Wednesday, March 8, 2006

Spotlight
I am Woman; Hear me roar. Today is International Women's Day. The day was first marked as an international holiday in 1911, celebrated in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. Men and women attended rallies calling for women to be allowed to vote, hold public office, and enjoy equal opportunities in the workforce. Today, IWD rallies, lectures and sporting events will take place all over the world. In some countries, today is the beginning of International Women's Week; in the US, it kicks off International Women's Month.

Quote
"Some leaders are born women." – Seen on a T-shirt worn at International Women's Day rallies

Word of the day
complacent: unconcerned, overly contented; IWD encourages people to be less complacent and more assertive about women's rights. (© )

Today's News

• brain: researcher claims new blood test will detect Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (story)
• styrofoam: meets its match in bacteria (story)
• Stephan's Quintet: galactic collision causing giant shock wave (story)

Today's History

• Gnadenh?tten massacre: nearly 100 Native Americans were massacred by Pennsylvania militiamen during the American Revolution (1782)
• February Revolution: broke out in Russia – February 23 in the Julian calendar (1917)
• Nelson's Pillar: bomb destroyed column topped by statue of British hero Lord Nelson in Dublin (1966)

Today's Birthdays

• Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.: SCOTUS justice known as the Great Dissenter (1841-1935)
• Freddie Prinze, Jr.: actor, I Know What You Did Last Summer (30)
• Abigail and Brittany Hensel: US conjoined twins (16)