A Blast from the Past

Today is Aug. 31.

It was on this date in 1997 that Britain's Princess Diana died of her injuries, a few hours after a car accident in Paris that also claimed the lives of her companion, Dodi Fayed, and their driver. A bodyguard survived, although he was seriously injured. The crash was the final chapter in the life of Lady Diana Spencer, whose fairy-tale marriage in July 1981 to Prince Charles -- heir to the British throne -- degenerated into a soap opera and ended in divorce in 1996. The world mourned the death of the young woman who wanted to be known as the "Queen of Hearts," and her funeral a week later was broadcast around the world.

Death rained from the skies onto Cerritos, Calif., on this date in 1986, when an Aeromexico DC-9 collided with a single-engine plane in mid-flight and crashed in flames into a residential neighborhood. Eighty-two people in both planes and 15 on the ground died.

White separatist Randy Weaver surrendered on this date in 1992, ending an 11-day siege by federal agents of his Idaho mountain cabin that cost the lives of his wife, teenage son, and a U.S. marshal.

It was on this date in 1994 that the Irish Republican Army (IRA) announced a cease-fire in its 25-year-old war against British control of Northern Ireland. The truce followed six months of secret talks with London. The "troubles," as it's known in Ulster, has claimed more than 3,100 lives in the past quarter-of-a-century.

Thomas Edison was awarded a patent for the first movie projector on this date in 1887.

The following year, 1888, saw prostitute Mary Ann Nichols become the first known victim of the notorious London serial killer known as "Jack the Ripper."

A Little League baseball team that had become the pride of New York and finished third in the league's World Series saw its season ruined on this date in 2001 when it was forced to forfeit all games due to an overage player. The team's star pitcher, Danny Almonte of the Dominican Republic, was discovered to be 14 years old, which made him too old to compete.

And it was on this date in 1903 that a Packard automobile completed a 52-day journey from San Francisco to New York, becoming the first car to cross the nation under its own power.