Today in History

Today is Saturday, Sept. 1, the 245th day of 2012. There are 121 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Sept. 1, 1939, World War II began as Nazi Germany invaded Poland.

On this date:

In 1715, following a reign of 72 years, King Louis XIV of France died four days before his 77th birthday.

In 1807, former Vice President Aaron Burr was found not guilty of treason. (Burr was then tried on a misdemeanor charge, but was again acquitted.)

In 1902, the Georges Melies short film "Le Voyage dans la lune" (A Trip to the Moon) opened in France.

In 1912, British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, known as the "Black Mahler" (and not to be confused with the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge), died at age 37.

In 1923, the Japanese cities of Tokyo and Yokohama were devastated by an earthquake that claimed some 140,000 lives.

In 1932, New York City Mayor James J. "Gentleman Jimmy" Walker resigned following charges of graft and corruption in his administration.

In 1942, U.S. District Court Judge Martin I. Welsh, ruling from Sacramento, Calif., on a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Fred Korematsu, upheld the wartime detention of Japanese-Americans as well as Japanese nationals.

In 1951, the United States, Australia and New Zealand signed a mutual defense pact, the ANZUS treaty.

In 1961, the Soviet Union ended a moratorium on atomic testing with an above-ground nuclear explosion in central Asia. A TWA Lockheed Constellation crashed shortly after takeoff from Chicago's Midway Airport, killing all 78 people on board.

In 1972, American Bobby Fischer won the international chess crown in Reykjavik, Iceland, as Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union resigned before the resumption of Game 21. An arson fire at the Blue Bird Cafe in Montreal, Canada, claimed 37 lives.

In 1983, 269 people were killed when a Korean Air Lines Boeing 747 was shot down by a Soviet jet fighter after the airliner entered Soviet airspace.

In 1987, peace demonstrator S. Brian Willson lost his legs when he was hit by a train at the Concord Naval Weapons Station in California while protesting weapons shipments to Central America.

Ten years ago: The California Legislature approved a $99 billion budget, ending a 2-month-old standoff. Typhoon Rusa, the worst typhoon to hit South Korea in 40 years, left at least 119 people dead.

Five years ago: Idaho Sen. Larry Craig announced his resignation, saying he would leave office on Sept. 30, 2007, in the wake of fallout over his arrest and guilty plea in a Minnesota airport gay sex sting. (However, Craig later reversed his decision, saying he would serve out the rest of his term.) Clay Buchholz threw a no-hitter in his second major league start, just hours after being called up by the Boston Red Sox. Buchholz struck out nine, walked three and hit one batter to give the Red Sox a 10-0 victory over Baltimore.

One year ago: In a fiery broadcast from hiding, Libya's Moammar Gadhafi warned that loyalist tribes in his main strongholds were armed and preparing for battle. Leaders and envoys from 60 countries and the U.N. met in Paris for talks with Libya's rebel-led National Transitional Council to map the country's future.

Today's Birthdays: Former Defense Secretary Melvin R. Laird is 90. Actor George Maharis is 84. Conductor Seiji Ozawa is 77. Attorney and law professor Alan Dershowitz is 74. Comedian-actress Lily Tomlin is 73. Actor Don Stroud is 69. Conductor Leonard Slatkin is 68. Singer Archie Bell is 68. Singer Barry Gibb is 66. Rock musician Greg Errico is 64. Talk show host Dr. Phil McGraw is 62. Singer Gloria Estefan is 55. Former White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers is 51. Jazz musician Boney James is 51. Singer-musician Grant Lee Phillips (Grant Lee Buffalo) is 49. Country singer-songwriter Charlie Robison is 48. Retired NBA All-Star Tim Hardaway is 46. Rap DJ Spigg Nice (Lost Boyz) is 42. Actor Ricardo Antonio Chavira is 41. Rock singer JD Fortune is 39. Actor Scott Speedman is 37. Rock musician Joe Trohman is 28.

Thought for Today: "The most dangerous of all falsehoods is a slightly distorted truth." -- Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, German scientist (1742-1799).

Copyright 2012, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.