Leasing News - information, news, education and entertainment for the commercial bank, finance and leasing industry

Coming Monday---Exclusive from Tom McCurnin, Leasing News Legal Editor,
with inside information on California SB 1235 changing interest disclosure in California,
and perhaps elsewhere, too.

######## surrounding the article denotes it is a “press release,” it was not written by Leasing News nor has the information been verified. The source noted. When an article is signed by the writer,
it is considered a “byline.” It reflects the opinion and research of the writer.

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Sales Makes it Happen by Scott Wheeler, CLFP

Next Steps

Successful originators in the commercial equipment leasing and finance industry are constantly learning and enhancing their position within their companies, their niches, and the industry. There is always room for career advancement within the industry. What is your next step?

Some of my favorite questions in my personal coaching sessions are: What were your daily activities one year ago? What are they today? What will they be six months from now? Can you explain your plan for personal growth? How are you taking advantage of the opportunities within your company and within the industry? Are you maximizing your efforts to improve your personal value proposition?

There is no excuse for career stagnation in 2018.

Below are just a few of the comments from professionals who are taking the next steps to enhance their careers:

Over the last few months I have added X amount of "key" accounts and I plan to double my "key" accounts over the next 12 months.
I am in the process of opening an entirely new channel of business opportunities for my company and I have learned so much about the XYZ industry. My company and I will be a player in this industry because of my personal efforts.
I am in the process of studying for my CLFP exam and plan on having my certification by year's end.
I just enrolled in an MBA program and am excited about how I will use this knowledge to better serve my clients.
I am penetrating the ABC industry and have been asked to speak at a regional meeting about financing and leasing products which are available to this growing sector.

The opportunities in the commercial equipment leasing and finance industry are limitless for those professionals who want to invest in themselves, learn every day, and increase their value to their employers, vendors, end-users, and business partners.

Order via Amazon: https://www.createspace.com/5355516

Scott A. Wheeler, CLFP
Wheeler Business Consulting
1314 Marquis Ct.
Fallston, Maryland 21047
Phone: 410 877 0428
Fax: 410 877 8161
Email: scott@wheelerbusinessconsulting.com
Web: www.wheelerbusinessconsulting.com
Sales Makes it Happen articles:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Legacy/index.html

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Bankruptcy Court Strikes Down Penalty Interest
As Unconscionable Penalty

By Tom McCurnin
Leasing News Legal Editor

While 5% Penalty Interest is Common, Court Rules That Penalty
Interest Is, Well, a Penalty

In re Altadena Lincoln Crossing 2018 Bankr. LEXIS 2018; 2018 WL 3244502 (C.D. Cal. 2018).

Most promissory notes and loan agreements contain a provision whereby in the event of a default, the interest rate is bumped up ever so slightly to compensate the bank for the increased risk in collecting a defaulted promissory note. The default interest rate is often called “penalty interest.” Some equipment leases have a late payment provision as well. All these forms of default penalties are now called into question as a result of a recent bankruptcy court decision.

The issue in today’s case was whether the penalty interest provision in a promissory note was a penalty. California law, in the form of California Civil Code § 1671, allows liquidated damages except to the extent that the liquidated damages are deemed an unreasonable penalty based on the circumstances existing at the time of the loan.

The bankruptcy court concluded that the penalty interest was in fact a penalty. The facts follow.

East West Bank loaned the Debtor $20 million for a mixed use construction project. The interest rate was 1% over prime and upon default, 5% over prime. The Debtor defaulted and entered into a series of forbearance agreements. One of the terms of the forbearance agreements was the promise to pay the penalty interest.

The Debtor filed bankruptcy and the Bank submitted its claim which included a claim for the penalty interest. The issue before the bankruptcy court was whether the Bank’s secured claim, which included the penalty interest, should be allowed. The Court concluded that the 5% penalty interest should not be allowed.

First, the bankruptcy court considered whether the parties actually bargained for that penalty interest rate. There was no evidence that either the Bank or the borrower ever considered the penalty interest as an important term—it was merely a standard boilerplate clause in a form.

Second, the bankruptcy court considered whether the 5% default provision was rightfully placed into the promissory note to compensate the lender for the increased risk of a potential default. The problem for the Bank is this—whether the clause was deemed a penalty is to be determined at the inception of the loan and Bank had no idea whether or not a defaulted loan would have an increased risk at the inception of the loan—it was merely a supposition.

Now, everyone knows if a loan defaults, the lender will have additional collection costs and risk of not being paid. But we know that from our life experiences, not from empirical data existing at the inception of the loan. No Bank (and no lender as far as I know) ever tracks time and out of pocket costs for loans in default in an effort to quantify the increased risks for a defaulted loan. Perhaps, if quantified, the risks might equate to 1% or 6% and would certainly vary from lender to lender.

The Court concluded that since the Bank did not quantify those risks at the inception of the loan, there was no reason to put the 5% penalty interest provision in the promissory note. Thus, the Court ruled that the unenforceable 5% penalty. The Court rejected the Bank’s expert witness testimony.

I note the existence of another California decision which upheld penalty interest, Weber, Lipshie & Co. v. Christian 52 Cal.App.4th 645, 654-655 (1997). There the court ruled that where proving the increased risk would be difficult or impractical, the burden of proving that the provision was unreasonable fell on the borrower. The Weber court upheld the default interest provision. The Bankruptcy Court did not even mention the Weber decision.

Third, the bankruptcy court considered whether releases and consents in various forbearance agreements constituted consent and waiver of the penalty interest. The court concluded that you cannot consent to something illegal.

The Court therefore struck down the 5% penalty interest provision.

What are the takeaways here?

• First, The Court Took a Literal Approach to Civil Code § 1671. This statute says liquidated damages are an unenforceable penalty unless the provision was reasonable under the circumstances existing at the time the contract was made. This focuses on what the parties knew and what they bargained for at the inception of the loan. The Court rejected the statistics which proved the obvious—that defaulted loans result in more losses. Obviously loans which are never defaulted result in no losses. This is an unfair reading of the statute. And, if that is the proper reading, it needs to be changed.

• Second, Before You Start Modifying Your Promissory Notes, Understand That This is a Bankruptcy Court Decision. There are at least two levels of appeal on top of this one—the District Court and the Ninth Circuit. While the decision is interesting it not binding law in California.

