Racist? Bigoted? Decide for yourselves
Another NBA team is being sold, because of comments from the majority owner that are being deemed as racist. In this case, the comments were contained in an email that Bruce Levenson, majority owner of the Atlanta Hawks sent to key management people of the team. You can read the email in its entirety here: http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/07/us/nba-hawks-levenson-racist-email/index.html
Were his comments insensitive? Absolutely. Were they ill-advised? Again, absolutely. Were they racist? They are, but I'm not sure if that was his intent. Might be, might not be. But they show ignorance of the market conditions in Atlanta for professional sports teams.
What were Mr. Levenson's concerns when he wrote this email? Probably the fact that in spite of making the playoffs consistently, the Hawks appear incapable of filling their arena. They rank near the bottom in attendance in the NBA. Last season they were 28th in attendance, ahead of only the 76ers and the Bucks. While TV deals provide the bulk of revenues for NBA teams, ticket sales are a key component of reaching profitability.
Their home arena, Phillips Arena, seats 18,118 when configured for basketball. Their average attendance last season for home games was 14,339. So nearly 4,000 seats are empty, game in and game out. Their average ticket price is right around $35 per game. If the team were able to fill all of those seats they would receive an additional $5.7 million in annual revenue just from ticket sales. That's not including revenue from concessions, parking and so on. I suspect that this potential revenue was the major motivating factor in Mr. Levenson's idiotic email. He hasn't discriminated against African-Americans in renting out a large real estate holding.
But someone shouldn't rise to the level of being majority owner/operator of an NBA franchise without being smart enough to know that such an email isn't just ill-advised or poorly phrased. What Mr. Levenson said in this email may or may not be reflective of his personal, private views on racists. Maybe he's a civil rights activist in his personal life. Maybe he is a member of the KKK. We don't know. We have only his words and his apology for them to make a judgment.
I don't know if he is or isn't a racist. I do know that in the current climate, he can't be the owner/operator of an NBA franchise.
* * *
I was asked a question this morning that I couldn't answer. Why did Ray Rice's fiancée chose to go through with the wedding and stay with me after he knocked her out in an elevator? Why do women forgive those who abuse them? Why do they put up with it?
I know what I've seen and heard. I once responded to a domestic violence incident at a home in base housing on the base where I was stationed. The woman had been beaten bloody and her husband fled before we arrived. We questioned her before the ambulance came to take her away and she was adamant that she wanted to see her husband prosecuted at a court-martial for this incident. By the time he was apprehended, she would no longer cooperate and as a result he could only be given a non-judicial punishment for going AWOL for a few days. I went and visited her and asked her why she backed out. She wouldn't answer. She just said "I love him."
From what my research on the subject reveals, the self-proclaimed experts on this topic say most of these women (and the male victims of domestic violence) share a propensity toward low levels of self-esteem. Most of them grew up in homes where they witnessed domestic violence and its acceptance by their mother. That makes logical sense, but are those the only factors? Probably not. These victims have few alternatives. Most of the time they have no refuge. Shelters for battered women exist but they are often full.
States that have laws that allow batterers to be arrested even in the face of the victim's statement they won't cooperate are on the right track. Maybe these victims need to be protected not just from their batterer but from themselves. They are conditioned to keep forgiving their abuser and that just leads to more battering.
Ray Rice will probably never play in the NFL again. His wife thinks that is an injustice because she has forgiven him. My only other question is how long will it be before he does it again?
* * *
Random Ponderings:
Why didn't the NFL get the video from inside the elevator when TMZ could obtain it?
Does NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell really think people will believe his story that the NFL tried and failed to obtain the tape from inside the elevator?
When an adult is adjudged to require conservators, then it isn't appropriate for that adult to get married without the approval of all who are overseeing the conservatorship.
Clearly, Janay Rice believes women deserve equal rights. And equal lefts. Sorry, couldn't resist. It's just so sad that battered women apologize for their batterers.
The free fall of the Oakland Athletics is reminiscent of the Brooklyn Dodgers of 1951.
Looks like the WWE is finally giving up on C. M. Punk, since they slashed the prices of all merchandise bearing his likeness and/or name.
