Thursday, September 8

This Day In History

• 1565   A Spanish expedition established the first permanent European settlement in North America at present-day St. Augustine, Fla.
  
• 1664   The Dutch surrendered New Amsterdam to the British, who renamed it New York.
  
• 1900   Galveston, Texas, was struck by a hurricane that killed about 6,000 people.
  
• 1921   Margaret Gorman of Washington, D.C., was crowned the first Miss America in Atlantic City, N.J.
  
• 1935   Sen. Huey P. Long, ''The Kingfish'' of Louisiana politics, was shot and mortally wounded; he died two days later.
  
• 1945   Bess Myerson of New York became the first Jewish contestant to be crowned Miss America.
  
• 1951   A peace treaty with Japan was signed by 48 nations in San Francisco.
  
• 1952   ''The Old Man and the Sea'' by Ernest Hemingway was published.
  
• 1966   The TV series ''Star Trek'' premiered on NBC.
  
• 1975   Boston's public schools began a court-ordered citywide busing program amid scattered incidents of violence.
  
• 1992   Sen. Quentin Burdick, D-N.D., died at age 84.
  
• 1994   A USAir Boeing 737 crashed as it was approaching Pittsburgh International Airport, killing all 132 people on board.
  
• 1998   Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals broke Roger Maris' record for home runs in a single season, hitting No. 62 off Chicago Cubs pitcher Steve Trachsel.
  
• 2000   The head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs apologized for the federal agency's ''legacy of racism and inhumanity'' that included massacres, forced relocations of tribes and attempts to wipe out Indian cultures.
  
• 2003   The Recording Industry Association of America, the music industry's largest trade group, filed 261 copyright lawsuits across the country against Internet users for trading songs online.
  

Happy Birthday To

• 1157   Richard the Lionheart (Coeur de Lion: Richard I: King of England [1189-1199]; died Apr 6, 1199)
  
• 1900   Claude (Denson) Pepper (U.S. Senator from Florida [1936-1950]; member of Congress for fourteen terms; champion of social welfare for the elderly; died May 30, 1989)
  
• 1922   Sid Caesar (Emmy Award-winning actor, comedian: Your Show of Shows [1951], Caesar’s Hour [1956]; Sid Caesar Invites You, Admiral Broadway Revue)
  
• 1925   Peter (Richard Henry) Sellers (comedian, actor: The Pink Panther series, What’s New Pussycat, The Mouse that Roared, The World of Henry Orient, Casino Royale, Dr. Strangelove, Being There; died July 24, 1980)
  
• 1938   Sam Nunn (U.S. Senator from Georgia: Chairperson of Senate Armed Forces Committee)