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 Today's
highlight in history:
On Sept. 24, 1789, Congress passed a Judiciary Act that provided for an Attorney General and a Supreme Court.
On this date:
In 1869, thousands of businessmen were ruined in a Wall Street panic known as "Black Friday" after financiers Jay Gould and James Fisk attempted to corner the gold market.
In 1929, Lt. James H. Doolittle guided a Consolidated NY-2 Biplane over Mitchel Field in New York in the first all-instrument flight.
In 1948, Mildred Gillars, accused of being Nazi wartime radio propagandist "Axis Sally," pleaded not guilty in Washington, D.C., to charges of treason. (Gillars, later convicted, ended up serving 12 years in prison.)
In 1955, President Eisenhower suffered a heart attack while on vacation in Denver.
In 1957, the Los Angeles-bound Brooklyn Dodgers played their last game at Ebbets Field, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-0.
In 1960, the USS Enterprise, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was launched at Newport News, Va.
In 1963, the U.S. Senate ratified a treaty with Britain and the Soviet Union limiting nuclear testing.
In 1969, the trial of the "Chicago Eight" (later seven) began. (Five of the defendants were later convicted of crossing state lines to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic national convention, but the convictions were ultimately overturned.)
In 1976, Patricia Hearst was sentenced to seven years in prison for her part in a 1974 bank robbery in San Francisco carried out by the Symbionese Liberation Army. (She was released after 22 months after receiving clemency from President Carter.)
In 1991, children's author Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as "Dr. Seuss," died in La Jolla, Calif., at age 87.
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Ten years ago: President Clinton urged the annual convention of the AFL-CIO not to try to punish Democratic lawmakers who stood with him on his request for stronger authority to negotiate new free-trade treaties. Garth Brooks was named best entertainer by the Country Music Association.
Five years ago: British Prime Minister Tony Blair asserted that Iraq had a growing arsenal of chemical and biological weapons and planned to use them, as he unveiled an intelligence dossier to a special session of Parliament. Gunmen stormed a Hindu temple in the western Indian state of Gujarat, killing some 30 worshippers.
One year ago: In a combative interview on "Fox News Sunday," former President Clinton defended his handling of the threat posed by Osama bin Laden, and accused host Chris Wallace of a "conservative hit job." Democrats seized on an intelligence assessment that said the Iraq war had increased the terrorist threat, saying it was further evidence Americans should choose new leadership in upcoming elections. The Europeans turned the Ryder Cup into another rout, winning 18 1/2-9 1/2 to make history as the first European team to win three straight times.
Today's birthdays: Actor-singer Herb Jeffries is 96. ABC sportscaster Jim McKay is 86. Actress Sheila MacRae is 83. Rhythm-and-blues singer Sonny Turner (The Platters) is 68. Singer Barbara Allbut (The Angels) is 67. Singer Phyllis "Jiggs" Allbut (The Angels) is 65. Singer Gerry Marsden (Gerry and the Pacemakers) is 65. Actor Gordon Clapp is 59. Former U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy II, D-Mass., is 55. Actor Kevin Sorbo is 49. Rhythm-and-blues singer Cedric Dent (Take 6) is 45. Actress-writer Nia Vardalos is 45. Country musician Marty Mitchell is 38. Actress Megan Ward is 38. Singer-musician Marty Cintron (No Mercy) is 36. Contemporary Christian musician Juan DeVevo (Casting Crowns) is 32. Actor Kyle Sullivan is 19.
Thought for today: "Fear cannot be without hope nor hope without fear."
-- Baruch Spinoza, Dutch philosopher (1632-1677).
[Associated
Press]
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
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