by tyler | Mar 7, 2024 | CNN, us
Here’s a look at the life of astronaut James Lovell.
Birth date: March 25, 1928
Birth place: Cleveland, Ohio
Birth name: James Arthur Lovell Jr.
Father: James Lovell Sr.
Mother: Blanche Lovell
Marriage: Marilyn (Gerlach) Lovell (1952-present)
Children: Jeffrey, Susan, James III and Barbara
Education: Attended University of Wisconsin, 1946-1948; US Naval Academy, B.S., 1952
Military: US Navy, 1952-1973, Captain (Ret.)
The first astronaut to make four space flights, including Apollo 8 and Apollo 13.
He is the astronaut known for the phrase, “Houston, we’ve had a problem,” during the Apollo 13 mission.
Has more than 715 hours of spaceflight.
On Christmas Eve, the Apollo 8 astronauts described the moon and then read from the book of Genesis during a live television broadcast from space.
1958-1962 – Works as a test pilot at the Naval Air Test Center in Maryland.
September 1962 – Is selected by NASA to be an astronaut.
December 4-18, 1965 – Serves as the pilot on Gemini 7 under Commander Frank Borman. They are joined in space by Gemini 6; it is the first manned spacecraft rendezvous.
November 11-15, 1966 – Serves as the commander of Gemini 12, with pilot Buzz Aldrin.
December 21-27, 1968 – Along with crewmen Borman and William Anders, Lovell serves as command module pilot of Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon.
April 11-17, 1970 – Serves as commander of Apollo 13 with crew John Swigert and Fred Haise. An explosion two days into the flight causes the mission to be aborted, and the remaining time is spent working towards returning to Earth safely.
April 18, 1970 – Receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
1971-1973 – Serves as deputy director of the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
March 1, 1973 – Retires from the Navy and NASA. Begins working at the Bay-Houston Towing Company.
January 1977 – Is appointed president of Fisk Telephone Systems, Inc.
1981 – Is named an executive vice president of Centel Corporation, which acquired Fisk Telephone Systems in 1980.
1991 – Retires from Centel Corporation.
March 19, 1993 – Lovell Is inducted into the US Astronauts Hall of Fame.
1994 – Lovell’s book, co-written with Jeffrey Kluger, “Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13,” is published.
1995 – The movie “Apollo 13” premieres. Lovell’s character is played by Tom Hanks.
July 26, 1995 – Is awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor by President Bill Clinton.
1998 – Is enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame.
1999 – Opens the restaurant Lovells of Lake Forest in Lake Forest, Illinois.
October 2010 – The Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center is established in Chicago.
November 2011 – An Apollo 13 checklist that Lovell used for calculations sells at auction for $388,375. After the sale, NASA questions whether Lovell had the right to sell the checklist.
January 2012 – NASA Chief Charles Bolden meets with Lovell and other astronauts to discuss to work out the issue of artifact ownership. No agreement is reached.
September 2012 – President Barack Obama signs a bill into law giving NASA’s Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronauts full ownership rights to the artifacts they collected from their missions.
September 8, 2018 – Is honored with the Adler Planetarium’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
July 20, 2019 – Sotheby’s offers a “Space Exploration” auction which includes many personal items from Lovell and the other astronauts involved in the Apollo moon missions. Days later, three original NASA moon landing videos sell for $1.82 million at the auction.
by tyler | Mar 7, 2024 | CNN, us
Here’s a look at the life of writer and activist Gloria Steinem.
Birth date: March 25, 1934
Birth place: Toledo, Ohio
Birth name: Gloria Marie Steinem
Father: Leo Steinem, an antique dealer
Mother: Ruth (Nuneviller) Steinem
Marriage: David Bale (2000-2003, his death)
Education: Smith College, B.A., 1956
Steinem’s paternal grandmother, Pauline Perlmutter Steinem, was the president of the Ohio Woman Suffrage Association.
Breast cancer survivor.
Did not spend a full year in school until age 12.
1956-1958 – Lives in India on a Chester Bowles Fellowship.
1960 – Moves to New York and begins working at Help! magazine.
September 1, 1962 – One of her first feature articles is published by Esquire magazine.
1963 – Works undercover as a “Bunny” at the Playboy Club in New York and then writes an exposé about the poor pay and working conditions.
1968 – Helps found New York magazine, and begins writing features and political columns including, “The City Politic.”
1969 – Begins writing and speaking about feminism after attending a meeting held by a women’s movement group that addressed the issue of abortion.
