liveblogging: Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa Mission Rehearsal Exercise 07-1 USJFCOM hosts first-responder focused modeling and simulation demonstration event

Department of Defense
NEWS UPDATES
Helicopters Attack Insurgents Placing Roadside Bomb in Iraq - Story
Stability & Security in Iraq Report (pdf)
For Top News Visit DefenseLink

ON THE GROUND
Rugged Terrain No Challenge for Riggers - Story
Army Destroys Insurgent Stronghold in Diyala - Story
Iraqi, Coalition Soldiers Destroy Training Site - Story
Iraqi Village Builds Women’s Center - Story

IN IRAQ
Vehicle Mechanics Keep Coalition Forces Moving
Engineers Improve Iraq Through Construction
Airborne Soldiers Receive Combat Badges
Air Ambulance Team Awarded for Daring Rescue
Iraqis, Coalition Reestablish Security Near Haifa

IN AFGHANISTAN
Female Medics Earn Respect from Afghan Army

BACKGROUND
IRAQ
Renewal In Iraq
Iraq: Security, Stability
Fact Sheet: Progress and Work Ahead
Report: Strategy for Victory in Iraq
Iraq Daily Update
This Week in Iraq
Multinational Force Iraq
State Dept. Weekly Iraq Report
'Boots on the Ground' Audio Archive
Weekly Reconstruction Report (PDF)
Iraq Reconstruction
Maps

AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan Update
Maps

WAR ON TERRORISM
Fact Sheet: Budget Request
Fact Sheet: Terror Plots Disrupted
Waging and Winning the War on Terror
Terrorism Timeline
Terrorism Knowledge Base

Weather
Afghanistan
Bost/Laskar Ghurian Herat Kabul Qandahar

Germany
Ansbach Aschaffenburg Berlin Berlin-Tempelhof Berlin/Schonefeld Bremerhaven
Darmstadt Frankfurt Frankfurt/Main Freiburg/Breisgau Garmisch
Garmisch-Partenkirchen Geilenkirchen Gelnhausen Giessen Kitzingen
Hanau Am Main Heidelberg Mainz Mannheim Nurnberg Stuttgart Trier
Wiesbaden Wurzburg

Gitmo

Guam
Agana Agana Heights Agat Andersen AFB Asan Barrigada

Iraq
Al Azamiyah Al Basrah Al Hillah Al Karkh Al Kazimiyah Al Kut
An Nasiriyah Baghdad Baqubah Mosul Najaf Nineveh Tall Kayf

Japan
Kadena Air Base Okinawa Tokyo Yokohama

Philippines
Baler Radar Site Catanduanes Radar Site Manila

South Korea
Cheju Upper/Radar Chonju Chunchon Inch'on Kunsan Masan Mokp'o
Osan Pusan Seoul Suwon Taegu Taejon Tonghae Radar Site Ulsan Yosu

* If you're deployed, and want to see your location's weather listed here, please email me!


