HISTORY FOR SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

This Day in History, September 30

On September 30th, 1955, screen legend James Dean died in a car crash.

Other Notable Events, Sept. 30
In 1452, the first section of the Guttenberg Bible, the first book printed from movable type, was published in Germany.

In 1630, John Billington, one of the first pilgrims to land in America was hanged for murder -- becoming the first European criminal executed in the American colonies.

In 1846, a dentist in Charleston, Mass., extracted a tooth with the aid of an anesthetic -- ether. It was the first time an anesthetic had been used.

In 1938, Germany, France, Britain and Italy met in Munich, Germany, for a conference after which British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain predicted "peace for our time." But, World War II began less than one year later.

In 1946, the verdicts were handed down in the Nuremberg war crimes trial. Twelve Nazi leaders were sentenced to death by hanging.

In 1954, the USS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear submarine, was commissioned by the U.S. Navy.

In 1955, movie idol James Dean died in a car crash at age 24.

In 1962, James H. Meredith, an African-American, was escorted onto the University of Mississippi campus by U.S. marshals, setting off a riot during which two men were killed before the racial violence was quelled by more than 3,000 soldiers. Meredith enrolled the next day.

In 1991, Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was overthrown in a military coup.

In 1992, the United States returned most of the Subic Bay Naval Base to the Philippine government after more than a century of use.

In 1999, an accident at a nuclear power plant 70 miles northeast of Tokyo released high levels of radiation in Japan's worst nuclear accident.

Also in 1999, Russia sent troops into the breakaway republic of Chechnya.

By this date in 2001, about 500 people in the United States and elsewhere had been arrested or detained in connection with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

In 2003, the U.S. Justice Department opened an investigation into the leaking of the name of a CIA operative to the media in an alleged effort to discredit a critic of the president's Iraq policy.

Also in 2003, three people working at the U.S. Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba, including a Muslim chaplain, were arrested on espionage charges.

In 2004, more than 40 people were killed, including about 35 children, when three bombs exploded in Iraq as U.S. soldiers were handing out candy.

Also in 2004, Merck & Co. announced a voluntary worldwide withdrawal of the arthritis and pain medication drug Vioxx. Clinical trials showed an increased risk of heart attack and stroke after 18 months of use.

In 2005, amid joy, sadness and speculation about the future, thousands of New Orleans residents returned home to a hobbled city, one month after Hurricane Katrina dealt them a devastating blow.

In 2006, Brazilian authorities said they found the wreckage of a missing airliner in the dense rain forest. Searchers said it was unlikely anyone had survived the crash.

Also in 2006, Congress ordered construction of a 700-mile, $1.2 billion fence along the U.S.-Mexican border in a move to control immigration. Mexico said the barrier would hurt relations between the two countries.

In 2007, roadside bombs killed or wounded 21,200 U.S. soldiers since the war in Iraq began in March 2003, The Washington Post reported. The Pentagon called the improvised explosives "the most effective weapon" against U.S. troops.


Notable Birthdays for Sept. 30
Those born on this date include:
- German physicist Hans Geiger, co-inventor of the Geiger counter, in 1882
- Film director Lewis Milestone ("All Quiet on the Western Front") in 1895
- Singer Kenny Baker in 1912
- Drummer Buddy Rich in 1917
- Novelist Truman Capote in 1924
- Actress Deborah Kerr in 1921
- Actress Angie Dickinson in 1931 (age 78)
- Singer Johnny Mathis in 1935 (age 74)
- Singer Marilyn McCoo in 1943 (age 66)
- Singer Frankie Lymon in 1942
- Actress Victoria Tennant in 1950 (age 59)
- Actor Eric Stoltz in 1961 (age 48)
- Actress/singer Crystal Bernard in 1961 (age 48)
- Actress Fran Drescher ("The Nanny") in 1957 (age 52)
- Actress Jenna Elfman ("Dharma and Greg") in 1971 (age 38)
- Tennis star Martina Hingis in 1980 (age 29)

HISTORY FOR Sunday Sept 27, 2009

Today is Sunday, Sept, 27, the 271st day of 2009 with 95 to follow.

This Day in History, September 27
On September 27th, 1825, the Stockton and Darlington Railway opened, becoming the first permanent steam locomotive railway.

Other Notable Events, Sept. 27
In 1825, in England, George Stephenson operated the first locomotive to pull a passenger train.

In 1935, 13-year-old Judy Garland signed her first contract with MGM.

In 1939, after 19 days of heavy air raids and artillery bombardment, Polish defenders of Warsaw surrendered to the Germans.

In 1954, "The Tonight Show" made its television debut with host Steve Allen.

In 1964, the Warren Commission report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy was released after a 10-month investigation, concluding that there was no conspiracy and that Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin, acted alone.

In 1987, mudslides in slum areas of Medellin, Colombia, killed up to 500 people.

In 1991, U.S. President George H.W. Bush announced the United States would unilaterally eliminate tactical nuclear weapons on land and at sea in Europe and Asia.

