Daily Chat 11/07/09

Odd day in history. Bloody day in history. In 1804, US Vice President Aaron Burr mortally wounded Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in a duel. Four major plane crashes have occured on this date. In 1973, a Brazilian plane crashed at Orly, killing 124 passengers. Ten years later, a plane crashed outside of Cuenca, Ecuador, killing 119. In 1991, a Nigerian charter plane crashed near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, killing 261 hajjis and in 1995, a Cuban jet crashed, killing all 44 passengers. Also on this day in 1995, more than 8,000 Bosnians, mostly men and children, were killed by Serbian troops near Srebrenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Two hundred nine people were killed in a series of bombings in Mumbai in 2006. On a more pleasant note, our literary heritage was greatly enhanced twice on this date by the publication in 1859 of Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities and in 1960, Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. Celebrating birthdays today: Giorgio Armani, Richie Sambora, Suzanne Vega and Craig Charles. It is the first day of the Mongolian sport and cultural festival known as Naadam.