Monday, September 21

Today is Monday, September 21, the 264th day of 2015. There are 101 days left in the year.

Highlights in history on this date:

1327 - Edward II of England is murdered at Berkely Castle, eight months after he was forced to abdicate by his queen and her lover.

1529 - Turks under Suleiman I begin an unsuccessful siege of Vienna.

1746 - French forces conquer Madras, India, after brief siege.

1792 - France's National Convention formally abolishes the French monarchy and declares a republic the next day.

1802 - Napoleon Bonaparte of France annexes Piedmont in Italy.

1860 - Anglo-French troops defeat Chinese at Pa-Li-Chau.

1896 - British force under Horatio Kitchener takes Dongola in Sudan.

1898 - Tzu-Hsi, dowager Empress of China, seizes power and revokes reforms.

1931 - Britain goes off the gold standard.

1939 - Premier Armand Calinescu of Romania is assassinated by the Iron Guard.

1938 - Hurricane kills more than 700 people in New England and on Long Island in the northeastern United States.

1949 - West Germany comes into existence as U.S., British and French occupation zones are transferred to German control; People's Republic of China is proclaimed by its Communist leaders.

1950 - U.N. forces spring an offensive in South Korea by invading Inchon and Seoul with U.S. Marines fighting on the outskirts of Seoul.

1956 - Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza is shot by a liberal poet. He dies eight days later and is succeeded by his son.

1960 - United Nations deploys 4,000 troops to Katanga, Congo, to prevent the massacre of Baluba tribesmen by provincial troops and police.

1964 - Malta becomes independent state within British Commonwealth.

1969 - More than 120 people are killed in rioting in western India that stems from alleged Muslim abuse of cattle, which Hindus regard as sacred.

1972 - Ferdinand Marcos proclaims martial law in Philippines and jails thousands of opponents. He stays in power until 1986.

1985 - Mexico counts at least 2,000 dead from earthquake that devastated four states.

1987 - Iraqi warplanes make bombing forays deep into Iran in Gulf War.

1992 - The last power line to Bosnian capital Sarajevo is severed by shellfire. The electric supply to the besieged city is intermittent for years.

1993 - Russian President Boris Yeltsin dissolves Parliament. Hard-line lawmakers subsequently vote to impeach him and hole up in parliament building.

1999 - Taiwan's strongest quake in decades with a 7.6 magnitude, kills more than 2,300 people, injures 10,000 and destroying hundreds of homes.

2001 - Japanese Foreign Ministry says all banks and financial institutions operating in Japan are forbidden to make transactions with companies and individuals linked to bin Laden and the Taliban without first obtaining government permission.

2003 - NASA directs the unmanned space probe Galileo to plunge into the atmosphere of the planet Jupiter, destroying the craft after a 14-year mission to observe the planet and its satellites. NASA opted to crash Galileo after it ran out of fuel.

2004 - Floodwaters recede and rescue workers reach homes buried in mud, but Tropical Storm Jeanne has killed more than 700 Haitians and left a quarter million homeless.

2008 - South African President Thabo Mbeki resigns.

2010 - Italian authorities seize euro23 million ($30 million) from a Vatican bank account and say they have begun investigating top officials of the Vatican bank in connection with a money-laundering probe.

2013 - Islamic extremist gunmen, lobbing grenades and firing assault rifles, kill at least 39 people and wound more than 150 in an attack inside Nairobi's top shopping mall.

2014 - Afghanistan's election commission names Ashraf Ghani as president only hours after he and the other leading candidate, Abdullah Abdullah, signed a power-sharing agreement.

Today's Birthdays:

Girolamo Savonarola, Italian preacher and reformer (1452-1498); H(erbert) G(eorge) Wells, English author (1866-1946); Gustav Holst, British composer (1874-1934); Chuck Jones, U.S. animator (1912-2002); Leonard Cohen, Canadian poet-singer (1934--); Stephen King, U.S. writer (1947--); Bill Murray, actor (1950--); Luke Wilson, actor (1971--).

Thought For Today:

We believe at once in evil, we only believe in good upon reflection. Is this not sad? " Madame Dorothee Deluzy, French actress (1747-1830).