7th of September

It is the 250th day of the year, with 115 days remaining until the end of the year.

70 - A Roman army under Titus, occupies and plunders Jerusalem.

1191 - Richard I of England defeats Saladin at the Battle of Arsuf, during the Third Crusade.

1776 - The American submersible craft Turtle, attempts to attach a time bomb to the hull of British Admiral Richard Howe's flagship, the HMS Eagle in New York Harbor.

1812 - Napoleon wins a Pyrrhic victory over the Russian army of Alexander I, near the village of Borodino.

1821 - The Republic of Gran Colombia, a federation that covers much of Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador, is established.  Simon Bolivar is founding president and Francisco de Paula Santander is vice president.

1822 - Dom Pedro I, declares Brazil independet from Portugal, on the shores of the Ipiranga creek in Sao Paulo.

1860 - The steamship Lady Elgin, sinks on Lake Michigan, with the loss of around 400 lives.

1864 - Atlanta, Georgia is evacuated under the orders of Union General William T. Sherman.

1876 - In Northfield, Minnesota, Jesse James and his gang attempt to rob the town's bank.  Interestingly, they are driven off by many of the local armed citizens.

1901 - The Boxer Rebellion in China officially ends with the signing of the Boxer Protocol.

1927 - The first fully electronic television system is achieved by Philo Taylor Farnsworth.

1940 - Nazi Germany begins to rain bombs on London, England, as the start of the Blitz.  This will be the first of 57 consecutive nights of bombing.

1942 - 8,700 Jews of Kolomyia, now western Ukraine, are sent by German Gestapo individuals to the death camp at Belzec.

1942 - It is the first flight of the Consolidated B-32 Dominator.

1945 - Japanese forces on Wake Island, surrender to United States Marines.  They had held their positions since December of 1941.

1963 - The Pro Football Hall of Fame opens in Canton, Ohio with 17 charter members.

1965 - United States Marines and South Vietnamese forces initiate Operation Piranha on the Batangan Peninsula.

1970 - Bill Shoemaker, sets the record for the most lifetime wins as a jockey.

1978 - Keith Moon, drummer of the rock band The Who, passes away from taking 32 tablets of Clomethiazole, a sedative to alleviate his alcohol withdrawal.  He was only 32 years of age.

1979 - The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, better known as ESPN, makes its debut.

1979 - The Chrysler Corporation asks the U.S. government for a cool $1.5 billion to avoid bankruptcy.

1996 - American hip-hop star Tupac Shakur is fatally shot four times on the Las Vegas strip after leaving the Tyson-Seldon boxing match.

1999 - A 5.9-magnitude earthquake shakes Athens, Greece.  It ruptures a previously unknown fault, killing 143, injuring more than 500, and leaving 50,000 people homeless.