• Third, The Court Failed To Consider Other Appropriate Case Law. The case of Weber case cited above held that where proof of actual damages would be costly or inconvenient, the clause may be upheld. So in one breath, the bankruptcy court took the Bank to task for not quantifying the increased risk of default, but made it impossible for the Bank to prove those possible risks of a default by expert witness opinion. I would hope this case would get overturned.

• Fourth, The Decision Will Have Bad Consequences. If a bank cannot take the statistical conclusions that defaulted loans result in losses to justify a 5% penalty interest provision, then the base interest rates for all loans will have to be adjusted to compensate the bank for possible defaults. This would be unfair to borrowers who actually do not default.

The bottom line to this case is that in my judgment the Court got it wrong, and if the Court got it right, then the statute needs to be changed. I think so long as the effect of a default in the future is uncertain, a reasonable estimate of the damages attributable to the possible future default is enforceable.

Altadena Lincoln Crossing LLC (13 pages)
http://leasingnews.org/PDF/AltadenaLincolnCrossing2018.pdf

Tom McCurnin is a partner at Barton, Klugman & Oetting in Los Angeles, California.

Tom McCurnin
Barton, Klugman & Oetting
350 South Grand Ave.
Suite 2200
Los Angeles, CA 90071
Direct Phone: (213) 617-6129
Cell (213) 268-8291
Email: tmccurnin@bkolaw.com
Visit our web site at www.bkolaw.com
Previous Tom McCurnin Articles:
http://www.leasingnews.org

Previous Tom McCurnin Articles:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Conscious-Top%20Stories/leasing_cases.html