May 6, 1970 – Testifies before the United States Senate in support of the Equal Rights Amendment.
1971 – Co-founds the National Women’s Political Caucus, which works to increase the number of women in the political field.
1972 – Co-founds Ms. Magazine, the first feminist magazine, and the first to be created and operated entirely by women.
1973 – Co-founds the Ms. Foundation for Women.
November 18-21, 1977 – Organizes and attends the National Women’s conference in Texas. The conference is the first to be backed by the US government, and its purpose was proposing recommendations for widespread gender equality.
1983 – Steinem’s collection of essays “Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions” is published.
1992 – Steinem’s book “Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem” is published.
1992 – Co-founds Choice USA (now URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity), along with Julie Burton and Kristina Kiehl.
April 22, 1993 – Celebrates the first “Take Our Daughters To Work Day,” an educational program created by the Ms. Foundation to give girls a voice and presence in the workplace.
1993 – Inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.
January 12, 1993 – Co-produces the movie for television “Better off Dead” an examination of the parallels between abortion and the death penalty.
1996 – Creates the Women and AIDS Fund with the Ms. Foundation to support women living with HIV/AIDS.
2005 – Co-founds the Women’s Media Center with Jane Fonda and Robin Morgan.
2006 – Steinem’s book “Doing Sixty & Seventy” is published.
August 15, 2011 – The HBO documentary, “Gloria: In Her Own Words,” airs.
2013 – Steinem is a subject in the PBS documentary, “Makers,” a project that aims to record the stories of women who “made America.”
November 20, 2013 – Is awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom by US President Barack Obama.
October 19, 2015 – Pens an op-ed in The Guardian declaring her support for 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
October 27, 2015 – Her memoir, “My Life on the Road,” is published.
February 5, 2016 – Steinem makes a controversial comment on “Real Time with Bill Maher,” saying young women are supporting Senator Bernie Sanders in the presidential race because “the boys are with Bernie.” She later apologizes and claims her comment was misinterpreted.
May 10, 2016 – Steinem’s television show “WOMAN” premieres on VICELAND.
October 18, 2018 – The Off-Broadway production, “Gloria: A Life,” officially opens at the Daryl Roth Theatre.
October 29, 2019 – Steinem’s book “The Truth Will Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off!” is published.
June 15, 2020 – Steinem and S. Mona Sinha co-write a New York Times letter to the editor opposing the elimination of civil rights protections for transgender healthcare.
September 30, 2020 – ”The Glorias,” a film is based on Steinem’s memoir “My Life on the Road,” premieres.
by tyler | Mar 7, 2024 | CNN, us
Here’s a look at the life of Nikki Haley, former US ambassador to the United Nations and former Republican governor of South Carolina.
Birth date: January 20, 1972
Birth place: Bamberg, South Carolina
Birth name: Nimrata Nikki Randhawa
Father: Ajit S. Randhawa, professor and business owner
Mother: Raj Kaur Randhawa, teacher and business owner
Marriage: Michael Haley (1996-present)
Children: Rena and Nalin
Education: Clemson University, B.S., 1994
Religion: Christian
Haley’s parents are Indian immigrants who owned Exotica International Inc., a small foreign goods store that evolved into a multimillion-dollar clothing and gift venture. Exotica closed in 2008 when the Randhawas retired.
Haley helped with bookkeeping at her parents’ business when she was a teenager.
Her husband served in the National Guard and was deployed in Afghanistan for a year. He was part of an agricultural team that trained Afghan farmers how to turn their poppy crops into food crops.
Haley was raised in the religion of Sikh but converted to Christianity in her 20s. In an interview with the New York Times, Haley said she and her husband, “chose Christianity because of the way we wanted to live our life and raise our children.”
In 2011, she made history by being the first woman and the first person of an ethnic minority to hold the governorship of South Carolina. She is also the second Indian-American governor in US history. Bobby Jindal was the first, in Louisiana.
1998 – Is named to the Orangeburg County Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors.
2003 – Is named to the Lexington Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors.
2004 – Becomes the president of the National Association of Women Business Owners.
2004 – Haley is elected to South Carolina House of Representatives’ 87th District.
2005 – Is elected chairman of the State House’s Freshman Caucus.
2006 – Serves as majority whip in the South Carolina General Assembly.
2006 and 2008 – Is reelected to her seat in the South Carolina state House of Representatives.
November 2, 2010 – Is elected governor of South Carolina, with the support of the Tea Party movement.
