Today in History....October 9

On this day in …

1888, the public was first admitted to the Washington Monument

1930, Laura Ingalls became the first woman to fly across the United States as she completed a nine-stop journey from Roosevelt Field, N.Y., to Glendale, Calif.

1936, the first generator at Boulder (later Hoover) Dam began transmitting electricity to Los Angeles

1940, during the Battle of Britain, the German Luftwaffe launches a heavy nighttime air raid on London. The dome of St. Paul's Cathedral was pierced by a Nazi bomb, leaving the high altar in ruin. It was one of the few occasions that the 17th-century cathedral suffered significant damage during Germany's nearly ceaseless bombing raids on London in the fall of 1940

1944, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin begin a nine-day conference in Moscow, during which the war with Germany and the future of Europe are discussed.

1967, Latin American guerrilla leader Che Guevara, a "professional revolutionary", was executed while attempting to incite Bolivian citizenry against its government

1969, the National Guard is called in as demonstrations continue in Chicago protesting the trial of the "Chicago Eight"

1985, the terrorists of the Achille Lauro cruise liner, practitioners of that "religion of peace", surrendered after the ship arrived in Port Said, Egypt. Before doing so, they murdered wheelchair-bound passenger Leon Klinghoffer, an American, because he was Jewish, and threw his body overboard and held the ship's passengers hostage

2001, letters postmarked in Trenton, N.J., were sent to Sens. Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy Letters postmarked in Trenton, N.J., were sent to Sens. Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy; the letters later tested positive for anthrax
2005, a driverless Volkswagen won a $2 million race across the rugged Nevada desert, beating four other robot-guided vehicles that completed a Pentagon-sponsored contest aimed at making warfare safer for humans