This day in history

[September 07, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Tuesday, Sept. 7, the 250th day of 2010. There are 115 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Sept. 7, 1940, Nazi Germany began its eight-month blitz of Britain during World War II with the first air attack on London.

On this date:

In 1533, England's Queen Elizabeth I was born in Greenwich.

In 1825, the Marquis de Lafayette, the French hero of the American Revolution, bade farewell to President John Quincy Adams at the White House.

In 1892, James J. Corbett knocked out John L. Sullivan to win the world heavyweight crown in New Orleans in a fight conducted under the Marquess of Queensberry rules.

In 1907, the British liner RMS Lusitania set out from Liverpool, England, on its maiden voyage, arriving six days later in New York.

In 1927, American television pioneer Philo T. Farnsworth, 21, succeeded in transmitting the image of a line through purely electronic means with a device called an "image dissector."

In 1968, feminists protested outside the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City, N.J. (The pageant crown went to Miss Illinois Judith Ford.)

In 1969, Senate Republican leader Everett M. Dirksen died in Washington, D.C. at age 73.

In 1977, the Panama Canal treaties, calling for the U.S. to eventually turn over control of the waterway to Panama, were signed in Washington by President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos (toh-REE'-hohs).

In 1979, the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) made its cable TV debut.

In 1996, rapper Tupac Shakur was shot and mortally wounded on the Las Vegas Strip; he died six days later.

Ten years ago: A jury in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, awarded $6.3 million to a woman and her son who'd been attacked by Aryan Nations guards outside the white supremacist group's north Idaho headquarters. (The verdict forced Aryan Nations founder Richard Butler to give up his compound and the group eventually withered away.)

Five years ago: Police and soldiers went house to house in New Orleans to try to coax the last stubborn holdouts into leaving the storm-shattered city. President George W. Bush led the nation in a final tribute to William H. Rehnquist, remembering the late chief justice as the Supreme Court's steady leader and a man of lifetime integrity. U.S. troops in Iraq rescued American businessman Roy Hallums, who'd been held hostage ten months.

One year ago: Addressing a Labor Day picnic in Cincinnati, President Barack Obama declared that modern benefits like paid leave, minimum wage and Social Security "all bear the union label," as he appealed to organized labor to help him win the health care fight in Congress. Three British Muslims were convicted in London of plotting to murder thousands by downing at least seven airliners bound for the U.S. and Canada. The Pittsburgh Pirates were assured of a record-breaking 17th straight losing season as they fell to the Chicago Cubs 4-2.

Today's birthdays: Sen. Daniel Inouye (in-OH'-way) (D-Hawaii) is 86. Jazz musician Sonny Rollins is 80. Singer Alfa Anderson (Chic) is 64. Singer Gloria Gaynor is 61. Rock singer Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders) is 59. Actress Julie Kavner is 59. Rock musician Benmont Tench (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers) is 57. Actor Corbin Bernsen is 56. Actor Michael Emerson (TV: "Lost") is 56. Pianist Michael Feinstein is 54. Singer Margot Chapman is 53. Actor W. Earl Brown is 47. Actor Toby Jones is 44. Model-actress Angie Everhart is 41. Actress Monique Gabriela Curnen is 40. Actor Tom Everett Scott is 40. Rock musician Chad Sexton (311) is 40. Actress Diane Farr is 39. Actress Shannon Elizabeth is 37. Actor Oliver Hudson is 34. Actor Devon Sawa (SAH'-wuh) is 32. Singer-musician Wes Willis (Rush of Fools) is 24. Actress Evan Rachel Wood is 23.

Thought for today: "Nothing is more unpleasant than a virtuous person with a mean mind." -- Walter Bagehot (BAJ'-uht), English editor and economist (1826-1877)

[Associated Press]

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