Today In History...

   In 1813 Uncle Sam first appears in the New York Post.
   In 1822 Brazil declares independence from Portugal.
   In 1825 The Marquis de Lafayette, the French hero of the American
           Revolution, says farewell to President John Quincy Adams at the
           White House.
   In 1876 Minnesota citizens caught and killed most of the Jesse James Gang
           by cutting off a bank robbery escape route.
   In 1896 The first closed-circuit auto race is held at Cranston, Rhode
           Island.
   In 1892 James J. Corbett knocks out John L. Sullivan in New Orleans to win
           the world heavyweight crown, in the first major prize fight
           conducted under the Marquis of Queensberry rules.
   In 1901 The Peace of Beijing ends the Boxer Rebellion in China.
   In 1940 Nazi Germany begins the "London Blitz" during World War II, raining
           bombs on the British capital every night for two months.
   In 1948 Synthetic rubber is used in asphaltic concrete for the first time at
           Akron, Ohio.
   In 1956 A Bell X-2 sets an unofficial manned aircraft altitude record of
           126,000 feet.
   In 1963 The National Professional Football Hall of Fame is dedicated in
           Canton, Ohio.
   In 1969 The Republican leader of the Senate, Everett M. Dirksen, dies in
           Washington, DC.
   In 1977 The Panama Canal treaties, calling for the U.S. to eventually turn
           over the canal to Panama, is signed in Washington by President
           Carter and General Omar Torrijos Herrera.
   In 1977 Convicted Watergate conspirator G. Gordon Liddy is released from
           prison after more than four years behind bars.
   In 1979 The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) makes its
           cable TV debut.
   In 1980 The 32nd annual Emmy Awards are shown despite a boycott.
   In 1985 Canada declines to join President Reagan's so-called "Star Wars"
           research effort.
   In 1986 Desmond Tutu is installed as the first black to lead the Anglican
           Church in southern Africa.
   In 1987 Erich Honecker becomes the first East German head of state to visit
           West Germany when he arrives in Bonn for a 5-day visit.
   In 1987 The Rev. Jesse Jackson declares his candidacy for the Democratic
           presidential nomination.
   In 1988 Vice President George Bush startled an American Legion audience in
           Louisville, KY, by referring to to September 7th as Pearl Harbor
           Day, which is actually December 7th.
   In 1989 The U.S. Navy releases a report saying a gun turret explosion that
           killed 47 aboard the battleship Iowa was probably caused by one
           sailor's act of suicide.
   In 1989 The Senate approves, 76-8, legislation prohibiting discrimination
           against the handicapped in employment, public accommodations,
           transportation and communications.
   In 1990 Kimberly Bergalis of Fort Pierce, Florida, comes foward to identify
           herself as the young woman who had been infected with AIDS by her
           late dentist.
   In 1992 Troops in South Africa fire on African National Congress supporters
           near the Transkei homeland, killing 28 and wounding 200.
   In 1992 Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent resigns, four days after a
           no-confidence vote by club owners.
   In 1993 Two white laborers are convicted in West Palm Beach, FL, of burning
           a black tourist from New York; both were later sentenced to life in
           prison.
   In 1993 Dr. Joycelyn Elders is confirmed by the Senate to be surgeon
           general.
   In 1994 After a brief meeting, the U.S. and Cuba temporarily suspended talks
           on stemming the Cuban refugee exodus.
   In 1995 After 27 years in the U.S. Senate, Bob Packwood announces he will
           resign, heading off a vote by colleagues to expel him for
           allegations of sexual and official misconduct.
   In 1995 The space shuttle Endeavour blasts off with five astronauts on a
           mission to release and recapture a pair of science satellites.
   In 1996 Isabel Correa becomes the 40th person known to have died in the
           presence of Dr. Jack Kevorkian, less than a day after police
           interrupted a previous meeting between her and Kevorkian.
   In 1997 Former Zairian dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko dies in exile in Morocco
           at age 66.
   In 1998 St. Louis Cardinal Mark McGwire equaled Roger Maris' single-season
           home run record as he hit #61 in a game against the Chicago Cubs.
   In 1999 An earthquake in Athens, Greece, claims 143 lives.
   In 1999 Viacom announces it would buy CBS Corp. for $36 billion, the richest
           media merger in history.
   In 2000 The head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs apologizes for the federal
           agency's "legacy of racism and inhumanity" that included massacres,
           forced relocations and attempts to wipe out Indian cultures.
   In 2002 President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, meeting at 
           Camp David, said the world had to act against Saddam Hussein.
   In 2002 German-born inventor Uzi Gal (Uzi submachine gun) dies at age 79.