On this date:
In 1807, former Vice President Aaron Burr was found innocent of treason.
In 1897, the first section of Boston's new subway system was opened.
In 1905, Alberta and Saskatchewan entered Confederation as the eighth and ninth provinces of Canada.
In 1923, the Japanese cities of Tokyo and Yokohama were devastated by an earthquake that claimed some 150,000 lives.
In 1932, New York City Mayor James J. "Gentleman Jimmy" Walker resigned following charges of graft and corruption in his administration.
In 1942, a federal judge in Sacramento, California, upheld the wartime detention of Japanese-Americans as well as Japanese nationals.
In 1969, a coup in Libya brought Moammar Gadhafi to power.
In 1972, American Bobby Fischer won the international chess crown in Reykjavik, Iceland, defeating Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union.
In 1983, 269 people were killed when a Korean Air Lines Boeing 747 was shot down by a Soviet jet fighter after the airliner entered Soviet airspace.
In 1989, Baseball Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti died of a heart attack at his summer home in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, at age 51.
Ten years ago: President Bush announced that he and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev would meet in Helsinki, Finland, for a "free-flowing" one-day summit on the Persian Gulf crisis and other issues.
Five years ago: A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.
One year ago: Twenty-two of baseball's 68 permanent umpires found themselves jobless, the fallout from their union's failed attempt to force an early start to negotiations for a new labor contract. Ten American tourists and two Tanzanians were killed when their small plane crashed as they were leaving Serengeti National Park.
"With history being made all the time, every day now seems to be the first anniversary of something awful."
-- Anonymous.
