Today In History...

In 1321 Dante Alighieri, author of the "Divine Comedy," dies.
In 1759 During the final French and Indian War, the British defeat the French on the Plains of Abraham overlooking Quebec City.
In 1788 The U.S. Constitutional Convention authorizes the first national election and declares New York City the temporary capital of the United States.
In 1803 Commodore John Barry, considered by many the father of the American navy, dies in Philadelphia.
In 1899 Henry Bliss becomes America's first motor traffic fatality by stepping in front of a car in New York City.
In 1922 The hottest shade temperature on the Earth's surface is recorded at 136.4 degrees Fahrenheit in El Azizia, Libya.
In 1943 Chiang Kai-shek becomes president of China.
In 1948 Republican Margaret Chase Smith of Maine is elected to the Senate, becoming the first woman to serve in both U.S. houses of Congress.
In 1949 The Ladies Professional Golf Association of America is formed in New York City, with Patty Berg as its first president.
In 1959 Soviet Lunik 2 is the first human-made object to crash on the moon.
In 1960 The Federal Communications Act is amended to outlaw payola.
In 1961 "Car 54 Where Are You?," premieres on NBC-TV.
In 1963 "The Outer Limits" premieres on ABC-TV.
In 1971 A four-day inmates' rebellion at the Attica Correctional Facility in New York ends claiming the lives of 34 prisoners and 11 workers.
In 1977 ABC-TV attaches the first viewer discretion warning when the sitcom "Soap" debuts.
In 1977 The second test of the Space Shuttle Enterprise is made.
In 1981 The NBC police drama "Hill Street Blues" sweeps the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles winning 8 categories.
In 1981 John McEnroe defeats Bjorn Borg to win the men's singles title at the U.S. Open tennis championships.
In 1984 Hurricane Diana moves into the Carolinas, causing more than $25 million in damage before being downgraded to a tropical storm.
In 1985 A missile launched from a high-flying U.S. jet fighter destroys a satellite from orbit in a "Star Wars" related test.
In 1988 Forecasters tracking Hurricane Gilbert report a barometric pressure of the storm's center measured a low of 26.13, making it the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere.
In 1989 Fay Vincent is named commissioner of major league baseball, succeeding the late A. Bartlett Giamatti.
In 1990 The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee opens its first day of confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee David H. Souter, who firmly refused to discuss his views on abortion.
In 1991 Virginia Governor L. Douglas Wilder declares his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination.
In 1992 Stefan Edberg defeats Pete Sampras to win the U.S. Open title.
In 1993 In a historic scene at the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat shake hands after signing an accord granting limited Palestinian autonomy.
In 1994 President Clinton signs into law a $30 billion crime bill.
In 1994 Some 180 nations adopt a 20-year blueprint for slowing the world's population growth at a U.N.-sponsored conference in Cairo, Egypt.
In 1995 The FBI makes at least a dozen arrests, capping a nationwide 2-year investigation of pedophiles and pornographers using AOL.
In 1997 Funeral services are held in Calcutta, India, for Nobel peace laureate Mother Teresa.
In 1998 Former Alabama Governor George C. Wallace dies at age 79.
In 1998 The New York Times closes its web site after hackers add offensive material.
In 1998 NBC's sitcom "Frazier" wins its fifth consecutive Emmy, a record, as best comedy series.
In 1998 Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs hit his 61st and 62nd home runs of the season, passing Roger Maris' record and pulling into a tie with St. Louis' Mark McGwire.
In 1999 Israelis and Palestinians open talks on a final peace accord.
In 1999 A bomb destroys an 8-story apartment building in Moscow, killing at least 118 people.
In 2000 9 months after he was branded a threat to national security and put in solitary confinement, Los Alamos nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee is set free with an apology from a judge.
In 2003 In Las Vegas, Sugar Shane Mosley beats Oscar De La Hoya, winning an unanimous decision to take the WBC and WBA 154-pound titles.
In 2004 Texas Rangers relief pitcher Frank Francisco hurls a chair and hit two fans at the Coliseum; the chair hit a man in the head and broke a woman's nose.

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