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This Day in History

     1609 - English explorer Henry Hudson sailed into the river that now bears his name. Hudson sailed for the Dutch East India Company in search of the Northwest Passage, a water route linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, when he sailed up the present-day Hudson River.
http://www.wikipedia.com/wiki/Hudson_Bay
http://www.schoonerman.com/halfmoon.htm
http://www.exploid.de/kks/tim/canada_history.html
    1695 – Jews in New York petitioned Governor Thomas Dongan for religious liberties.
1771 - Pioneer Methodist bishop Francis Asbury, 26, on his maiden voyage to America, wrote in his journal: 'Whither am I going? To the New World? What to do? To gain honor? No, if I know my own heart. To get money? No, I am going to live to God, and to bring others to do so.'
    1776 - Nathan Hale leaves Harlem Heights Camp (127th St) in New York City for spy mission. When Washington asked his troops who would volunteer to go into enemy camp, only one person stepped forward: Nathan Hale.
    1777 - The founding of the first Mission Santa Clara de Assis by Padre Thomas Peña, under the direction of Padre Junípero Serra. The first two were built too close to the Guadalupe River, which flooded, the third was destroyed by an earthquake and the fourth site is now part of the University of Santa Clara. In 1851, during the height of the Gold Rush era, the Mission Santa Clara was given to the Jesuits who incorporated it into the University of Santa Clara. Rebuilt in 1779 and 1781, and restored after a flood in 1784, an earthquake in 1818, and a fire in 1926, the tower of Santa Clara still contains an original bell brought to that mission from Spain.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jan12.html
http://www.smfc.k12.ca.us/class/parkside/mitchell/natasha.html
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=hhphoto&fileName=ca/ca0900/ca0986/photos/
browse.db&action=browse&recNum=0&title2=
Mission%20Santa%20Clara%20de%20Asis,%20
Franklin%20%26%20Grant%20Sts.,%20Santa%20Clara ,%20Santa%20Clara%20County,%20
CA&displayType=1&itemLink=r?ammem/hh:@field(DOCID+@lit(CA0986 ))
http://santacruz.about.com/library/weekly/aa091898.htm
http://www.indiancanyon.org/index.html
    1786 - Despite his failed efforts to suppress the American Revolution, Lord Cornwallis was appointed governor general of India.
    1808 - The Holy Bible was translated into English by Charles Thomson and printed in Philadelphia, PA by Jane Aitken. “The Holy Bible, containing the old and new covenant, commonly called the Old and New Testament; translated from the Greek.” It was copyrighted in the District of Pennsylvania by the translator, Charles Thomson, who had been secretary to the Continental Congress.
    1812 – Birthday in NYC of Richard M. Hoe (d. 1886), American engineer and businessman who invented the rotary printing press. In 1843, he invented the press that placed the type on a revolving cylinder, a design much faster than the old flatbed printing press. It received US Patent 5,199 in 1847 and was placed in commercial use the same year.
    1814 - Battle of North Point was fought near Baltimore during War of 1812. 9,000 troops British troops land at North Point. They had taken Washington, DC and wanted to also burn Baltimore, which they called “the nest of pirates.” Fort McHenry stood in their way. Thinking this was a “walk in the park,” British Major General Robert Ross rode ahead of his troops with his personal platoon right into General John Stricker with 3,200 men and six cannon in place across Long Log Lane (North Point Road). Shots were fired by both sides. Two Americans, Dan Wells and Henry McComas, were instantly killed. They are credited with shooting General Ross. He was 48 years old. (The spot where Ross was shot is marked today by a monument erected to honor Aquilla Randall as the first American killed in the battle. It's still there today, at Old North Point Road near Battle Grove Road.) The death of General Ross was a devastating blow to the British. The also had lost their surprise. Although they outnumbered the Americans, the battle went against them and they retreated. After resting, they turned direction and ran into over 10,000 men and over 60 cannon behind well-made breastworks, ready and waiting to repel any attack. After two short rallies, they took to retreat again. The British were unable to take Fort McHenry. This was the subject when Francis Scott Key wrote the “Star Spangled Banner.”
    1818 – The inventor of the Gatling gun, Richard J. Gatling (d. 1903)
was born in Hertford, NC. Gatling became interested in medicine and graduated from the Ohio Medical College in 1850 with an MD. Although he had his MD, he never practiced; he was more interested in a career as an inventor.   At the outbreak of the Civil War, Gatling was living in Indianapolis, IN, devoting himself to the perfection of firearms. In 1861, the same year the war started, he invented the Gatling gun.
    1829 - Birthday of Charles Dudley Warner (d. 1900), Plainfield, MA. He is best remembered for his editorial in the Hartford Courant, Aug 24, 1897 “Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” This American newsman was a good friend of Mark Twain, who is often mistakenly attributed for the “saying.”
    1843 - The first minstrel troupe in New York City was formed by Daniel Decatur “Dan” Emmett, who later wrote the song “Dixie.” His quartet of blackface singers and musicians played in several Bowery theaters and established many of the basic routines followed by later minstrel shows.
    1847 – In the Mexican-American War, the Battle of Chapultepec begins. In the costly Battle of Molina del Rey, U.S. forces had managed to drive the Mexicans from their positions near the base of Chapultepec Castle guarding Mexico City from the west. The efforts of the US Marines in this battle and their subsequent occupation of Mexico City are memorialized by the opening lines of the Marines’ Hymn, "From the Halls of Montezuma..."
    1851 – Birth of Francis E. Clark (d. 1927), Aylmer, Quebec. American Congregationalist clergyman. In 1881, at age 29, Clark organized the world’s first church “youth fellowship” in Portland, Maine. Clark’s original name for this Christian group concept was “The Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavor.”
    1857 - The SS Central America, known as the Ship of Gold, sinks in a hurricane about 160 miles east of Cape Hatteras, NC, drowning a total of 425 passengers and crew, including Captain William Lewis Herndon. On 9 September 1857, the ship was caught up in a category 2 hurricane while off the coast. By 11 September, the 105 mph winds and heavy seas had shredded her sails, she was taking on water, and her boiler was threatening to fail. 153 passengers, primarily women and children, made their way over in lifeboats. The ship was carrying 13–15 tons of gold from California. With gold then valued at approximately $8,000,000, the modern equivalent is $292 million. As the US was still on the gold standard, this sizable loss is considered a cause of the Panic of 1857.
    1862 - The Battle of Harpers Ferry began as part of the Confederacy’s Maryland Campaign. As Gen. Lee’s army invaded Maryland, a portion of his army under Gen. Stonewall Jackson surrounded, bombarded, and captured the Union garrison at Harpers Ferry, VA (now WV), a major victory at relatively minor cost.
    1866 – The first burlesque show was opened at Niblo’s Garden, New York City. The musical show was produced by Barras and William Wheatley and featured 100 scantily-clad young women playing a troupe of dancing fairies. It ran for an unprecedented 16 months, closing on January 4, 1868, after playing 475 performances and grossing $1.3 million. It was in four acts and titled “The Black Crook.”