Congress has enough on its plate. It doesn't need to insert itself into the NFL versus Ray Rice lunacy.
Jimmy Fallon's staff may have put Britney Spears on Tinder, but don't get your hopes up about a successful swipe.
There's something horribly wrong with the concept of paying $1 million for a parking space and not owning it. You only get a 99 year lease and you have to sell the space if you move out of the building.
Arizona's Senator John McCain wins this week's award for Maximum Hypocrisy Award. He was on CNN with former White House Spokesman Jay Carney. He called Carney a lying liar and claimed that Carney had bragged about "...the last combat troops had left Iraq." A little over four years ago, McCain tweeted this: "Last combat troops leave Iraq. I think President George W. Bush deserves some credit for the victory." Wow.
* * *
September 11th in History:
13 years ago today, the United States was the victim of a horrific, cowardly act of terrorism. It may well have been the latest day of infamy. It is a day we will never forget. On this day, with the continued threats presented by ISIS and others, let us remember the words of JFK. During the Cuban Missile Crisis he said, “Our goal is not the victory of might, but the vindication of right- not peace at the expense of freedom, but both peace and freedom, here in this Hemisphere, and, we hope, around the world.”
1185 – Isaac II Angelos kills Stephen Hagiochristophorites and then appeals to the people, resulting in the revolt that deposes Andronikos I Komnenos and places Isaac on the throne of the Byzantine Empire.
1226 – The Roman Catholic practice of public adoration of the Blessed Sacrament outside of Mass spreads from monasteries to parishes.
1297 – Battle of Stirling Bridge: Scots jointly-led by William Wallace and Andrew Moray defeat the English.
1390 – Lithuanian Civil War (1389–92): The Teutonic Knights begin a five-week siege of Vilnius.
1541 – Santiago, Chile, is destroyed by indigenous warriors, led by Michimalonco.
1565 – Ottoman forces retreat from Malta ending the Great Siege of Malta.
1609 – Expulsion order announced against the Moriscos of Valencia; beginning of the expulsion of all Spain's Moriscos.
1609 – Henry Hudson discovers Manhattan Island and the indigenous people living there.
1649 – Siege of Drogheda ends: Oliver Cromwell's English Parliamentarian troops take the town and execute its garrison.
1697 – Battle of Zenta.
1708 – Charles XII of Sweden stops his march to conquer Moscow outside Smolensk, marking the turning point in the Great Northern War. The army is defeated nine months later in the Battle of Poltava, and the Swedish Empire ceases to be a major power.
1709 – Battle of Malplaquet: Great Britain, Netherlands and Austria fight against France.
1714 – Siege of Barcelona: Barcelona, capital city of Catalonia, surrenders to Spanish and French Bourbon armies in the War of the Spanish Succession.
1758 – Battle of Saint Cast: France repels British invasion during the Seven Years' War.
1775 – Benedict Arnold's expedition to Quebec leaves Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1776 – British–American peace conference on Staten Island fails to stop nascent American Revolutionary War.
1777 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Brandywine: The British celebrate a major victory in Chester County, Pennsylvania.
1786 – The beginning of the Annapolis Convention.
1789 – Alexander Hamilton is appointed the first United States Secretary of the Treasury.
1792 – The Hope Diamond is stolen along with other French crown jewels when six men break into the house where they are stored.
1802 – France annexes the Kingdom of Piedmont.
1803 – Battle of Delhi, during the Second Anglo-Maratha War, between British troops under General Lake, and Marathas of Scindia's army under General Louis Bourquin.
1813 – War of 1812: British troops arrive in Mount Vernon and prepare to march to and invade Washington, D.C..
1814 – War of 1812: The climax of the Battle of Plattsburgh, a major United States victory in the war.
1826 – Captain William Morgan is arrested in Batavia, New York for debt. This sets into motion the events that lead to his mysterious disappearance.
1829 – Surrender of the expedition led by Isidro Barradas at Tampico, sent by the Spanish crown in order to retake Mexico. This was the consummation of Mexico's campaign for independence.
1830 – Anti-Masonic Party convention; one of the first American political party conventions.
1847 – Stephen Foster's song "Oh! Susanna" is first performed at a saloon in Pittsburgh.
