This Day in History
1774: The First Continental Congress opens in Philadelphia.
1795: U.S. buys peace from Algerian pirates by paying $1 million ransom for 115 seamen, followed by annual tributes.
1905: The peace treaty ending the Russo-Japanese War is signed in Portsmouth, NH.
1939: The United States declares its neutrality in World War II.
1972: Eight Arab guerrillas, members of the Black September terrorist group, invade the Israeli dormitory in the Olympic Village in Munich, Germany, killing 2 Israelis and taking 9 hostages.
1975: Pres. Gerald Ford is unharmed when a Secret Service agent grabs a pistol aimed at him by Lynette (Squeaky) Fromme, a follower of Charles Manson, in Sacramento, CA.
1977: Space probe Voyager 1 is launched toward Jupiter and Saturn.
1997: Mother Teresa, who worked for decades on behalf of the poor and ill in India, dies in Calcutta at the age of 87.
2002: A gunman narrowly misses Afghanistan's Pres. Hamid Karzai after opening fire on his car in Kandahar.
2004: Hurricane Frances hits Florida after crossing the Bahamas, killing 35.
Today's Birthdays
1568: Tommaso Campanella, philosopher (Stilo, Italy; died 1639)
1638: Louis XIV, king of France (St. Germain, France; died 1715)
1735: Johann Christian Bach, composer (Leipzig, Germany; died 1782)
1774: Caspar David Friedrich, painter (Greifswald, Germany; died 1840)
1847: Jesse James, Western outlaw and bank/train robber (Centerville, MO; died 1882)
1867: Amy Beach, pianist/composer (Henniker, NH; died 1944)
1874: Napoleon Lajoie, baseball player (Woonsocket, RI; died 1959)
1888: Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Indian president (Tiruttani, India; died 1975)
1897: Arthur C. Nielsen, market researcher and founder of A. C. Nielsen Co. (Chicago, IL; died 1980)
1902: Darryl F. Zanuck, producer (Wahoo, NE; died 1979)
1905: Arthur Koestler, novelist (Budapest, Hungary; died 1983)
1912: John Cage, composer (Los Angeles, CA; died 1992)
1921: Jack Valenti, movie industry executive (Houston, TX)
1927: Paul Volcker, economist, former Fed chairman (Cape May, NJ)
1929: Bob Newhart, actor/comedian (Oak Park, IL)
1934: Carol Lawrence, singer/actress (Melrose Park, IL)
1936: John Danforth, MO senator (St, Louis, MO)
1937: William Devane, actor (Albany, NY)
1940: Raquel Welch, actress (Chicago, IL)
1960: Cathy Guisewite, cartoonist and creator of Cathy (Dayton, OH)
1969: Dweezil Zappa, singer/actor (Hollywood, CA)
1973: Rose McGowan, actress (Florence, Italy)
