September eighth

Today's Highlight in History:
On September eighth, 1900, Galveston, Texas, was struck by a hurricane that killed about 6,000 people.

On this date:
In 1664, the Dutch surrendered New Amsterdam to the British, who renamed it New York.

In 1920, New York-to-San Francisco air mail service was inaugurated.

In 1930, the comic strip "Blondie" first appeared.

In 1935, Senator Huey P. Long, "The Kingfish" of Louisiana politics, was shot and mortally wounded; he died two days later.

In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared a "limited national emergency" in response to the outbreak of war in Europe.

In 1951, a peace treaty with Japan was signed by 48 other nations in San Francisco.

In 1960, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., was dedicated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The Center is named for General George C. Marshall, Army Chief of Staff during World War II, and a Nobel Prize winner for his post-World War II "Marshall Plan."

In 1974, President Ford granted an unconditional pardon to former President Nixon.

In 1975, Boston's public schools began their court-ordered citywide busing program amid scattered incidents of violence.

In 1994, a US-Air Boeing 737 crashed into a ravine as it was approaching Pittsburgh International Airport, killing all 132 people on board.

In 1998, Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals broke major league baseball's record for home runs in a single season, hitting number 62 off Chicago Cubs pitcher Steve Trachsel and eclipsing the 37-year-old record held by Roger Maris.

Ten years ago: President Bush and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev arrived in Helsinki, Finland, for a one-day summit sparked by the Persian Gulf crisis. Gabriela Sabatini won the US Open women's championship and her first grand slam title as she defeated Steffi Graf. Marjorie Judith Vincent of Illinois was crowned Miss America.

Five years ago: Bosnia's warring sides reached a compromise in Geneva, agreeing to divide the nation into two states: one for the rebel Serbs and another for the Muslims and Croats.

One year ago: Former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley officially kicked off his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination with a rally in his hometown of Crystal City, Missouri. Economist Herbert Stein, who served as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Nixon administration, died in Washington DC at age 83.

"That pestilent cosmetic, rhetoric."

-- T.H. Huxley, English biologist and author (1825-1895).