1851 – Christiana Resistance: Escaped slaves stand against their former owner in armed resistance in Christiana, Pennsylvania, creating a rallying cry for the abolitionist movement.
1852 – The State of Buenos Aires secedes from the Argentine Federal government, rejoining on September 17, 1861. Several places are named Once de Septiembre after this event.
1857 – The Mountain Meadows massacre: Mormon settlers and Paiutes massacre 120 pioneers at Mountain Meadows, Utah.
1893 – Parliament of the World's Religions opens in Chicago, where Swami Vivekananda delivers his speech on fanaticism, tolerance and the truth inherent in all religions.
1897 – After months of pursuit, generals of Menelik II of Ethiopia capture Gaki Sherocho, the last king of Kaffa, bringing an end to that ancient kingdom.
1903 – The first race at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisconsin is held. It is the oldest major speedway in the world.
1914 – Australia invades New Britain, defeating a German contingent at the Battle of Bita Paka.
1916 – The Quebec Bridge's central span collapses, killing 11 men. The bridge previously collapsed completely on August 29, 1907.
1919 – U.S. Marines invade Honduras.
1921 – Nahalal, the first moshav in Palestine, is settled as part of a Zionist plan to colonize Palestine and creating a Jewish state, later to be Israel.
1922 – The Treaty of Kars is ratified in Yerevan, Armenia.
1922 – One of the Herald Sun of Melbourne, Australia's predecessor papers The Sun News-Pictorial is founded.
1931 – Salvatore Maranzano is murdered by Lucky Luciano's hitmen.
1932 – Franciszek Żwirko and Stanisław Wigura, Polish Challenge 1932 winners, are killed when their RWD 6 airplane crashes during a storm.
1939 – World War II: Canada declares war on Germany, the country's first independent declaration of war
1940 – George Stibitz performs the first remote operation of a computer.
1941 – Ground is broken for the construction of The Pentagon.
1941 – Charles Lindbergh's Des Moines Speech accusing the British, Jews and the Roosevelt administration of pressing for war with Germany.
1943 – World War II: German troops occupy Corsica and Kosovo-Metohija.
1943 – World War II: Start of the liquidation of the Ghettos in Minsk and Lida by the Nazis.
1944 – World War II: The first Allied troops of the U.S. Army cross the western border of Germany.
1944 – World War II: RAF bombing raid on Darmstadt and the following firestorm kill 11,500.
1945 – World War II: Australian 9th Division forces liberate the Japanese-run Batu Lintang camp, a POW and civilian internment camp on the island of Borneo.
1954 – Hurricane Edna hits New England as a Category 3 hurricane, causing significant damage and 29 deaths.
1961 – Hurricane Carla strikes the Texas coast as a Category 4 hurricane, the second strongest storm ever to hit the state.
1965 – Indo-Pakistani War: The Indian Army captures the town of Burki, just southeast of Lahore.
1968 – Air France Flight 1611 crashes off Nice, France, killing 89 passengers and six crew.
1968 – The International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) was found.
1970 – The Dawson's Field hijackers release 88 of their hostages. The remaining hostages, mostly Jews and Israeli citizens, are held until September 25.
1971 – The Egyptian Constitution becomes official.
1972 – The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit system begins passenger service.
1973 – A coup in Chile headed by General Augusto Pinochet topples the democratically elected president Salvador Allende. Pinochet exercises dictatorial power until ousted in a referendum in 1988, staying in power until 1990.
1974 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 crashes in Charlotte, North Carolina, killing 69 passengers and two crew.
1976 – A group of Croatian nationalists plant a bomb in a coin locker at Grand Central Terminal. After stating political demands, they reveal the location and provided instructions for disarming the bomb. The disarming operation are not executed properly and the bomb explodes, killing one NYPD bomb squad specialist.
1978 – Janet Parker is the last person to die of smallpox, in a laboratory-associated outbreak.
1980 – Voters approve a new Constitution of Chile, later amended after the departure of president Pinochet.
1982 – The international forces that were guaranteeing the safety of Palestinian refugees following Israel's 1982 Invasion of Lebanon leave Beirut. Five days later, several thousand refugees are massacred in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps.
