QUOTE UNQUOTE
“I'm so tired / I wish I was the moon tonight.”
NEKO CASE,
SINGER-SONGWRITER (FROM HER SONG "I WISH I WAS THE MOON"), BORN ON THIS DATE IN 1970
Today’s highlight in history
On Sept. 8, 1892, an early version of “The Pledge of Allegiance,” written by Francis Bellamy, appeared in “The Youth’s Companion.” It went: “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
On this date
In 1504, Michelangelo’s towering marble statue of David was unveiled to the public in Florence, Italy.
In 1900, Galveston, Texas, was struck by a hurricane that killed an estimated 8,000 people.
In 1921, Margaret Gorman, 16, of Washington, D.C., was crowned the first “Miss America” in Atlantic City, N.J.
In 1935, Sen. Huey P. Long (D-La.) was shot and mortally wounded inside the Louisiana State Capitol; he died two days later. (The assailant was identified as Carl Weiss, who was gunned down by Long’s bodyguards.)
In 1941, the 900-day Siege of Leningrad by German forces began during World War II.
In 1966, the science-fiction series “Star Trek” premiered on NBC.
In 1974, President Gerald R. Ford granted a “full, free, and absolute pardon” to former President Richard Nixon covering his entire term in office.
Ten years ago: Sheriff’s deputies in Logan County, W.Va., removed Megan Williams, a 20-year-old black woman, from a house in Big Creek, where she’d endured what authorities described as days of torture. (Seven white men and women pleaded guilty in connection with the case. Williams recanted her accusations in 2009; however, one of the defendants, Frankie Brewster, said, “It did happen.”)
Five years ago: Strong storms pummeled the East Coast, spawning a pair of tornadoes in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, while temperatures at Washington Dulles International Airport plunged 25 degrees in one hour, falling from 89 degrees to 64.
One year ago: California and federal regulators fined Wells Fargo a combined $185 million, alleging the bank’s employees illegally opened millions of unauthorized accounts for their customers in order to meet aggressive sales goals.