Star Trek

September 8, 1966

Gene Roddenberry's space western Star Trek debuts on NBC, with the episode The Man Trap. The episode featured the creature that became known as the Salt Monster.
The original Star Trek pilot, The Cage, was deemed too cerebral and a new pilot was ordered. Footage from The Cage was edited into the two-part The Menagerie, which was aired later in the season. Except for a black and white 16mm version, the unused footage was lost until it was found in 1987. The rediscovered footage for the original pilot The Cage was restored and aired for the first time in 1988, almost 20 years after the series ended.

Psycho

September 8, 1960

Official release of Alfred Hitchcock's classic thriller Psycho.
This was Hitchcock's most financially successful film. Produced on a budget of about $800,000, it made over $32 million on its initial release. Paramount was reluctant to do the film, so Hitchcock financed it himself for 60% ownership of the film. To save money, Hitchcock filmed it in black and white and in a television studio. Chocolate syrup was used for the blood swirling down the drain in the famous shower scene.
Psycho is based on Robert Bloch's novel of the same name, which was loosely based on murderer and grave robber Ed Gein. Anthony Perkins' character Norman Bates and Ed Gein each had deceased, domineering mothers, had sealed off a room in their home as a shrine to their mother, and dressed in women's clothes.
Janet Leigh's character Marion Crane flushing her note down the toilet is the first time a toilet is shown flushing in U.S. cinema.

V-2 Rocket

September 8, 1944

Germany launches its first V-2 guided rockets, striking London and Antwerp during World War II. Traveling at the speed of sound, they were virtually impossible to stop.

Huey P. Long Shot

September 8, 1935

U.S. Senator Huey P. Long is shot at the Louisiana state capitol by Dr. Carl Austin Weiss, Jr. He died two days later. Long, known as the Kingfish, had just moments before pushed through a redistricting bill that would remove Weiss' father-in-law, Judge Benjamin Pavy, from the bench. Weiss was killed at the scene by Long's bodyguards, who shot him more than 60 times.
As with many high-profile murders, there are alternative versions of the events. Some speculate that Weiss only punched Long in the mouth causing the bodyguards to open fire and Long was killed by a stray bullet and that Weiss' gun was then retrieved from his nearby car and placed on the scene.

Pledge of Allegiance First Published

September 8, 1892

The Pledge of Allegiance is first published, in The Youth's Companion. Francis Bellamy wrote the original 1892 version: "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." Changes were made to it over the years, including adding the words "Under God" in 1954. Bellamy, a devout Christian who believed in the absolute separation of church and state, did not include the phrase "under God" in his original pledge.
Bellamy also described what became known as the Bellamy Salute as the proper way to salute the flag while reciting the pledge. Due to its resemblance to the Nazi salute, this was replaced with the hand-over-heart salute in 1942.

Jack the Ripper

September 8, 1888

Serial killer Jack the Ripper claims his second known victim. For three months he murdered and mutilated prostitutes in London's East End. He was never caught.

Hanged for Sex with a Turkey

September 8, 1642

Pilgrim teenager Thomas Graunger is hanged after confessing to buggery with a mare, a cow, two goats, various sheep, two calves, and a turkey. In the Plymouth Colony, bestiality was a crime punishable according to the Bible's Leviticus 20:15 ("And if a man shall lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast"). Graunger was forced to watch while the animals involved were slaughtered and their bodies destroyed because they were considered unclean. Graunger was then hanged.
This was the Plymouth Colony's first recorded act of bestiality.

St. Augustine - Oldest European Settlement Still in Existence in America

September 8, 1565

Spanish explorer Pedro Menéndes de Avilés founds St. Augustine, Florida.
Also on this day, Fr. Don Martin Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales founds in St. Augustine the first Catholic parish in what is now the U.S.

Ruby Bridges

Born September 8, 1954

American activist. She was the first black child at the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana (1960). Many whites pulled their children from the school and all but one teacher refused to teach her. This event was the subject of a Norman Rockwell painting.

Patsy Cline (Virginia Peterson Hensley)

Born September 8, 1932 d. 1963

American Hall of Fame country singer. Music: I Fall to Pieces (1961, #1) and Crazy (1961). She was the first female solo performer elected into the Country Music Hall of Fame (1973). She died in a plane crash. Her pilot was not instrument rated and was trying to fly in heavy weather. She was returning home after performing at a benefit for the family of disc jockey "Cactus" Jack Call, who had died in an automobile crash a little over a month earlier.

Charles J. Guiteau

Born September 8, 1841 d. 1882

American presidential assassin. Assassinated U.S. President James A. Garfield. Guiteau believed he deserved an appointed position due to his support of Garfield's presidential campaign, feeling that he was largely responsible for Garfield's victory. Angry that Garfield rejecting his requests, and believing that God told him to kill Garfield so that Chester A. Arthur would become president, Guiteau shot Garfield at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C. on July 2, 1881. Garfield died two months later from infections related to the injury. Guiteau was hanged for his crime.
When Guiteau was purchasing the gun for the assassination he chose one with pearl handles, because he thought it would look better in a museum. Ironically, the gun has since been lost.