1985 – Pete Rose breaks Ty Cobb's baseball record for most career hits with his 4,192nd hit.
1988 – The St Jean Bosco massacre takes place in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
1989 – Hungary announces that the East German refugees who had been housed in temporary camps were free to leave for West Germany.
1992 – Hurricane Iniki, one of the most damaging hurricanes in United States history, devastates the Hawaiian islands of Kauai and Oahu.
1997 – NASA's Mars Global Surveyor reaches Mars.
1997 – After a nationwide referendum, Scotland votes to establish a devolved parliament within the United Kingdom.
1997 – Fourteen Estonian soldiers die in the Kurkse tragedy, drowning in the Baltic Sea.
1998 – Opening ceremony for the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Malaysia is the first Asian country to host the games.
2000 – Melbourne hosts World Economic Forum where S11 protests also take place.
2001 – Two hijacked aircraft crash into the World Trade Center in New York City, while a third smashes into The Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, and a fourth into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, in a series of coordinated suicide attacks by 19 members of al-Qaeda. In total 2,996 people are killed.
2007 – Russia tests the largest conventional weapon ever, the Father of All Bombs.
2012 – A total of 315 people are killed in two garment factory fires in Pakistan.
2012 – The U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya is attacked, resulting in four deaths.
2013 – A 400 km long human chain called Catalan Way is organized by the Assemblea Nacional Catalana for the independence of Catalonia
Famous Folk Born on this Date:
Minamoto no Yuriie, Shogun of Japan
O. Henry
D. H. Lawrence
Barbecue Bob
Bear Bryant
Herbert Lom
Ferdinand Marcos
Tom Landry
Alan Bergman
Reubin Askew
Earl Holliman
Cathryn Damon
Bill Simpson
Brian de Palma
Theodore Olson
Lola Falana
Mickey Hart
Franz Beckenbauer
Leo Kottke
Felton Perry
Amy Madigan
Tommy Shaw
Tony Gilroy
Felton Perry
Tommy Shaw
Anne Ramsay
Virginia Madsen
Kristy McNichol
Moby
Paul Heyman
Harry Connick, Jr.
Taraji P. Henson
Ludacris
Dylan Klebold (hope he's rotting in Hell)
Were his comments insensitive? Absolutely. Were they ill-advised? Again, absolutely. Were they racist? They are, but I'm not sure if that was his intent. Might be, might not be. But they show ignorance of the market conditions in Atlanta for professional sports teams.
What were Mr. Levenson's concerns when he wrote this email? Probably the fact that in spite of making the playoffs consistently, the Hawks appear incapable of filling their arena. They rank near the bottom in attendance in the NBA. Last season they were 28th in attendance, ahead of only the 76ers and the Bucks. While TV deals provide the bulk of revenues for NBA teams, ticket sales are a key component of reaching profitability.
Their home arena, Phillips Arena, seats 18,118 when configured for basketball. Their average attendance last season for home games was 14,339. So nearly 4,000 seats are empty, game in and game out. Their average ticket price is right around $35 per game. If the team were able to fill all of those seats they would receive an additional $5.7 million in annual revenue just from ticket sales. That's not including revenue from concessions, parking and so on. I suspect that this potential revenue was the major motivating factor in Mr. Levenson's idiotic email. He hasn't discriminated against African-Americans in renting out a large real estate holding.
But someone shouldn't rise to the level of being majority owner/operator of an NBA franchise without being smart enough to know that such an email isn't just ill-advised or poorly phrased. What Mr. Levenson said in this email may or may not be reflective of his personal, private views on racists. Maybe he's a civil rights activist in his personal life. Maybe he is a member of the KKK. We don't know. We have only his words and his apology for them to make a judgment.
I don't know if he is or isn't a racist. I do know that in the current climate, he can't be the owner/operator of an NBA franchise.
* * *
I was asked a question this morning that I couldn't answer. Why did Ray Rice's fiancée chose to go through with the wedding and stay with me after he knocked her out in an elevator? Why do women forgive those who abuse them? Why do they put up with it?
