Monday, September 25, 2006

Spotlight
Sandra Day O'Connor was the first woman to be sworn into the US Supreme Court, 25 years ago today. Having served as an attorney in Arizona, O'Connor became assistant attorney general and was then elected to the State Senate where she became the first woman in the US to be elected senate majority leader (1972). O'Connor was appointed to the Supreme Court by Pres. Ronald Reagan. A centrist on the court, O'Connor often made the deciding vote on issues like affirmative action, First Amendment clauses and gender discrimination issues. In July 2005, she announced her retirement.

Quote
"As I've looked at Sandra Day O'Connor, she had an open-mindedness and an independence and called them as she saw them." — Dianne Feinstein

Word of the day
bantling -- a baby, a very young child (© )

Today's News

• Osama bin Laden: reports of typhoid death are premature (story)
• Thailand: speculation that ousted PM knew about coup in advance, slipped assets out of country (story)
• Ryder Cup: Europe defeats the US; takes 3rd straight trophy (story)
• Oprah Winfrey: against her will, is being supported for US president in '08 (story)
• George Michael: sets off on "25 Live" tour (story)

Today's History

• Pacific Ocean: was first seen by Europeans when Vasco Núñez de Balboa and his Spanish crew crossed the Isthmus of Panama (1513)
• polygamy: renounced by Mormon Church president Wilford Woodruff (1890)

Today's Birthdays

• Shel Silverstein: poet, illustrator, songwriter and composer, The Giving Tree, Where the Sidewalk Ends (1930-1999)
• Michael Douglas: actor/producer, Traffic (62)
• Christopher Reeve: star of Superman (1952-2004)
• Will Smith: actor, Men in Black (38)
• Heather Locklear: actress, Melrose Place, Spin City (45)
• Catherine Zeta-Jones: actress, Intolerable Cruelty (37)