Today is Sunday, Sept. 8, the 251st day of 2019 with 114 to follow.
The moon is waxing. Morning stars are Mercury, Neptune, Saturn and Uranus. Evening stars are Jupiter, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus and Venus.
Those born on this date are under the sign of Virgo. They include England’s King Richard I, “Richard the Lion-Hearted,” in 1157; English poet Siegfried Sassoon in 1886; comedian Sid Caesar in 1922; political activist Lyndon LaRouche in 1922; British actor Peter Sellers in 1925; country music singer Patsy Cline in 1932; Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in 1941 (age 78); musician Ron “Pigpen” McKernan in 1945; writer Ann Beattie in 1947 (age 72); civil rights figure Ruby Bridges in 1954 (age 65); actor Heather Thomas in 1957 (age 62); singer Aimee Mann in 1960 (age 59); singer Neko Case in 1970 (age 49); actor David Arquette in 1971 (age 48); model/actor Brooke Burke in 1971 (age 48); actor Martin Freeman in 1971 (age 48); singer Pink, born Alecia Beth Moore, in 1979 (age 40); actor Jonathan Taylor Thomas in 1981 (age 38); singer Wiz Khalifa, born Cameron Jibril Thomaz, in 1987 (age 32); DJ Avicii, born Tim Bergling, in 1989; actor Dianne Doan in 1990 (age 29); actor Gaten Matarazzo in 2002 (age 17).
On this date in history:
In 1565, the first permanent European settlement in what is now the continental United States was founded on the site of the present St. Augustine, Fla.
In 1900, more than 6,000 people were killed when a hurricane and tidal wave struck Galveston, Texas.
In 1935, an assassin shot U.S. Sen. Huey P. Long, D-La., at the Capitol in Baton Rouge, La. Long died two days later. His close friend, James O’Conner, Louisiana public service commission, recounted to United Press how the senator collapsed in his arms after the shooting.
In 1941, the Siege of Leningrad — the Russian city now known as St. Petersburg — began. The Germany army held the blockade for more than two years during World War II, resulting in the deaths of about 1 million civilians and Soviet troops.
In 1943, U.S. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower announced that Italy surrendered to the Allied forces after the fall of fascist leader Benito Mussolini.
In 1966, Star Trek premiered on NBC-TV.
In 1974, U.S. President Gerald Ford granted former President Richard Nixon, who had resigned a month earlier in the wake of the Watergate scandal, a full pardon for any offenses he may have committed during his years in office.
In 1994, a USAir Boeing 737 (Flight 427) suddenly rolled to the left, spiraled out of control and fell 6,000 feet in a crash near Pittsburgh that killed 132 people. A problem with the plane’s rudder control system was eventually cited as the probable cause of the disaster.
In 2005, more than 1,000 people attended the Washington funeral of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who died of thyroid cancer just before his 81st birthday.
In 2018, Naomi Osaka became the first Japanese woman to win a Grand Slam in her 6-2, 6-4 defeat of American Serena Williams at the U.S. Open.
A thought for the day: “It is no use saying, ‘We are doing our best.’ You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.” — British Prime Minister Winston Churchill