I know what I've seen and heard. I once responded to a domestic violence incident at a home in base housing on the base where I was stationed. The woman had been beaten bloody and her husband fled before we arrived. We questioned her before the ambulance came to take her away and she was adamant that she wanted to see her husband prosecuted at a court-martial for this incident. By the time he was apprehended, she would no longer cooperate and as a result he could only be given a non-judicial punishment for going AWOL for a few days. I went and visited her and asked her why she backed out. She wouldn't answer. She just said "I love him."
From what my research on the subject reveals, the self-proclaimed experts on this topic say most of these women (and the male victims of domestic violence) share a propensity toward low levels of self-esteem. Most of them grew up in homes where they witnessed domestic violence and its acceptance by their mother. That makes logical sense, but are those the only factors? Probably not. These victims have few alternatives. Most of the time they have no refuge. Shelters for battered women exist but they are often full.
States that have laws that allow batterers to be arrested even in the face of the victim's statement they won't cooperate are on the right track. Maybe these victims need to be protected not just from their batterer but from themselves. They are conditioned to keep forgiving their abuser and that just leads to more battering.
Ray Rice will probably never play in the NFL again. His wife thinks that is an injustice because she has forgiven him. My only other question is how long will it be before he does it again?
* * *
Random Ponderings:
Why didn't the NFL get the video from inside the elevator when TMZ could obtain it?
Does NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell really think people will believe his story that the NFL tried and failed to obtain the tape from inside the elevator?
When an adult is adjudged to require conservators, then it isn't appropriate for that adult to get married without the approval of all who are overseeing the conservatorship.
Clearly, Janay Rice believes women deserve equal rights. And equal lefts. Sorry, couldn't resist. It's just so sad that battered women apologize for their batterers.
The free fall of the Oakland Athletics is reminiscent of the Brooklyn Dodgers of 1951.
Looks like the WWE is finally giving up on C. M. Punk, since they slashed the prices of all merchandise bearing his likeness and/or name.
Congress has enough on its plate. It doesn't need to insert itself into the NFL versus Ray Rice lunacy.
Jimmy Fallon's staff may have put Britney Spears on Tinder, but don't get your hopes up about a successful swipe.
There's something horribly wrong with the concept of paying $1 million for a parking space and not owning it. You only get a 99 year lease and you have to sell the space if you move out of the building.
Arizona's Senator John McCain wins this week's award for Maximum Hypocrisy Award. He was on CNN with former White House Spokesman Jay Carney. He called Carney a lying liar and claimed that Carney had bragged about "...the last combat troops had left Iraq." A little over four years ago, McCain tweeted this: "Last combat troops leave Iraq. I think President George W. Bush deserves some credit for the victory." Wow.
* * *
September 11th in History:
13 years ago today, the United States was the victim of a horrific, cowardly act of terrorism. It may well have been the latest day of infamy. It is a day we will never forget. On this day, with the continued threats presented by ISIS and others, let us remember the words of JFK. During the Cuban Missile Crisis he said, “Our goal is not the victory of might, but the vindication of right- not peace at the expense of freedom, but both peace and freedom, here in this Hemisphere, and, we hope, around the world.”
1185 – Isaac II Angelos kills Stephen Hagiochristophorites and then appeals to the people, resulting in the revolt that deposes Andronikos I Komnenos and places Isaac on the throne of the Byzantine Empire.
1226 – The Roman Catholic practice of public adoration of the Blessed Sacrament outside of Mass spreads from monasteries to parishes.
1297 – Battle of Stirling Bridge: Scots jointly-led by William Wallace and Andrew Moray defeat the English.
1390 – Lithuanian Civil War (1389–92): The Teutonic Knights begin a five-week siege of Vilnius.
1541 – Santiago, Chile, is destroyed by indigenous warriors, led by Michimalonco.
1565 – Ottoman forces retreat from Malta ending the Great Siege of Malta.
1609 – Expulsion order announced against the Moriscos of Valencia; beginning of the expulsion of all Spain's Moriscos.
1609 – Henry Hudson discovers Manhattan Island and the indigenous people living there.
1649 – Siege of Drogheda ends: Oliver Cromwell's English Parliamentarian troops take the town and execute its garrison.
1697 – Battle of Zenta.
