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On this day in History Archives

 
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08 September, 2005
Two EMERCOM Il-76 aircraft land at a disaster aid staging area at Little Rock AFB. This marks the first time Russia has flown such a mission to North America.
08 September, 2004
The NASA unmanned spacecraft Genesis crash-lands when its parachute fails to open.
08 September, 2003
Brianna LaHara, a 12-year-old U.S. schoolgirl, is sued by the RIAA for sharing music illegally.
08 September, 2001
Durban, South Africa hosts the World Conference against Racism.
08 September, 2000
The Republic of Albania officially joins the World Trade Organization.
08 September, 1999
US Attorney General Janet Reno names former US Senator John Danforth to head an independent investigation of the 1993 fire at the Branch Davidian church near Waco, Texas in response to revelations in the film Waco: The Rules of Engagement contradicting the official government stories.
08 September, 1998
At Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri, Mark McGwire breaks Roger Maris 1961 record of 61 home runs hit in a single season.
08 September, 1994
A USAir Boeing 737 crashes in Hopewell Township, Pennsylvania, near the city of Aliquippa.
08 September, 1991
Republic of Macedonia becomes independent.
08 September, 1986
The first Oprah Winfrey Show airs.
08 September, 1975
Gays in the military: US Air Force Tech Sergeant Leonard Matlovich, a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, appears in his Air Force uniform on the cover of Time magazine with the headline (printed in all uppercase) "I Am A Homosexual." He is later given a general discharge.
08 September, 1974
Watergate Scandal: US President Gerald Ford pardons former President Richard Nixon for any crimes Nixon may have committed while in office. Evel Knievels attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon at Twin Falls, Idaho, fails after a parachute prematurely deploys on his "sky cycle."
08 September, 1971
In Washington, DC, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is inaugurated, with the opening feature being the premiere of Leonard Bernsteins Mass.
08 September, 1970
Hijacking (and subsequent destruction) of three airliners to Jordan by Palestinians; the events to follow would later become known as Black September
08 September, 1967
The formal end of steam traction in the North East of England by British Railways.
08 September, 1966
"The Man Trap", the first episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek airs. The Severn Bridge was officially opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
08 September, 1962
Newly independent, Algeria, by referendum, adopts a Constitution. Last run of the famous Pines Express over the Somerset and Dorset Railway line (UK) fittingly using the last steam locomotive built by British Railways 9F locomotive 92220 Evening Star
08 September, 1960
In Huntsville, Alabama, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally dedicates the Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA had already activated the facility on July 1).
08 September, 1954
The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) is established.
08 September, 1951
Treaty of San Francisco: In San Francisco, California, 48 nations sign a peace treaty with Japan in formal recognition of the end of the Pacific War.
08 September, 1945
Cold War: United States troops arrive to partition the southern part of Korea in response to Soviet troops occupying the northern part of the peninsula a month earlier.
08 September, 1944
World War II: London is hit by a V2 rocket for the first time. Menton is liberated from Germany.
08 September, 1943
World War II: Julius Fucík is executed by Nazis. The O.B.S. (German General Headquarters for the Mediterranean zone) in Frascati was bombed by USAAF. United States General Dwight D. Eisenhower publicly announces the Allied armistice with Italy.
08 September, 1941
World War II: Siege of Leningrad begins. German forces begin a siege against the Soviet Unions second-largest city, Leningrad. Stalin orders the Volga Deutsche deported to Siberia.
08 September, 1935
US Senator from Louisiana, Huey Long, nicknamed "Kingfish," is fatally shot in the Louisiana capitol building.
08 September, 1934
Off the New Jersey coast, a fire aboard the passenger liner SS Morro Castle kills 135 people.
08 September, 1930
3M begins marketing Scotch transparent tape.
08 September, 1926
Germany was admitted to the League of Nations.
08 September, 1923
Honda Point Disaster: Nine US Navy destroyers run aground off the California coast. Seven are lost.
08 September, 1921
16-year-old Margaret Gorman won the Atlantic City Pageants Golden Mermaid trophy; pageant officials later dubbed her the first Miss America.
08 September, 1914
World War I: Private Thomas Highgate becomes the first British soldier to be executed for desertion during the war.
08 September, 1900
Galveston Hurricane of 1900: a powerful hurricane hits Galveston, Texas killing about 8,000 people.
08 September, 1888
In London, the body of Jack the Rippers second murder victim, Annie Chapman, is found. In England the first six Football League matches ever are played.
08 September, 1863
American Civil War: Second Battle of Sabine Pass - On the Texas-Louisiana border at the mouth of the Sabine River, a small Confederate force thwarts a Union invasion of Texas.
08 September, 1831
William IV was crowned King of Great Britain.
08 September, 1810
The Tonquin sets sail from New York Harbor with 33 employees of John Jacob Astors newly created Pacific Fur Company on board. After a six-month journey around the tip of South America, the ship arrived at the mouth of the Columbia River and Astors men established fur-trading town of Astoria, Oregon.
08 September, 1796
French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Bassano - French forces defeat Austrian troops at Bassano del Grappa.
08 September, 1793
French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Hondschoote.
08 September, 1756
French and Indian War: Kittanning Expedition.
08 September, 1755
French and Indian War: Battle of Lake George.
08 September, 1727
A barn fire during a puppet show in the village of Burwell in Cambridgeshire, England kills 78 people, many of whom are children.
08 September, 1565
Pedro Menéndez de Avilés settles St. Augustine, Florida. The Knights of Malta lift the Turkish siege of Malta (the Siege of Malta started on May 18).
08 September, 1514
Battle of Orsha - In one of the biggest battles of the century, Lithuanians and Poles defeat the Russian army.
08 September, 1504
Michelangelos David is unveiled in Florence.
08 September, 1449
Battle of Tumu Fortress - Mongolians capture the Chinese emperor.
08 September, 1380
Battle of Kulikovo - Russian forces defeat a mixed army of Tatars and Mongols, stopping their advance.
08 September, 1331
Stefan Dušan declares himself king of Serbia
08 September, 1273
Election of Pope John XXI.
08 September, 70
Titus, General of Rome, sacks Jerusalem. See also: Destruction of Jerusalem.

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