January 12, 2011 – Takes office as the governor of South Carolina.
April 2012 – Her autobiography, “Can’t Is Not an Option: My American Story,” is published.
November 8, 2014 – Is reelected for a second four-year term as governor.
June 22, 2015 – Calls for the removal of the Confederate battle flag from the South Carolina State House grounds days after Dylann Roof opened fire at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Roof was repeatedly photographed with the Confederate flag. The flag is taken down weeks later.
January 12, 2016 – Delivers the Republican party’s response to President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union address.
November 23, 2016 – President-elect Donald Trump announces Haley as his selection to serve as the US ambassador to the United Nations.
January 24, 2017 – The Senate confirms Haley as the next UN ambassador by a vote of 96-4.
January 24, 2017 – Resigns as governor of South Carolina.
January 25, 2017 – Is sworn in as ambassador to the United Nations.
September 2017 – In an interview with Elise Labott published in CNN’s STATE Magazine, Haley discusses her conditions for becoming US ambassador to the United Nations, including the condition that she be able to speak her mind.
December 10, 2017 – Haley says that any women who speak up about inappropriate sexual behavior “should be heard,” including Trump’s accusers.
December 21, 2017 – In a speech in front of the UN General Assembly, Haley warns participating countries that the United States will think twice about funding the world body if it votes to condemn Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move the US embassy there. Despite Haley’s threat, member nations overwhelmingly vote in favor of the resolution condemning the Trump administration for its decision on Israel.
December 26, 2017 – Haley says the United States has negotiated a $285 million reduction of the UN budget for 2018-2019, compared to the budget for 2016-2017.
October 9, 2018 – Haley submits her resignation as UN ambassador. She will leave her post by the end of the year.
February 2019 – Launches the policy advocacy group Stand for America.
February 26, 2019 – Boeing announces its board of directors has nominated Haley for a seat on the board.
April 29, 2019 – Haley is elected to Boeing’s board of directors during the company’s annual shareholder meeting.
November 12, 2019 – Haley’s memoir, “With All Due Respect: Defending America with Grit and Grace” is published.
December 2019 – During an interview with conservative podcaster, Glenn Beck, Haley revisits her decision to remove the Confederate flag from the South Carolina State House after the 2015 mass shooting at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. Haley says that gunman Dylann Roof “hijacked” the meaning of the flag. She explains the flag signified service, sacrifice and heritage to many people. She later says, via Twitter, that her remark was misconstrued by “the outrage peddlers in the liberal media.”
March 19, 2020 – Boeing releases a March 16 letter from Haley in which she resigns from the board of directors. She states, “I cannot support a move to lean on the federal government for a stimulus or bailout that prioritizes our company over others and relies on taxpayers to guarantee our financial position. I have long held strong convictions that this is not the role of government.”
October 4, 2022 – Haley’s book, “If You Want Something Done: Leadership Lessons from Bold Women,” is published.
February 14, 2023 – Haley announces in a video that she will run for president in 2024.
March 6, 2024 – Haley announces she is ending her presidential campaign.
by tyler | Mar 7, 2024 | CNN, world
Here is a look at Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting.
In 2024, Ramadan is expected to begin at sundown on March 10 and end on April 9. (Dates may vary slightly by country depending on the first sighting of the crescent moon.)
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim year.
Ramadan begins with the sighting of the new moon, but the exact date often depends on clerics in a particular nation.
Ramadan is celebrated as the month in which the prophet Mohammed received the first of the revelations that make up the Quran.
Ramadan is the Islamic holy month of fasting during which Muslims may not eat or drink during daylight hours.
During Ramadan, Muslims abstain from food, drink (including water), and sexual intercourse from dawn until dusk.
Muslims are encouraged to eat a meal before dawn, and then break the fast immediately after sunset.
The fast is traditionally broken by eating dates and drinking water.
The end of Ramadan, called Eid al-Fitr, is a day of feasting.
The Ramadan fast is one of the five pillars, or basic institutions, of Islam:
Shahadah: Affirmation that there is no deity but God and Mohammed is his messenger.
Salat: Praying five times daily.
Zakat: Giving to charity.
Sawm: Fasting during the month of Ramadan.
Hajj: Making a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime.
There were almost 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide as of 2015. The population is expected to increase to three billion by 2060.
There were about 3.45 million Muslims in the United States as of 2017.
by tyler | Mar 7, 2024 | CNN, world
Here’s a look at the life of His Serene Highness, Prince Albert II. He was formally invested as Monaco’s ruler on July 12, 2005, following the death of his father, Prince Rainier.
