Islamic terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center. (2001) Hijackers flew two airplanes into the World Trade Center in New York City; the terrorist group almost simultaneously flew a third plane into the US Pentagon and aimed to fly another into another target, possibly the White House, as well. That fourth plane was taken down by passengers on board and crashed into a field outside Pennsylvania before it could arrive at its intended target. Almost 3,000 people were killed and more than 6,000 injured in the attacks.
Russia tested the largest conventional bomb in world history. (2007) Called the “Father of all Bombs,” it is the world’s most powerful non-nuclear bomb — four times more powerful than the Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb (MOAB) used by the US military, which is commonly called the “Mother of all Bombs.”
Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb’s Major League Baseball (MLB) career hits record from 1921. (1985) Rose racked up his 4,192nd hit. He ended his career with 4,256 hits, which continues to be the MLB record today.
The world’s oldest automobile race track held its first race. (1903) The Milwaukee Mile opened in West Allis, Wisconsin; it continues to host auto races today.
The US television network CBS went dark for six minutes as news anchor Dan Rather walked off the set of “The CBS Evening News.” (1987) Rather left the set when the network continued showing a tennis tournament that had played into overtime. He walked off because he was angry that the news was cut short to report on sports news.
The Marlborough diamond was stolen in London. (1980) The famous 45-carat diamond worth about $640,000 US Dollars (USD) was taken from a jewelry store window display. The robbers were mobsters from Chicago, Illinois; they were caught just a few hours later, but he diamond has never been found.
Alexander Hamilton became the first US Secretary of the Treasury. (1789) US President George Washington initially appointed Robert Morris, a senator and Superintendent of Finance, but he refused the appointment.
The French Blue Diamond, which likely was cut to produce the Hope Diamond, was stolen in Paris. (1792) The 45.5-carat Hope diamond is thought to have been cut from the famous French Blue diamond that disappeared after this robbery. The French Blue never resurfaced, but the Hope Diamond, which is likely one-half of the French Blue, did. It is now displayed in the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.
Construction on the US Pentagon began. (1941) The US Pentagon houses the United States Department of Defense; the building was completed on January 15, 1943.
The well-known folk song Oh! Susanna was performed for the first time. (1847) The song, which was written by Stephen Foster, was performed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at a saloon.
One of the most destructive hurricanes in US history hit Hawaii. (1992) Hurricane Iniki was the most devastating hurricane to ever hit Hawaii and one of the worst in all of US history. The Category 4 hurricane caused more than $1.8 billion USD — the equivalent of $2.8 billion USD in 2010. At the time, it was the costliest in US history. More than 1,400 houses were destroyed and 5,000 more suffered severe damage; incredibly, only six people were killed.