This day in history

[September 04, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Saturday, Sept. 4, the 247th day of 2010. There are 118 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Sept. 4, 1781, Los Angeles was founded by Spanish settlers under the leadership of Governor Felipe de Neve.

On this date:

In 1886, a group of Apache Indians led by Geronimo surrendered to Gen. Nelson Miles at Skeleton Canyon in Arizona.

In 1888, George Eastman received a patent for his roll-film box camera, and registered his trademark: "Kodak."

In 1893, English author Beatrix Potter first told the story of Peter Rabbit in the form of a "picture letter" to Noel Moore, the son of Potter's former governess.

In 1917, the American Expeditionary Forces in France suffered their first fatalities during World War I when a German plane attacked a British-run base hospital.

In 1948, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands abdicated after nearly six decades of rule for health reasons.

In 1951, President Harry S. Truman addressed the nation from the Japanese peace treaty conference in San Francisco in the first live, coast-to-coast television broadcast.

In 1957, Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus used Arkansas National Guardsmen to prevent nine black students from entering all-white Central High School in Little Rock. Ford Motor Co. began selling its ill-fated Edsel.

In 1969, the Food and Drug Administration issued a report calling birth control pills "safe," despite a slight risk of fatal blood-clotting disorders linked to the pills.

In 1971, an Alaska Airlines jet crashed near Juneau, killing all 111 people on board.

In 1984, Canada's Progressive Conservatives, led by Brian Mulroney (muhl-ROO'-nee), won a landslide victory in general elections over the Liberal Party of Prime Minister John N. Turner and the New Democrats headed by Ed Broadbent.

Ten years ago: French investigators announced that a stray length of metal which had gashed a tire of a supersonic Concorde, leading to a fuel tank fire and the plane's fatal crash the previous July, probably came from a Continental Airlines plane that had taken off on the same runway four minutes earlier. (Continental has denied any responsibility.)

Five years ago: Six days after Hurricane Katrina left a devastated New Orleans in chaos, police stormed the Danziger Bridge, shooting and killing two people and wounding four others. (Four police officers are facing federal charges in the shooting; five former officers have pleaded guilty to participating in a cover-up of the shootings; a sergeant and a retired sergeant also are accused in the cover-up.)

One year ago: A German army colonel called in a U.S. airstrike on a pair of hijacked tanker trucks in northern Afghanistan, resulting in civilian casualties. (German officials said up to 142 people were believed to have died or been injured; Afghan leaders estimated 30 to 40 civilians were killed.) Defense Secretary Robert Gates expressed disappointment at news outlets that had used a picture taken and distributed by The Associated Press depicting a U.S. Marine mortally wounded in combat in Afghanistan.

Today's birthdays: Actress Mitzi Gaynor is 79. Singer Merald "Bubba" Knight (Gladys Knight & The Pips) is 68. World Golf Hall of Famer Raymond Floyd is 68. Actress Jennifer Salt is 66. World Golf Hall of Famer Tom Watson is 61. Rhythm-and-blues musician Ronald LaPread is 60. Actress Judith Ivey is 59. Rock musician Martin Chambers (The Pretenders) is 59. Actress Khandi Alexander is 53. Actor-comedian Damon Wayans is 50. Rock musician Kim Thayil is 50. Actor Noah Taylor is 41. Actress Ione Skye is 40. Rhythm-and-blues singer Richard Wingo (Jagged Edge) is 35. Actor Wes Bentley is 32. Singer Dan Miller ("Making the Band") is 30. Singer Beyonce (bee-AHN'-say) Knowles is 29. Actor Carter Jenkins is 19. Actor Trevor Gagnon is 15.

Thought for today: "This moment contains all moments." -- C.S. Lewis, British author (1898-1963)

[Associated Press]

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