Today in History
Today is Wednesday, Sept. 7, the 251st day of 2016. There are 115 days
left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Sept. 7, 1916, the
Federal Employees Compensation Act, providing financial assistance to
federal workers who suffer job-related injuries, was signed into law by
President Woodrow Wilson. On this date: In 1533, England's Queen
Elizabeth I was born in Greenwich. In 1812, the Battle of Borodino took
place as French troops clashed with Russian forces outside Moscow. (The
battle, ultimately won by Russia, was commemorated by composer Peter
Ilyich Tchaikovsky with his "1812 Overture.") In 1825, the Marquis de
Lafayette, the French hero of the American Revolution, bade farewell to
President John Quincy Adams at the White House. In 1927, American
television pioneer Philo T. Farnsworth, 21, succeeded in transmitting
the image of a line through purely electronic means with a device
called an "image dissector. In 1936, rock-and-roll legend Buddy Holly
was born Charles Hardin Holley in Lubbock, Texas. In 1940, Nazi Germany
began its eight-month blitz of Britain during World War II with the
first air attack on London. In 1957, the original animated version of
the NBC-TV peacock logo, used to denote programs "brought to you in
living color," made its debut at the beginning of "Your Hit Parade. In
1963, the National Professional Football Hall of Fame was dedicated in
Canton, Ohio. In 1968, feminists protested outside the Miss America
pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey. (The pageant crown went to Miss
Illinois Judith Ford.) In 1977, the Panama Canal treaties, calling for
the U.S. to eventually turn over control of the waterway to Panama,
were signed in Washington by President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian
leader Omar Torrijos (toh-REE'-hohs). In 1986, Desmond Tutu was
installed as the first black clergyman to lead the Anglican Church in
southern Africa. In 1996, rapper Tupac Shakur was shot and mortally
wounded on the Las Vegas Strip; he died six days later. Ten years ago:
British Prime Minister Tony Blair gave in to a fierce revolt in his
Labour Party and reluctantly promised to quit within a year. Former
Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage confirmed he was the source
of a leak that had disclosed the identity of CIA employee Valerie
Plame, saying he didn't realize Plame's job was covert. Five years ago:
The latest in a series of Republican presidential debates brought
together Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain, Newt
Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Ron Paul, and Rick Santorum in Simi Valley,
California. A private Russian jet carrying a top ice hockey team
slammed into a riverbank moments after takeoff from the airport near
the western city of Yaroslavl, killing 44 people. (Investigators blamed
pilot error.) A powerful bomb hidden in a briefcase ripped through a
crowd of people waiting to enter a New Delhi courthouse, killing 13
people. One year ago: Hillary Clinton, interviewed by The Associated
Press during a campaign swing through Iowa, said she did not need to
apologize for using a private email account and server while at the
State Department because "what I did was allowed. Courting unions on
Labor Day, President Barack Obama denounced Republicans for a "constant
attack on working Americans," telling a rally in Boston that he was
using his executive power to force federal contractors to give paid
sick leave to their employees. Former child star Dickie Moore, 89, died
in Connecticut. Today's Birthdays: Jazz musician Sonny Rollins is 86.
Actor Bruce Gray is 80. Singer Gloria Gaynor is 73. Singer Alfa
Anderson (Chic) is 70. Actress Susan Blakely is 68. Rock singer
Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders) is 65. Actress Julie Kavner is 65. Rock
musician Benmont Tench (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers) is 63. Actor
Corbin Bernsen is 62. Actor Michael Emerson is 62. Pianist Michael
Feinstein is 60. Singer Margot Chapman is 59. Actress J. Smith-Cameron
is 59. Actor W. Earl Brown is 53. Actor Toby Jones is 50.
Actress-comedian Leslie Jones (TV: "Saturday Night Live") is 49.
Model-actress Angie Everhart is 47. Actress Diane Farr is 47. Country
singer Butter (Trailer Choir) is 46. Actress Monique Gabriela Curnen is
46. Actor Tom Everett Scott is 46. Rock musician Chad Sexton (311) is
46. Actress Shannon Elizabeth is 43. Actor Oliver Hudson is 40. Actor
Devon Sawa (SAH'-wuh) is 38. Actor JD Pardo is 37. Singer-musician Wes
Willis (Rush of Fools) is 30. Actress Evan Rachel Wood is 29. Thought
for Today: "When you have a great and difficult task, something perhaps
almost impossible, if you only work a little at a time, every day a
little, suddenly the work will finish itself. Karen Blixen (Isak
Dinesen), Danish author (born 1885, died this date in 1962).
