ON SEPT. 12 ...

In 1609, English explorer Henry Hudson sailed into the river that now bears his name.

In 1938, Adolf Hitler demanded self-determination for the Sudeten Germans in Czechoslovakia.

In 1942, during World War II, a German U-boat off West Africa torpedoed the RMS Laconia, which was carrying Italian prisoners of war, British soldiers and civilians; it’s estimated more than 1,600 people died while some 1,100 survived after the ship sank. The German crew, joined by other U-boats, began rescue operations.

In 1943, German paratroopers extracted Benito Mussolini from the hotel where he was being held by the Italian government.

In 1944, during World War II, U.S. Army troops entered Germany for the first time, near Trier.

In 1954, “Lassie” made its television debut on CBS.

In 1960, Democratic presidential candidate John Kennedy addressed the issue of his Roman Catholicism, telling a Protestant group in Houston, “I do not speak for my church on public matters, and the church does not speak for me.”

In 1984, the Bulls selected Michael Jordan as its No. 1 draft choice; Jordan was chosen third overall, behind Hakeem Olajuwon and Sam Bowie.

In 1990, representatives of the World War II allies and West and East Germany signed a treaty in Moscow giving international sanction to German unity.

In 1992, the space shuttle Endeavour blasted off, carrying with it Mark Lee and Jan Davis, the first married couple in space; Mae Jemison, the first black woman in space; and Mamoru Mohri, the first Japanese citizen to fly on a U.S. spaceship.

In 2000, Hillary Rodham Clinton became the only first lady to win an election as she claimed victory in the New York Democratic Senate primary, defeating little-known opponent Dr. Mark McMahon.

In 2001, stunned rescue workers continued to search for bodies in the World Trade Center’s smoking rubble a day after a terrorist attack that shut down the financial capital, badly damaged the Pentagon and left thousands dead.

In 2002, raising the specter of war, President George W. Bush told skeptical world leaders at the United Nations to confront the “grave and gathering danger” of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq -- or to stand aside as the United States acted.

In 2003, in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, U.S. forces mistakenly opened fire on vehicles carrying police, killing eight of them.

In 2013, torrential rain and floodwaters killed at least eight people and damaged or destroyed as many as 2,000 homes in Colorado as Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency.