Friday, September 29, 2006

Spotlight
Pompey the Great was born 2111 years ago today (106 BCE). A brilliant general, Pompey was part of the First Triumvirate (61 BCE), along with Julius Caesar and Marcus Licinius Crassus. Crassus died in 53 BCE and, Caesar and Pompey became bitter enemies. When Pompey was made sole consul of Rome, Caesar went to battle against him, defeating Pompey's forces at the Battle of Pharsalus (48 BCE). Pompey fled to Egypt, where he was assassinated.

Quote
"Pompey lives after his battles, but his fortune has perished." — Lucan

Word of the day
tendentious -- biased (© )

Today's News

• China: claims success in thermonuclear fusion reactor test (story)
• multiple sclerosis: experimental treatment aces a test (story)
• Microsoft Zune: to cost the same as iPod (story)
• Maria Feodorovna: Russian czarina exiled by Bolsheviks is finally buried in Russia (story)
• Charlie Sheen: new salary deal would make him highest-paid sitcom star (story)
• ring finger: in women, if longer than index finger, is sign of athletic prowess (story)

Today's History

• Munich Pact: England and France agreed to give Nazi Germany the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia; this became a symbol of appeasement (1938)
• Babi Yar: Nazi SS shot more than 33,700 Jews at a ravine near Kiev (1941)
• The Catch: Willie Mays snagged a 450-foot blast in the World Series in one of baseball's most memorable plays (1954)
• Tylenol scare: began with the first of 7 deaths in the Chicago area from ingestion of cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules (1982)

Today's Birthdays

• Miguel de Cervantes: author of Don Quixote (1547-1616)
• Enrico Fermi: pioneer in nuclear fission (1901-1954)
• Jerry Lee Lewis: rock musician, "Great Balls of Fire" (71)
• Jill Whelan: Vicki Stubing on The Love Boat (40)