Friday, April 29, 2005

Spotlight
Happy 51st birthday to comedian Jerry Seinfeld. The stand-up comedian became a household name when his TV series, Seinfeld, became a long-running hit. Also starring Jason Alexander, Michael Richards and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, the show prided itself on being about "nothing." After nine years, Seinfeld decided to end the show in 1998, and returned to performing on stage, and writing.

Quote
"I am so busy doing nothing... that the idea of doing anything -- which as you know, always leads to something -- cuts into the nothing and then forces me to have to drop everything." -- Jerry Seinfeld

Word of the day
minutia: small detail, triviality; Seinfeld episodes were made up of the minutiae of everyday life. (© )

Today's News

• Schwarzenegger: losing fans in California (story)
• melanoma: rising threat to youngsters (story)
• ivory-billed woodpecker: 'extinct' bird rediscovered in Arkansas (story)

Today's History

• Joan of Arc: led in victory over the English in Orleans (1429)
• Peter Roget: published the first edition of his Thesaurus (1852)
• race riots: erupted over acquittal of LA police accused of beating Rodney King (1992)

Today's Birthdays

• musicians: Duke Ellington (1899-1974), Zubin Mehta (69), and Carnie Wilson (37)
• competitive sports: Dale Earnhardt (1951-2001) and Andre Agassi (35)
• actors: Celeste Holm (85), Kate Mulgrew (50), Daniel Day-Lewis (48), Eve Plumb (47), and Uma Thurman (35)