Today is Tuesday, September 8, the 251st day of 2009. There are 114 days left in the year.
1380 _ Russians defeat Tatars at Kulikovo, beginning decline of Tatars
1900 _ 6,000 killed when a hurricane and tidal wave destroys Galveston, Texas, most deadly in U.S. history
1930 _ First appearance of the comic strip ``Blondie"
1939 _ FDR declares ``limited national emergency" due to war in Europe
1943 _ Italy surrenders to the allies in WW II
1945 _ U.S. invades Japanese-held Korea
1951 _ Japan signs treaty of peace with 48 countries (S.F.)
1952 _ Ernest Hemingway's ``Old Man and the Sea" published
1954 _ Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) formed to stop communist spread in S.E. Asia
1974 _ President Gerald Ford pardons former President Richard Nixon of all federal crimes