Moments in Time – August 21, 2024

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• On Sept. 2, 1945, Vietnamese communist Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam’s independence from France following Japan’s World War II surrender, in a proclamation stating, “All men are born equal: the Creator has given us inviolable rights, life, liberty, and happiness!” It would take another 30 years for his vision of a united communist Vietnam to become a reality, however.
• On Sept. 3, 2004, a hostage crisis at School No. 1 in Beslan, Russia ended in a gun battle between Chechen terrorists and Russian security forces. More than 300 people were killed, many of them children, and hundreds more were injured. The terrorists’ demands included the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya.
  On Sept. 4, 2014, comedian Joan Rivers died at the age of 81 in a New York City hospital a week after she went into cardiac arrest while undergoing a medical procedure on her vocal cords at a Manhattan clinic. In a career that lasted more than 50 years, Rivers fearlessly tackled any subject she chose, remarking that she “succeeded by saying what everyone else is thinking.”
• On Sept. 5, 1991, a group of activists made their way to the roof of Sen. Jesse Helms’ home and unrolled a giant piece of fabric that was then inflated by their companions on the front lawn. Their message? “A CONDOM TO STOP UNSAFE POLITICS: HELMS IS DEADLIER THAN A VIRUS” – a decidedly innovative response to the senator’s strong opposition to gay rights and the funding of AIDS research and treatment.
• On Sept. 6, 1975, 18-year-old Martina Navratilova, today regarded as one of the greatest tennis players in history, sought political asylum in the United States after defecting from communist Czechoslovakia.
• On Sept. 7, 1876, the Jesse James-Cole Younger gang was nearly wiped out by angry citizens after attempting a daytime robbery of the Northfield Minnesota bank. For the next two weeks, a posse pursued the surviving members, eventually killing or capturing four more, but Frank and Jesse James ended up in Nashville, TN, where they began rebuilding the gang and planning more robberies.
• On Sept. 8, 1504, Michelangelo’s 17-foot-tall, 12,000-pound marble masterpiece of the biblical shepherd boy David was unveiled to the public in Florence, Italy.

© 2024 King Features Synd., Inc.