历史上的今天:09月28日

Today's Highlight in History:
On September 28th, 1989, deposed¹ Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos died in exile in Hawaii at age 72.
On this date:
In 1066, William the Conqueror² invaded England to claim the English throne.

In 1542, Portuguese³ navigator Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo arrived at present-day San Diego.

In 1781, American forces in the Revolutionary War, backed by a French fleet, began their siege of Yorktown Heights, Virginia.

In 1787, Congress voted to send the just-completed Constitution of the United States to state legislatures for their approval.

In 1850, flogging was abolished as a form of punishment in the US Navy.

In 1924, two US Army planes landed in Seattle, Washington, having completed the first round-the-world flight in 175 days.

In 1939, during World War Two, Germany and the Soviet⁴ Union agreed on a plan to partition Poland.

In 1967, Walter Washington took office as the first mayor of the District of Columbia.

In 1972, Japan and Communist China agreed to re-establish diplomatic relations.

In 1974, first lady Betty Ford⁵ underwent a mastectomy at Bethesda Naval⁶ Medical Center in Maryland, following discovery of a cancerous lump in her breast.

Ten years ago: The exiled emir of Kuwait visited the White House, where he told President Bush the Iraqis were destroying and looting his country.

Five years ago: Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat signed an accord to transfer much of the West Bank to the control of its Arab residents.

One year ago: The Supreme⁷ Court agreed to decide whether a state can give visitation rights to grandparents when, after a divorce or some other family split, the children's parents say no. (Last June, the court ruled that Washington state went too far in letting grandparents and others seek visitation, but it stopped short of giving parents absolute veto power over who gets to visit their children.)