September third

Today's Highlight in History:
On September third, 1976, the unmanned US spacecraft "Viking Two" landed on Mars to take the first close-up, color photographs of the planet's surface.

On this date:
In 1189, England's King Richard the First (the Lion-Hearted) was crowned in Westminster.

In 1658, Oliver Cromwell, the Lord Protector of England, died.

In 1783, the Treaty of Paris between the United States and Great Britain officially ended the Revolutionary War.

In 1939, Britain and France declared war on Germany, two days after the Nazi invasion of Poland.

In 1943, the British Eighth Army invaded Italy during World War Two, the same day Italy signed a secret armistice with the allies.

In 1967, Nguyen Van Thieu (nwen van too) was elected president of South Vietnam under a new constitution.

In 1970, football coach Vince Lombardi died in Washington DC.

In 1978, Pope John Paul the First was installed as the 264th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.

In 1989, a Cubana de Aviacion jetliner crashed after takeoff in Havana, killing all 126 aboard and 26 people on the ground.

In 1994, China and Russia proclaimed an end to any lingering hostilities, pledging they would no longer target nuclear missiles or use force against each other.

Ten years ago: President Bush returned to Washington from his Maine vacation home to prepare for his summit in Finland with Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev. Dr. David Acer, a Florida dentist, died of AIDS after apparently infecting five of his patients with the HIV virus.

Five years ago: Testing Serb will, the United Nations reopened a route to Sarajevo and threatened more air attacks if the rebel stranglehold of the Bosnian capital didn't end.

One year ago: A French judge closed a two-year inquiry into the car crash that killed Princess Diana, dismissing all charges against nine photographers and a press motorcyclist, and concluding the accident was caused by an inebriated driver. NASA temporarily grounded its space shuttle fleet after inspections had uncovered damaged wires that could endanger a mission.

"Any doctrine that will not bear investigation is not a fit tenant for the mind of an honest man."

-- Robert G. Ingersoll, American lawyer and politician (1833-1899).