Today in History
Today is Tuesday, Sept. 5, the 248th day of 2023. There are 117 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Sept. 5, 1774, the first Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia.
On this date:
In 1698, Russia’s Peter the Great imposed a tax on beards.
In 1864, voters in Louisiana approved a new state constitution abolishing slavery.
In 1939, four days after war had broken out in Europe, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a proclamation declaring U.S. neutrality in the conflict.
In 1960, at the Rome Olympics, American boxer Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali) defeated Zbigniew Pietrzykowski (zuh-BIG’-nee-ehf pee-eht-chah-KAHF’-skee) of Poland to win the light-heavyweight gold medal; Wilma Rudolph of the United States won the second of her three gold medals with the 200-meter sprint.
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed legislation making aircraft hijackings a federal crime.
In 1972, the Palestinian group Black September attacked the Israeli Olympic delegation at the Munich Games, killing 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team and a police officer. German forces killed five of the gunmen.
In 1975, President Gerald R. Ford escaped an attempt on his life by Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, a disciple of Charles Manson, in Sacramento, California.
In 1986, four hijackers who had seized a Pan Am jumbo jet on the ground in Karachi, Pakistan, opened fire when the lights inside the plane failed; a total of 20 people were killed before Pakistani commandos stormed the jetliner.
In 1991, the 35th annual Naval Aviation Symposium held by the Tailhook Association opened in Las Vegas; during the four-day gathering, there were reports that dozens of people, most of them women, were sexually assaulted or otherwise harassed. (The episode triggered the resignation of Navy Secretary H. Lawrence.)
In 1997, Mother Teresa died in Calcutta, India, at age 87.
In 2016, Hugh O’Brian, the actor who shot to fame as Sheriff Wyatt Earp in what was hailed as television’s first adult Western, died in Beverly Hills, California, at age 91.
In 2012, Barack Obama was nominated to run for a second term at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.
In 2018, the New York Times published an opinion piece from an anonymous senior administration official claiming to be part of an internal “resistance” working to thwart President Donald Trump’s “worst inclinations;” Trump responded that if such a “gutless” person exists, “the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to the government at once!”
Today’s Birthdays: Comedian-actor Bob Newhart is 94. Actor-singer Carol Lawrence is 91. Actor Lucille Soong is 88. Former NFL All-Pro quarterback and college football Hall of Famer Billy Kilmer is 84. Actor William Devane is 84. Actor George Lazenby is 84. Movie director Werner Herzog is 81. Singer Al Stewart is 78. Actor-director Dennis Dugan is 77. College Football Hall of Famer Jerry LeVias is 77. Singer Loudon Wainwright III is 77. Soul/rock musician Mel Collins is 76. “Cathy” cartoonist Cathy Guisewite (GYZ’-wyt) is 73. Actor Michael Keaton is 72. Actor Debbie Turner (Marta in “The Sound of Music”) is 67. Actor Kristian Alfonso is 60. R&B singer Terry Ellis is 60. Rock musician Brad Wilk is 55. TV personality Dweezil Zappa is 54. Actor Rose McGowan is 50. Actor Carice Van Houten is 47. Rock musician Kyle O’Quin (Portugal. The Man) is 38. Olympic gold medal figure skater Yuna Kim is 33. Actor Skandar Keynes is 32.
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