    1878 – Litigation began between Bell Telephone Company against Western Union Telegraph Company and Elisha Gray over telephone patents.
    1880 – Birthday of H.L. Mencken (d. 1956) at Baltimore, MD. American newspaperman, lexicographer and critic. “If, after I depart this vale,” he wrote in 1921 (Epitaph, “Smart Set”), “you ever remember me and have thought to please my ghost, forgive some sinner and wink your eye at some homely girl...” My mother told me I sat on his lap when I was very little, and quite the contrary, he was a very likeable person.
    1889 – Charles Leroux’s Last Jump. The American aeronaut of French extraction, born in New York, NY, about 1857, achieved world fame as a parachutist. After his first public performance (Philadelphia, PA, 1887), he toured European cities where his parachute jumps attracted wide attention. Credited with 238 successful jumps. He was last seen this day as he jumped from a balloon over Tallinn, Estonia, and perished in the Bay of Reval.
    1891 – Birthday of Arthur Hays Sulzberger (d. 1968) in New York City. Sulzberger was the publisher of The New York Times from 1935 to 1961. During that time, daily circulation rose from 465,000 to 713,000 and Sunday circulation from 745,000 to 1.4 million; the staff more than doubled; advertising linage more than tripled, and gross income increased almost sevenfold, reaching $117 million.
    1900 – In the inaugural season of the American League, the Chicago White Stockings defeated the Cleveland Spiders, 12 - 4, to clinch the AL’s first pennant. The AL was still considered a minor league but will change its status before next season.
    1910 - Alice Stebbins Wells became the first American-born female police officer in the United States, hired in 1910 in Los Angeles. She was married and a mother of two. Since 1891, law enforcement agencies had employed women only for the care of female prisoners. After Wells successfully petitioned for a place on the LAPD and was sworn in, she was hired and equipped with a telephone call box key, a police rule book and first aid book, and the "Policewoman's Badge Number One."
    1913 – James Cleveland (Jesse) Owens, (d. 1980) was born at Oakville, AL. American athlete, winner of four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games at Berlin, Germany. Owens set 11 world records in track and field. He was the most successful athlete at the games and as such has been credited with "single-handedly crushing Hitler’s myth of Aryan supremacy."
During one track meet, at Ann Arbor, Ml, Owens, then at Ohio State University, broke five world records on May 23, 1935, and tied a sixth in the space of 45 minutes. The Jesse Owens Award, US Track and Field’s highest accolade for the year's best track and field athlete, is named after him and he was ranked by ESPN as the sixth greatest North American athlete of the twentieth century and the highest-ranked in his sport.
    1914 – “Q’s” birthday. Desmond Llewelyn (d. 1999) was born in Wales. Beginning with “From Russia with Love” in 1963, Llewelyn appeared as Q, the quartermaster of the MI6 gadget lab (also known as Q branch), in every EON Bond film until his death, with the exception of “Live and Let Die” in 1973, in which the character Q did not appear. His last appearance as Q prior to his death was in “The World is Not Enough” in 1999.
    1914 - Yankees SS Roger Peckinpaugh, 23, replaced Frank Chance and becomes the all-time youngest manager and the 7th in the club's 12-year existence.
    1916 – Trumpet player William Alonzo “Cat” Anderson (d. 1981) birthday, Greenville, SC.
    1922 – The House of Bishops of the U.S. Protestant Episcopal Church voted 36-27 to delete the word “obey” from the vows of their denomination’s official marriage service.
    1924 – The Wolverines with Bix Biederbecke opened at the Cinderella Ballroom, New York City. Variety newspaper dubs them a “torrid unit.”
    1925 – Dickie Moore was born John Richard Moore (d. 2015) in LA. He was one of the last surviving actors to have appeared in silent film and he appeared in over 100 films until the 1950s. Among his most notable appearances were the “Our Gang” series.
    1928 – Actress Katharine Hepburn made her stage debut. The play was titled “The Czarina.” It would be four years before the ‘First Lady of the American Screen’ would indeed, make her first film, “A Bill of Divorcement.”
    1930 - The last “bounce home run” in the Majors was hit by Brooklyn Robins catcher Al Lopez at Ebbets Field. The American League had changed the rule in 1929. No longer would a batted ball that bounced over the fence be considered a home run, but an automatic double.
    1931 – Birthday of singer George Jones (d. 2013), born Saratoga, TX. For the last 20 years of his life, Jones was frequently referred to as the greatest living country singer.
    1932 – Joe McCarthy became the first Major League manager to win a pennant in each League. Having won the 1929 NL pennant with the Cubs, the Yankees under his leadership took the AL pennant with an 8-3 win over the Indians in Cleveland. He won nine league titles overall and seven World Series – a record tied only by Casey Stengel. His most successful period came from 1936 to 1943. During that time, the Yankees won seven out of a possible eight pennants, all by nine games or more, and won six World Series—including four in a row from 1936 to 1939. They were the first American League team, and the third in Major League history, to win four straight pennants, and the first to win more than two World Series in a row. During his time with the Yankees, the team won 100 games or more six times. McCarthy's career winning percentages in both the regular season (.615) and postseason (.698, all in the World Series) are the highest in Major League history. His 2,125 career victories rank eighth all-time in Major League history for managerial wins, and he ranks first all-time for the Yankees with 1,460 wins. McCarthy was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1957.
    1934 – Birthday of Glenn Davis (d. 2009), Follensbee, WV. A multi-talented athlete, Davis was a three-time Olympic track gold medal winner after a stellar career at Ohio State, the alma mater of the great Jesse Owens. In 1960 and 1961 he played wide receiver for the Detroit Lions in the NFL. Often confused with Army’s “Mr. Outside,” Glenn Davis, who teamed with Doc Blanchard in the late 1940s, the two never met.
    1935 – Duke Ellington records “Reminiscing in Tempo” on four 10” sides.
    935 – Artie Shaw’s new band opens at the Palace Hotel.
    1935 – Birthday of Richard Hunt, Chicago, Illinois. A leading sculptor, collected by the National Museum of American Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, & the Museum of the Twentieth Century in Vienna. Hunt has completed more public sculptures than any other artist in the country.
http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/biography.asp?
bioindex=68&category=artMakers
http://www.h-net.org/~rhunt/begin.html
    1940 - Johnny Long's orchestra recorded the classic "A Shanty in Old Shanty Town" for Decca Records.
    1940 - An explosion at the Hercules Powder Company plant in Kenvil, NJ kills 51 people and injures over 200. During 1940, the plant at had been increasing production to meet the needs of the US Armed Forces and our Allies involved in World War II. The Kenvil munitions plant was one of several in northwest New Jersey originally opened in 1871 to provide dynamite to the local iron mines. Over 297,000 pounds of gunpowder blew up in a series of explosions and fires, leveling over 20 buildings. The explosions shook the area so forcefully that cars were bounced off the roads, most windows in homes miles away were broken and articles flew off shelves and walls. The explosions were felt as far away as Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and were picked-up by the seismograph at Fordham University in New York City, about 50 miles east. Still unanswered is the real cause of the explosion: Industrial Accident or Nazi Spies?
