September 13th

Today's Highlight in History:
On September 13th, 1788, the Congress of the Confederation authorized the first national election, and declared New York City the temporary national capital.

On this date:
In 1759, during the final French and Indian War, the British defeated the French on the Plains of Abraham overlooking Quebec City.

In 1803, Commodore John Barry, considered by many the father of the American Navy, died in Philadelphia.

In 1943, Chiang Kai-shek became president of China.

In 1948, Republican Margaret Chase Smith of Maine was elected to the US Senate, becoming the first woman to serve in both houses of Congress.

In 1949, the Ladies Professional Golf Association of America was formed in New York City, with Patty Berg as its first president.

In 1971, a four-day inmates' rebellion at the Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York ended as police and guards stormed the prison; the ordeal and final assault claimed 43 lives.

In 1977, conductor Leopold Stokowski died in Hampshire, England, at age 95.

In 1989, Fay Vincent was named commissioner of Major League Baseball, succeeding the late A. Bartlett Giamatti.

In 1993, at the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat signed an accord granting limited Palestinian autonomy.

In 1998, former Alabama Governor George C. Wallace died at age 79.

Ten years ago: The Senate Judiciary Committee opened its first day of confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee David H. Souter, who firmly refused to discuss his views on abortion. NBC's cop-courtroom drama "Law & Order" premiered on NBC.

Five years ago: The FBI made at least a dozen arrests, capping a nationwide two-year investigation of pedophiles and pornographers using the America Online computer network.

One year ago: Israelis and Palestinians opened talks on a final peace accord. A suspected bomb devastated an eight-story apartment building in Moscow, killing at least 118 people.

"We do not attach ourselves lastingly to anything that has not cost us care, labor or longing."

-- Honore de Balzac, French dramatist (1799-1850).