Today in History
0772 - Adrian I begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1539 - Emperor Karel & King François I sign anti-English treaty
1587 - English queen Elizabeth I signs Mary Stuart's death sentence
1662 - Dutch garrison on Formosa surrenders for Chinese pirates
1669 - French King Louis XIV limits freedom of religion
1709 - British sailor Alexander Selkirk is rescued after being marooned on a desert island (Fernandez Island) for 5 years, his story is the inspiration for Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe"
1717 - Henri d'Aguesseau's 1st appointment as chancellor of France
1720 - Sweden & Prussia sign peace treaty
1742 - Sardinia & Austria sign alliance
1788 - 1st US steamboat patent issued, by Georgia to Briggs & Longstreet
1789 - Chinese troops driven out of Vietnam capital Thang Long
1790 - Supreme Court convenes for the 1st time (New York NY)
1793 - Patent granted Ralph Hodgson, New York, for oiled silk & linen; France declares war on England & Netherlands
1810 - Seville, Spain surrenders to the French
1814 - Volcano Mayon on Luzon Philippines erupts, killing 1,200
1840 - Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, 1st in US, incorporated
1861 - Texas becomes 7th state to secede
1862 - Julia Howe publishes "Battle Hymn of the Republic"
1864 - 2nd German-Danish war begins; Austrian/Prussian troops occupy Sleeswijk/Holstein; Battle of Yazoo River, Mississippi
1865 - 13th amendment approved (National Freedom Day); General Sherman's march through South Carolina begins; JS Rock, 1st Black lawyer to practice in Supreme Court, admitted to bar
1871 - Jefferson Long of Georgia is 1st Black to make an official speech in House of Representatives (opposing leniency to former Confederates)
1883 - French Lieutenant-Colonel Gustave Borgnis-Desbordes reaches Bamako on the Niger
1884 - 1st volume of the Oxford English Dictionary, A-Ant, published
1887 - Harvey Wilcox of Kansas subdivides 120 acres he owned in Southern California & starts selling it off as a real estate development (Hollywood)
1893 - Thomas Edison completes worlds 1st movie studio (West Orange NJ)
1898 - 1st auto insurance policy in US issued, by Travelers Insurance Company
1902 - China's empress Tzu-hsi forbids binding woman's feet
1905 - Hungarian premier Tisza resigns
1906 - 1st federal penitentiary building completed, Leavenworth KS
1910 - 1st British labour exchange opens; Dragoumis government forms in Greece
1917 - Admiral Tirpitz announces unlimited submarine war
1920 - 1st commercial armored car introduced (St Paul MN); Royal Canadian Mounted Police forms as Royal Northwest Mounted Police merge with Dominion Police
1923 - Allied ultimatum on Lithuanian occupation of Memel; Fascists Voluntary Militia forms in Italy under Mussolini
1924 - New British MacDonald government recognizes USSR
1926 - Kirghiz Autonomous Region in RSFSR becomes Kirghiz ASSR
1933 - Colonial government arrests Anton de Kom in Paramaribo Suriname; German Parliament dissolves, General Ludendorf predicts catastrophe
1934 - Austrian Chancellor Dollfuss dissolves all political parties but his own
1935 - 1st "March of Time" newsreel premieres at the Capitol
1937 - Stapleton, Staten Island, becomes a customs-free port
1940 - Russia begins new offensive against Finland
1942 - 2nd Norwegian government of Quisling forms
1943 - German occupiers make Vidkun Quisling Norwegian premier; Mussert forms pro Nazi shadow cabinet (Netherlands)
1944 - Supreme Soviet enlarges soviet republics' autonomy; US 7th Infantry/25th Marine Division lands on Kwajalein/Roi/Namur
1945 - US Army arrives at Siegfriedlinie
1946 - Trygve Lie, a Norwegian socialist, becomes 1st Secretary-General of UN; Republic of Hungary proclaimed, Zolt n Tildy as communist president
1947 - NV United Dutch Fokker's Aircraft established
1948 - Palestine Post building in Jerusalem bombed; Federation Malaysia forms from 9 sultanates
1950 - Urko Kekkonen elected president of Finland; USSR demands condemnation of Emperor Hirohito for war crimes
1951 - 1st X-ray moving picture process demonstrated; Alfred Krupp & 28 other German war criminals freed
1951 - UN condemns People's Republic of China as aggressor in Korea
1953 - "General Electric Theater" premieres on CBS TV; Reagan later hosts; "You Are There" with Walter Cronkite premieres on CBS television; Dr. A. de Waal appointed as Netherlands 1st female assistant Secretary of state; Flooding in Netherlands kills 1,835
1955 - H.C. Hansen appointed premier of Denmark
1956 - Hague Daily Newspaper reveals war crimes of Hague mayor Schokking
1957 - 1st black pilot (PH Young) on a US scheduled passenger airline
1958 - 1st US satellite (Explorer I) launched; Egypt & Syria announce plans to merge into United Arab Republic
1959 - Swiss males vote against voting rights for women; Texas Instruments requests patent of IC (Integrated Circuit)
1959 - Zack Wheat unanimously elected to baseball Hall of Fame
1960 - 4 students stage 1st civil rights sit-in, at Greensboro, NC Woolworth; Extreme right-wing rebels in Algiers surrender
1961 - 1st full-scale test of US Minuteman ICBM is successful
1963 - Nyasaland (now Malawi) becomes self-governing under Hastings Banda
1964 - Suriname River dammed
1965 - Martin Luther King Jr & 700 demonstrators arrested in Selma, AL; Peter Jennings, 26, becomes anchor of ABC's nightly news
1967 - Severe brush fires in Tasmania destroy $11 million & 60 lives
1968 - In what would become a famous photo, Saigon police chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan executes a Viet Cong officer with a pistol shot to the head; Vince Lombardi resigns as coach of the Green Bay Packers; Former Vice-President Richard Nixon announces candidacy for President; World trade conference Unctad 2 opens in New Delhi
1969 - Jim Morrison arrested for exposing himself in concert
1970 - Stalled commuter train rammed by express in Argentina, 139 die; West-Germany & USSR sign gas contract
1972 - 1st scientific hand-held calculator (HP-35) introduced ($395)
1975 - Otis Francis Tabler is 1st open homosexual to get security clearance to work for the Defense Department
1977 - Heavy blizzard in New England claims 100 lives
1978 - Director Roman Polanski skips bail & flees to France after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl
1978 - Harriet Tubman is 1st black woman honored on a US postage stamp
1979 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Iran after 15 years in exile; Patricia Hearst is released from a San Francisco prison for bank robbery
1981 - French government accord sends 60 Mirage fighter jets to Iraq
1982 - Senegal & Gambia form loose confederation (Senegambia); "Late Night With David Letterman" debuts on NBC-TV
1984 - Ravindara Mhatrem, Indian diplomat, kidnapped in England (killed 02/03); China & Netherlands regain diplomatic relations
1989 - Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 at perihelion; Princess Diana of England visits New York NY
1991 - South African President F.W. de Klerk says he will repeal all apartheid laws; Afghanistan/Pakistan hit by earthquake - 1,200 die; US Air & Skywest Fairchild commuter jet collide at Los Angeles Airport killing 32
1993 - New York Judge Sol Wachtler indicted for harassing Joy Silverman; Soyuz TM-16 lands
1994 - Large meteorite falls near Kusaie, Pacific Ocean
1995 - Amtrak's New York-Tampa run ends
2003 - The Space Shuttle Columbia breaks up during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, with the loss of all aboard.