    1942 – Battle of Edison’s Ridge during the Guadalcanal Campaign. US Marines protecting Henderson Field on Guadalcanal are attacked by Japanese forces.
    1943 - Birthday of Michael Ondaatje, born Colombo, Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Canadian novelist/poet who blends myth, history, jazz, and memoirs to create his musical prose and poetry. His 1970 pastiche, “The Collected Works of Billy the Kid: Left-Handed Poems” drew on his fascination with the American west, and his 1992 novel, “The English Patient”, got him a popular audience and an award-winning movie. http://www.english.emory.edu/Bahri/Ondaat.html
http://www.cariboo.bc.ca/ae/engml/FRIEDMAN/ondaatje.htm
    1944 - The liberation of Serbia from Germany continues. Bajina Basta in western Serbia is among those liberated cities. Near Trier, American troops enter Germany for the first time.
    1944 - Birthday of singer Barry White, born Barry Eugene Carter (d. 2003), Galveston, TX
    1944 - TOMINAC, JOHN J., Medal of Honor.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Company I, 15th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division. Place and date: Saulx de Vesoul, France, 12 September 1944. Entered service at: Conemaugh, Pa. Birth: Conemaugh, Pa. G.O. No.: 20, 29 March 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty on 12 September 1944, in an attack on Saulx de Vesoul, France 1st Lt. Tominac charged alone over 50 yards of exposed terrain onto an enemy roadblock to dispatch a 3-man crew of German machine gunners with a single burst from his Thompson machinegun after smashing the enemy outpost, he led 1 of his squads in the annihilation of a second hostile group defended by mortar, machinegun automatic pistol, rifle and grenade fire, killing about 30 of the enemy. Reaching the suburbs of the town, he advanced 50 yards ahead of his men to reconnoiter a third enemy position which commanded the road with a 77-mm. SP gun supported by infantry elements. The SP gun opened fire on his supporting tank, setting it afire with a direct hit. A fragment from the same shell painfully wounded 1st Lt. Tominac in the shoulder, knocking him to the ground. As the crew abandoned the M-4 tank, which was rolling downhill toward the enemy, 1st Lt. Tominac picked himself up and jumped onto the hull of the burning vehicle. Despite withering enemy machinegun, mortar, pistol, and sniper fire, which was ricocheting off the hull and turret of the M-4, 1st Lt. Tominac climbed to the turret and gripped the 50-caliber antiaircraft machinegun. Plainly silhouetted against the sky, painfully wounded, and with the tank burning beneath his feet, he directed bursts of machinegun fire on the roadblock, the SP gun, and the supporting German infantrymen, and forced the enemy to withdraw from his prepared position. Jumping off the tank before it exploded, 1st Lt. Tominac refused evacuation despite his painful wound. Calling upon a sergeant to extract the shell fragments from his shoulder with a pocketknife, he continued to direct the assault, led his squad in a hand grenade attack against a fortified position occupied by 32 of the enemy armed with machineguns, machine pistols, and rifles, and compelled them to surrender. His outstanding heroism and exemplary leadership resulted in the destruction of 4 successive enemy defensive positions, surrender of a vital sector of the city Saulx de Vesoul, and the death or capture of at least 60 of the enemy.
    1944 - CLARK, FRANCIS J., Medal of Honor.
Rank and organization: Technical Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company K, 109th Infantry, 28th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Kalborn, Luxembourg, 12 September 1944; near Sevenig, Germany, 17 September 1944. Entered service at: Salem, N.Y. Birth: Whitehall, N.Y. G.O. No.: 77, 10 September 1945. Citation: He fought gallantly in Luxembourg and Germany. On 12 September 1944, Company K began fording the Our River near Kalborn, Luxembourg, to take high ground on the opposite bank. Covered by early morning fog, the 3d Platoon, in which T/Sgt. Clark was squad leader, successfully negotiated the crossing; but when the 2d Platoon reached the shore, withering automatic and small-arms fire ripped into it, eliminating the platoon leader and platoon sergeant and pinning down the troops in the open. From his comparatively safe position, T/Sgt. Clark crawled alone across a field through a hail of bullets to the stricken troops. He led the platoon to safety and then unhesitatingly returned into the fire-swept area to rescue a wounded soldier, carrying him to the American line while hostile gunners tried to cut him down. Later, he led his squad and men of the 2d Platoon in dangerous sorties against strong enemy positions to weaken them by lightning-like jabs. He assaulted an enemy machinegun with hand grenades, killing 2 Germans. He roamed the front and flanks, dashing toward hostile weapons, killing and wounding an undetermined number of the enemy, scattering German patrols and, eventually, forcing the withdrawal of a full company of Germans heavily armed with automatic weapons. On 17 September, near Sevenig, Germany, he advanced alone against an enemy machinegun, killed the gunner and forced the assistant to flee. The Germans counterattacked, and heavy casualties were suffered by Company K. Seeing that 2 platoons lacked leadership, T/Sgt. Clark took over their command and moved among the men to give encouragement. Although wounded on the morning of 18 September, he refused to be evacuated and took up a position in a pillbox when night came. Emerging at daybreak, he killed a German soldier setting up a machinegun not more than 5 yards away. When he located another enemy gun, he moved up unobserved and killed 2 Germans with rifle fire. Later that day he voluntarily braved small-arms fire to take food and water to members of an isolated platoon. T/Sgt. Clark's actions in assuming command when leadership was desperately needed, in launching attacks and beating off counterattacks, in aiding his stranded comrades, and in fearlessly facing powerful enemy fire, were strikingly heroic examples and put fighting heart into the hard-pressed men of Company K.
    1944 - ZUSSMAN, RAYMOND, Medal of Honor.
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 756th Tank Battalion. Place and date: Noroy le Bourg, France, 12 September 1944. Entered service at: Detroit, Mich. Birth: Hamtramck, Mich. G.O. No.: 42, 24 May 1945. Citation: On 12 September 1944, 2d Lt. Zussman was in command of 2 tanks operating with an infantry company in the attack on enemy forces occupying the town of Noroy le Bourg, France. At 7 p.m., his command tank bogged down. Throughout the ensuing action, armed only with a carbine, he reconnoitered alone on foot far in advance of his remaining tank and the infantry. Returning only from time to time to designate targets, he directed the action of the tank and turned over to the infantry the numerous German soldiers he had caused to surrender. He located a road block and directed his tanks to destroy it. Fully exposed to fire from enemy positions only 50 yards distant, he stood by his tank directing its fire. Three Germans were killed and 8 surrendered. Again he walked before his tank, leading it against an enemy-held group of houses, machinegun and small arms fire kicking up dust at his feet. The tank fire broke the resistance and 20 enemy surrendered. Going forward again alone he passed an enemy-occupied house from which Germans fired on him and threw grenades in his path. After a brief fire fight, he signaled his tank to come up and fire on the house. Eleven German soldiers were killed and 15 surrendered. Going on alone, he disappeared around a street corner. The fire of his carbine could be heard and in a few minutes he reappeared driving 30 prisoners before him. Under 2d Lt. Zussman's heroic and inspiring leadership, 18 enemy soldiers were killed and 92 captured.
