- 1305: William Wallace, Scottish patriot and a leader of the
                  struggle against the English, was hanged, disemboweled, beheaded
                  and quartered in London.
                - 1609: Galileo unveiled his telescope.
                - 1617: London established one-way streets.
                - 1775: King George III issued a formal decree proclaiming the
                  American colonies were in a state of open rebellion.
                - 1784: Eastern Tennessee settlers declared their area an independent
                  state and named it Franklin; a year later the Continental Congress
                  rejected the action.
                - 1833: Britain abolished slavery in its colonies, freeing 700,000
                  slaves.
                - 1850: The first national women's rights convention convened in
                  Worcester, Mass.
                - 1914: Japan declared war on Germany; German troops executed over
                  600 people in the Belgian town of Dinant, then fired and burned
                  the town; British forces retreated at the Battle of Mons.
                - 1939: Hitler and Stalin signed a non-aggression pact, leaving the
                  way open for Germany to attack Poland.
                - 1942: The Battle of Stalingrad began.
                - 1944: King Michael of Romania ordered his forces to cease fire
                  against the Allies and dismissed the pro-Axis premier, Marshal Ion
                  Antonescu; Allied troops captured Marseilles, France.
                - 1961: East Germany imposed new curbs on travel between West and
                  East Berlin, sparking a retaliation from Western powers, as they
                  placed tanks and 1,000 troops along the Berlin Wall; Ranger I, the
                  first in a series of successful U.S. lunar probes, was launched
                  from Cape Canaveral, Fla.
                - 1970: Actor River Phoenix was born (d: 1993, of drug-induced heart
                  failure).
                - 1975: The Communists took over Laos.
                - 1990: East and West Germany announced that they would unite on
                  Oct. 3, healing four decades of post-World War II division;
                  Armenia declared independence from Moscow.

                *Happy Birthday*
                ----------------
                - Richard Adler, 75, composer/songwriter, "Damn Yankees"
                - Ronny Cox, 60, actor, "Robocop," "St. Elsewhere"
                - Barbara Eden, 64, actress, "I Dream of Jeannie"
                - Sonny Jurgensen, 64, former NFL quarterback/sportscaster
                - Shelley Long, 49, actress, "Cheers"
                - Lee Majors, 58, actor, "The Six Million Dollar Man," "The Fall Guy"
                - Birger Ruud, 87, Olympic ski jumper
                - Rik Smits, 32, NBA center
                - Gov. Pete Wilson, 65, of California