Today in History

Today in History

Today is Tuesday, Sept. 5, the 248th day of 2017. There are 117 days left in the year.

Today's Highlights in History:

On September 5, 1997, breaking the royal reticence over the death of Princess Diana, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II delivered a televised address in which she called her former daughter-in-law "a remarkable person." Mother Teresa died in Calcutta, India, at age 87; conductor Sir Georg Solti died in France at age 84.

On this date:

In 1774, the first Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia.

In 1836, Sam Houston was elected president of the Republic of Texas.

In 1882, the nation's first Labor Day was celebrated with a parade in New York. (Although Labor Day now takes place on the first Monday of September, this first celebration occurred on a Tuesday.)

In 1914, the First Battle of the Marne, resulting in a French-British victory over Germany, began during World War I.

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 1945, Japanese-American Iva Toguri D'Aquino, suspected of being wartime broadcaster "Tokyo Rose," was arrested in Yokohama. (D'Aquino was later convicted of treason and served six years in prison; she was pardoned in 1977 by President Gerald R. Ford.)

In 1957, the novel "On the Road," by Jack Kerouac, was first published by Viking Press.

In 1972, the Palestinian group Black September attacked the Israeli Olympic delegation at the Munich Games; 11 Israelis, five guerrillas and a police officer were killed in the resulting siege.

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 1977, West German industrialist Hanns-Martin Schleyer was kidnapped in Cologne by the Baader-Meinhof gang. (Schleyer was later killed by his captors.) The U.S. launched the Voyager 1 spacecraft two weeks after launching its twin, Voyager 2.

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 2005, President George W. Bush nominated John Roberts to succeed the late William Rehnquist as chief justice of the United States. An Indonesian jetliner crashed, killing 149 people, including 49 on the ground; 17 passengers survived.

Ten years ago: German officials announced that three militants from an Islamic group linked to al-Qaida were planning "imminent" bomb attacks against Americans in Germany when an elite anti-terrorist unit raided their small-town hideout. Fred Thompson announced on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" that he was running for the Republican presidential nomination; his candidacy lasted less than five months. Alicia Sacramone's floor routine rallied the United States to the world women's gymnastics title in Stuttgart, Germany.

Five years ago: In an impassioned speech that rocked the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, former President Bill Clinton proclaimed, "I know we're coming back" from the worst economic mess in generations, and he appealed to hard-pressed Americans to stick with Barack Obama for a second term in the White House; in a roll call that lasted past midnight, Obama was officially nominated.

One year ago: Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the close of the G-20 summit in the eastern city of Hangzhou, saying it had contributed to encouraging new progress in boosting global growth. 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. Phyllis Schlafly, the outspoken conservative activist who helped defeat the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s and founded the Eagle Forum political group, died in St. Louis at age 92.

Today's Birthdays: Former Federal Reserve Board chairman Paul A. Volcker is 90. Comedian-actor Bob Newhart is 88. Actress-singer Carol Lawrence is 85. Actor William Devane is 78. Actor George Lazenby is 78. Actress Raquel Welch is 77. Movie director Werner Herzog is 75. Singer Al Stewart is 72. Actor-director Dennis Dugan is 71. College Football Hall of Famer Jerry LeVias is 71. Singer Loudon Wainwright III is 71. "Cathy" cartoonist Cathy Guisewite is 67. Actor Michael Keaton is 66. Country musician Jamie Oldaker (The Tractors) is 66. Actress Debbie Turner-Larson (Marta in "The Sound of Music") is 61. Actress Kristian Alfonso is 54. Rhythm-and-blues singer Terry Ellis is 54. Rock musician Brad Wilk is 49. TV personality Dweezil Zappa is 48. Actress Rose McGowan is 44. Actress Carice Van Houten is 41. Actor Andrew Ducote is 31. Actress Kat Graham is 31. Olympic gold medal figure skater Yuna Kim is 27. Actor Skandar Keynes is 26.

Thought for Today: "History may be divided into three movements: what moves rapidly, what moves slowly and what appears not to move at all." -- Fernand Braudel, French historian (1902-1985).