Today In History - September 12

490BC Athenians defeat the 2nd Persian invasion of Greece at Marathon
1609 Henry Hudson discovers the Hudson River
1695 NY Jews petition governor Dongan for religious liberties
1758 Charles Messier observes the Crab Nebula and begins to catalog it
1776 Nathan Hale for his spy mission
1814 Battle of North Point fought near Baltimore during the War of 1812
1857 423 die when "Central America" sinks off Cape Romain SC
1901 The Arabs attack Gedara Palestine
1920 7th Olympic games close in Antwerp Belgium
1923 Britain takes over Southern Rhodesia from British South Africa Company
1928 Katharine Hepburn's New York stage debut: "Night Hostess"
1938 Adolph Hitler demands self-determination for Sudeten Germans in Czechoslovakia
1940 49 die and 200 are injured when the Hercules Powder Co plant explodes in NJ
1941 The first German ship in WW II is captured by the US ship Busko
1953 Jacqueline Bouvier marries John F. Kennedy
1953 Nikita Khrushchev becomes the first Secretary of the USSR Communist Party
1956 Black students enter and are barred from a Clay Kentucky elementary school
1959 TV series "Bonanza" premiers
1959 Luna 2 launched by USSR; first spacecraft to impact on the Moon
1961 NASA civilian pilot Joseph A Walker takes X-15 to 34,840 meters
1964 Typhoon Gloria strikes Taiwan killing 330 people and causing $17.5 million damage
1965 17th annual Emmy Awards
1965 Hurricane Betsy strikes Florida and Louisiana killing 75 people
1966 "The Monkees" TV series premiers on NBC
1966 Gemini XI launched for 71-hour flight
1972 William Boyd (Hopalong Cassidy) dies at 77
1974 Coup overthrows Emperor Haile Selassie in Ethiopia
1978 The situation comedy "Taxi" premiers on ABC television
1980 Military coup in Turkey
1981 Elizabeth Ward (Arkansas) is crowned Miss America
1983 Security guard Victor Gerena robs West Hartford company of $7 million
1983 USSR vetoes UN resolution deploring its shooting down of a Korean plane
1984 Country singer Barbara Mandrell is badly injured in a car accident
1986 US professor Joseph Cicippio is kidnapped and held hostage in Beirut
1988 The first NFL regular-season game is played in Phoenix
1988 Gilbert, the strongest hurricane ever recorded (160 mph winds) devastates Jamaica

1788 Alexander Campbell
1818 Richard Jordan Gatling
1829 Charles Dudley
1852 HH Asquith
1871 Prince Friedrich of Liechtenstein, Romania
1880 Henry L Mencken
1888 Maurice Chevalier
1892 Alfred A Knopf
1894 Billy Gilbert
1898 Ben Shahn
1901 Ben Blue
1902 Margaret Hamilton
1909 Spud Chandler
1913 Jesse Owens
1920 Irene Daily
1921 Frank McGee
1921 Stanislaw Lem
1931 George Jones
1931 Ian Holm
1940 Linda Gray
1940 Susan Sennett
1943 Maria Muldaur
1944 Barry White
1945 John Mauceri
1945 Vern M Lindblad
1949 Irina Rodnina
1951 Joe Pantoliano
1952 Gerry Beckley
1953 John Williams
1954 Peter Scolari
1955 Nina Blackwood
1957 Rachel Ward
1977 James Louis McCartney (son of Paul and Linda McCartney)