On This Day in History
Today is Monday, Sept. 30, the 274th day of 2024 with 92 to follow.
The moon is waning. Morning stars are Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn and Uranus. Evening stars are Jupiter, Mars, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus and Venus.
Those born on this date are under the sign of Libra. They include writer Rumi in 1207; Pope Nicholas IV in 1227; chewing gum magnate William Wrigley Jr. in 1861; physicist Hans Geiger, co-inventor of the Geiger counter, in 1882; writer Truman Capote in 1924; actor Deborah Kerr in 1921; actor Angie Dickinson in 1931 (age 93); Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel in 1928; musician Johnny Mathis in 1935 (age 89); musician Marilyn McCoo (5th Dimension) in 1943 (age 81); actor Len Cariou in 1939 (age 85); actor Victoria Tennant in 1950 (age 74); actor Vondie Curtis-Hall in 1950 (age 74); musician John Lombardo (10,000 Maniacs) in 1952 (age 72); actor Barry Williams in 1954 (age 70); actor Fran Drescher in 1957 (age 67); Honduran President Xiomara Castro in 1959 (age 65); actor Eric Stoltz in 1961 (age 63); actor Crystal Bernard in 1961 (age 63); actor Monica Bellucci in 1964 (age 60); musician Trey Anastasio (Phish) in 1964 (age 60); musician Robby Takac (Goo Goo Dolls) in 1964 (age 60); actor Tony Hale in 1970 (age 54); actor Jenna Elfman in 1971 (age 53); actor Marion Cotillard in 1975 (age 49); writer Ta-Nehisi Coates in 1975 (age 49); actor Christopher Jackson in 1975 (age 49); tennis legend Martina Hingis in 1980 (age 44); actor Toni Trucks in 1980 (age 44); U.S. Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Dominique Moceanu in 1981 (age 43); actor Lacey Chabert in 1982 (age 42); actor Kieran Culkin in 1982 (age 42); musician T-Pain, born Faheem Rashad Najm, in 1985 (age 39); actor Ki Hong Lee in 1986 (age 38); actor Ezra Miller in 1992 (age 32); actor/dancer Maddie Ziegler in 2002 (age 22).
On this date in history:
In 1630, John Billington, one of the first pilgrims to land in America, was hanged for murder - the first European criminal executed in the American colonies.
In 1846, a dentist in Charleston, Mass., extracted a tooth with the aid of an anesthetic - ether. It was the first time an anesthetic had been used.
In 1927, Babe Ruth set a Major League Baseball record with his 60th home run of the season. The mark would stand for 34 years.
In 1938, Germany, France, Britain and Italy met in Munich, Germany, for a conference after which British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain predicted "peace for our time." World War II began less than one year later.
In 1946, verdicts were handed down in the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial . Twelve Nazi leaders were sentenced to death by hanging.
In 1954, the USS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear submarine, was commissioned by the U.S. Navy, under the command of Commander Eugene P. Wilkinson.
In 1962, James H. Meredith, a Black student, was escorted onto the University of Mississippi campus by U.S. marshals, setting off a riot in which two men died before violence was quelled by more than 3,000 soldiers. Meredith enrolled the next day.
In 1992, the United States returned most of the Subic Bay Naval Base to the Philippine government after more than a century of use.
In 1993, a 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck India's Maharashtra state, killing nearly 10,000 people. The disaster primarily affected the Latur and Osmanabad districts.
In 1993, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Colin Powell announced his retirement from the military. Effective upon his retirement, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II approved his knighthood.
In 2005, Michael Eisner resigned as CEO of the Walt Disney Co. One week later, he departed his position on the board of the company.
In 2008, thousands of worshipers making their way through a narrow passage to a Hindu temple in India for a religious festival broke into a stampede when a wall collapsed. Police put the death toll at 224 with more than 100 people injured.
In 2011, a missile from an American drone aircraft strike over Yemen killed Anwar al-Awlaki , a U.S.-born Islamic cleric linked to several high-profile terrorist incidents in the United States and subject of a two-year manhunt.
In 2020, California became the first state to adopt a law seeking to develop a path to pay reparations to Black residents and descendants of slavery.
A thought for the day: "Personally, I think if a woman hasn't met the right man by the age of 24 she may be lucky." - Scottish actor Deborah Kerr
