September fifth

Today's Highlight in History:
On September fifth, 1997, Mother Teresa died in Calcutta, India, at age 87.

On this date:
In 1774, the first Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia.

In 1836, Sam Houston was elected president of the Republic of Texas.

In 1882, the nation's first Labor Day parade was held in New York.

In 1905, the Treaty of Portsmouth, ending the Russo-Japanese War, was signed in New Hampshire.

In 1914, the First Battle of the Marne began during World War One.

In 1939, the United States proclaimed its neutrality in World War Two.

In 1957, "On the Road," by "beat" author Jack Kerouac, was first published.

In 1972, Arab guerrillas attacked the Israeli delegation at the Munich Olympic games; eleven Israelis, five guerrillas and a police officer were killed in the siege.

In 1975, President Ford escaped an attempt on his life by Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, a disciple of Charles Manson, in Sacramento, California.

In 1997, conductor Sir Georg Solti died in France at age 84.

Ten years ago: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein urged Arabs to rise up in a Holy War against the West and former allies who had turned against him. In Moscow, Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev met with Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz.

Five years ago: France ended its three-year moratorium on nuclear tests, setting off an underground blast on a South Pacific atoll. O.J. Simpson jurors heard testimony that police detective Mark Fuhrman had uttered a racist slur, and advocated the killing of blacks.

One year ago: Hundreds of Islamic insurgents launched a new offensive in southern Russia, hours after a bomb smashed a building housing Russian military families; the blast was the first of four apartment building explosions blamed by Russian officials on Chechen rebels that killed a total of about 300 people. The Houston Comets won their third straight WNBA championship, beating the New York Liberty, 59-to-47. "Candid Camera" creator Allen Funt died in Pebble Beach, California, at age 84.

"Ideas are one thing, and what happens is another."

-- John Cage, American composer and author (1912-1992).