This Week in History

SEPTEMBER 5

Don Riepe was born.

Ellen McNulty was born.

Patrice Riordan McCann was born.

1698 – Russia’s Peter the Great levied a tax on bearded men.

1836 – The Republic of Texas made military hero Sam Houston its first president.

SEPTEMBER 6

John Moroney III was born.

1995 – Baseball player Cal Ripken, Jr. broke Lou Gehrig’s iron man record by playing in his 2,131st straight game.

1997 – More than 2 billion people watched Princess Diana’s funeral on TV.

September 7

Brett Ferrentino was born

Josephine Plant was born

Brigid Bergin was born.

1822 – Brazil declared its independence from Portugal.

1979 – The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) made its debut on cable TV.

SEPTEMBER 8

Billy Gardner was born.

Christian Le Gars was born.

1900 – A hurricane struck Galveston, Texas, killing about 8,000 people.

1966 – Star Trek premiered on television.

1974 – President Gerald Ford gave former President Nixon a full pardon for all federal crimes he may have committed while he was in office.

SEPTEMBER 9

Mark Boyle was born.

Joanne O’Shaughnessy was born.

1776 – The Second Continental Congress changed the name of the nation to the United States of America, from the United Colonies.

1956 – Elvis Presley appeared on television for the first time on The Ed Sullivan Show.

SEPTEMBER 10

Michelle Cashen was born.

Pamela Neafsey was born.

Greg Bender was born.

1939 – Canada declared war on Germany, entering WWII.

SEPTEMBER 11

John Jughead Farrell was born.

Michael Flanagan was born.

2001 – Never forget.  Two hijacked commercial jets were crashed by terrorists into the north and south towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, causing the collapse of both towers. A short while later, another plane was crashed into the Pentagon, and fourth into a field near Shanksville, Pa.