This day in history

[September 30, 2009]  (AP)  Today is Wednesday, Sept. 30, the 273rd day of 2009. There are 92 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Sept. 30, 1809, the Treaty of Fort Wayne (also known as the Ten O'Clock Line Treaty) was signed by Indiana Territory Gov. William Henry Harrison and representatives of four Indian tribes. (Under terms of the treaty, the Indians sold some 3 million acres of land to be used for U.S. settlements.)

On this date:

In 1777, the Continental Congress -- forced to flee in the face of advancing British forces -- moved to York, Pa.

In 1791, Mozart's opera "The Magic Flute" premiered in Vienna, Austria.

In 1846, Boston dentist William Morton used ether as an anesthetic for the first time as he extracted an ulcerated tooth from merchant Eben Frost.

In 1938, after co-signing the Munich Agreement allowing Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain praised the accord on his return home, saying, "I believe it is peace for our time."

In 1939, the first college football game to be televised was shown on experimental station W2XBS in New York as Fordham University defeated Waynesburg College, 34-7.

In 1949, the Berlin Airlift came to an end.

In 1954, the first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, was commissioned by the Navy.

In 1955, actor James Dean, 24, was killed in a two-car collision near Cholame, Calif.

In 1962, black student James Meredith was escorted by federal marshals to the campus of the University of Mississippi, where he enrolled for classes the next day.

In 1988, Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev retired President Andrei A. Gromyko from the Politburo and fired other old-guard leaders in a Kremlin shake-up.

Ten years ago: Defense Secretary William Cohen ordered a top-level investigation of accounts of mass killings of Korean civilians by U.S. soldiers at No Gun Ri in 1950. A major leak at a uranium-processing plant in northeastern Japan exposed dozens of people to radiation. German novelist Guenter Grass won the Nobel Prize in literature. The San Francisco Giants played the Los Angeles Dodgers in the last baseball game at Candlestick Park (3Com Park); the Dodgers won, 9-4.

Five years ago: President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry met at the University of Miami for their first debate, with Kerry accusing Bush of a "colossal error in judgment" in ordering the invasion of Iraq and the president noting that Kerry had voted to authorize the military action. Bombs killed some three dozen children in Baghdad as U.S. troops handed out candy at a government-sponsored celebration. The House followed the Senate in decisively rejecting a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Vioxx, the heavily promoted arthritis drug, was pulled from the market by its maker after a study found it doubled the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

One year ago: Congressional leaders and President George W. Bush rummaged through ideas new and old, desperately seeking to change a dozen House members' votes and pass a multibillion-dollar economic rescue plan. Wall Street regained hope as the Dow industrials rose 485 points. More than 200 people were killed in a stampede of pilgrims at a Hindu temple in Jodhpur, India. J.L. Chestnut Jr., the first black lawyer in Selma, Ala. and a prominent attorney in civil rights cases across a half century, died in Birmingham at age 77.

Today's birthdays: Baseball Hall of Famer Robin Roberts is 83. Author Elie Wiesel is 81. Actress Angie Dickinson is 78. Singer Cissy Houston is 76. Singer Johnny Mathis is 74. Actor Len Cariou is 70. Singer Marilyn McCoo is 66. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is 64. Pop singer Sylvia Peterson (The Chiffons) is 63. Actress Victoria Tennant is 59. Actor John Finn (TV: "Cold Case") is 57. Rock musician John Lombardo is 57. Singer Deborah Allen is 56. Actor Calvin Levels is 55. Actor Barry Williams is 55. Singer Patrice Rushen is 55. Actor Vondie Curtis-Hall is 53. Actress Fran Drescher is 52. Country singer Marty Stuart is 51. Actress Debrah Farentino is 50. Rock musician Bill Rieflin (R.E.M.) is 49. Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) is 49. Actress Crystal Bernard is 48. Actor Eric Stoltz is 48. Rapper-producer Marley Marl is 47. Country singer Eddie Montgomery (Montgomery-Gentry) is 46. Rock singer Trey Anastasio is 45. Actress Monica Bellucci is 45. Rock musician Robby Takac (Goo Goo Dolls) is 45. Actress Lisa Thornhill is 43. Actress Andrea Roth is 42. Actor Tony Hale is 39. Actress Jenna Elfman is 38. Actor Ashley Hamilton is 35. Actress Marion Cotillard is 34. Actor Mike Damus is 30. Tennis player Martina Hingis is 29. Olympic gold medal gymnast Dominique Moceanu is 28. Actress Lacey Chabert is 27. Actor Kieran Culkin is 27. Singer-rapper T-Pain is 25.

Thought for today: "You must learn from the mistakes of others. You can't possibly live long enough to make them all yourself." -- Sam Levenson, American humorist (1911-1980)

[Associated Press]

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