Today in History.....August 31

On this day in …

1888, Mary Ann Nichols was found murdered in London's East End in what is generally regarded as the first slaying committed by "Jack the Ripper."

1897, Thomas Edison receives a patent for his movie camera, the Kinetograph. Edison had developed the camera and its viewer in the early 1890s and staged several demonstrations

1899, A Stanley Steamer, driven by F.O. Stanley, became the first car to reach the summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire. His Stanley Motor Company specialized in steam-driven cars. The steamers not only climbed mountains, but often beat larger, gasoline-powered cars in races. In 1906, a Stanley Steamer would break the world record for the fastest mile when it reached 127mph.) Maybe it's time for a comeback!

1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Neutrality Act which he calls an "expression of the desire…to avoid any action which might involve [the U.S.] in war." The new law would require American vessels to obtain a license to carry arms, would restrict Americans from sailing on ships from hostile nations and would impose an embargo on the sale of arms to "belligerent" nations

1939, at noon, despite threats of British and French intervention, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, ym"sh, signs an order to attack Poland, and German forces move to the frontier

1944, the British 8th Army breaks through the Germans' "Gothic Line," a defensive line drawn across northern Italy

1955, the world's first solar-powered automobile, designed by William G. Cobb, was demonstrated at the General Motors Powerama in Chicago

1980, Poland's Solidarity labor movement was born with an agreement signed in Gdansk that ended a 17-day-old strike

2005, in wake of hurricane Katrina, New Orleans Mayor Nagin ordered virtually the entire police force to abandon search-and-rescue efforts and instead stop thieves who were becoming increasingly hostile