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Highlight in History
On Feb. 16, 1968, the nation’s first 911 emergency telephone system was inaugurated in Haleyville, Ala., as the speaker of the Alabama House, Rankin Fite, placed a call from the mayor’s office in City Hall to a red telephone at the police station that was answered by U.S. Rep. Tom Bevill.
On this date
In 1804, Lt. Stephen Decatur led a successful raid into Tripoli Harbor to burn the U.S. Navy frigate Philadelphia, which had fallen into the hands of pirates.
In 1923, the burial chamber of King Tutankhamen’s recently unearthed tomb was unsealed in Egypt by English archaeologist Howard Carter.
In 1959, Fidel Castro became premier of Cuba a month and a half after the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista.
In 1961, the United States launched the Explorer 9 satellite.
In 1977, Janani Luwum, the Anglican archbishop of Uganda, and two other men were killed in what Ugandan authorities said was an automobile accident.
In 1987, John Demjanjuk went on trial in Jerusalem, accused of being “Ivan the Terrible,” a guard at the Treblinka Nazi concentration camp. (Demjanjuk was convicted, but the conviction ended up being overturned by the Israeli Supreme Court.)
In 1988, seven people were shot to death during an office rampage in Sunnyvale, Calif., by a man who was obsessed with a co-worker, who was wounded in the attack. (The gunman, Richard Farley, is under sentence of death.)
In 1998, a China Airlines Airbus A300-600R trying to land in fog near Taipei, Taiwan, crashed, killing all 196 people on board, plus six on the ground.
Ten years ago
More than 100,000 people demonstrated in the streets of San Francisco to protest a possible U.S. invasion of Iraq. Michael Waltrip raced past leader Jimmie Johnson to win the rain-shortened Daytona 500 for the second time in three years. Eleanor “Sis” Daley, the matriarch of Chicago’s Daley political clan, died at age 95.
Five years ago
President George W. Bush, on a six-day tour of Africa, made his first stop in Benin (beh-NEEN’) before flying on to Tanzania. John McCain, the presumed Republican presidential nominee, picked up a total of 50 GOP national convention delegates from Michigan and Louisiana. A car plowed into a group of street-racing fans obscured by a cloud of tire smoke on an isolated Maryland highway, killing eight people in the early morning darkness.
One year ago
A federal judge in Detroit ordered life in prison for Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a young Nigerian man who’d tried to blow up a packed Northwest jetliner with a bomb concealed in his underwear.
New York Times correspondent Anthony Shadid, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, died of an apparent asthma attack in Syria while reporting on the uprising against its president; he was 43. Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter died in West Palm Beach, Fla., at age 57.
Top News
Today in History for Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013
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Judge: Ariz. sheriff’s office profiles Latinos
A federal judge ruled Friday that the office of America’s self-proclaimed toughest sheriff systematically singled out Latinos in its trademark immigration patrols, marking the first finding by a court that the agency racially profiles people.
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Today in History for Saturday, May 25, 2013
Today is Saturday, May 25, the 145th day of 2013. There are 220 days left in the year.
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VHS graduation to be broadcast online
Valdosta City Schools along with Valdosta High School will celebrate the academic careers of our students on Friday, May 24, at its annual Commencement Ceremony beginning at 7:00 pm at Valdosta State University's Physical Education Complex.
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VDT Weekend Update
News Reporter Caitlin Barker speaks to Bernard Bulemu and Eric Mathis, representatives from the South Georgia Regional Library about their summer programs for kids, teens and adults during the month of June, as well as lists fun summer camps taking place in the Valdosta area.
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Man shot by FBI had ties to Boston bombing suspect
A Chechen immigrant shot to death in Florida after an altercation with an FBI agent implicated himself in a triple slaying that officials believe may have been connected to Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, authorities said.
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WHO: Scientific red tape mars efforts vs. virus
International efforts to combat a new pneumonia-like virus that has now killed 22 people are being slowed by unclear rules and competition for the potentially profitable rights to disease samples, the head of the World Health Organization warned Thursday.
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Jurors deadlock on Jodi Arias penalty; retrial set
Jurors who spent five months determining Jodi Arias’ fate couldn’t decide whether she should get life in prison or die for murdering her boyfriend, sending prosecutors back to the drawing board to rehash the shocking case of sex, lies and violence to another 12 people.
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Lt. Gov. visits Valdosta
Lt. Governor Casey Cagle delivered a message of optimism and preference for prudent investments for Valdosta and Lowndes County Thursday morning, which he is confident will pull Georgia out of recession, build jobs and launch Valdosta into a new business heyday.
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I-5 bridge collapses in Washington state
An Interstate 5 bridge over a river north of Seattle collapsed Thursday evening, dumping vehicles and people into the water, the Washington State Patrol said.
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Today in History for Friday, May 24, 2013
Today is Friday, May 24, the 144th day of 2013. There are 221 days left in the year.
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