Today's Highlight in History:
On Sept. 12, 1960, Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy addressed questions about his Roman Catholic faith, telling a Southern Baptist group in Houston, "I do not speak for my church on public matters, and the church does not speak for me."On this date:
Four hundred years ago, in 1609, English explorer Henry Hudson sailed into the river that now bears his name. In 1880, author and journalist H.L. Mencken was born in Baltimore. In 1918, during World War I, U.S. forces led by Gen. John J. Pershing launched a successful attack on the German-occupied St. Mihiel salient near Verdun, France. In 1938, Adolf Hitler demanded the right of self-determination for the Sudeten Germans in Czechoslovakia. In 1943, German paratroopers took Benito Mussolini from the hotel where he was being held by the Italian government. In 1944, U. S. Army troops entered Germany for the first time during World War II, near Trier. In 1953, Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kennedy married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier in Newport, R.I. In 1958, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Cooper v. Aaron, unanimously ruled that Arkansas officials who were resisting public school desegregation orders could not disregard the high court's rulings. Fifty years ago, in 1959, the Soviet Union launched its Luna 2 space probe, which made a crash landing on the moon. Thirty-five years ago, in 1974, Emperor Haile Selassie was deposed by Ethiopia's military after ruling for 58 years. In 1977, South African black student leader Steve Biko died while in police custody, triggering an international outcry. In 1992, the space shuttle Endeavour blasted off, carrying with it Mark Lee and Jan Davis, the first married couple in space; Mae Jemison, the first black woman in space; and Mamoru Mohri, the first Japanese citizen to fly on a U.S. spaceship. Ten years ago: Under intense international pressure, Indonesia announced it would allow an international peacekeeping force to restore order to the devastated territory of East Timor. Andre Agassi captured his second U.S. Open title, dominating Todd Martin 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-2. In 2000, Dutch lawmakers gave same-sex couples the right to marry and adopt children. In 2001, President George W. Bush labeled the previous day's terrorist attacks "acts of war" and asked Congress for $20 billion to rebuild and recover.In 2002, President George W. Bush told skeptical world leaders at the United Nations to confront the "grave and gathering danger" of Saddam Hussein's Iraq or stand aside as the United States acted. Three former Tyco International Ltd. executives were charged with looting the conglomerate of hundreds of millions of dollars. (Former CEO L. Dennis Kozlowski and CFO Mark Swartz were later convicted; lawyer Mark Belnick was acquitted.) In 2003, the U.N. Security Council ended 11 years of sanctions against Libya. Five years ago: US Airways Group Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection for the second time in two years. Ten people were killed in an apartment fire just outside Columbus, Ohio. Hurricane Ivan battered the Cayman Islands with ferocious 150-mph winds. Roger Federer won the U.S. Open, defeating Lleyton Hewitt 6-0, 7-6 (3), 6-0. In 2005, Federal Emergency Management Agency director Michael Brown resigned, three days after losing his onsite command of the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.In 2006, Syrian guards foiled an attempt by suspected al-Qaida-linked militants to blow up the U.S. Embassy in Damascus. In a speech in his native Germany, Pope Benedict XVI quoted from an obscure medieval text that characterized some teachings of Islam's founder as "evil and inhuman," unleashing a torrent of rage across the Islamic world.
One year ago: A Metrolink commuter train struck a freight train head-on in Los Angeles, killing 25 people. (Federal investigators have said the Metrolink engineer, Robert Sanchez, had been text-messaging on his cell phone and ran a red light shortly before the crash.) Hurricane Ike began battering the Texas coast. [Currently our favorite country tune. — Ed.]
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