Also in 1991, the Palestine Liberation Organization legislature voted to support U.S.- and Soviet-sponsored Middle East peace efforts.

In 1992, the Inkatha party, rival to Nelson Mandela's ANC, withdrew from talks with the South African government after a meeting between Mandela and President F.W. de Klerk.

In 1994, U.S. forces in Haiti took control of the parliament building and began paying Haitians to turn in weapons in order to reduce firepower on the streets.

In 1996, rebels seized control of Afghanistan from the previous rebel group that had taken the country from Moscow. The new rebels hanged Afghani leader Najibullah and his brother.

In 1998, Gerhard Schroeder led Germany's Social Democratic Party to victory in parliamentary elections, bringing to an end 16 years of power by Chancellor Helmut Kohl and his Christian Democratic Party.

And in 1998, St. Louis Cardinal slugger Mark McGwire set an all-time major-league season home run record when he hit his 70th home run.

In 2001, in further steps following the terrorist attacks on the United States, U.S. President George Bush asked governors to assign National Guard troops to help protect commercial airports and said armed sky marshals in plainclothes would soon begin riding some flights.

In 2003, U.S. President George Bush and Russian President Putin said they would join forces to oppose nuclear proliferation in Iran and North Korea.

In 2005, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, second in command to the al-Qaida leader in Iraq, was reported killed by Iraqi and U.S. forces in a Baghdad gun battle.

Also in 2005, French prosecutors began questioning senior officials with the former Concorde aircraft project over a crash in 2000 that killed 113 people.

In 2007, nine people were reported killed and another 100 injured as the Myanmar military junta sought to break up nine days of demonstrations by Buddhist monks and nuns in Yangon over the more than doubling of gas prices.

Also in 2007, the U.S. Senate voted to attach a measure that would extend federal hate-crime protection to sexual orientation to the defense authorization bill.


Notable Birthdays for Sept. 27
Those born on this date include:
- Patriot Samuel Adams in 1722
- Political cartoonist Thomas Nast in 1840
- Composer Joseph McCarthy ("You Made Me Love You") in 1885
- Composer Vincent

HISTORY FOR SEPTEMBER 23, 2009

Wednesday September 23, 2009
Today is Wednesday, Sept. 23, the 267th day of 2009 with 99 to follow.


On September 23rd, 1806, Lewis and Clark returned from their exploration of the United States.

Other Notable Events, Sept. 23
In 1779, the USS Bonhomme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones, defeated British frigate HMS Serapis in a battle off the coast of Scotland.

In 1806, U.S. explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark returned to St. Louis from the first recorded overland journey from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Coast and back.

In 1846, German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle discovered the planet Neptune at the Berlin Observatory. Neptune generally is the eighth planet from the sun.

In 1950, Congress adopted the Internal Security Act, which provided for the registration of communists. It was ruled later unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1966, a Rolling Stones concert at England's Royal Albert concert hall was halted temporarily when screaming girls attacked Mick Jagger onstage. The riotous enthusiasm of the fans resulted in a ban of pop concerts at the hall.

In 1973, Juan Peron was again elected president of Argentina after 18 years in exile. His second wife, Isabel, became vice president and succeeded him when he died 10 months later.

In 1985, nine days of street fighting in Tripoli, Lebanon, left 183 people dead.

In 1991, 44 U.N. inspectors were detained in Baghdad after attempting to remove secret Iraqi plans for building nuclear weapons. They were freed five days later.

In 1992, the worst storm in years struck southeastern France, triggering flash flooding that left 34 people dead and 50 missing.

In 1993, the Israeli Knesset approved the peace agreement with the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

In 1999, Russian planes began three days of attacks on various targets in Chechnya, in response to several bombings in Moscow and other Russian cities.

In 2001, in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the United States, the nation remained on increased alert for possible suspects in this country while troops in Afghanistan searched for Osama bin Laden and his terrorist network. The FAA halted crop-dusting activities, fearing they might be used to spread toxic substances.

In 2003, Thai police reportedly foiled an al-Qaida plot to shoot down an El Al passenger jet with a surface-to-air missile at Bangkok's airport.

In 2004, Haiti's death toll from flooding caused by Tropical Storm Jeanne could top 2,000 according to a Haitian civil defense official.

Also in 2004, a classified report for the U.S. Congress said security screeners at 15 U.S. airports missed weapons and explosives being smuggled aboard aircraft by undercover agents during a series of tests.

In 2005, a reported 24 people were killed when a bus carrying Texas nursing home evacuees from Hurricane Rita was destroyed by an explosion and fire near Dallas.

In 2006, as observance of this year's holy month of Ramadan began in Iraq, a bomb that killed at least 35 people, mostly women lined up for kerosene in Sadr City.

Also in 2006, the New York Times said a classified U.S. intelligence report claims the Iraq invasion made the world less safe from terrorism.

In 2007, Yasuo Fukuda, a long-time political force and son of a former prime minister, was chosen prime minister of Japan, succeeding Shinzo Abe, who resigned amid financial scandals.

