Today is Mother's Day, May 9, the 129th day of 1999. There are 236
                  days left in the year.

                  - On this day in history in 1962, The Beatles inked their first
                    recording contract. George Martin was hired to be the group's
                    producer and the band would record for EMI Parlophone.
                  - In 1502, Christopher Columbus set out from Cadiz, Spain, on his
                    fourth and last voyage to the Western Hemisphere.
                  - In 1754, the first American newspaper cartoon was published.
                  - In 1926, Americans Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett became the first
                    men to fly over the North Pole.
                  - In 1936, Ethiopia was formally annexed by Italy.
                  - In 1937, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy started their own radio
                    show on NBC.
                  - In 1961, Jim Gentile of the Baltimore Orioles set a major-league
                    baseball record by hitting grand slam home runs in two consecutive
                    innings.
                  - In 1974, the House Judiciary Committee opened hearings on whether to
                    recommend the impeachment of President Nixon.
                  - In 1980, a Liberian freighter rammed the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over
                    Tampa Bay in Florida killing 35 motorists when a 1,400-foot section
                    of the bridge collapsed.
                  - In 1994, South Africa's newly elected parliament chose Nelson
                    Mandela to be the country's first black president.

                  *Happy Birthday*
                  ----------------
                  - Actress Candice Bergen is 53.
                  - Producer/director James L. Brooks is 59.
                  - Actor Albert Finney is 63.
                  - Singer Dave Gahan (Depeche Mode) is 34.
                  - Actress/politician Glenda Jackson is 63.
                  - Pianist Billy Joel is 50.
                  - Actress Alley Mills is 48.
                  - Mike Wallace, 81, CBS news correspondent.