This day in history

[September 01, 2009]  (AP)  Today is Tuesday, Sept. 1, the 244th day of 2009. There are 121 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Sept. 1, 1939, World War II began as Nazi Germany invaded Poland.

On this date:

In 1807, former Vice President Aaron Burr was found not guilty of treason. (Burr was then tried on a misdemeanor charge, but was again acquitted.)

In 1894, the Great Hinckley Fire destroyed Hinckley, Minn., and five other communities, and killed more than 400 people.

In 1897, the first section of Boston's new subway system was opened.

In 1905, Alberta and Saskatchewan entered Confederation as the eighth and ninth provinces of Canada.

In 1923, the Japanese cities of Tokyo and Yokohama were devastated by an earthquake that claimed some 140,000 lives.

In 1951, the United States, Australia and New Zealand signed a mutual defense pact, the ANZUS treaty.

In 1969, a coup in Libya brought Moammar Gadhafi to power.

In 1972, American Bobby Fischer won the international chess crown in Reykjavik, Iceland, as Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union resigned before the resumption of game 21.

In 1983, 269 people were killed when a Korean Air Lines Boeing 747 was shot down by a Soviet jet fighter after the airliner had entered Soviet airspace.

In 1989, Baseball Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti died of a heart attack at his summer home in Martha's Vineyard, Mass., at age 51.

Ten years ago: Twenty-two of baseball's 68 permanent umpires found themselves jobless, the fallout from their union's failed attempt to force an early start to negotiations for a new labor contract. Ten American tourists and two Tanzanians were killed when their small plane crashed as they were leaving Serengeti National Park.

Five years ago: More than 1,000 people were taken hostage by heavily armed Chechen militants at a school in Beslan in southern Russia; more than 330, mostly children, were eventually killed in the three-day ordeal. Militants in Iraq freed seven employees of a Kuwaiti trucking firm after their employer paid half a million dollars in ransom. The criminal case against Kobe Bryant collapsed as prosecutors in Colorado dropped a sexual assault charge against the NBA star.

One year ago: Hurricane Gustav slammed into the heart of Louisiana's fishing and oil industry with 110 mph winds, delivering only a glancing blow to New Orleans. Republicans opened their national convention in St. Paul, Minn., on a subdued note because of Hurricane Gustav; John McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, revealed that her 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, was pregnant. Jerry Lewis raised a record $65 million for the Muscular Dystrophy Association in his annual Labor Day telethon. Country singer-actor Jerry Reed died in Nashville at age 71. Voiceover artist Don LaFontaine, whose distinctive baritone graced innumerable movie trailers, died in Los Angeles at age 68.

Today's birthdays: Journalist and author Liz Carpenter is 89. Former Defense Secretary Melvin R. Laird is 87. Actor George Maharis is 81. Conductor Seiji Ozawa is 74. Attorney and law professor Alan Dershowitz is 71. Comedian-actress Lily Tomlin is 70. Actor Don Stroud is 66. Conductor Leonard Slatkin is 65. Singer Archie Bell is 65. Singer Barry Gibb is 63. Rock musician Greg Errico is 61. Talk show host Dr. Phil McGraw is 59. Singer Gloria Estefan is 52. Former White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers is 48. Jazz musician Boney James is 48. Singer-musician Grant Lee Phillips (Grant Lee Buffalo) is 46. Country singer-songwriter Charlie Robison is 45. Retired NBA All-Star Tim Hardaway is 43. Rap DJ Spigg Nice (Lost Boyz) is 39. Actor Ricardo Antonio Chavira ("Desperate Housewives") is 38. Rock singer JD Fortune is 36. NFL player Jason Taylor is 35. Actor Scott Speedman is 34. NFL player Aaron Schobel is 32. NFL player Clinton Portis is 28. Rock musician Joe Trohman is 25.

Thought for today: "When nothing is sure, everything is possible." -- Margaret Drabble, British author

[Associated Press]

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