Today in History: March 19, Bush announces Iraq invasion
In 1945, during World War II, more than 800 service members were killed when a Japanese dive bomber attacked the carrier USS Franklin near Japan.
In 1953, the 25th Academy Awards ceremony was the first to be televised; 'The Greatest Show on Earth' would win the Oscar for Best Picture.
Advertisement
In 1965, archeologist E. Lee Spence discovered the wreckage of the SS Georgiana, a Confederate ship that had sunk near Charleston, S.C., exactly 102 years earlier.
In 1966, Texas Western (now the University of Texas at El Paso) became the first team to start five Black players in the NCAA basketball tournament's championship game; they defeated top-ranked Kentucky in the final, 72-65.
In 1987, televangelist Jim Bakker resigned as chairman of his PTL ministry organization amid a sex and money scandal involving Jessica Hahn, a former church secretary.
In 1995, 17 months after announcing his retirement from basketball, Michael Jordan returned to play in the NBA with his former team, the Chicago Bulls. (He would go on to win three more NBA championships alongside the three he and the Bulls had already won.)
In 2003, in a televised address, President George W. Bush announced that coalition forces had begun an invasion of Iraq. (Bush would declare victory just over five weeks later in his 'Mission Accomplished' speech.)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Lexington men find community at White Castle, spinning yarns and downing sliders
It's 9:30 on a Saturday morning at the White Castle on Reynolds Road, and the party is in full swing. Ten men, several wearing caps noting their military service, are gathered around tables that have been pushed together, and the coffee and conversation are flowing. This group of Lexington White Castle regulars, most of whom are in their 80s and 90s, has become like a family, and some of them have made these chats over breakfast part of their daily morning routine for 30 years or more. 'They just cuss and discuss anything,' Randall Dowell joked. 'Mostly yarn spinning.' 'It's a camaraderie thing,' said Ed Parker. 'I come to White Castle for cheap food and fellowship. The food is great and the fellowship is great,' said Jim Atkins. 'Sometimes I come for breakfast and lunch.' Wayne Tullis says he's 'the baby' of the group, at 82 years old. On May 31, they celebrated their most senior member, John Hughes, who turned 99 May 9. There was cake for everyone, and restaurant employees feted Hughes with a pair of White Castle socks, a White Castle gift card and a cookie jar shaped like a slider in the signature blue and white box. 'Ain't everybody got one of them,' an admirer called from the other end of the table. There were blue and gold tablecloths, streamers hung from the ceiling, and a gold crown was placed atop Hughes' cap. 'You're king of the castle today,' said Gail Gurney, a White Castle district manager who has known the men for years. Hughes said he doesn't know how his 100th birthday could top his 99th. 'I'm shocked,' he said of the celebration. Hughes, a World War II veteran, thumbed through old photos of past gatherings with his buddies at White Castle, including one of another birthday party there years ago. 'I was an old man then,' he said. Bob Niles is a 95-year-old veteran who served during World War II and the Korean War. He said he's been eating sliders at White Castle since he was a youngster growing up in Louisville. 'We were really upset in high school when it went from a nickel to seven cents,' he said. Niles said he thinks the sliders still taste the same as they did back then, though. Dowell said he's been coming to the White Castle on Reynolds Road for 'forever... off and on probably 40 years.' He said he used to live in a complex behind the restaurant, but he now drives over from his home in Versailles to visit with his friends. White Castle, he said, is 'welcoming to service people. It has a good feel about it. We know most of these (employees) by name.' 'I don't think there's any subject that's sacred here,' said Dowell. 'We discuss anything and everything: the media, horse racing, farming.' Ray Wedding gives 'the tomato report.' 'Every year I put out 28, 30 plants or more just to have something to do,' said Wedding, showing off a cell phone photo of the tomato plants lining his backyard fence. When his Big Boys and Better Boys are ripe, he brings them in to share with his breakfast buddies. 'They're a friendly bunch and would do anything for you, I think, if they could,' said Wedding, 88. The men's relationships with the employees are as close as their bonds with each other. 'They're special to us,' said Gurney, the district manager. The regulars always order the same thing, and the staff knows what each wants before he says a word. 'As soon as we see their cars pull in the lot, we start making their food,' she said. 'We are all just like family.' Gurney started working at White Castle as a 16-year-old and has been with the company for 37 years now, working her way up to district manager. Dowell told her Saturday he thinks he can remember her first day on the job. 'She is the cornerstone behind all of this,' Dowell said. 'They've watched me go from this store to the other store' across town, she said. When her son had a bone marrow transplant, she said the morning regulars took up a collection to help out, since Gurney had to be off work for six months. 'They wanted to make sure that I was OK to take off work,' Gurney said. 'My customers took care of me.' And she takes care of them too. Gurney said staff members have contact numbers for some of the guys in the back, and if someone doesn't show up for breakfast for a few days, they'll call to check on them. And they make sure the egg on Hughes' bologna and egg sandwich comes with an unbroken yolk, something not just anyone can get at White Castle. Hughes doesn't come in to White Castle every day anymore, Gurney said, so 'it's a special day when he walks in the store.' Hughes still drives, but not as far as he used to. He said Saturday that he usually spends his mornings at the McDonald's on Winchester Road, because it's closer to his home. But the group at White Castle knows he reserves the last Saturday of every month for them. 'We solve all problems,' Hughes said. The makeup of the White Castle regulars group has changed over the years, as some members have died or moved away. