UPI Almanac for Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024

Today is Saturday, Sept. 7, the 251st day of 2024 with 115 to follow.

The moon is waxing. Morning stars are Jupiter, Mars, 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 Queen Elizabeth I in 1533; artist Anna "Grandma" Moses in 1860; financier J. Pierpont Morgan Jr. in 1867; filmmaker Elia Kazan in 1909; U.S. golfer/co-founder of LPGA Louise Suggs in 1923; fashion designer Laura Ashley in 1925; paranormal investigator Ed Warren in 1926; musician Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins in 1930 (age 94); philanthropist John Paul Getty Jr. in 1932; musician Buddy Holly in 1936; actor John Phillip Law in 1937; filmmaker Dario Argento in 1940 (age 84); musician Gloria Gaynor in 1943 (age 81); actor Julie Kavner in 1950 (age 74); political commentator Peggy Noonan in 1950 (age 74); musician Chrissie Hynde (Pretenders) in 1951 (age 73); musician Benmont Tench (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) in 1953 (age 71); actor Corbin Bernsen in 1954 (age 70); actor Michael Emerson in 1954 (age 70); musician Michael Feinstein in 1956 (age 68); musician Diane Warren in 1956 (age 68); actor W. Earl Brown in 1963 (age 61); musician Eazy-E, born Eric Lynn Wright, (N.W.A.) in 1963; actor Toby Jones in 1966 (age 58); comedian/actor Leslie Jones in 1967 (age 57); actor Diane Farr in 1969 (age 55); musician Chad Sexton (311) in 1970 (age 54); actor Tom Everett Scott in 1970 (age 54); actor Shannon Elizabeth in 1973 (age 51); filmmaker Alex Kurtzman in 1973 (age 51); actor Oliver Hudson in 1976 (age 48); actor Devon Sawa in 1978 (age 46); actor JD Pardo in 1980 (age 44); actor Evan Rachel Wood in 1987 (age 37); actor Dean-Charles Chapman in 1997 (age 27); actor Ian Chen in 2006 (age 18).

On this date in history:

In 1822, Brazil declared independence from Portugal.

In 1892, James Corbett knocked out John L. Sullivan in the 21st round of a prizefight at New Orleans, the first major fight under the Marquess of Queensberry Rules.

In 1901, the Boxer Rebellion in China ended with the Boxer Protocol, a peace agreement between China and other world powers.

In 1940, Nazi Germany launched the London blitz, bombings that Adolf Hitler believed would soften Britain for invasion. The invasion never materialized.

In 1943, a fire swept through the Gulf Hotel in Houston, killing 55 men, many of whom were homeless.

In 1963, the Pro Football Hall of Fame opened in Canton, Ohio. The inaugural inductees included George Halas and Harold "Red" Grange.

In 1977, U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos signed a treaty agreeing to transfer control of the Panama Canal from the United States to Panama at the end of the 20th century.

In 1986, Desmond Tutu was installed as the Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, becoming first black titular head of South Africa's fourth-largest Christian church.

In 1992, 12 people were killed when a twin-engine plane carrying skydivers crashed in a soybean field in Hinckley, Ill.

In 1996, rapper Tupac Shakur was hospitalized after being shot four times in Las Vegas. Shakur died six days later.

In 2007, the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego agreed to pay almost $200 million to 144 people who said they were sexually abused by members of the clergy.

In 2008, the U.S. government took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, giant mortgage firms that owned or backed $5.3 trillion in mortgages, after they failed to properly account for losses, using questionable accounting methods to push them into the future so they wouldn't need to be reported until the next year.

In 2009, the British government convicted three men of plotting to blow up seven trans-Atlantic flights, smuggling explosives aboard in soft drink bottles, a plan that led to tighter airline regulations on carry-on bottles of liquid.

In 2011, a plane crash near the Russian city of Yaroslavl killed 44 people, including almost the entire Lokomotiv Yaroslavl Kontinental Hockey League team. Several of the victims had ties to North America's National Hockey League. A member of the aircraft's crew was the only survivor.

In 2019, Bianca Andreescu became the first Canadian to win a Grand Slam when she defeated Serena Williams to take the U.S. Open.

In 2021, El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender.

In 2022, researchers announced that they found what appears to be the earliest-known evidence of surgical amputation, from a 31,000-year-old skeleton unearthed in Indonesia.

In 2023, actor Danny Masterson, star of That '70s Show, was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for raping two women in Los Angeles in 2003.

A thought for the day: "You can judge a man's true character by the way he treats his fellow animals." -- British rocker Paul McCartney