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Sept. 12, 2010: Freeborn-Mower Habitat for Humanity Board President Barry Irish turned over the keys of a new house to Glenda Erickson.

At the new home’s dedication Erickson said to volunteers, “You guys are the greatest people in the world. Thank you so much.”

Sept. 9, 2010: A documentary film crew from South Korea was in Albert Lea to learn more about the AARP/Blue Zones Vitality Project, which they read about in a Newsweek article. Seoul Broadcasting System Chief Producer Sunghwan Hwang interviewed Albert Lea Mayor Mike Murtaugh about local participation in the project. Seoul Broadcasting System was producing a documentary about the benefits of walking.

The American Bus Association announced that Albert Lea’s Big Island Rendezvous was selected as one the top 100 events in North America. The list is published as a supplement to Destinations magazine.

 

National

2012: A mob armed with guns and grenades launched a fiery nightlong attack on a U.S. diplomatic outpost and a CIA annex in Benghazi, Libya, killing U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

2010: Speaking at the Pentagon, President Barack Obama appealed to the nation to honor the memory of the September 11 victims by hewing to the values of diversity and tolerance.

In New York, a morning ceremony of remembrance gave way to an afternoon of protests and counter-protests over a proposed Islamic center near ground zero.

2008: Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama put aside politics as they visited ground zero together on the anniversary of 9/11 to honor its victims.

2006: President George W. Bush acknowledged for the first time that the CIA was running secret prisons overseas and said tough interrogation had forced terrorist leaders to reveal plots to attack the United States and its allies.

In a prime-time address, President George W. Bush invoked the memory of the victims of the 9/11 attacks as he staunchly defended the war in Iraq, though he acknowledged that Saddam Hussein was not responsible for the attacks.

2002: Meeting outside Washington, D.C. for only the second time since 1800, Congress convened in New York to pay homage to the victims and heroes of September 11.

Sept. 11, 2001: Nearly 3,000 people were killed as 19 al-Qaida hijackers seized control of four jetliners, sending two of the planes into New York’s World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon and the fourth into a field in western Pennsylvania.

Sept. 6, 1997: A public funeral was held for Princess Diana at Westminster Abbey in London, six days after her death in a car crash in Paris.

In Calcutta, India, weeping masses gathered to pay homage to Mother Teresa, who had died the day before at age 87.

1996: Rapper Tupac Shakur was shot and mortally wounded on the Las Vegas Strip; he died six days later.

1995: Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken broke Lou Gehrig’s record by playing his two-thousand-131st consecutive game.

Sept. 8, 1974: President Gerald R. Ford granted a “full, free, and absolute pardon” to former President Richard Nixon covering his entire term in office.

1964: Public schools in Prince Edward County, Virginia, reopened after being closed for five years by officials attempting to prevent court-ordered racial desegregation.

1963: Twenty Black students entered Alabama public schools following a standoff between federal authorities and Gov. George C. Wallace.

Sept. 12, 1962: In a speech at Rice University in Houston, President John F. Kennedy reaffirmed his support for the manned space program, declaring: “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”

Sept. 10, 1962: The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the University of Mississippi to admit James Meredith, a Black student.

1958: The U.S. Supreme Court, in Cooper v. Aaron, unanimously ruled that Arkansas officials who were resisting public school desegregation orders could not disregard the high court’s rulings.

1956: Elvis Presley made the first of three appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

1941: Groundbreaking took place for the Pentagon.

1901: President William McKinley was shot and mortally wounded by anarchist Leon Czolgosz at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. (McKinley died eight days later; Czolgosz was executed on Oct. 29.)

1892: An early version of “The Pledge of Allegiance,” written by Francis Bellamy, appeared in “The Youth’s Companion.” It went: “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

Sept. 9, 1776: The second Continental Congress made the term “United States” official, replacing “United Colonies.”