HISTORY AT A GLANCE
TODAY is Friday, September 1, the 244th day of 2017. There are 121 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1939 – World War II: Nazi Germany and Slovakia invade Poland, beginning the European phase of World War II. 1939 – Adolf Hitler signs an order to begin the systematic
euthanasia of mentally ill and disabled people. 1951 – The United States, Australia and New Zealand sign a
mutual defense pact, called the ANZUS Treaty. 1952 – The Old Man and the Sea, the Pulitzer Prize-winning
novel by Ernest Hemingway, is first published. 1961 – The Eritrean War of Independence officially begins with the shooting of the Ethiopian police by Hamid Idris Awate. 1969 – A coup in Libya brings Muammar Gaddafi to power. 1970 – Attempted assassination of King Hussein of Jordan by
Palestinian guerrillas, who attack his motorcade. 1972 – In Reykjavík, Iceland, American Bobby Fischer beats Russian Boris Spassky to become the world chess champion. 1974 – The SR-71 Blackbird sets (and holds) the record for flying from New York to London in the time of 1 hour, 54 minutes and 56.4 seconds at a speed of 1,435.587 miles per hour (2,310.353 km/h). 1979 – The American space probe Pioneer 11 becomes the first spacecraft to visit Saturn when it passes the planet at a distance of 21,000 kilometres (13,000 mi). 1980 – Major General Chun Doo-hwan becomes President of South Korea, following the resignation of Choi Kyu-hah. 1981 – A coup d’état in the Central African Republic
overthrows President David Dacko. 1983 – Cold War: Korean Air Lines Flight 007 is shot down by a Soviet Union jet fighter when the commercial aircraft enters Soviet airspace. All 269 on board die, including Congressman Lawrence McDonald. 1985 – A joint American–French expedition locates the
wreckage of the RMS Titanic. 1991 – Uzbekistan declares independence from the Soviet
Union. 1997 – The death of Diana, Princess of Wales is announced
by Buckingham Palace. 2004 – The Beslan school hostage crisis commences when armed terrorists take children and adults hostage in Beslan in North Ossetia, Russia.