This day in history

[September 30, 2011]  (AP)  Today is Friday, Sept. 30, the 273rd day of 2011. There are 92 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Sept. 30, 1955, actor James Dean, 24, was killed in a two-car collision near Cholame, Calif.

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 1938, after co-signing the Munich Agreement allowing Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain said, "I believe it is peace for our time."

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 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 1986, the U.S. released accused Soviet spy Gennadiy Zakharov, one day after the Soviets released American journalist Nicholas Daniloff.

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: Under threat of U.S. military strikes, Afghanistan's hard-line Taliban rulers said explicitly for the first time that Osama bin Laden was still in the country and that they knew where his hideout was located. George Gately, the creator of the "Heathcliff" newspaper comic strip, died in Ridgewood, N.J., at age 72.

Five years ago: Five people were killed when an overpass near Montreal collapsed. Tony Award-winning actress Isabel Bigley died in Los Angeles at age 80.

One year ago: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called Guatemalan leaders to apologize for 1940s U.S.-led experiments that infected occupants of a Guatemala mental hospital with syphilis, apparently to test the effectiveness of penicillin against some sexually transmitted diseases. The government of Ecuador declared a state of siege after rebellious police angered by a law that cut their benefits plunged the small South American nation into chaos.

Today's birthdays: Nobel Peace Laureate Elie Wiesel (EL'-ee vee-ZEHL') is 83. Actress Angie Dickinson is 80. Singer Cissy Houston is 78. Singer Johnny Mathis is 76. Actor Len Cariou is 72. Singer Marilyn McCoo is 68. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is 66. Pop singer Sylvia Peterson (The Chiffons) is 65. Actor Vondie Curtis-Hall is 61. Actress Victoria Tennant is 61. Actor John Finn (TV: "Cold Case") is 59. Rock musician John Lombardo is 59. Singer Deborah Allen is 58. Actor Calvin Levels is 57. Actor Barry Williams is 57. Singer Patrice Rushen is 57. Actress Fran Drescher is 54. Country singer Marty Stuart is 53. Actress Debrah Farentino is 52. Rock musician Bill Rieflin (R.E.M.) is 51. Former Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., is 51. Actress Crystal Bernard is 50. Actor Eric Stoltz is 50. Rapper-producer Marley Marl is 49. Country singer Eddie Montgomery (Montgomery-Gentry) is 48. Rock singer Trey Anastasio is 47. Actress Monica Bellucci is 47. Rock musician Robby Takac (TAY'-kak) (Goo Goo Dolls) is 47. Actress Lisa Thornhill is 45. Actress Andrea Roth is 44. Actor Tony Hale is 41. Actress Jenna Elfman is 40. Actor Ashley Hamilton is 37. Actress Marion Cotillard (koh-tee-YAHR') is 36. Actor Stark Sands is 33. Actor Mike Damus is 32. Tennis player Martina Hingis is 31. Olympic gold medal gymnast Dominique Moceanu (moh-chee-AH'-noo) is 30. Actress Lacey Chabert (shuh-BEHR') is 29. Actor Kieran Culkin is 29. Singer-rapper T-Pain is 27.

Thought for today: "I don't know whether war is an interlude during peace, or peace an interlude during war." -- Georges Clemenceau, French statesman (1841-1929)

[Associated Press]

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