    1947 – Pittsburgh’s Ralph Kiner set a Major League record with his eighth HR in four games.
    1951 - *SUDUT, JEROME A., Medal of Honor.
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Company B, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Kumhwa, Korea, 12 September 1951. Entered service at: Wisconsin. Birth: Wausau, Wis. G.O. No.: 31, 21 March 1952. Citation: 2d Lt. Sudut distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. His platoon, attacking heavily fortified and strategically located hostile emplacements, had been stopped by intense fire from a large bunker containing several firing posts. Armed with submachinegun, pistol, and grenades, 2d Lt. Sudut charged the emplacement alone through vicious hostile fire, killing 3 of the occupants and dispersing the remainder. Painfully wounded, he returned to reorganize his platoon, refused evacuation and led his men in a renewed attack. The enemy had returned to the bunker by means of connecting trenches from other emplacements and the platoon was again halted by devastating fire. Accompanied by an automatic-rifleman 2d Lt. Sudut again charged into close-range fire to eliminate the position. When the rifleman was wounded, 2d Lt. Sudut seized his weapon and continued alone, killing 3 of the 4 remaining occupants. Though mortally wounded and his ammunition exhausted, he jumped into the emplacement and killed the remaining enemy soldier with his trench knife. His single-handed assaults so inspired his comrades that they continued the attack and drove the enemy from the hill, securing the objective. 2d Lt. Sudut's consummate fighting spirit, outstanding leadership, and gallant self-sacrifice are in keeping with the finest traditions of the infantry and the U.S. Army.
    1951 - MAUSERT, FREDERICK W., III, Medal of Honor.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps, Company B, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein.) Place and date: Songnap-yong, Korea, 12 September 1951. Entered service at: Dresher, Pa. Born: 2 May 1930, Cambridge, N.Y. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a squad leader in Company B, in action against enemy aggressor forces. With his company pinned down and suffering heavy casualties under murderous machine gun, rifle, artillery, and mortar fire laid down from heavily fortified, deeply entrenched hostile strongholds on Hill 673, Sgt. Mausert unhesitatingly left his covered position and ran through a heavily mined and fire-swept area to bring back 2 critically wounded men to the comparative safety of the lines. Staunchly refusing evacuation despite a painful head wound sustained during his voluntary act, he insisted on remaining with his squad and, with his platoon ordered into the assault moments later, took the point position and led his men in a furious bayonet charge against the first of a literally impregnable series of bunkers. Stunned and knocked to the ground when another bullet struck his helmet, he regained his feet and resumed his drive, personally silencing the machine gun and leading his men in eliminating several other emplacements in the area. Promptly reorganizing his unit for a renewed fight to the final objective on top of the ridge, Sgt. Mausert boldly left his position when the enemy's fire gained momentum and, making a target of himself, boldly advanced alone into the face of the machine gun, drawing the fire away from his men and enabling them to move into position to assault. Again severely wounded when the enemy's fire found its mark, he still refused aid and continued spearheading the assault to the topmost machine gun nest and bunkers, the last bulwark of the fanatic aggressors. Leaping into the wall of fire, he destroyed another machine gun with grenades before he was mortally wounded by bursting grenades and machine gun fire. Stouthearted and indomitable, Sgt. Mausert, by his fortitude, great personal valor, and extraordinary heroism in the face of almost certain death, had inspired his men to sweep on, overrun and finally secure the objective. His unyielding courage throughout reflects the highest credit upon himself and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
    1951 - RAMER, GEORGE H., Medal of Honor.
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Company I, 3d Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein.). Place and date: Korea, 12 September 1951. Entered service at: Lewisburg, Pa. Born: 27 March 1927, Meyersdale, Pa. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as leader of the 3d Platoon in Company I, in action against enemy aggressor forces. Ordered to attack and seize hostile positions atop a hall, vigorously defended by well-entrenched enemy forces delivering massed small-arms mortar, and machine gun fire, 2d Lt. Ramer fearlessly led his men up the steep slopes and although he and the majority of his unit were wounded during the ascent, boldly continued to spearhead the assault. With the terrain becoming more precipitous near the summit and the climb more perilous as the hostile forces added grenades to the devastating hail of fire, he staunchly carried the attack to the top, personally annihilated 1 enemy bunker with grenade and carbine fire and captured the objective with his remaining 8 men. Unable to hold the position against an immediate, overwhelming hostile counterattack, he ordered his group to withdraw and single-handedly fought the enemy to furnish cover for his men and for the evacuation of 3 fatally wounded marines. Severely wounded a second time, 2d Lt. Ramer refused aid when his men returned to help him and, after ordering them to seek shelter, courageously manned his post until the hostile troops overran his position and he fell mortally wounded. His indomitable fighting spirit, inspiring leadership and unselfish concern for others in the face of death, reflect the highest credit upon 2d Lt. Ramer and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
    1953 - 24-year-old Jacqueline Lee Bouvier wed the 36-year-old U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, future U.S. President, John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
http://www.jhu.edu/~jhumag/1101web/camelot.html
    1953 – The Brooklyn Dodgers clinched the NL pennant on the earliest day in NL history with 5-2 win over the Boston Braves.
    1954 - Top Hits
“Sh-Boom” - The Crew Cuts
“Hey There” - Rosemary Clooney
“The High and the Mighty” - Victor Young
“I Don't Hurt Anymore” - Hank Snow
    1954 - “Lassie” premiered on TV. This long-running series was originally about a boy and his courageous and intelligent dog, Lassie. Although he would often say, “Come here, girl,” Lassie was played by more than six different dogs through the series, all male. For the first few seasons, Lassie lived on the Miller farm. The family included Jeff (Tommy Rettig), his widowed mother Ellen (Jan Clayton) and George Cleveland as Gramps. Throughout the years there were many format and cast changes, as Lassie was exchanged from one family to another in order to have a variety of new perils and escapades. Other featured performers included Cloris Leachman, June Lockhart and Larry Wilcox. The show was last seen September 12, 1971.
    1954 - Frank Sinatra scores his first UK #1 with "Three Coins in the Fountain."
    1954 – The largest crowd to that date at a Major League game to date, 84,587, watched the Cleveland Indians sweep a doubleheader from the Yankees at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
