Friday, March 10, 2006

Spotlight
With the words, "Mr. Watson, come here. I want you," the world was changed. Alexander Graham Bell made the first coherent telephone call on this date in 1876, three days after he got a patent for his invention. The call, made to his assistant, Thomas Watson, was the first time a distinct sentence was transmitted over wire. Two months later, Bell demonstrated the telephone to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Boston, and to the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition.

Quote
"When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us." – Alexander Graham Bell

Word of the day
persevere: to persist, undeterred by obstacles, in achieving a goal; Bell and Watson persevered in their work. (© )

Today's News

• bird flu: US strengthens screening efforts ahead of spring migration (story)
• Microsoft: unfolds its Origami project (story)
• Everybody Loves Raymond: cast members go on to new shows (story)

Today's History

• Personal Rule: King Charles I of England dissolved Parliament and began 11 years of ruling alone (1629)
• Nasdaq: stock market peaked at 5132.52, marking the beginning of the end of the dot-com boom (2000)
• syzygy: all the planets lined up on the same side of the sun (1982)

Today's Birthdays

• Kim Campbell: first female PM of Canada (59)
• Sharon Stone: actor, Basic Instinct (48)
• Shannon Miller: Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast (29)