TODAY in HISTORY
Today is Monday, September 1, the 244th day of 2014. There are 121 days left in the year.
1494 France’s King Charles VIII invades Italy to claim throne of Naples. 1674 William of Orange takes Grave, Belgium, but is unable to invade France. 1706 British successfully defend Charleston, South Carolina, against French and Spanish. 1879 Britain signs peace treaty with Zulus in South Africa. 1905 The provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta enter into the Confederation of Canada. 1923 The Great Kanto Earthquake shakes the Tokyo metropolitan area, killing more than 142,000 people. 1939 Germany invades Poland, starting World War II. 1942 A US federal judge in Sacramento, California, upholds the wartime detention of JapaneseAmericans and nationals. 1945 Japan surrenders aboard US battleship
Missouri at end of World War II. 1961 United Nations breaks off relations with the Katanga government in Congo, as heavy fighting in Elizabethville and Jadotville result from a UN attempt to arrest members of the government. 1962 Singapore votes to join the Federation of Malaysia. 1968 Relief officials in Iran say more than 8,000 people are known to have perished in series of earthquakes. 1969 A Libyan Arab Republic is proclaimed as the Army stages a coup, deposing the monarchy and bringing Muammar Gaddafi into power. 1971 Gulf state of Qatar declares independence from Britain. 1972 American Bobby Fischer wins the international chess crown in Reykjavik, Iceland, defeating Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union. 1979 US space probe
Pioneer 11 becomes the first man- made object to reach Saturn, passing through the ring plane within 21,000 kilometres ( 13,000 miles) of Saturn’s atmosphere. 1983 A Korean Air Boeing 747 is shot down by a Soviet jet fighter after the airliner enters Soviet airspace, killing 269 people. 1992 France joins United States and British allies in enforcing the no- fly zone in southern Iraq. 1993 Bosnia’s government rejects a plan to end 17 months of ethnic warfare and peace talks collapse. 1994 San Francisco superior court jury awards a former secretary at Baker & McKenzie, world’s largest law firm, a record $ 7.1 million in punitive damages in a sexual harassment case against the firm.