Birthdays
1552 - Sir Edward Coke England, jurist/politician (defended common law)
1805 - Auguste Blanqui France, revolutionary (workers' leader)
1807 - William Bowen Campbell, Union Brigadier General
1819 - Henry Lawrence Eustis, Union Brigadier General
1829 - John Potts Slough, Union Brigadier General
1878 - Hattie Wyatt Caraway, politician/teacher/1st woman elected to senate
1882 - Louis St Laurent Compton, 12th Canadian PM (1948-57)
1896 - Anastasio "Tacho" Somoza, General/President of Nicaragua (1937-56)
1913 - Jeffrey Kindersley Quill Test pilot
1916 - Gordon Hobday Lord Lieutenant (Nottinghamshire)
1928 - Tom Lantos (Representative-CA)
1930 - Peter Tapsell, British MP
1931 - Boris Yeltsin Ural Mountains USSR, president of Russian SSR; Barrel [ABM] Frinking, teacher/Dutch MP (CVP); Ton [ABM] Frinking Dutch MP (CDA)
1932 - John Hart, newsman (CBS News Retrospective, NBC News); John Nott British MP
1935 - Vladimir Viktorovich Aksyonov, cosmonaut (Soyuz 22, T-2)
1939 - Paul E. Gillmor (Representative-OH)
1941 - Robert Walmsley, British Vice-Admiral
1943 - Lord Mountevans
1947 - Adam Ingram, British MP
1951 - Andrew Smith, British MP
1961 - Daniel M. Tani, astronaut

