On this day in 2005, 23-year-old Danica Patrick becomes the first female driver to take the lead in the storied Indianapolis 500. Having previously distinguished herself in the Toyota Atlantic series, Patrick had qualified fourth–another best for a woman–for the 89th Indianapolis 500, only her fifth Indy Racing League event. (Toyota Atlantic served as a […]
Continue ReadingMurder Suspect Spends Third Day Perched On Crane
May 27, 2005, was the third day that Carl Edward Roland, 41, wanted by police in connection with the murder of his ex-girlfriend Jennifer Gonzalez, spent perched on a crane 18 stories above Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood. Police in Pinellas County, Florida, discovered the badly beaten body of Gonzalez, 36, in a retention pond on May […]
Continue ReadingMurder Charges Dropped Against Marine
On this day in 2005, a U.S. Marine general drops murder charges against 2nd Lt. Ilario Pantano, a Wall Street trader and former Marine who had rejoined the service after the attacks of September 11. Pantano had been accused of the premeditated murder of two suspected Iraqi insurgents, a crime punishable by death. In April […]
Continue ReadingMary Kay Letourneau Marries Former Victim
On this day in 2005, ex-teacher and convicted pedophile Mary Kay Letourneau, 43, marries her former victim and the father of two of her children, Vili Fualaau, 22. Just nine months earlier, Letourneau had been released from prison after serving a seven-and-a-half year sentence for raping Fualaau. Letourneau first met Fualaau when she was a […]
Continue ReadingToyota Announces Plans For Hybrid Camry
On this day in 2005, Toyota Motor Company announces its plans to produce a gasoline-electric hybrid version of its bestselling Camry sedan. Built at the company’s Georgetown, Kentucky, plant, the Camry became Toyota’s first hybrid model to be manufactured in the United States. Toyota introduced the Camry–the name is a phonetic transcription of the Japanese […]
Continue ReadingPontiac Solstice Stars On “The Apprentice”
On this day in 2005, the Pontiac Solstice Roadster, a new two-door sports car from General Motors retailing for approximately $20,000, is featured on the reality TV game show “The Apprentice,” starring the famously bombastic businessman Donald Trump. Created by reality TV producer Mark Burnett (“Survivor,” “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?”), “The Apprentice” […]
Continue ReadingTiger Woods Wins Fourth Masters
Tiger Woods wins his fourth Masters Golf Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club after a 15-foot birdie on the first hole of the sudden-death playoff against Chris DiMarco on April 10, 2005. The victory was Woods’ ninth major championship on the PGA tour. Eldrick “Tiger” Woods was born December 30, 1975, in Cypress, California. A […]
Continue ReadingPrince Charles And Camilla Parker Bowles Wed
Nearly eight years after Princess Diana’s death in a car crash was mourned the world over, Prince Charles, her widower and heir to the British throne, weds his longtime mistress, Camilla Parker Bowles. The marriage, a private civil ceremony, took place at Windsory Guildhall, 30 miles outside of London. The ceremony was originally supposed to […]
Continue ReadingOlympic Park Bomber Eric Rudolph Agrees To Plead Guilty
Eric Rudolph agrees to plead guilty to a series of bombings, including the fatal bombing at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, in order to avoid the death penalty. He later cited his anti-abortion and anti-homosexual views as motivation for the bombings. Eric Robert Rudolph was born September 19, 1966, in Merritt Island, Florida. He served […]
Continue ReadingPope John Paul II Dies
On this day in 2005, John Paul II, history’s most well-traveled pope and the first non-Italian to hold the position since the 16th century, dies at his home in the Vatican. Six days later, two million people packed Vatican City for his funeral, said to be the biggest funeral in history. John Paul II was […]
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