Monday, December 8, 2003

 

Spotlight: Topic of the Day: In The American Society of Composers, Artists and Poets list of 25 most-performed holiday songs, "Santa Claus is coming to town" is number one, and rounding out the list is Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime".

Word of the day: prebend -- a stipend furnished by a cathedral to a chapter canon (© )

Today's News:

• Hamas & Islamic Jihad -- refused a full cease-fire against pressure from Ahmed Qurei (story)
• North Korea -- nuclear reactor talks to start (story)
• Atlanta Braves -- cut ties with Greg Maddux, Javy Lopez, and Gary Sheffield (story)

Today's History:

• Pope Pius IX -- proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception (1854)
• John Lennon -- shot to death (1980)
• Commonwealth of Independent States -- established by Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine (1991)

Today's Birthdays:

• Eli Whitney -- inventor of the cotton gin (1765-1825)
• Sammy Davis, Jr. -- singer of "The Candy Man" (1925-1990)
• Sinead O'Connor -- that bald-headed Irish singer turns 37