Today is Thursday, May 17th, the 137th day of 2001. There are 228 days left in the year. TODAY IS CARRIE CORSBY's BIRTHDAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARRIE!!! Today's Highlight in History: Five years ago, on May 17th, 1996, President Clinton signed a measure requiring neighborhood notification when sex offenders move in. ("Megan's Law," as it's known, is named for Megan Kanka, a seven-year-old New Jersey girl who was raped and slain in 1994.) On this date: In 1792, the New York Stock Exchange was founded by brokers meeting under a tree located on what is now Wall Street. In 1875, the first Kentucky Derby was run; the winner was "Aristides." In 1938, Congress passed the Vinson Naval Act, providing for a two-ocean navy. In 1939, Britain's King George the Sixth and Queen Elizabeth arrived in Quebec on the first visit to Canada by reigning British sovereigns. In 1940, the Nazis occupied Brussels, Belgium, during World War Two. In 1946, President Truman seized control of the nation's railroads, delaying a threatened strike by engineers and trainmen. In 1948, the Soviet Union recognized the new state of Israel. In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in its "Brown versus Board of Education of Topeka" decision that racially segregated public schools were inherently unequal. In 1961, Cuban leader Fidel Castro offered to exchange prisoners captured in the abortive Bay of Pigs invasion for American heavy tractors. In 1973, the Senate opened its hearings into the Watergate scandal. In 1987, 37 American sailors were killed when an Iraqi warplane attacked the US Navy frigate "Stark" in the Persian Gulf. (Iraq and the US called the attack a mistake.) Ten years ago: The Commerce Department reported the US trade deficit had narrowed sharply in March 1991 to $4.05 billion, the lowest level in nearly eight years. One year ago: Two former Ku Klux Klansmen were arrested on murder charges in the 1963 church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, that killed four black girls. (Thomas Blanton Junior was convicted and sentenced to life in prison this past May first. Bobby Frank Cherry was indicted last year, but his trial was delayed after evaluations raised questions about his mental competency.) Today's Birthdays: Former Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox is 89. Opera singer Birgit Nilsson is 83. Actor-director Dennis Hopper is 65. Rhythm-and-blues singer Pervis Jackson (The Spinners) is 63. Singer Taj Mahal is 59. Singer-songwriter Jesse Winchester is 57. Actor Bill Paxton is 46. Boxing Hall-of-Famer Sugar Ray Leonard is 45. Actor-comedian Bob Saget is 45. Singer Enya is 40. Singer-musician Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) is 36. Rhythm-and-blues musician O'Dell (Mint Condition) is 36. Singer Jordan Knight (New Kids on the Block) is 31. Rhythm-and-blues singer Darnell Van Rensalier (Shai) is 31. Actor Hill Harper is 28. Singer Kandi Burruss is 25. Actor Tahj Mowry is 15. "The worst sin -- perhaps the only sin -- passion can commit, is to be joyless." -- Dorothy L. Sayers, English author (1893-1957). (Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Happy Birthday Carrie Kath