This Day in History – September 7
Today is the 250th day of 2011. There are 115 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight
1919: Jamaican folklorist of international repute Louise ‘Miss Lou’ Bennett Coverley, OM, OJ, is born in Kingston. The day is observed as Miss Lou Day.
Other Events
1776: The first submarine used in warfare makes an unsuccessful attempt to attach a mine to a British flagship in New York harbour.
1822: Brazil proclaims independence from Portugal.
1848: Serfdom is abolished in Austria.
1901: Peace of Peking ends Boxer Rebellion in China.
1927: American television pioneer Philo T Farnsworth succeeds in transmitting an image through purely electronic means by using a device called an
image dissector.
1962: Laos establishes diplomatic relations with China and North Vietnam.
1977: The Panama Canal treaties, calling for the US to eventually turn over control of the waterway to Panama, are signed in Washington DC.
1981: An Afghan government announcement recalling young retired soldiers to active duty reportedly sparks protests and a flight of young men
from Kabul.
1986: Desmond Tutu is installed as the first black man to lead the Anglican Church in southern Africa.
1992: Opposition leaders force Tajikistan President Rakhman Nabiyev to resign after more than a week of armed protests against his rule.
1996: In Rome, an 18-year-old black woman — Denny Mendez — is named Miss Italy after two judges at the pageant are dismissed for saying her skin colour doesn’t reflect true Italian beauty.
1999: Greece’s deadliest quake in more than 40 years strikes outside Athens, killing at least 101 people.
2007: Osama bin Laden appears for the first time in three years in a videotape released ahead of the sixth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, telling Americans they should convert to Islam if they want the war in Iraq to end.
2008: Astroland, New York City’s world famous amusement park at Coney Island, closes after 46 years.
2010: The international crossfire over Iran’s stoning sentence for a woman convicted of adultery intensifies with a top European Union official calling it “barbaric” and an Iranian spokesman saying it’s about punishing a criminal and not a human rights issue.
Today’s Birthdays
Giacomo Ancionio, Italian theologist (1492-1566); England’s Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603); August Kekule von Stradonitz, German chemist (1829-1896); Elia Kazan, US film director (1909-); Todor Zhivkov, Communist ruler of Bulgaria (1911-1998); Hon Louise ‘Miss Lou’ Bennett Coverley, Jamaican folklorist, writer, performing artist (1919-2006); Belgium’s King Baudouin (1930-1993); Leroi Moore, saxophonist (1961-2008); Sonny Rollins, US jazz musician (1930-), Gloria Gaynor, US singer (1949-), Chrissie Hynde, US singer (1951-); Evan Rachel Wood, actress (1987-).
— AP and the Observer