Also in 2007, the U.S. Air Force sought to determine how six powerful nuclear warheads were accidentally shipped from North Dakota to Louisiana with no one noticing and sat unguarded for a day.


Notable Birthdays for Sept. 23
Those born on this date include:
- Roman Emperor Augustus in 63 B.C.
- Educator William McGuffey, author of the McGuffey "eclectic readers" for school children, in 1800
- Feminist and presidential candidate Victoria Woodhull in 1838
- Surgeon William Halsted, who introduced operations for hernia and breast cancer, in 1852
- Journalist Walter Lippmann in 1889
- Actor Walter Pidgeon in 1897
- Actor Mickey Rooney in 1920 (age 89)
- Jazz saxophonist John Coltrane in 1926
- Soul singer/pianist Ray Charles in 1930
- Singer Julio Iglesias in 1943 (age 66)
- Actor Paul Peterson in 1945 (age 64)
- Actress Mary Kay Place in 1947 (age 62)
- Rock star Bruce Springsteen in 1949 (age 60)
- Actor Jason Alexander in 1959 (age 50)
- Actress Elizabeth Pena in 1959 (age 50)
- Singer/songwriter Ani DiFranco in 1970 (age 39)

HISTORY FOR Monday, September 21

This Day in History, September 21
In 1980, The country of Belize in Central America attained its Independence from Great Britain.This caribbean nation is the only one on main land bordered in the North by Mexico, on the West and South by Guatemala and on the East by the Caribbean Sea.

Other Notable Events, Sept. 21
In 1792, the Legislative Assembly of revolutionary France voted to abolish the monarchy and establish the First Republic, stripping King Louis XVI of most of his power.

In 1893, the first successful American-made, gasoline-operated motorcar appeared on the streets of Springfield, Mass. It was designed and built by Charles and Frank Duryea.

In 1921, following the sex scandal caused by the arrest of comedian Fatty Arbuckle, Universal announced it would require its actors to sign a "morality clause" in their contracts.

In 1938, an estimated 600 people were killed by a hurricane that battered the coast of New England.

In 1985, Western intelligence estimates said the Iran-Iraq war in five years had cost nearly 1 million lives.

In 1991, Armenia became the 12th Soviet republic to declare independence.

In 1993, Russian President Boris Yeltsin suspended the parliament and announced parliamentary elections would be in December.

In 1996, U.S. President Bill Clinton signed into law the Defense of Marriage Act, which allows states to disregard "same sex marriages" that might be official in other places.

And in 1996, John F. Kennedy, Jr., son of the late U.S. president and described by tabloids as the world's most eligible bachelor, wed Carolyn Bessette.

In 1998, U.S. President Bill Clinton's videotaped grand jury testimony, during which he admitted to an inappropriate relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, was shown on television. It ran more than four hours.

Also in 1998, Hurricane Georges began its deadly rampage through the Caribbean, killing more than 600 people.

In 1999, at least 2,300 people were killed when an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale struck Taiwan.

In 2001, Deep Space 1 flew within 2,200 kms of Comet Borrelly

In 2001, a telecast by top movie stars and musicians raised more than $500 million for survivors of the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

In 2002, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon reportedly told the Bush administration Israel would strike back if attacked by Iraq.

In 2003, the spacecraft Galileo approached the fringes of Jupiter's atmosphere and then was directed to destroy itself in a high-speed plunge.

In 2004, two U.S. hostages were reported killed by suspected Iraqi insurgents within a day of each other. Jack Hensley and Eugene Armstrong, contractors working for a United Arab Emirates-based firm, were kidnapped from their Baghdad home.

In 2005, Texas coastal residents were ordered to evacuate, creating a mass exodus from the Houston and Galveston area as Hurricane Rita became the third-most intense hurricane on record in the Atlantic Basin. Top sustained winds were near 165 mph over the Gulf of Mexico.

In 2006, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told reporters at the United Nations that Tehran might give up its uranium enrichment program in return for unspecified concessions.

In 2007, U.S. toymaker Mattel apologized to China for blaming design flaws on Chinese manufacturing problems in most of the recalls of millions of toys made in that country this summer.


Notable Birthdays for Sept. 21
Those born on this date include:
- Louis Joliet, French-Canadian explorer of the Mississippi River, in 1645
- Author and historian H.G. Wells in 1866; composer Gustav Holst in 1874
- British publisher Allen Lane, who introduced the low-priced paperback book, in 1902
- Animator Chuck Jones (Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Wile E. Coyote) in 1912
- Actor Larry Hagman (TV's "Dallas") in 1931 (age 77)
- Actor Henry Gibson in 1935
- Comedian Fanny Flagg in 1944 (age 65)
- Author Stephen King in 1947 (age 62)
- Comedian Bill Murray in 1950 (age 59)
- Ethan Coen, one of the filmmaking Coen brothers, in 1957 (age 52)
- Actress Nancy Travis in 1961 (age 48)
- Actor Rob Morrow in 1962 (age 47)
- Actress Ricki Lake in 1968 (age 41)