On This Day September 5

2005
Hurricane Katrina: Former first lady Barbara Bush comments on the Katrina evacuees staying in the Houston Astrodome, "And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway so this, (laughing) this is working very well for them."

1991
The Soviet Union is restructured into individual republics having the right to secede and determine their involvement with the central government.

1977
Voyager I is launched, flying past Jupiter in 1979 and Saturn in 1980.

1975
Presidential assassination attempt: Charles Manson follower "Squeaky" Fromme is apprehended while attempting to shoot Pres. Ford.

1972
Olympic massacre: Eleven Israeli athletes are killed by Palestinian terrorists.

1949
The discovery of radiocarbon dating is announced by American chemist Willard Frank Libby.

1916
Rudolph Valentino is arrested by the New York City vice squad for luring a man into a whorehouse with the intent to blackmail him later.

1906
First legal forward pass in a football game: The St. Louis University throw one against Carroll College.

1774
First assembly of the Continental Congress: Peyton Randolph is elected president.

1946 d. 1991
Freddie Mercury (Frederick Bulsara), musician, lead singer of Queen, died of AIDS.

1940
Raquel Welch (Raquel Tejada), American actress, sex symbol. Film: One Million Years B.C. (1966) and Mother, Jugs & Speed (1976).

1939
George Lazenby, Australian actor. Film: Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969, James Bond).

1935
Werner Erhard (John Paul Rosenberg), American educator, developed the social transformation technique "est" (Erhard Training Seminars, 1971).

1912 d. 1992
John Cage, American avant-garde composer, noted for his use of unusual items for music. He created what is considered the first electronic music by varying the frequencies of tone generators.

1902 d. 1979
Darryl Francis Zanuck, American movie producer and executive, co-founder of 20th Century Pictures (1933).

1897 d. 1980
Arthur Charles Nielsen, American marketing researcher. He founded A.C. Nielsen Co. (1923), which conducts radio and TV audience surveys.

1847 d. 1882
Jesse Woodson James, American outlaw, fought with Confederate guerrillas during the Civil War. He was shot by a member of his own gang to collect his reward of $10,000.

1846 d. 1911
Jack Daniels (Jasper Newton Daniel), American whiskey maker. He died of blood poisoning from a wound incurred while kicking a safe because he had forgotten the combination. (Biography: Blood and Whiskey : The Life and Times of Jack Daniel).

1638 d. 1715
Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné), King of France (1643-1715), became king at the age of 5. His successor, great-grandson Louis XV, also became king at age 5.

1999 b. 1914
Allen Funt, American TV personality, creator and host of Candid Camera.

1997 b. 1910
Mother Teresa of Calcutta (Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu), Yugoslavian-born Nobel Peace Prize-winning missionary. Called "The Living Saint," she dedicated her life to the poor and sick of India.

1902 b. 1821
Rudolf Virchow, German scientist, political leader, "Founder of Cellular Pathology."

1877 b. circa 1849
Crazy Horse, Sioux Indian chief, after his village was destroyed for refusing to return to the reservation, he led an uprising against the U.S., defeating Gen. Custer in his last stand (1876).

1786 b. 1712
Jonas Hanway, English traveller. He is credited with popularizing the umbrella in London after bringing one back from Portugal.

September 5

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