Today is Saturday, May 8, the 128th day of 1999. There are 237
                  days left in the year.

                  - On this day in history in 1987, Gary Hart, dogged by questions
                    about his personal life, including his relationship with Miami
                    model Donna Rice, withdrew from the race for the Democratic
                    presidential nomination.
                  - In 1541, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto discovered the
                    Mississippi River.
                  - In 1794, Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier, the French chemist who
                    identified oxygen, was guillotined in Paris by the Revolutionary
                    Convention.
                  - In 1846, the Battle of Palo Alto, the first major battle of the
                    Mexican War, was won by Gen. Zachary Taylor and his American troops.
                  - In 1884, Harry S. Truman, 33rd president of the United States
                    (1945-53), was born.
                  - In 1886, Dr. John Styth Pemberton unveiled the flavor syrup for Coca
                    Cola.
                  - In 1903, French post-impressionist painter Paul Gauguin died in
                    Tahiti.
                  - In 1921, Sweden abolished capital punishment.
                  - In 1942, the Battle of the Coral Sea ended when a U.S. fleet turned
                    back a Japanese invasion force heading for Port Moresby in New
                    Guinea.
                  - In 1945, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill told Britain as
                    part of VE (Victory in Europe) Day celebrations that World War II
                    had ended. President Truman broadcast the same to the American
                    people.
                  - In 1973, the siege of Wounded Knee in South Dakota ended peacefully
                    as militant Indians who had occupied the tiny prairie settlement for
                    almost 10 weeks began to file out and surrender to the authorities.
                  - In 1978, "Son of Sam" killer David Berkowitz pleaded guilty in New
                    York to murdering six people.
                  - In 1985, the first cans of New Coke rolled out of bottling and
                    canning plants.
                  - In 1988, sci-fi writer Robert Heinlein ("Stranger in a Strange
                    Land") died in Carmel, Calif., at age 80.

                  *** Happy Birthday

                  - TV producer/host Sir David Attenborough is 73.
                  - Singer Philip Bailey (Earth, Wind and Fire) is 48.
                  - Novelist Peter Benchley ("Jaws") is 59.
                  - Jockey Angel Cordero Jr. is 57.
                  - Actor Stephen Furst is 45.
                  - Actress Melissa Gilbert is 35.
                  - Actor David Keith is 45.
                  - Comedian Don Rickles is 73.
                  - Singer Toni Tennille is 56.
                  - Rock drummer Alex Van Halen is 44.