Today is Thursday, Sept. 4, the 247th day of 2025
with 118 to follow.
The moon is waxing. Morning stars are Jupiter, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus and Venus. Evening stars are Mars, Mercury, Neptune and Saturn.
On this date in history:
In 1957, Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus called out the National Guard to prevent nine Black students from entering Central High School in Little Rock. After President Dwight D. Eisenhower intervened in their favor, the so-called Little Rock Nine students were able to enter and attend the school.
In 1972, U.S. swimmer Mark Spitz became the first athlete to win seven gold medals in a single Olympic Games. The record stood until American swimmer Michael Phelps won eight golds at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
In 1982, a fire in a Los Angeles apartment house killed 25 people after Humberto Diaz de la Torre set the building on fire amid a dispute with the apartment's manager. He pleaded guilty to murder and received a 625-year prison sentence.
In 1991, South African President F.W. de Klerk proposed a new Constitution. It provided for universal voting rights and opened Parliament to all races.
In 2016, Mother Teresa was declared a saint by Pope Francis nearly 20 years after her death.
In 2019, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam withdrew a controversial bill that would have allowed extradition to China after weeks of protests against it. The demonstrations continued, though, in the autonomous region.
In 2022, 11 people died and 18 people were injured in a stabbing spree on James Smith Cree Nation and in the village of Weldon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The attacker, Myles Sanderson, was found dead a day later.
In 2024, two 14-year-old students and two teachers were killed, and nine others injured in a mass shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia. The 14-year-old shooter, Colt Gray, and his father, Colin Gray, were indicted on dozens of charges for the shooting.
