This day in history

[September 04, 2009]  (AP)  Today is Friday, Sept. 4, the 247th day of 2009. There are 118 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Sept. 4, 1781, Los Angeles was founded by Spanish settlers led by Gov. Felipe de Neve.

On this date:

In 1886, a group of Apache Indians led by Geronimo surrendered to Gen. Nelson Miles at Skeleton Canyon in Arizona.

In 1888, George Eastman received a patent for his roll-film box camera, and registered his trademark: "Kodak."

In 1893, English author Beatrix Potter first told the story of Peter Rabbit in the form of a "picture letter" to Noel Moore, the son of Potter's former governess.

In 1917, the American Expeditionary Forces in France suffered their first fatalities during World War I when a German plane attacked a British-run base hospital.

In 1948, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands abdicated after nearly six decades of rule for health reasons.

In 1951, President Harry S. Truman addressed the nation from the Japanese peace treaty conference in San Francisco in the first live, coast-to-coast television broadcast.

In 1957, Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus used Arkansas National Guardsmen to prevent nine black students from entering all-white Central High School in Little Rock. Ford Motor Co. began selling its ill-fated Edsel.

In 1969, the Food and Drug Administration issued a report calling birth control pills "safe," despite a slight risk of fatal blood-clotting disorders linked to the pills.

In 1971, an Alaska Airlines jet crashed near Juneau, killing all 111 people on board.

In 1984, Canada's Progressive Conservatives, led by Brian Mulroney, won a landslide victory in general elections over the Liberal Party of Prime Minister John N. Turner and the New Democrats headed by Ed Broadbent.

Ten years ago: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat signed a breakthrough land-for-security agreement during a ceremony in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. Martin Frankel, a Connecticut money manager accused of cheating insurance companies in five states out of more than $200 million, was arrested in Germany. (Frankel was later sentenced to nearly 17 years in a federal prison.) Anti-independence militias in East Timor went on a rampage, hours after the United Nations announced that residents had overwhelmingly voted for independence from Indonesia.

Five years ago: Slow-moving Hurricane Frances snapped power lines and whipped the Atlantic coast with winds over 90 miles-an-hour as it neared Florida. A shaken President Vladimir Putin made a rare and candid admission of Russian weakness after more than 330 people were killed in a hostage-taking at a southern school.

One year ago: With a pledge that "change is coming," Sen. John McCain accepted the Republican presidential nomination at the party's convention in St. Paul, Minn., vowing to vanquish what he called the "constant partisan rancor" gripping Washington. The Dow industrial average fell 344.65 points to 11,188.23 on gloomy economic data. Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in a sex scandal, forcing the Democrat out of office after months of defiantly holding onto his job.

Today's birthdays: Actress Mitzi Gaynor is 78. Singer Merald "Bubba" Knight (Gladys Knight & The Pips) is 67. World Golf Hall of Famer Raymond Floyd is 67. Actress Jennifer Salt is 65. World Golf Hall of Famer Tom Watson is 60. Rhythm-and-blues musician Ronald LaPread is 59. Actress Judith Ivey is 58. Rock musician Martin Chambers (The Pretenders) is 58. Actress Khandi Alexander is 52. Actor-comedian Damon Wayans is 49. Rock musician Kim Thayil is 49. Retired Baseball All-Star Mike Piazza is 41. Actor Noah Taylor is 40. Actress Ione Skye is 39. Rhythm-and-blues singer Richard Wingo (Jagged Edge) is 34. Actor Wes Bentley is 31. NFL player Terence Newman is 31. Singer Dan Miller ("Making the Band") is 29. Singer Beyonce Knowles is 28. Actor Carter Jenkins is 18. Actor Trevor Gagnon is 14.

Thought for today: "I am one of the people who love the why of things." -- Catherine the Great, Russian czarina (1729-1796)

[Associated Press]

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