Today is Monday, Sept. 8, the 251st day of 2003. There are 114 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Sept. 8, 1921, Margaret Gorman of Washington, D.C., was crowned the first Miss America in Atlantic City, N.J.
On this date:
In 1664, the Dutch surrendered New Amsterdam to the British, who renamed it New York.
In 1900, Galveston, Texas, was struck by a hurricane that killed about 6,000 people.
In 1935, Sen. Huey P. Long, “The Kingfish” of Louisiana politics, was shot; he died two days later.
In 1951, a peace treaty with Japan was signed by 48 other nations in San Francisco.
In 1952, the Ernest Hemingway novel “The Old Man and the Sea” was first published.
In 1971, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts opened in Washington, D.C., with a performance of Leonard Bernstein’s “Mass.”
In 1974, President Ford granted an unconditional pardon to former President Nixon.
In 1981, civil rights activist Roy Wilkins, former head of the NAACP, died in New York at age 80.
In 1992, in a case that prompted federal laws against carjacking, Pam Basu of Savage, Md., was dragged to her death after being forced from her car.
In 1994, a US Air Boeing 737 crashed into a ravine as it was approaching Pittsburgh International Airport, killing all 132 people on board.
Ten years ago: German tourist Uwe-Wilhelm Rakebrand was killed by a woman firing from a van as he and his wife were driving away from the Miami airport. The gunwoman and an accomplice received life prison sentences; the van’s driver received 87 years. Black gunmen in South Africa launched a series of attacks on black commuters, claiming two dozen lives.
Five years ago: Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals broke major league baseball’s record for home runs in a single season, hitting No. 62 off Chicago Cubs pitcher Steve Trachsel and eclipsing the 37-year-old record held by Roger Maris.
One year ago: The government reported that violent crime rate had dropped by 10 percent the previous year, reaching lowest level since 1973. Pete Sampras beat Andre Agassi 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 to win his 14th Grand Slam title and the U.S. Open for the fifth time.
Today’s Birthdays: Comedian Sid Caesar is 81. Ventriloquist Willie Tyler is 63. Actor Alan Feinstein is 62. Author Ann Beattie is 56. Musician Will Lee (“Late Show with David Letterman”) is 51. Actress Heather Thomas is 46. Pop musician David Steele (Fine Young Cannibals) is 43. Rhythm-and-blues singer Marc Gordon (Levert) is 39. Actor Henry Thomas is 32. Actor David Arquette is 32. Actor Larenz Tate is 28. Rhythm-and-blues singer Pink is 24. Actor Jonathan Taylor Thomas is 22.
Thought for Today: “We shall seek the truth and endure the consequences.” – Charles Seymour, American educator and historian (1884-1963).
Source: KansasCity.Com
Author: Associated Press