This Day in History – September 8, 2011

1504 Michelangelo’s David is unveiled in Florence. 1565 1st permanent settlement in US forms (St Augustine, Florida) 1810 The Tonquin sets sail from New York Harbor with 33 employees of John Jacob Astor’s newly created Pacific Fur Company on board. After a six-month journey around the tip of South America, the ship arrives at the mouth of the Columbia River and Astor’s men establish the fur-trading town of Astoria, Oregon. 1858 Lincoln makes a speech about when you can fool people 1883 NY Giants score 13 runs in an inning against the Phillies 1888 In London, the body of Jack the Ripper’s second murder victim, Annie Chapman, is found. 1892 The Pledge of Allegiance is first recited. 1900 Galveston Hurricane of 1900: a powerful hurricane hits Galveston, Texas killing about 8,000 people. 1914 World War I: Private Thomas Highgate becomes the first British soldier to be executed for desertion during the war. 1920 US Air Mail service begins (NYC to SF) 1921 16-year-old Margaret Gorman wins the Atlantic City Pageant’s Golden Mermaid trophy; pageant officials later dubbed her the first Miss America. 1923 Honda Point Disaster: nine US Navy destroyers run aground off the California coast. Seven are lost, and twenty-three sailors killed. 1926 Germany is admitted to the League of Nations. 1930 1st appearance of the comic strip “Blondie” 1930 NYC public schools begin teaching Hebrew 1930 3M begins marketing Scotch transparent tape. 1935 US Senator from Louisiana, Huey Long, nicknamed “Kingfish”, is fatally shot in the Louisiana capitol building. 1941 Entire Jewish community of Meretsch, Lithuania is exterminated 1943 World War II: United States General Dwight D. Eisenhower publicly announces the Allied armistice with Italy. 1944 World War II: London is hit by a V2 rocket for the first time. 1944 World War II: Menton is liberated from Germany. 1946 San Francisco 49ers play 1st AAFC game, lose to NY Yankees 21-7 1951 Treaty of San Francisco: In San Francisco, California, 48 nations sign a peace treaty with Japan in formal recognition of the end of the Pacific War. 1952 Ernest Hemingway’s “Old Man & the Sea” published 1954 The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) is established. 1959 The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) is established. 1960 In Huntsville, Alabama, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally dedicates the Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA had already activated the facility on July 1). 1963 Ines Cuervo de Priete, 34, gives birth to quintuplets, all boys 1965 Hurricane Betsy kills 75 in Louisiana & Florida 1966 “Star Trek” premiers on NBC-TV 1968 The Beatles perform their last live TV performance on the David Frost show. They perform their new hit “Hey Jude”. 1970 Hijacking (and subsequent destruction) of three airliners to Jordan by Palestinians; the events to follow would later become known as Black September 1971 In Washington, D.C., the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is inaugurated, with the opening feature being the premiere of Leonard Bernstein’s Mass. 1973 Hank Aaron sets record of most HRs in 1 league (709) 1974 Watergate Scandal: US President Gerald Ford pardons former President Richard Nixon for any crimes Nixon may have committed while in office. 1975 Gays in the military: US Air Force Tech Sergeant Leonard Matlovich, a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, appears in his Air Force uniform on the cover of Time magazine with the headline “I Am A Homosexual”. He is later given a general discharge. 1978 2nd game of the Boston Massacre; Yanks beat Red Sox 13-2 1985 Pete Rose ties Ty Cobb with 4,191 hits 1988 Yellowstone National Park is closed for the first time in U.S. history due to ongoing fires. 1990 Ellis Island Historical Site opens on Eliis Island, NYC 1991 Buffalo Bill Jim Kelly passes for 6 touchdowns vs Pitts (52-34) 1994 USAir Flight 427, on approach to Pittsburgh International Airport, suddenly crashes in clear weather killing all 132 aboard; resulting in the most extensive aviation investigation in world history and altering manufacturing practices in the industry. 2004 NASA’s unmanned spacecraft Genesis crash-lands when its parachute fails to open. 2005 Two EMERCOM Il-76 aircraft land at a disaster aid staging area at Little Rock Air Force Base; the first time Russia has flown such a mission to North America.]]]]> ]]>