As SciFi fans the world over celebrate Anthony Daniels‘ birthday, let’s take a quick look at some of the Headlines Du Jour from yesteryear:

• 1804 – The first self-propelling steam locomotive makes its outing at the Pen-y-Darren Ironworks in Wales.
• 1842 – John Greenough is granted the first U.S. patent for the sewing machine.
• 1848 – Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish The Communist Manifesto.
• 1878 – The first telephone book is issued in New Haven, Connecticut.
• 1885 – The newly completed Washington Monument is dedicated.
• 1925 – The New Yorker publishes its first issue.
• 1947 – In New York City, Edwin Land demonstrates the first “instant camera“, the Polaroid Land Camera, to a meeting of the Optical Society of America.
• 1948 – NASCAR is incorporated.
• 1958 – The peace symbol, commissioned by Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in protest against the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, is designed and completed by Gerald Holtom.
• 1965 – Malcolm X is assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City by members of the Nation of Islam.
• 1972 – President Richard Nixon visits the People’s Republic of China to normalize Sino-American relations.

But, what’s happening in the world right now? Take a gander at just a few of today’s Headlines Du Jour:

LGBT:

Study: Homophobia takes
2.5 years off your life

Legalized Marijuana:
Companies Moving Now
To Cash In On Cannabis

Marijuana news: Colorado governor projects millions in pot tax and sales revenue

Investigator Tells a Lynching
Story, Forced to Resign

Income inequality: Among US cities, bigger ones are more unequal

Georgia House votes to allow
weapons in bars and churches

Ted Cruz Stands Up For
Hateful Racist Ted Nugent
During CNN Interview

Bachmann Explains Why Americans Still ‘Aren’t
Ready’ for a Female President

The End of America’s
Fake Consensus

Lindsay Lohan and Mom Do Cocaine Together? Actress Blasts New Reports

John Romano: Pam Bondi, Fox News a match made in conservative heaven

Bill O’Reilly Is Worried About “Homosexual Overtones”
In The Girl Scouts

College Security Head
Arrested For Jerking Off
Into Co-Worker’s Shoe

Scientists name bacterium for Frank Zappa

Headlines Du Jour is a leisure-time activity of Not Now Silly, home of the
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today’s open thread.