On This Day:
Saturday September 10, 2011
This is the 253rd day of the year, with 112 days
remaining in 2011.
Fact of the Day: chrysanthemum
Chrysanthemum is Greek chrys- 'gold' and anthemon 'flower,'
which they mostly were in ancient times. It was originally
the herbalists' name for the Corn Marigold, a composite
plant with brilliant entirely yellow flowers. Now, the term
is ordinarily applied to a number of cultivated species of
the genus (especially Chrysanthemum sinense), much prized
for the beauty of its flowers and for blooming in November
and December.
Holidays
Switzerland:
Kaseteilet.
Bulgaria:
Liberation Day.
China:
Teachers' Day.
Events
1608
- Captain John
Smith was elected council president of the Jamestown
colony in Virginia.
1623
- Lumber and furs were the first cargo to leave Plymouth,
Massachusetts,
for England.
1813
- Oliver
H. Perry and an American naval force defeated the
British at the Battle
of Lake Erie in the War
of 1812.
1846
- Elias
Howe received a U.S. patent for the first sewing
machine.
1913
- First paved coast-to-coast road, named the Lincoln
Highway, opened in the U.S.
1919
- New boundaries were settled in the Treaty
of Saint-Germain, which brought about the end of the
Austrian Empire.
1939
- Canada
and South
Africa declared war on Germany,
following the declarations of Britain,
France,
Australia,
and New
Zealand on the previous day.
1939
- Canada
declared war on Nazi Germany.
1955
- "Gunsmoke"
premiered on TV.
1963
- Black students entered Alabama
public schools following a standoff between federal
authorities and Governor George
C. Wallace.
1966
- The "Road
Runner Show" premiered.
1974
- Guinea-Bissau
declared its independence from Portugal.
1977
- Hamida
Djandoubi, a Tunisian immigrant and a convicted
murderer, became the last person in France
executed with the guillotine.
1981
- Pablo
Picasso's painting "Guernica" was returned to Spain
and put in Madrid's
Prado
Museum. Picasso's will said that the painting was not
to return to Spain
until the Fascists lost power and democracy restored.
1993
- The "X-Files"
television series debuted.
2000
- Broadway's
longest-running production, "Cats,"
closed after more than 7,400 performances.
2002
- Switzerland,
joins the United
Nations.
2006
- Michael
Schumacher announced his retirement as a race car
driver.
Births
1736
- Carter
Braxton, American revolutionary statesman and signer
of Declaration
of Independence.
1839
- Isaac
Kauffman Funk, American publisher.
1929
- Arnold
Palmer, American, professional golfer.
1934
- Charles
Kuralt, American journalist and broadcaster.
1934
- Roger
Maris, American professional baseball player.
1941
- Stephen
Jay Gould, paleontologist, biologist, and science
writer.
1949
- Bill
O'Reilly, American journalist and commentator.
1950
- Joe
Perry, American musician.
1957
- Dan
Castellaneta, American voice
actor.
1974
- Ryan
Phillippe, American actor.
Deaths
1797
- Mary
Wollstonecraft, English writer and advocate for
women's equality.
1935
- Huey
Long, American politician, governor of Louisiana
and United
States senator, assassinated.
1983
- John
Vorster, South
African Prime
Minister and President.
2003
- Swedish
Foreign
Minister Anna
Lindh, 46, was fatally stabbed in a Stockholm
department store; she died the following day.
2006
- King Taufa'ahau
Tupou IV of Tonga.
2006
- Daniel
Wayne Smith, son of Playboy
model Anna
Nicole Smith.
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