This Day in History

In Alaska, in the Nation and the World

In Alaska

• In 1882, construction started on the first building on the campus of the Sheldon Jackson School in Sitka.

• In 1900, a storm in Nome caused a million dollars in property losses along the waterfront.

• In 1940, artist Sydney Laurence announced he was going to die. After a shave, haircut, and a negotiation of a painting deal, he admitted himself to the Anchorage Hospital and fulfilled his prediction.

• In 1969, Valdez celebrated as the Alaska Maru arrived with the first shipment of trans-Alaska oil pipeline from Japan.

In the nation

• In 1609, English explorer Henry Hudson sailed up the river that now bears his name.

• In 1953, Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kennedy married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier in Newport, R.I.

• In 1958, the science-fiction movie "The Blob," starring Steve McQueen - billed as "Steven" - was released. The U.S. Supreme Court, in Cooper v. Aaron, unanimously ruled that Arkansas officials who were resisting public school desegregation orders could not disregard the high court's rulings.

• In 1960, Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy addressed questions about his Roman Catholic faith, telling a Southern Baptist group in Houston, "I do not speak for my church on public matters, and the church does not speak for me."

• In 1992, the space shuttle Endeavour blasted off, carrying with it Mark Lee and Jan Davis, the first married couple in space; Mae Jemison, the first black woman in space; and Mamoru Mohri, the first Japanese citizen to fly on a U.S. spaceship.

• In 1998, the White House responded to Kenneth Starr's graphic report on President Clinton by calling it a "hit-and-run smear campaign." Leaders of striking pilots at Northwest Airlines ratified a new contract, ending a walkout that began Aug. 28. Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs became the fourth player in major league baseball history to reach 60 homers in a single season. Lindsay Davenport won the U.S. Open, defeating defending champion Martina Hingis 6-3, 7-5.

• In 2007, oil prices briefly topped a record $80 a barrel.

In the world

• In 1918, during World War I, U.S. forces led by Gen. John J. Pershing launched a successful attack on the German-occupied St. Mihiel salient north of Verdun, France.

• In 1938, Adolf Hitler demanded the right of self-determination for the Sudeten Germans in Czechoslovakia.

• In 1943, German paratroopers took Benito Mussolini from the hotel where he was being held by the Italian government.