On This Day in History - September 8th - Almanac

Today is Saturday, Sept. 8, the 251st day of 2018 with 114 to follow.

The moon is waning. Morning stars are Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn and Uranus. Evening stars are Jupiter, Mars, 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; comedian Sid Caesar in 1922; political activist Lyndon LaRouche in 1922 (age 96); British actor Peter Sellers in 1925; country music singer Patsy Cline in 1932; former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga., in 1938 (age 80); Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in 1941 (age 77); musician Ron "Pigpen" McKernan (Grateful Dead), in 1945; writer Ann Beattie in 1947 (age 71); English rock musician Dave Stewart in 1952 (age 66); civil rights figure Ruby Bridges in 1954 (age 64); actor Heather Thomas in 1957 (age 61); singer Aimee Mann in 1960 (age 58); singer Neko Case in 1970 (age 48); actor David Arquette in 1971 (age 47); model/actor Brooke Burke in 1971 (age 47); actor Martin Freeman in 1971 (age 47); singer Pink, born Alecia Beth Moore, in 1979 (age 38); actor Jonathan Taylor Thomas in 1981 (age 37); singer Wiz Khalifa, born Cameron Jibril Thomaz, in 1987 (age 31); DJ Avicii, born Tim Bergling, in 1989; actor Gaten Matarazzo in 2002 (age 16).

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 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 2014, the Baltimore Ravens terminated star running back Ray Rice's contract and the NFL suspended him indefinitely after the release of a video that showed him punching his future wife in the face in a hotel elevator in Atlantic City.

In 2016, NASA launched its Security-Regolith Explorer spacecraft, the OSIRIS-REx, into space to retrieve an asteroid sample and return it to Earth.

A thought for the day: "The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself." -- Anna Quindlen