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, there were 12 or 15 guys getting together every morning, Tullis said. 'The pandemic got some of them,' Atkins said. But the regulars didn't let even a pandemic keep them from getting together. Tullis said they sat outside during those days, and the staff brought food out to them. 'We were in our cars and trucks,' Tullis said. 'We yelled at one another,' Parker added. How did they all come together in the first place decades ago? 'It was just a couple people, and they had a friend' who they invited, Tullis said. 'It just kept collecting.' Tullis invited Dick LeMaster, 90. 'I'm here every day, six days a week,' LeMaster said. He always gets the same thing: a sausage, egg and cheese sandwich and a cup of coffee. LeMaster, in turn, invited Mike Blackard. 'I show up about once a week. It's a fun group,' Blackard said. He said he enjoys the wealth of knowledge the men have accumulated over their lives. 'They've done it all,' he said. LeMaster said his granddaughter, a University of Kentucky student, once brought some of her classmates out to observe the group. And what did they learn? LeMaster, who served in the Army and was stationed in Japan during the Korean War, said her assessment was that the guys liked to talk about the past, not the future. His assessment: 'We're social people. We just like to chat and visit., tell the same stories over and over.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Travis Kelce Makes Bold Statement to NBA Legend About Taylor Swift Regaining Control of Her Music
Travis Kelce Makes Bold Statement to NBA Legend About Taylor Swift Regaining Control of Her Music originally appeared on Parade. fans have dubbed May 30 Swiftie Independence Day after the singer announced she finally regained control of her masters last weekend and purchased her entire music catalog, but there may not be anyone prouder of her than boyfriend . During the Wednesday, June 4 edition of New Heights — the podcast that the Kansas City Chiefs player shares with brother Jason Kelce — he celebrated Swift's major win with guest Shaquille O'Neal. 🎬SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox🎬 On a clip from the episode that was shared on TikTok, Shaq says he needs to show the Kelce brothers something before hitting play on Taylor's song "I Knew You Were Trouble," immediately sending Travis into dance mode. Not only did Travis take the opportunity to boogie down, but he also showed his Swift smarts by acknowledging that the version Shaq played was from the original Red album, not the more recently released Taylor's Version. 'Shout out to Tay Tay,' Travis said. 'Just got that song back, too." He continued, "Just bought all her music back. So it's finally hers too man. I appreciate that dog."Fans are swooning over Travis' latest show of very public support for Taylor — something that hasn't always been a given in her past relationships, especially when it came to Joe Alwyn, who once refused to name his favorite song of hers in an interview with British GQ back in 2018. "I love how excited Trav was to say that she just got all her music back," one fan commented on TikTok. Another wrote, "Travis's face when anyone talks about Taylor! I love how much he loves her!" Travis, never change. Once you have the Swifties on your side, you're in good. Travis Kelce Makes Bold Statement to NBA Legend About Taylor Swift Regaining Control of Her Music first appeared on Parade on Jun 4, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 4, 2025, where it first appeared.
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Michael Beasley posts raunchy message after epic $100K one-on-one win over Lance Stephenson
Michael Beasley didn't wait long to bust out some outlandish talk after defeating Lance Stephenson in their hyped one-on-one matchup for $100,000. The former Lakers teammates were the main event of the TNC 02 pay-per-view basketball event in Miami on Friday night and delivered what they considered one of the top one-on-one games ever. 5 Michael Beasley celebrates beating Lance Stephenson in a one-on-one game for $100K on Friday night. Overtime/IG Advertisement Beasley bested Stephenson, 31-21, to cash the big check with injured Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving in attendance. Stephenson, 34, cordially tagged the 36-year-old Beasley in an Instagram story after the heated matchup and wrote: 'Great game bro.' That's when things got weird. Advertisement Beasley, who played 74 games for the Knicks in 2017-18, responded to the message with one of his own and somehow dragged the Kardashian into the fray. 'I love you to the moon and back… Now grab a cigarette and a towel… We made a sex tape Kim K would envy,' Beasley wrote back with three crying laughing emojis. 5 Michael Beasley posts raunchy message after $100K win over Lance Stephenson in epic one-on-one battle Michael Beasley/Instagram Advertisement The game itself had a little bit of everything, even if Beasley never trailed after a fast 4-0 start that had Irving on commentary saying he 'would never' want to play Beasley one-on-one Stephenson even got feisty with the ref and fans at points, but it wasn't enough to beat Beasley. Beasley, who played 11 seasons in the NBA, never quite reached the lofty expectations of being the No. 2 pick overall by the Heat in 2008. 5 Michael Beasley (r.) and Lance Stephenson battle in a one-on-one game for $100K on Friday night. Overtime/Instagram Advertisement He was the better scorer between him and Stephenson, averaging 12.4 points per game for his career. Stephenson, the Coney Island product, played 10 seasons in the NBA, including seven with the Pacers. 5 Lance Stephenson #6 of the Indiana Pacers celebrates during the 108-90 win over the Toronto Raptors at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on April 4, 2017. Getty Images 5 Knicks forward Michael Beasley (8) drives as he is defended by Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) during the second quarter in 2017. Bill Kostroun/New York Post He was one of the best defenders of his era after being drafted 40th overall in 2010 — as he and LeBron James had some epic playoff battles. Stephenson averaged 8.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game for his career.