    1958 - Integrated circuit was invented independently by Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments, Dallas, TX, and Robert Noyce of Fairchild Semiconductor, Mountain View, CA. Between March and June of 1959, Noyce improved on Kilby's cruder device by designing the first reliable, mass-producible integrated circuit. Noyce was awarded the patent after a 10-year lawsuit between the two men.
    1959 – TV’s longest-running western, “Bonanza,” premiered as the first regularly scheduled TV program presented in color. Lorne Greene headed the cast as Ben Cartwright, patriarch of the Cartwright family who owned the Ponderosa Ranch above Lake Tahoe, NV, now a tourist attraction. Pernell Roberts played eldest son Adam for the first year only and left for ‘greener pastures’ in one of television’s “better” career decisions; Dan Blocker played Hoss, and Michael Landon played Little Joe. It lasted 14 seasons and 430 episodes, the last of which aired January 16, 1973. Fortunately, “Bonanza” re-runs are aired on many cable channels.
    1960 - Hurricane Donna made landfall on central Long Island and then tracked across New England. Wind gusts reached 140 mph at the Blue Hills Observatory in Milton, MA and 130 at Block Island, RI. MacDowell Dam in New Hampshire recorded 7.25 inches of rain. Although a record tide of 6.1 feet occurred at the Battery in New York City, elsewhere fortunately the storm did not make landfall at the high tides its effects were minimized. This was the first hurricane to affect every point along the east coast from Key West, FL to Caribou, ME.
    1960 – During the Presidential campaign, candidate John F. Kennedy firmly stated that he does not speak for the Roman Catholic Church, nor does the Church speak for him. Kennedy faced strong resistance as a Catholic running for President.
    1962 - Top Hits
“Sheila” - Tommy Roe
“You Don't Know Me” - Ray Charles
“Ramblin' Rose” - Nat King Cole
“Devil Woman” - Marty Robbins
    1962 - Tom Cheney of the Washington Senators set a Major League record for most strikeouts in a game when he fanned 21 Baltimore Orioles in a 16-inning game that he won 2-1.
    1962 - President John F. Kennedy, at a speech at Rice University, reaffirmed that the U.S. will put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. On July 20, 1969, US astronauts landed on the moon.
    1963 - “Leave It to Beaver,” which had debuted in 1957, airs its last episode. The typical 1950s "wholesome family" comedy presented the lives of the Cleaver family from the perspective of seven-year-old Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver, played by Gerry Mathers. The clan included parents June (Barbara Billingsley) and Ward (Hugh Beaumont), and older brother Wally (Tony Dow). The show enjoyed much popularity in reruns and a short-lived revival in the 1980s as “The New Leave It to Beaver.”
    1964 - First football game at New York’s Shea Stadium, the Jets defeated Denver 30-6.
    1964 - Ralph Boston of the US, sets the long jump record at 27' 4".
    1964 - Manfred Mann's "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" enters Billboard's Hot 100, where it will reach number one just a few weeks later.
    1964 - Brooklyn's Fox Theatre hosts an all-star concert featuring The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Dusty Springfield, The Temptations, The Miracles, The Ronettes, The Shangri-La's, Little Anthony and the Imperials, and Millie Small.
    1966 – Gemini 11, the penultimate and ninth mission of the Gemini program, and the current human altitude record holder (except for the Apollo lunar missions, was launched for a nearly three-day mission.
    1966 – “The Monkees” premiered on TV. Based on a rock and roll group that was supposed to be an American version of the Beatles, this half-hour show featured a blend of comedy and music. Some 400 aspiring actors had auditioned for the Columbia television series by producer Don Kirschner. Davy Jones, a former English horse racing jockey; Michael Nesmith, a session guitarist; Peter Tork of the Phoenix Singers; and Micky Dolenz, who had appeared in the TV series “Circus Boy” were picked to be America’s answer to The Beatles. The four were picked to become the fabricated music group – not because they could sing, act or play musical instruments – but because they looked the parts. Dolenz and Jones were actors, Tork and Nesmith had some musical experience. The Monkees were the first, made-for-TV, rock group. Ironically – or maybe not – “The Monkees” TV show won an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series of 1967. Their first songs on the show were lip-synched but were immensely popular; later the Monkees insisted on writing and performing their own music. A Monkees album, “Headquarters”, and Monkees tours were very successful. In 1986, the Monkees, except for Nesmith, were reunited for a 20th Anniversary tour and the show was broadcast in reruns on MTV. The Monkees sans Nesmith also toured in 1996 for the 30th reunion celebration
    1966 – The Beatles received a gold record this day for “Yellow Submarine.”
    1970 – Top Hits
“War” – Edwin Starr
“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” – Diana Ross
“In the Summertime” – Mungo Jerry
“All for the Love of Sunshine” – Hank Williams, Jr.
    1970 – James Taylor’s first single, “Fire and Rain,” was released. Taylor scored 14 hits on the music charts in the 1970s and 1980s.
    1970 – LSD proponent Timothy Leary escapes from prison in San Luis Obispo, CA, with the help of his wife Rosemary, and Weathermen, a radical offshoot organization of the Students for Democratic Society (SDS). Targeted by the Richard Nixon administration as a dangerous subversive, the former Harvard professor had been imprisoned in February of that year for possessing a single marijuana joint (he was convicted of possession under the Marijuana Tax Act and sentenced to a preposterous 30 years in jail). Leary made his way to Algeria where he met up with exiled American Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver and was given asylum in the Black Panther ‘embassy.’ He then sought asylum in Switzerland but was recaptured by US DEA agents in Afghanistan in 1973, extradited back to America, and sent back to prison. Rosemary Leary stayed underground until she was able to sneak back into the United States in 1980. She lived under the name Sarah Woodruff. And in 1993, she had her record cleared of fugitive charges. Timothy Leary died in 1996.
    1970 – Palestinian terrorists in Jordan blow up three hijacked airliners, continuing to hold the passengers hostage in various undisclosed locations in Amman.
    1972 – “Maude” premiered. Bea Arthur’s character, Maude Findlay, was first introduced as Edith Bunker’s cousin on “All in the Family.” She was a loud, opinionated liberal, living with her fourth husband Walter (Bill Macy). Other characters on the show were her divorced daughter by a previous marriage, Carol Trainer (Adrienne Barbeau), Conrad Bain as Dr. Arthur Harmon, Rue McClanahan as Arthur’s wife Vivian (Bea Arthur and McClanahan would later star in another sitcom, “The Golden Girls”), Esther Rolle as Florida Evans, Maude’s maid, and John Amos as her husband, Henry (in 1974, they left the series to star in a spin-off, “Good Times”). “Maude” was one of the first shows to tackle the controversial issue of abortion.
    1973 – Horse race jockey Bill Shoemaker rode his 100th winner – in a $100,000 stakes race. Shoemaker was aboard Such a Rush in the Del Mar Futurity at Del Mar, CA.
