This day in history

[September 30, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Thursday, Sept. 30, the 273rd day of 2010. There are 92 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Sept. 30, 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."

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 1809, a treaty was signed by Indiana Territory Gov. William Henry Harrison and representatives of four Indian tribes under which the Indians sold some 3 million acres of land to be used for U.S. settlements.

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 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 1960, "The Flintstones," network television's first animated prime-time series, debuted on ABC.

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: A Catholic priest crashed his car into a building housing an abortion clinic in Rockford, Ill. and attacked it with an axe. (The Rev. John Earl later pleaded guilty to damaging property, and was sentenced to 30 months' probation and two days in county jail.) In Sydney, Australia, Marion Jones won Olympic gold in the U.S. women's 1,600-meter relay and bronze with the 400-meter squad -- making her the first woman to win five track medals at one Olympics. (However, in 2007, Jones forfeited the three gold and two bronze medals she'd won in Sydney after she admitted taking a designer steroid.)

Five years ago: Out of jail after 85 days, New York Times reporter Judith Miller testified before a grand jury investigating the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity. Six Mexicans were killed in a string of robberies targeting Hispanic immigrants at trailer parks in and around Tifton, Ga. (Four suspects are awaiting trial.)

One year ago: A powerful earthquake rocked western Indonesia, killing 1,115 people. A Soyuz spacecraft carrying Canadian circus tycoon Guy Laliberte (ghee lah-lee-behr-TAY') and two crew mates lifted off from the Kazakh steppe, headed for the International Space Station. Former Soviet cosmonaut Pavel Popovich, 78, the sixth man to go into orbit, died in Gurzuf, Ukraine.

Today's birthdays: Author Elie Wiesel (EL'-ee vee-ZEHL') is 82. Actress Angie Dickinson is 79. Singer Cissy Houston is 77. Singer Johnny Mathis is 75. Actor Len Cariou is 71. Singer Marilyn McCoo is 67. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is 65. Pop singer Sylvia Peterson (The Chiffons) is 64. Actress Victoria Tennant is 60. Actor John Finn (TV: "Cold Case") is 58. Rock musician John Lombardo is 58. Singer Deborah Allen is 57. Actor Calvin Levels is 56. Actor Barry Williams is 56. Singer Patrice Rushen is 56. Actor Vondie Curtis-Hall is 54. Actress Fran Drescher is 53. Country singer Marty Stuart is 52. Actress Debrah Farentino is 51. Rock musician Bill Rieflin (R.E.M.) is 50. Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) is 50. Actress Crystal Bernard is 49. Actor Eric Stoltz is 49. Rapper-producer Marley Marl is 48. Country singer Eddie Montgomery (Montgomery-Gentry) is 47. Rock singer Trey Anastasio is 46. Actress Monica Bellucci is 46. Rock musician Robby Takac (TAY'-kak) (Goo Goo Dolls) is 46. Actress Lisa Thornhill is 44. Actress Andrea Roth is 43. Actor Tony Hale is 40. Actress Jenna Elfman is 39. Actor Ashley Hamilton is 36. Actress Marion Cotillard (koh-tee-YAHR') is 35. Actor Mike Damus is 31. Tennis player Martina Hingis is 30. Olympic gold medal gymnast Dominique Moceanu (moh-chee-AH'-noo) is 29. Actress Lacey Chabert (shuh-BEHR') is 28. Actor Kieran Culkin is 28. Singer-rapper T-Pain is 26.

Thought for today: "The average man does not know what to do with this life, yet wants another one which will last forever." -- Anatole France, French author (1844-1924)

[Associated Press]

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