October fourth

Today's Highlight in History:
On October fourth, 1970, rock singer Janis Joplin, 27, was found dead in her Hollywood hotel room.

On this date:
In 1777, George Washington's troops launched an assault on the British at Germantown, Pennsylvania, resulting in heavy American casualties.

In 1822, the 19th president of the United States, Rutherford B. Hayes, was born in Delaware, Ohio.

In 1895, the first US Open golf tournament was held, at the Newport Country Club in Rhode Island.

In 1931, the comic strip "Dick Tracy," created by Chester Gould, made its debut.

In 1940, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini conferred at Brenner Pass in the Alps, where the Nazi leader sought Italy's help in fighting the British.

In 1957, the Space Age began as the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first man-made satellite, into orbit.

In 1958, the first trans-Atlantic passenger jetliner service was begun by British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) with flights between London and New York.

In 1976, agriculture secretary Earl Butz resigned in the wake of a controversy over a joke he'd made about blacks.

In 1978, funeral services were held at the Vatican for Pope John Paul the First.

In 1980, some 520 people were forced to abandon the cruise ship "Prisendam" in the Gulf of Alaska after the Dutch luxury liner caught fire -- no deaths or serious injury resulted.

Ten years ago: For the first time in nearly six decades, German lawmakers met in the Reichstag for the first meeting of reunified Germany's parliament.

Five years ago: Pope John Paul the Second arrived in the United States for a five-day visit. Hurricane "Opal" battered the Florida panhandle.

One year ago: An Illinois jury ordered State Farm to pay $456 million to 4.7 million customers in a lawsuit accusing the nation's largest car insurer of using inferior parts for auto body repairs. (Four days later, the judge ruled State Farm had committed fraud, and awarded $730 million in actual and punitive damages on top of the jury verdict. State Farm is appealing.)

"He who confers a favor should at once forget it, if he is not to show a sordid, ungenerous spirit."

-- Demosthenes, Greek statesman (384 B.C.-322 B.C.).