1708 – Charles XII of Sweden stops his march to conquer Moscow outside Smolensk, marking the turning point in the Great Northern War. The army is defeated nine months later in the Battle of Poltava, and the Swedish Empire ceases to be a major power.
1709 – Battle of Malplaquet: Great Britain, Netherlands and Austria fight against France.
1714 – Siege of Barcelona: Barcelona, capital city of Catalonia, surrenders to Spanish and French Bourbon armies in the War of the Spanish Succession.
1758 – Battle of Saint Cast: France repels British invasion during the Seven Years' War.
1775 – Benedict Arnold's expedition to Quebec leaves Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1776 – British–American peace conference on Staten Island fails to stop nascent American Revolutionary War.
1777 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Brandywine: The British celebrate a major victory in Chester County, Pennsylvania.
1786 – The beginning of the Annapolis Convention.
1789 – Alexander Hamilton is appointed the first United States Secretary of the Treasury.
1792 – The Hope Diamond is stolen along with other French crown jewels when six men break into the house where they are stored.
1802 – France annexes the Kingdom of Piedmont.
1803 – Battle of Delhi, during the Second Anglo-Maratha War, between British troops under General Lake, and Marathas of Scindia's army under General Louis Bourquin.
1813 – War of 1812: British troops arrive in Mount Vernon and prepare to march to and invade Washington, D.C..
1814 – War of 1812: The climax of the Battle of Plattsburgh, a major United States victory in the war.
1826 – Captain William Morgan is arrested in Batavia, New York for debt. This sets into motion the events that lead to his mysterious disappearance.
1829 – Surrender of the expedition led by Isidro Barradas at Tampico, sent by the Spanish crown in order to retake Mexico. This was the consummation of Mexico's campaign for independence.
1830 – Anti-Masonic Party convention; one of the first American political party conventions.
1847 – Stephen Foster's song "Oh! Susanna" is first performed at a saloon in Pittsburgh.
1851 – Christiana Resistance: Escaped slaves stand against their former owner in armed resistance in Christiana, Pennsylvania, creating a rallying cry for the abolitionist movement.
1852 – The State of Buenos Aires secedes from the Argentine Federal government, rejoining on September 17, 1861. Several places are named Once de Septiembre after this event.
1857 – The Mountain Meadows massacre: Mormon settlers and Paiutes massacre 120 pioneers at Mountain Meadows, Utah.
1893 – Parliament of the World's Religions opens in Chicago, where Swami Vivekananda delivers his speech on fanaticism, tolerance and the truth inherent in all religions.
1897 – After months of pursuit, generals of Menelik II of Ethiopia capture Gaki Sherocho, the last king of Kaffa, bringing an end to that ancient kingdom.
1903 – The first race at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisconsin is held. It is the oldest major speedway in the world.
1914 – Australia invades New Britain, defeating a German contingent at the Battle of Bita Paka.
1916 – The Quebec Bridge's central span collapses, killing 11 men. The bridge previously collapsed completely on August 29, 1907.
1919 – U.S. Marines invade Honduras.
1921 – Nahalal, the first moshav in Palestine, is settled as part of a Zionist plan to colonize Palestine and creating a Jewish state, later to be Israel.
1922 – The Treaty of Kars is ratified in Yerevan, Armenia.
1922 – One of the Herald Sun of Melbourne, Australia's predecessor papers The Sun News-Pictorial is founded.
1931 – Salvatore Maranzano is murdered by Lucky Luciano's hitmen.
1932 – Franciszek Żwirko and Stanisław Wigura, Polish Challenge 1932 winners, are killed when their RWD 6 airplane crashes during a storm.
1939 – World War II: Canada declares war on Germany, the country's first independent declaration of war
1940 – George Stibitz performs the first remote operation of a computer.
1941 – Ground is broken for the construction of The Pentagon.
1941 – Charles Lindbergh's Des Moines Speech accusing the British, Jews and the Roosevelt administration of pressing for war with Germany.
1943 – World War II: German troops occupy Corsica and Kosovo-Metohija.
1943 – World War II: Start of the liquidation of the Ghettos in Minsk and Lida by the Nazis.
