Today in History.....September 5

On this day in …

1774, the first Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia

1793, the Reign of Terror began during the French Revolution as the National Convention instituted harsh measures to repress counterrevolutionary activities

1863, United States Foreign Minister to Great Britain, Charles Francis Adams, sends an angry letter to the British government warning that war between the two nations may erupt if it allows two powerful ironclad ships, designed to help the Confederates break the Union naval blockade, to set sail

1905, the Treaty of Portsmouth, ending the Russo-Japanese War, was signed in New Hampshire

1914, the First Battle of the Marne began during World War I

1930, Charles Creighton and James Hargis of Maplewood, New Jersey, arrived back in New York City, having completed a 42-day round trip to Los Angeles --- driving their 1929 Ford Model A the entire 7,180 miles in reverse gear

1939, the United States proclaimed its neutrality in World War II

1945, Japanese-American Iva Toguri D'Aquino, suspected of being wartime broadcaster "Tokyo Rose," was arrested in Yokohama.

1972, Muslim terrorists, practitioners of that "religion of peace", attacked the Israeli delegation at the Munich Olympic games; 11 Israelis and a police officer were killed

1975, President Ford escaped an attempt on his life by Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, a disciple of Charles Manson, in Sacramento, Calif.

1986, 21 people were killed and dozens wounded after four hijackers, "Palestinian" practitioners of that "religion of peace", seized a Pan Am jumbo jet in Karachi, Pakistan and opened fire when the lights inside the plane failed

2001, Peru's attorney general filed homicide charges against Alberto Fujimori, linking the ex-president to two massacres by paramilitary death squads in the early 1990s. (Fujimori, now in Chile, continues to fight extradition.)