Birth date: March 14, 1958
Birth place: Monte Carlo, Monaco
Birth name: Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre Grimaldi, His Serene Highness, the Hereditary Prince of Monaco, Marquis of Baux
Father: Prince Rainier III
Mother: Princess Grace, formerly the actress Grace Kelly
Marriage: Charlene Wittstock (July 1, 2011-present)
Children: with Charlene Wittstock: Princess Gabriella Therese Marie and Prince Jacques Honore Rainier; with Nicole Coste: Eric Alexandre Stephane; with Tamara Rotolo: Jazmin Grace Rotolo.
Education: Amherst College, BA, 1981
Military service: French Navy
He is interested in environmental issues, alternative energy and hybrid vehicles.
An avid athlete, he has competed in five Winter Olympics (1988, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002) in the sport of bobsledding but has not won any medals.
He has been a member of the International Olympic Committee since 1985.
His two oldest children are not in line for the throne because they were born out of wedlock.
March 31, 2005 – Monaco’s Crown Council transfers the regency of the tiny kingdom to Prince Albert, the heir to the throne, saying that Prince Rainier can no longer carry out his duties as monarch.
April 6, 2005 – Prince Rainier III dies of organ failure and Prince Albert becomes Albert II, Sovereign Prince of Monaco.
July 6, 2005 – Publicly acknowledges paternity of his son, Alexandre, born to Nicole Coste, a flight attendant from Togo.
July 12, 2005 – Part one of the formal investiture as Monaco’s ruler is Mass at St. Nicholas Cathedral, marking the end of the mourning period for Prince Rainier.
November 17, 2005 – Part two of the formal investiture is the enthronement ceremony at St. Nicholas Cathedral.
April 16, 2006 – Travels to the North Pole by dogsled to highlight global warming.
June 1, 2006 – Acknowledges paternity of his daughter, Jazmin Grace Grimaldi, born to an American former waitress, Tamara Rotolo.
March 2, 2007 – Presides over the opening ceremony in Paris of International Polar Year, a research program with a focus on the Polar Regions involving 50,000 scientists from 63 countries.
January 28, 2008 – Is named as one of the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) “Champions of the Earth.”
April 22 2008 – Receives the UNEP award which recognizes individuals who show extraordinary leadership on environmental issues.
January 5-14, 2009 – Completes an expedition to the South Pole evaluating climate impact on Antarctica along the way. He is the only head of state to have visited both poles.
June 23, 2010 – The palace announces Prince Albert’s engagement to Charlene Wittstock, 32, a former Olympic swimmer and school teacher from South Africa.
July 1, 2011 – Prince Albert marries Charlene Wittstock in a civil wedding ceremony in the throne room of the Palace of Monaco.
July 2, 2011 – A second wedding, a religious ceremony including Mass, is held in the main courtyard of the Palace of Monaco. The ceremony is broadcast to the 3,500 invited guests who could not fit inside the palace.
October 2013 – Loans pieces of his private collection of Olympic torches for the Russian exhibition of Olympic torches.
October 7, 2013 – Is one of the first torch bearers for the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games.
December 14, 2015 – Prince Albert is presented with the 2015 Global Advocate Award by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for his work on climate change research and environmental conservation efforts.
October 2016 – Buys his mother’s childhood home in Philadelphia, with the idea of turning it into a museum or offices for foundation work.
February 29, 2024 – A Bloomberg Businessweek investigation alleges that Prince Albert repeatedly awarded his nephews, Andrea and Pierre Casiraghi, state contracts worth millions over the past 15 years. The prince and his nephews denied wrongdoing in a statement to Businessweek.
Monaco is a sovereign principality, meaning it is ruled by a prince.
It is the second smallest country in the world, after the Vatican. At 2.02 sq km (77 sq miles), Monaco is about half the size of New York’s Central Park.
It sits on the French Riviera and is bordered on three sides by France. It is a popular tourist destination, famous for its casino and luxury hotels.
Monaco is also the capital of the principality. The official language is French. The other major languages spoken are English and Italian.
Monegasque, a mixture of the French Provencal and Italian Ligurian dialects, is also spoken there.
by tyler | Mar 7, 2024 | CNN, showbiz
Here is a look at the life of musician, music producer and philanthropist, Quincy Jones.
Birth date: March 14, 1933
Birth place: Chicago, Illinois
Birth name: Quincy Delight Jones Jr.
Father: Quincy Delight Jones Sr., a carpenter.
