Today in history

On August 10, 1977, postal employee David Berkowitz was arrested in Yonkers, New York, accused of being “Son of Sam,” the gunman who killed six people and wounded seven others in the New York City area. (Berkowitz is serving six consecutive 25-years-to-life sentences.)

In 1680, Pueblo Indians launched a successful revolt against Spanish colonists in present-day New Mexico.

In 1792, during the French Revolution, mobs in Paris attacked the Tuileries (TWEE’luh-reez) Palace, where King Louis XVI resided. (The king was later arrested, put on trial for treason, and executed.)

In 1821, Missouri became the 24th state.

In 1846, President James K. Polk signed a measure establishing the Smithsonian Institution.

In 1874, Herbert Clark Hoover, the 31st president of the United States, was born in West Branch, Iowa.

In 1921, Franklin D. Roosevelt was stricken with polio at his summer home on the Canadian island of Campobello.

In 1949, the National Military Establishment was renamed the Department of Defense.

In 1962, the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum was dedicated in West Branch, Iowa, on the 88th birthday of the former president, who attended the ceremony along with former President Harry S. Truman. Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man made his debut in issue 15 of “Amazing Fantasy” (cover price: 12 cents).

In 1969, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca were murdered in their Los Angeles home by members of Charles Manson’s cult, one day after actress Sharon Tate and four other people were slain.

In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed a measure providing $20,000 payments to still-living Japanese-Americans who were interned by their government during World War II.

In 1991, nine Buddhists were found slain at their temple outside Phoenix, Arizona. (Two teen-agers were later arrested; one was sentenced to life in prison, while the other received 281 years.)

In 1993, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was sworn in as the second female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

“There is no adequate defense, except stupidity, against the impact of a new idea.” — Percy Williams Bridgeman, American scientist (18821961).