Today is Tuesday, September 9, the 253rd day of 2008. There are 113 days left in the year.
1776 _ Continental Congress renames ``United Colonies," ``United States"
1867 _ Luxembourg gains independence
1943 _ Italy surrenders to the Allies
1945 _ Japanese in S. Korea, Taiwan, China, Indochina surrender to Allies
1948 _ People's Democratic Republic of Korea proclaimed
1956 _ Elvis Presley appears on national TV for first time (Ed Sullivan)
1965 _ Tibet is made an autonomous region of China
1968 _ First U.S. Open, held as an ``open" (Arthur Ashe wins)
1971 _ John Lennon releases the ``Imagine" album
1990 _ Bush & Gorbachev meet in Helsinki and urge Iraq to leave Kuwait