September 12th

A commuter train engineer ran a red light while text messaging on his cell phone and struck a freight train head-on in Los Angeles, killing himself and 24 other people.

In a speech in his native Germany, Pope Benedict XVI quoted from an obscure medieval text that characterized some teachings of Islam's founder as 'evil and inhuman,' unleashing a torrent of rage across the Islamic world.

Federal Emergency Management Agency director Michael Brown resigned, three days after losing his onsite command of the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

Country musician Johnny Cash died at age 71.

President George W. Bush told the United Nations to confront the 'grave and gathering danger' of Saddam Hussein's Iraq or stand aside as the United States acted.

Dutch lawmakers gave same-sex couples the right to marry and adopt children.

Indonesia announced it would allow an international peacekeeping force to restore order to East Timor.

Dr. Mae Carol Jemison became the first black woman in space aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour.

South African black student leader Steven Biko died while in police custody, triggering an international outcry.

Emperor Haile Selassie was deposed by Ethiopia's military after ruling for 58 years.

The Soviet Union launches the Luna 16. It was the first robotic probe to land on the Moon and return to Earth with rock samples. Luna 16 landed on Earth on September 24.

'Bonanza' premiered on NBC.

US Supreme Court orders Little Rock Ark high school to integrate.

'Lassie' made its TV debut on CBS.

Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kennedy married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier in Newport, R.I.

U.S. Army troops entered Germany for the first time during World War II, near Trier.

German paratroopers rescued former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from the hotel where he was being held prisoner by his own government.

4 teens, following their dog down a hole near Lascaux France discover 17,000-year-old drawings now known as Lascaux Cave Paintings.

In a speech in Nuremberg, Adolf Hitler demanded self-determination for the Sudeten Germans in Czechoslovakia.

Leó Szilárd, waiting for a red light on Southampton Row in Bloomsbury, conceives idea of a nuclear chain reaction.

United States' 1st known female cop appointed, Alice Stebbins Wells by LAPD.

Journalist and critic H.L. Mencken was born in Baltimore.

French astronomer Charles Messier mistakenly identifies the Crab Nebula so begins his Messier Catalogue.

English explorer Henry Hudson sailed into the river that now bears his name.