This day in history

[September 29, 2009]  (AP)  Today is Tuesday, Sept. 29, the 272nd day of 2009. There are 93 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Sept. 29, 1978, Pope John Paul I was found dead in his Vatican apartment just over a month after becoming head of the Roman Catholic Church.

On this date:

In 1758, English Adm. Horatio Nelson was born in Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk.

In 1789, the U.S. War Department established a regular army with a strength of several hundred men.

In 1829, London's reorganized police force, which became known as Scotland Yard, went on duty.

In 1902, Broadway impresario David Belasco reopened the Republic Theatre under his own name.

In 1918, Allied forces began their decisive breakthrough of the Hindenburg Line during World War I.

In 1938, British, French, German and Italian leaders concluded the Munich Agreement, which was aimed at appeasing Adolf Hitler by allowing Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland.

In 1959, the 29th Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, proclaimed his country's new constitution.

In 1979, Pope John Paul II began the first papal visit to Ireland as he arrived for a three-day tour.

In 1982, Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules laced with cyanide claimed the first of seven victims in the Chicago area. (To date, the case remains unsolved.)

In 1988, the space shuttle Discovery blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., marking America's return to manned space flight following the Challenger disaster.

Ten years ago: Vice President Al Gore abruptly moved his presidential campaign headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Nashville, Tenn., to get "out of the Beltway and into the heartland." The Associated Press reported on the killing of South Korean refugees by U.S. soldiers in the early days of the Korean War, beneath a bridge at a hamlet called No Gun Ri; The Associated Press quoted ex-GIs as saying "hundreds" were shot dead in late July 1950. (In 2001, after its own investigation, the U.S. Army affirmed that killings had occurred, but said they were not deliberate.)

Five years ago: A video surfaced showing Kenneth Bigley, a British hostage held by Iraqi militants, pleading for help between the bars of a makeshift cage. (Bigley was later killed.) The privately built SpaceShipOne rocket plane hurtled past the edge of earth's atmosphere, completing the first stage of a quest to win the $10 million Ansari X Prize.

One year ago: On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 777 points after the House defeated, 228-205, a $700 billion emergency rescue for the nation's financial system, leaving both parties and the Bush administration scrambling to pick up the pieces.

Today's birthdays: Actress Lizabeth Scott is 87. Actor Steve Forrest is 85. Musical conductor Richard Bonynge is 79. Actress Anita Ekberg is 78. Actor Eddie Barth is 78. Writer-director Robert Benton is 77. Singer Jerry Lee Lewis is 74. Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi is 73. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) is 67. Actor Ian McShane is 67. Jazz musician Jean-Luc Ponty is 67. Lech Walesa, the former president of Poland, is 66. Television-film composer Mike Post is 65. Actress Patricia Hodge is 63. TV personality Bryant Gumbel is 61. Rock singer-musician Mark Farner is 61. Rock singer-musician Mike Pinera is 61. Country singer Alvin Crow is 59. Actor Drake Hogestyn is 56. Broadcast journalist Gwen Ifill is 54. Former child actor Ken Weatherwax (TV: "The Addams Family") is 54. Olympic gold medal runner Sebastian Coe is 53. Singer Suzzy Roche (The Roches) is 53. Comedian-actor Andrew "Dice" Clay is 52. Rock singer John Payne (Asia) is 51. Actor Roger Bart is 47. Singer-musician Les Claypool is 46. Actress Jill Whelan is 43. Actor Luke Goss is 41. Rock musician Brad Smith (Blind Melon) is 41. Actress Erika Eleniak is 40. Rhythm-and-blues singer Devante Swing (Jodeci) is 40. Country singer Brad Cotter ("Nashville Star") is 39. Actress Emily Lloyd is 39. Actress Natasha Gregson Wagner is 39. Actress Rachel Cronin is 38. Country musician Danick Dupelle (Emerson Drive) is 36. Actor Alexis Cruz is 35. Actor Zachary Levi is 29. Country singer Katie McNeill (3 of Hearts) is 27. Rock musician Josh Farro (Paramore) is 22.

Thought for today: "If you want work well done, select a busy man -- the other kind has not time." -- Elbert Hubbard, American author and publisher (1856-1915)

[Associated Press]

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