Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Spotlight
The 59th Cannes Film Festival opens today with the showing of Ron Howard's "The Da Vinci Code," starring Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Jean Reno, Ian McKellen and Alfred Molina. The film will open today in theaters in France, and worldwide on May 19. The film festival will run until May 28, when awards will be presented.

Quote
"Writing an informative yet compact thriller is a lot like making maple sugar candy. You have to tap hundreds of trees, boil vats and vats of raw sap, evaporate the water, and keep boiling until you've distilled a tiny nugget that encapsulates the essence." – Dan Brown

Word of the day
priory: a monastery run by a prior; in The Da Vinci Code, the murdered curator is a member of the Priory of Sion. (© )

Today's News

• Iran: says "no, thanks" to potential European offer of incentives for giving up uranium enrichment (story)
• Miami: is top US city for road rage (story)
• Central Park: to become free WiFi hot spot, along with other NYC parks (story)
• Taylor Hicks: is Simon Cowell's prediction for next American Idol (story)

Today's History

• Buttonwood Agreement: foundation of the NYSE (1792)
• Norway: became a constitutional monarchy (1814)
• segregation: outlawed unanimously by the US Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Today's Birthdays

• Maureen O'Sullivan: Jane of Tarzan fame (1911-1998)
• Dennis Hopper: actor/filmmaker, Easy Rider, Speed (70)
• Channing Frye: 6'11" New York Knicks rookie (23)