Today's Highlights:
Friday, October 20, 2006
| Friday, October 20, 2006 |
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| The Sydney Opera House | |
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Spotlight: Queen Elizabeth II formally opened the Sydney Opera House on this date in 1973. Huge crowds were on hand to watch the fireworks and hear the performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. The opera house was designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon. Over one million glazed granite tiles make up the roofs. Though there were complications that forced Utzon to leave the project in 1966, he has since received several awards for his design, including the Order of Australia and the Pritzker Prize.
Today's News:
- Social Security: going up by 3.3% (story)
- autism: linked to TV viewing according to study by Cornell business professors (story)
- Michael Schumacher: last Formula One race of the season to be last race of his career (story)
- spotted eagle ray: 81 year old man attacked in Florida; similar to 'Croc Hunter' attack (story)
- Borat: invited to Kazakhstan (story)
Today's History:
- Act of Supremacy: made Henry VIII head of the Church of England (1534)
- Louisiana Purchase: was ratified by the US Senate (1803)
- Saturday Night Massacre: special prosecutor Archibald Cox and others lost their jobs during Watergate (1973)
Today's Birthdays:
- John Dewey: philosopher, pragmatist educator (1859-1952)
- Mickey Mantle: New York Yankees slugger (1931-1995)
- Jerry Orbach: actor, Law and Order (1935-2004)
- Elfriede Jelinek: Nobel-winning Austrian writer (60)
- Viggo Mortensen: Aragorn in Lord of the Rings (48)
- Snoop Dogg: rapper (34)
