| Thursday, June 14, 2007 |
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| Stars and Stripes | |
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Spotlight: June 14 is Flag Day in the United States. It has been 230 years since the Stars and Stripes was officially adopted as the nation's flag. The first Flag Act called for the flag to consist of 13 stripes, alternating red and white, and 13 stars, representing the 13 colonies, which would be white on a blue background. In 1818, the design was adapted to include a star for each state. The term "Stars and Stripes," coined by Marquis de Lafayette to describe the United States, became a common nickname for the country's flag. Later, the name "Old Glory" was used by ship captain William Driver for a flag that was presented to him as a gift and that he fought to protect.
Quote: "O! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave?" Today's News:
- Shimon Peres: Nobel Peace Prize winner is elected Israeli president (story)
- bowhead whale: 115-year-old specimen is found off Alaska, dated by weapon fragment embedded in its neck (story)
- Pepsi Ice Cucumber: cucumber-flavored soda selling well in Japan this summer (story)
- Jennifer Aniston: former Friends actress to produce, perhaps star in movie about singing female prisoners (story)
Today's History:
- US Army: was founded to fight the British (1775)
- Auschwitz: largest Nazi concentration camp opened in German-occupied Poland (1940)
- TWA Flight 847: was hijacked by Lebanese Shiites after takeoff from Athens, beginning a 17-day ordeal (1985)
Today's Birthdays:
- Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896): author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, an anti-slavery bestseller
- Che Guevara (1928-1967): Marxist/Leninist revolutionary
- Donald Trump (61): real estate mogul
- Boy George (46): British singer with androgynous look
