This day in history

[September 07, 2011]  (AP)  Today is Wednesday, Sept. 7, the 250th day of 2011. There are 115 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Sept. 7, 1964, the controversial "Daisy" commercial, an ad for President Lyndon B. Johnson's election campaign, aired on NBC-TV. (In the spot, footage of a little girl in a meadow plucking the petals of a flower is overtaken by a countdown leading to a nuclear explosion.)

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 1936, rock legend Buddy Holly was born Charles Hardin Holley in Lubbock, Texas.

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

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

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 1986, Desmond Tutu was installed as the first black to lead the Anglican Church in southern Africa.

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

Ten years ago: White House budget chief Mitch Daniels warned top congressional Republicans the Social Security surplus was on track to be tapped for other programs, prompting a hastily called meeting to discuss ways of avoiding that politically perilous scenario. Venus Williams and Serena Williams reached the finals of the U.S. Open, defeating Jennifer Capriati and Martina Hingis respectively, becoming the first sisters to play for a Grand Slam championship in more than 100 years.

Five years ago: British Prime Minister Tony Blair gave in to a fierce revolt in his Labour Party and reluctantly promised to quit within a year. Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage confirmed he was the source of a leak that had disclosed the identity of CIA employee Valerie Plame, saying he didn't realize Plame's job was covert.

One year ago: A Chinese fishing trawler and two Japanese patrol boats collided near disputed islands in the East China Sea, further straining relations between Beijing and Tokyo. Lucius Walker, 80, who'd led an annual pilgrimage of aid volunteers to Cuba in defiance of the nearly half century U.S. trade embargo, died in New York.

Today's birthdays: Sen. Daniel Inouye (in-OH'-way), D-Hawaii, is 87. Jazz musician Sonny Rollins is 81. Actor Bruce Gray is 75. Singer Alfa Anderson (Chic) is 65. Actress Susan Blakely is 63. Singer Gloria Gaynor is 62. Rock singer Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders) is 60. Actress Julie Kavner is 60. Rock musician Benmont Tench (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers) is 58. Actor Corbin Bernsen is 57. Actor Michael Emerson (TV: "Lost") is 57. Pianist Michael Feinstein is 55. Singer Margot Chapman is 54. Actor W. Earl Brown is 48. Actor Toby Jones is 45. Model-actress Angie Everhart is 42. Actress Diane Farr is 42. Actress Monique Gabriela Curnen is 41. Actor Tom Everett Scott is 41. Rock musician Chad Sexton (311) is 41. Actress Shannon Elizabeth is 38. Actor Oliver Hudson is 35. Actor Devon Sawa (SAH'-wuh) is 33. Singer-musician Wes Willis (Rush of Fools) is 25. Actress Evan Rachel Wood is 24.

Thought for today: "The theory seems to be that as long as a man is a failure he is one of God's children, but that as soon as he succeeds he is taken over by the devil." -- H.L. Mencken, American journalist-author (1880-1956)

[Associated Press]

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