Mother: Sarah Frances (Wells) Jones
Marriages: Peggy Lipton (1974-1990); Ulla Andersson (1967-1974); Jeri Caldwell (1957-1966)
Children: with Nastassja Kinski: Kenya; with Peggy Lipton: Rashida and Kidada; with Ulla Andersson: Quincy III and Martina; with Carol Reynolds: Rachel; with Jeri Caldwell: Jolie
Jones and his brother, Lloyd, were raised by their father and stepmother, Elvera, in Seattle and Bremerton, Washington. Their mother had been institutionalized in Chicago when they were very young.
An automobile accident at age 14, where Jones saw four of his friends killed, left him so traumatized that he has never driven a car.
Met Ray Charles when they were both teenagers starting out in the music industry. Jones arranged and produced for Charles, and later Charles performed on Jones’ albums. They remained friends until Charles’ death in 2004.
As an arranger in the 1950s, Jones worked with music industry legends such as Count Basie, Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Lionel Hampton and Frank Sinatra.
As a music producer for more than 60 years, he has worked with Miles Davis, Celine Dion, Aretha Franklin, Lesley Gore, Jennifer Holliday, Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Barry White and many more.
Jones has 80 Grammy Award nominations and 28 wins, including a Grammy Legend Award. He has seven Oscar nominations and received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. He also has received four Emmy nominations, winning one.
Has scored over 30 movies and written the theme for television shows, documentaries and shorts.
Mid-1940s – Sings and plays trumpet with a gospel quartet.
1951 – Jones’ trumpet playing wins him a scholarship to the prestigious Schillinger House in Boston (now the Berklee College of Music). He leaves when the opportunity arises to join the Lionel Hampton Band.
1956 – Joins the Dizzy Gillespie band as trumpeter and musical director.
1957 – Moves to Paris to study. Works for Barclay Disques publishing music.
1961 – Jones is hired as a musical director for Mercury Records and a few months later advances to vice president.
1963 – Earns his first Grammy Award, Best Instrumental Arrangement for “I Can’t Stop Loving You.”
1963 – Produces “It’s My Party” for Lesley Gore on Mercury Records, his first pop single to reach number one.
August 1974 – Suffers a brain aneurysm, which forces him to stop playing the trumpet.
1977 – Wins an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore) for the film “Roots.”
1982 – Produces Jackson’s album, “Thriller.”
1985 – Conductor and producer for “We Are the World,” the song recorded to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. Producer and music composer for the film “The Color Purple.”
1991 – Receives the Grammy Legend Award.
1991-1993 – Co-produces the Montreux Jazz Festival. His association with the festival continues to present day.
1993 – Launches “Vibe” magazine.
1994-1999 – Chairman and CEO of Qwest Broadcasting, a minority-controlled television broadcasting company.
1995 – Receives the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
March 1996 – Executive Producer of the 68th Annual Academy Awards ceremony.
October 1, 2001 – Simon & Schuster publishes his autobiography, “Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones.”
2001 – Kennedy Center Honoree.
2008 – Publishes the book “The Complete Quincy Jones: My Journey & Passions.”
2008 – Establishes the non-profit Quincy Jones Foundation.
April 18, 2013 – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.
July 11, 2017 – Jones’ 2013 lawsuit against Jackson’s estate goes to trial. Jones claims he is owed $30 million in unpaid royalties.
July 26, 2017 – Jones wins $9.42 million in damages in his lawsuit against Jackson’s estate.
September 21, 2018 – “Quincy,” a documentary about the life and legacy of Jones, debuts on Netflix. The film, directed by Alan Hicks and Jones’ daughter, Rashida Jones, wins a Grammy award in February 2019 for Best Music Film.
May 5, 2020 – An appellate court overturns a portion of Jones’ 2017 lawsuit against Jackson’s estate. The court rules that contract interpretation was a judicial function and not meant for the jury, which mistakenly awarded Jones $6.9 million. The $2.5 million award for fees stands.
September 20, 2020 – Jones enters into a global publishing agreement with Warner Chappell Music. The deal covers administration of his current and future songwriting catalog. This includes over 2,000 compositions and work by songwriters Brothers Johnson, Siedah Garrett and others under his company.
September 27, 2023 – Jones is presented with the inaugural Peace Through Music Award by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Recording Academy CEO Harvey Marson Jr. The awards recognize an American music industry professional who has played an invaluable role in cross-cultural exchanges and whose music work advances peace and mutual understanding globally.