Passings
0656 - Sigebert III, King of Austrasia, dies at about 25
1204 - Alexius IV Angelus, regent of Byzantium (1203-04), murdered
1248 - Hendrik II, Duke of Brabant (1235-48)
1294 - Louis II the Stern, ruler of Upper-Bayern
1328 - Charles IV the Handsome, King of France (1322-28)
1650 - Rene Descartes, philosopher "I think therefore I am"
1666 - Sjihab al-Din Sultan C Shah Djahan mogol of India (Taj-Mahal), dies
1691 - Alexander VIII [Pietro Ottoboni], Italian Pope (1689-91), dies at 80
1733 - August II the Strong, King of Poland (355 children), dies at 62
1838 - Abraham de Veer, Dutch Governor-General of Suriname (1822-28), dies at 71
1908 - Carlos I, King of Portugal (1889-1908), assassinated by mob at 44
1957 - Friedrich von Paulus, German field marshal (Stalingrad), dies at 66
1966 - Nicholas Piantanida sets balloon flight record & dies in descent; Buster Keaton [Joseph Francis], US comic (General), dies at 69
1976 - Werner C. Heisenberg, physicist (Nobel 1932, field theory), dies at 74
1986 - Alva Myrdal, Swedish Nobel peace prize winner (1982), dies at 84
1991 - H.J. van Ommeren-Averink, Dutch MP (CPN); James G. MacDonald, cartoon voice (Mickey Mouse), dies at 84
1992 - Irving R. Kaufman federal judge (Rosenberg Case), dies at 81
2003 - Astronauts Rick D. Husband, William C. McCool, Michael P. Anderson, Ilan Ramon, Kalpana Chawla, Ph.D., David Brown, M.D., and Laurel Salton Clark, M.D., die when the Space Shuttle Columbia breaks up during re-entry (visit the NASA tribute)

Reported Missing in Action
1966
The following USMC personnel reported MIA when their KC130F was shot down during a refueling mission - all presumed KIA:
Alm, Richard A. (WA); crew

Coates, Donald L. (OR); crew

Humphrey, Galen F. (MO); navigator

Luker, Hubert B. (OH); crew

Prevost, Albert M. (CT); pilot

Vlahakos, Peter G., (ME); crewchief

Also reported MIA this day in 1966:
Dengler, Dieter, USN (CA); A1H shot down, escaped July, 1966 - alive as of 1998

Loheed, Hubert B., USN (MA); A4C shot down - remains ID'd August, 1994

1968
The following Civilians reported MIA when they were kidnapped / attacked at the Leprosarium near Ban Me Thuot, during the Tet Offensive:

Blood, Henry F., Wickcliff Translators; Killed in Captivity - remains ID'd July, 1998

Olsen, Betty Ann, Missionary Nurse (NY); DIC September, 1968

The following reported MIA during the Tet Offensive in Hue:
Adkins, Cloden, Civilian - Pacific Architects & Engineers; released by PRG March, 1973 - deceased as of October, 1997

Balagot, Arturo Mendoza, Civilian - Voice of America; released by DRV March, 1973 - deceased

Gostas, Theodore W., US Army (WY); released by PRG March, 1973 - alive as of 1998

Haukness, Steven A., Civilian - US State Department; remains recovered August, 1974 - ID'd March, 1975

Henderson, Alexander, Civilian; released by PRG March, 1973

Meyer, Lewis E., Civilian (CA); released by PRG March, 1973 - alive as of 1998

Olsen, Robert F., Civilian ; released by PRG March, 1973

Page, Russell J., Civilian; released by PRG March, 1973 - deceased

Rander, Donald J., Civilian (NY); released by PRG March, 1973 - alive as of 1998

Rushton, Thomas, Civilian - Pacific Architects & Engineers (CA); released by PRG March, 1973 - alive as of 1998

Spaulding, Richard Enid, Civilian, Pacific Architects & Engineers (OK); released by PRG March, 1973 - alive as of 1999

Stark, Lawrence J., Civilian (IL); released by PRG March, 1973 - alive and well as of 1998

Weaver, Eugene A., Civilian (WI); released by PRG March, 1973

Willis, Charles E., Civilian; released by PRG March, 1973 - alive as of 1998

Also reported MIA this day in 1968:
Johnson, Sandra, Civilian Teacher; captured with Nelson - released March, 1968

Murdock, Michael George, USMC (WA); CH46A shot down - remains recovered April, 1974

Manhard, Philip W., Civilian - US State Department; released by PRG March, 1973 (highest raking civilian captured) - deceased as of 1998

Nelson, Marjorie, Civilian Doctor; captured w/Johnson - released March, 1968

1969
Luna, Donald A., USAF (TX); O2A shot down