On This Day in History - September 5th - Almanac

Today is Monday, Sept. 5, the 249th day of 2016 with 117 to follow.

This is Labor Day in the United States.

The moon is waxing. Morning stars are Neptune and Uranus. Evening stars are Venus, Mercury, Mars, Saturn and Neptune.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Virgo. They include French King Louis XIV in 1638; outlaw Jesse James in 1847; distiller Jack Daniel in 1846; baseball Hall of Fame member Napoleon Lajoie in 1874; marketing research engineer A.C. Nielsen in 1897; movie producer Darryl F. Zanuck in 1902; author Arthur Koestler in 1905; retired Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul Volcker in 1927 (age 89); comedian Bob Newhart in 1929 (age 87); singer/actor Carol Lawrence in 1932 (age 84); actor William Devane in 1937 (age 79); actor George Lazenby in 1939 (age 77); actor Raquel Welch in 1940 (age 76); film director Werner Herzog in 1942 (age 74); singer Al Stewart in 1945 (age 71); singer Loudon Wainwright III in 1946 (age 70); singer Freddie Mercury (Queen) in 1946; actor Dennis Dugan in 1946 (age 70); cartoonist Cathy Guisewite in 1950 (age 66); actor Michael Keaton in 1951 (age 65); rock musician Dweezil Zappa in 1969 (age 47).

On this date in history:

In 1774, the first Continental Congress convened in secret in Philadelphia.

In 1877, Oglala Sioux chief Crazy Horse was fatally bayoneted by a U.S. soldier after resisting confinement in a guardhouse at Fort Robinson, Neb. A year earlier, Crazy Horse was among the Sioux leaders who defeated George Armstrong Custer's Seventh Cavalry at the Battle of Little Bighorn in Montana Territory.

In 1882, 10,000 workers marched in the first Labor Day parade -- in New York City.

In 1935, singing cowboy Gene Autry starred in his first Western feature, "Tumbling Tumbleweeds."

In 1972, Palestinian militants invaded the Olympic Village outside Munich, West Germany, and killed 11 Israeli athletes and six other people.

In 1975, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, a follower of mass murderer Charles Manson, failed in an attempt to shoot U.S. President Gerald Ford. Fromme was paroled in 2009 after 34 years in prison.

In 1995, France conducted an underground nuclear test at the Mururoa Atoll in the South Pacific. It was the first of several -- all of which were met by protests worldwide.

In 1997, Mother Teresa died at age 87.

In 2006, Katie Couric, longtime co-host of the NBC Today Show, became the first solo female anchor on a major U.S. television network when she took over the "CBS Evening News."

In 2007, wealthy, record-setting U.S. adventurer-aviator Steve Fossett, 63, vanished on a short flight in western Nevada. (He was declared dead five months later.) Among his many records, he was the first person to fly around the world solo in a balloon and first to fly around the globe solo without refueling.

In 2012, a suitcase containing a human torso was found floating in Lake Ontario. Police said the remains, and other body parts discovered in Toronto-area parks and waterways, were those of Guang Hua Liu, 41, missing since mid-August. Her former boyfriend, Chun Qi Jiang, 40, was arrested. He was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

In 2013, Walmart workers staged protests in at least 15 cities. They said they wanted better jobs and higher pay (at least $25,000 for full-time employees). A Walmart representative called the protests "a handful of union-orchestrated media stunts."

In 2014, U.S. officials said Ahmed Abdi Godane, leader of the Somalia-based Islamic militant organization al-Shabab, was killed in an American airstrike. In 2012, the United States had posted a $7 million reward for his arrest.

A thought for the day: "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion." -- Nelson Mandela