On this day in 2004, Comcast, America’s largest cable operator, abandons its $54 billion hostile takeover bid for the Walt Disney Company in the face of faltering stock prices and Disney’s continued refusal to entertain the proposal. If accepted, Comcast’s February bid would have made it the largest media company […]
Continue ReadingPat Tillman Killed By Friendly Fire In Afghanistan
Pat Tillman, who gave up his pro football career to enlist in the U.S. Army after the terrorist attacks of September 11, is killed by friendly fire while serving in Afghanistan on April 22, 2004. The news that Tillman, age 27, was mistakenly gunned down by his fellow Rangers, rather […]
Continue ReadingPhil Mickelson Wins First Major At Masters
On this day in 2004, Phil Mickelson wins the Masters Golf Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club, his first major championship in nearly 12 years as a professional golfer. A native of California, Mickelson graduated from Arizona State University, where he won three NCAA individual championships and three Haskins Awards […]
Continue ReadingFord GT Makes TV Debut In Super Bowl Ad
During the Super Bowl on this day in 2004, the first TV commercial airs for the Ford GT, a new, high-performance “supercar” based on Ford’s GT40 race car, which won the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race in France four years in a row starting in 1966. The TV […]
Continue ReadingThirteen-Year-Old Keisha Castle-Hughes Nominated For Best Actress Oscar
On this day in 2004, the actress Sigourney Weaver joins Frank Pierson, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, to announce the 76th annual Academy Award nominations. Weaver was a three-time Oscar nominee herself (twice for Best Actress, for 1986’s Aliens and 1988’s Gorillas in the Mist […]
Continue ReadingLast Classic VW Beetle Rolls Off The Line
On this day in 2003, the last of 21,529,464 Volkswagen Beetles built since World War II rolls off the production line at Volkswagen’s plant in Puebla, Mexico. One of a 3,000-unit final edition, the baby-blue vehicle was sent to a museum in Wolfsburg, Germany, where Volkswagen is headquartered. The car […]
Continue ReadingBob Hope Dies At 100
On this day in 2003, the legendary actor-comedian Bob Hope dies at age 100 in Toluca Lake, California. Known for entertaining American servicemen and women for more than five decades, Hope had a career that spanned the whole range of 20th century entertainment, from vaudeville to Broadway musicals to radio, […]
Continue ReadingQusay And Uday Hussein Killed
Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s sons, Qusay and Uday Hussein, are killed after a three-hour firefight with U.S. forces in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. It is widely believed that the two men were even more cruel and ruthless than their notorious father, and their death was celebrated among […]
Continue ReadingJessica Lynch Gets Hero’s Welcome
On this day in 2003, U.S. Army Private Jessica Lynch, a prisoner-of-war who was rescued from an Iraqi hospital, receives a hero’s welcome when she returns to her hometown of Palestine, West Virginia. The story of the 19-year-old supply clerk, who was captured by Iraqi forces in March 2003, gripped […]
Continue ReadingThousands Of Fans Join The Miami Funeral Procession Of Celia Cruz
On July 19, 2003, three days after her death from cancer at the age of 77, Latin music legend Celia Cruz has one of her final wishes granted when her body is flown to Miami, Florida, for a special public viewing by tens of thousands of fans prior to her […]
Continue ReadingTex Schramm Dies
On this day in 2003, former Dallas Cowboys General Manager Tex Schramm dies at the age of 83. Schramm served as the architect of 30 Cowboys teams, from the franchise’s inception as an NFL expansion team in 1960 until 1989, when owner Burn Bright sold the team to oil billionaire […]
Continue ReadingClaudette Crashes Into Texas Coast
Hurricane Claudette gathers strength over the Gulf of Mexico and heads for the Texas coast on this day in 2003. By the time it passes through Texas, it causes major damage, especially in Galveston, where it kills two people. Claudette began to form over St. Lucia in the Caribbean on […]
Continue ReadingWorld Health Organization Declares SARS Contained Worldwide
On this day in 2003, the World Health Organization (WHO) announces that all person-to-person transmission of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) has ceased. In the previous eight months, the disease had killed about 775 people in 29 countries and exposed the dangers of globalization in the context of public health. […]
Continue ReadingKobe Bryant Accuser Goes To Police
A female employee at a Colorado resort goes to police to file sexual misconduct charges against basketball star Kobe Bryant on this day in 2003. A few days later, an arrest warrant was issued for Bryant, and the ensuing case generated a media frenzy. On the night of June 30, […]
Continue ReadingMake Way For Ducklings Author Robert McCloskey Dies
On this day in 2003, children’s author and illustrator Robert McCloskey, whose books include such classics as “Make Way for Ducklings” and “Blueberries for Sal,” dies at age 88 in Deer Isle, Maine. Born in Hamilton, Ohio, in 1914, McCloskey studied art in Boston and New York in the 1930s. […]
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