1944 – World War II: The first Allied troops of the U.S. Army cross the western border of Germany.
1944 – World War II: RAF bombing raid on Darmstadt and the following firestorm kill 11,500.
1945 – World War II: Australian 9th Division forces liberate the Japanese-run Batu Lintang camp, a POW and civilian internment camp on the island of Borneo.
1954 – Hurricane Edna hits New England as a Category 3 hurricane, causing significant damage and 29 deaths.
1961 – Hurricane Carla strikes the Texas coast as a Category 4 hurricane, the second strongest storm ever to hit the state.
1965 – Indo-Pakistani War: The Indian Army captures the town of Burki, just southeast of Lahore.
1968 – Air France Flight 1611 crashes off Nice, France, killing 89 passengers and six crew.
1968 – The International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) was found.
1970 – The Dawson's Field hijackers release 88 of their hostages. The remaining hostages, mostly Jews and Israeli citizens, are held until September 25.
1971 – The Egyptian Constitution becomes official.
1972 – The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit system begins passenger service.
1973 – A coup in Chile headed by General Augusto Pinochet topples the democratically elected president Salvador Allende. Pinochet exercises dictatorial power until ousted in a referendum in 1988, staying in power until 1990.
1974 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 crashes in Charlotte, North Carolina, killing 69 passengers and two crew.
1976 – A group of Croatian nationalists plant a bomb in a coin locker at Grand Central Terminal. After stating political demands, they reveal the location and provided instructions for disarming the bomb. The disarming operation are not executed properly and the bomb explodes, killing one NYPD bomb squad specialist.
1978 – Janet Parker is the last person to die of smallpox, in a laboratory-associated outbreak.
1980 – Voters approve a new Constitution of Chile, later amended after the departure of president Pinochet.
1982 – The international forces that were guaranteeing the safety of Palestinian refugees following Israel's 1982 Invasion of Lebanon leave Beirut. Five days later, several thousand refugees are massacred in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps.
1985 – Pete Rose breaks Ty Cobb's baseball record for most career hits with his 4,192nd hit.
1988 – The St Jean Bosco massacre takes place in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
1989 – Hungary announces that the East German refugees who had been housed in temporary camps were free to leave for West Germany.
1992 – Hurricane Iniki, one of the most damaging hurricanes in United States history, devastates the Hawaiian islands of Kauai and Oahu.
1997 – NASA's Mars Global Surveyor reaches Mars.
1997 – After a nationwide referendum, Scotland votes to establish a devolved parliament within the United Kingdom.
1997 – Fourteen Estonian soldiers die in the Kurkse tragedy, drowning in the Baltic Sea.
1998 – Opening ceremony for the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Malaysia is the first Asian country to host the games.
2000 – Melbourne hosts World Economic Forum where S11 protests also take place.
2001 – Two hijacked aircraft crash into the World Trade Center in New York City, while a third smashes into The Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, and a fourth into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, in a series of coordinated suicide attacks by 19 members of al-Qaeda. In total 2,996 people are killed.
2007 – Russia tests the largest conventional weapon ever, the Father of All Bombs.
2012 – A total of 315 people are killed in two garment factory fires in Pakistan.
2012 – The U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya is attacked, resulting in four deaths.
2013 – A 400 km long human chain called Catalan Way is organized by the Assemblea Nacional Catalana for the independence of Catalonia
Famous Folk Born on this Date:
Minamoto no Yuriie, Shogun of Japan
O. Henry
D. H. Lawrence
Barbecue Bob
Bear Bryant
Herbert Lom
Ferdinand Marcos
Tom Landry
Alan Bergman
Reubin Askew
Earl Holliman
Cathryn Damon
Bill Simpson
Brian de Palma
Theodore Olson
Lola Falana
Mickey Hart
Franz Beckenbauer
Leo Kottke
Felton Perry
Amy Madigan
Tommy Shaw
Tony Gilroy
Felton Perry
Tommy Shaw
Anne Ramsay
Virginia Madsen
Kristy McNichol
Moby
Paul Heyman
Harry Connick, Jr.
Taraji P. Henson
Ludacris
Dylan Klebold (hope he's rotting in Hell)
posted by me at 10:17 AM
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