Saturday, July 29, 2006

 

Spotlight: Dag Hammarskjöld, one of the United Nations' most influential secretaries-general (1953-61), was born on this date in 1905. Hammarskjöld's father, Hjalmar Hammarskjöld, was Prime Minister of Sweden (1914-17). Formerly an undersecretary of finance, chairman of the Bank of Sweden and a cabinet advisor on finance and economics, in the UN, Dag Hammarskjöld worked to ease tensions in the Middle East and among African nations fighting for independence. Killed in a plane crash in September 1961, Hammarskjöld was posthumously awarded that year's Nobel Peace Prize.

Quote: "'Freedom from fear' could be said to sum up the whole philosophy of human rights." – Dag Hammarskjöld

Today's News:

• Denmark: happiness researcher says it's No. 1 in the world; Burundi is unhappiest (story)
• trichloroethylene: common contaminant in drinking water may be carcinogenic (story)
• Daniel Radcliffe: Harry Potter actor heads to London stage to portray stable boy in Equus (story)
• Zinedine Zidane: "Headbutt" song inspired by World Cup
  incident is poised to become No. 1 download in France (story)

Today's History:

• Spanish Armada: was defeated by the English, led by Sir Francis Drake (1588)
• Vincent van Gogh: 37-year-old postimpressionist artist died in Auvers, France, two days after shooting himself (1890)
• Lady Di: married Prince Charles at St. Paul's Cathedral in London (1981)
• switch hitter: Red Sox batter Bill Mueller became the first major league ball player to hit grand slams from both sides of the plate in a single game (2003)

Today's Birthdays:

• Alexis de Tocqueville: French politician and writer of the classic Democracy in America (1805-1859)
• Elizabeth Dole: 2000 presidential candidate (70)
• Peter Jennings: anchor, World News Tonight (1938-2005)
• Allison Mack: reporter Chloe Sullivan on Smallville (24)