TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

Oct. 9, 1776

A group of Spanish missionaries settled in present-day San Francisco.

ALSO ON THIS DATE

1888

The public was first admitted to the Washington Monument.

1910

A coal dust explosion at the Starkville Mine in Colorado left 56miners dead.

1914

The Belgian city of Antwerp fell to German forces during World War I.

1930

Laura Ingalls became the first woman to fly across the United States as she completed a nine-stop journey from Roosevelt Field, N.Y., to Glendale, Calif.

1936

The first generator at Boulder Dam began transmitting electricity to Los Angeles.

1958

Pope Pius XII died at age 82, ending a 19-year papacy.

1967

Marxist revolutionary guerrilla leader Che Guevara, 39, was summarily executed by the Bolivian army a day after his capture.

1985

The hijackers of the Achille Lauro cruise liner surrendered two days after seizing the vessel in the Mediterranean.

1995

A sabotaged section of track caused an Amtrak train, the Sunset Limited, to derail in Arizona; one person was killed and about 80 were injured.