Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Today is Sept. 11. On this date in 2001, when a few minutes on a pleasant September morn changed the world, America was attacked. Nineteen Islamic terrorists hijacked four commercial jets and slammed two of them into the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center, both skyscrapers soon collapsing, crashed a third plane into the Pengtagon while the fourth plane crashed in a Pennsylvania field as passengers apparently fought back. The death toll was put at more than 3,000, most of the victims in New York. President Bush declared war on terrorists and anyone who helps them. Advertisement The largest engagement of the American Revolutionary War took place on this date in 1777 when Continental Army troops commanded by Gen. George Washington were defeated by British soldiers under Gen. William Howe in the Battle of Brandywine, near Chadds Ford, Penn. The Redcoats went on to occupy Philadelphia for the winter. By the way, the Stars & Stripes flag was officially carried for the first time during the battle. On this day in 1841, all members of President John Tyler's Cabinet resigned -- except Secretary of State Daniel Webster -- in protest of Tyler's veto of a banking bill. As an elder statesman, Tyler led an unsuccessful effort to maintain peace between the states just before the Civil War. Advertisement Chile's elected Socialist government of Salvador Allende was toppled in a right-wing military coup, supported by the CIA, on this date in 1973. Allende died a short time later -- reportedly by his own hand. Hurricane Iniki, packing winds gusting to 160 mph, roared ashore on the Hawaiian island of Kauai on this date in 1992, interrupting the filming of Steven Spielberg's blockbuster-to-be "Jurassic Park." It was on this date in 1985 that Pete Rose collected his 4,192nd hit -- a line drive to left field -- breaking Ty Cobb's 57-year-old career record. And on this date in 1997, Mother Teresa received the first state funeral accorded a private citizen of India since the death of Mohandas K. Gandhi in 1948. It was attended by foreign heads of state and other dignitaries, including American First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. We now return you to the present, already in progress.