    1974 – In Boston, Massachusetts, opposition to court-ordered school “busing” turns violent on the opening day of classes. School buses carrying African-American children were pelted with eggs, bricks, and bottles, and police in combat gear fought to control angry white protesters besieging the schools. U.S. District Judge Arthur Garrity ordered the busing of African-American students to predominantly white schools and white students to black schools in an effort to integrate Boston’s geographically segregated public schools. In his June 1974 ruling in Morgan v. Hennigan, Garrity stated that Boston’s de facto school segregation discriminated against black children. The beginning of forced busing on September 12 was met with massive protests, particularly in South Boston, ‘Southie’, the city’s pre-dominantly Irish-Catholic neighborhood. Protests continued unabated for months, and many parents, white and black, kept their children at home. In October, the National Guard was mobilized to enforce the federal desegregation order. Mind you this is twenty years after the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision ruled separate but equal educations to be unconstitutional.
    1976 – Minnie Minoso, 53, became the oldest Major Leaguer to get a hit when he singled for the White Sox.
    1977 – Two batches of thunderstorms, one in the morning and the next in the evening dumped a combined total of 12-16 inches of rain around Kansas City, MO. Major flooding occurred and 25 were killed
    1977 – Azie Taylor Morton takes office as first African-American woman Treasurer of the United States.
http://www.soulciti.com/morton/
    1978 - Top Hits
“Boogie Oogie Oogie” - A Taste of Honey
“Three Times a Lady” - Commodores
“Hot Blooded” - Foreigner
“I've Always Been Crazy” - Waylon Jennings
    1979 - Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox became the first American League player to get 3,000 career hits and 400 career home runs as the Red Sox downed the New York Yankees 9-2 at Fenway Park in Boston. Yaz was elected to Baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1989.
    1979 - Hurricane Frederick made landfall on the Alabama coast. Winds gusted to 145 mph on Dauphin Island with a storm surge of 12 feet. Winds gusted to hurricane force at Meridian, MS even though the city is 140 miles inland. 5 people died and damage was $2.3 billion, most on record to that time
    1980 – Yao Ming was born in Shanghai. He was a first-round draft choice and played for the NBA Houston Rockets. At the time of his final season, he was the tallest active player in the NBA at 7’6”. A continual stream of injuries limited his career and he retired in 2011.   As of 2014, he is the 31st tallest person alive.
    1981 - At the age of 42, Gaylord Perry signs a one-year contract with the Braves.
    1983 – Wells Fargo, W. Hartford, CT is robbed of approximately US$7 million by Los Macheteros, a terrorist organization based on Puerto Rico, with cells in the U.S. mainland. It campaigns for, and supports, Puerto Rico independence.
    1984 - The Chicago Bulls signed their No. 1 draft choice, Michael Jordan, a guard from the University of North Carolina. Jordan was the No. 3 choice overall behind Akeem (later Hakeem) Olajuwan, taken by Houston, and Sam Bowie, selected by Portland. He signed a seven-year contract.
    1984 – “Doctor K”, Dwight Gooden of the NY Mets, sets the MLB record for strikeouts in a season by a rookie with 246, previously set by Herb Score of the Cleveland Indians in 1954. Gooden's 276 strikeouts in 218 innings set the record.
    1986 - Top Hits
“Venus” - Bananarama
“Take My Breath Away” - Berlin
“Dancing on the Ceiling” - Lionel Richie
“Desperado Love” - Conway Twitty
    1987 - Ritchie Valens' music enjoys a revival when the soundtrack to his biopic, “La Bamba,” hits #1 (although it features his songs done in cover versions by Los Lobos).
    1988 - Hurricane Gilbert tore through the Caribbean. On the 12th, it cut through Jamaica with Kingston recording 116 mph sustained winds and gust to 140. 45 people were killed and damage topped $2 billion. Despite 7000 foot mountains, Gilbert didn't weaken at all and after exiting Jamaica, underwent incredible deepening - 72 Mb in 24 hours to 888 Mb (26.22 inches). Sustained winds were recorded at 185 mph with gusts over 200 mph in the Caribbean west of Jamaica. On the 16th the storm came ashore near Las Pesca, Mexico about 125 miles south of Brownsville. Mexico was hard hit with 202 killed and 60,000 homes destroyed. Total damage reached 2 billion dollars. In the U.S. the damage of $50 million was mostly from tornadoes spun off by Gilbert, two in San Antonio and one at Kelly AFB which did $28 million dollars in damage.
    1988 - The Arizona Cardinals play their first NFL regular-season game, losing to the Dallas Cowboys, 17-14. The good news: they ended the team's 15-year playoff drought and achieved their first postseason victory since 1947. In 1920, the team known as the Chicago Cardinals, became a charter member of the American Professional Football Association (later renamed the National Football League in 1922). The 1950s were a dismal period for the Cardinals, with just 33 wins in ten seasons, and were nearly forgotten in Chicago, being completely overshadowed by the cross-town Bears. Attendance at Cardinals games was sparse. With the team almost bankrupt, the owning family Bidwills were anxious to move the Cardinals to another city, seeking investors along the way that included Lamar Hunt, Bud Adams, Bob Howsam and Max Winter. Having failed in their separate efforts to buy the Cardinals, Hunt, Adams, Howsam and Winter joined forces to form the rival American Football League in 1960. Suddenly faced with a serious rival, the NFL quickly came to terms with the Bidwills, engineering a deal that sent the Cardinals to St. Louis beginning with the 1960 season in a move which also blocked St. Louis as a potential market for the new AFL. The team departed for Arizona following the 1987 season.
http://phoenix.about.com/library/weekly/aacardinalsa.htm
    1992 - The first African-American woman to fly in space was Dr. Mae Carol Jemison, a physician who also held degrees in chemical engineering and African-American studies. Jemison, who left private practice to join NASA in 1987, made her first space flight as a payload mission specialist on the Space Shuttle Endeavor. She performed experiments on space motion sickness and bone cell loss in the space environment. Ironically, on the same flight were the first husband and wife to fly in space together, Mission Specialist N. Jan Davis, an engineer, and Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Mark C. Lee, who served as crew members. Although NASA has a rule forbidding married couples to take part in the same mission, the rule was waived for Davis and Lee because they had no children and both and trained as astronauts for several years before they were married. Additionally, Mamoru Mohri became the first Japanese citizen to fly in a US spaceship,
    1994 – Frank Corder crashes a single-engine Cessna 150 into the South Lawn of the White House, striking the West Wing and killing himself.
    1997 – Florida Marlins catcher Charles Johnson set a Major League record by catching his 160th consecutive game without an error.
    1998 - Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs became the fourth player in Major League baseball history to reach 60 homers in a single season.
    1999 - Setting an all-time record, Mark McGwire's 70th HR ball is purchased at an auction by an anonymous buyer for $3 million surpassing a $126,500 which bought a Babe Ruth home run ball.
   2002 - A jury, and not a judge or umpires, will decide whether Alex Popov actually controlled Barry Bonds' record setting 73rd home run in his glove. Popov, who lost possession of the ball valued at approximately $1 million after being mobbed by fans, claims it should belong to him and not Patrick Hayashi, who ended up with the historic souvenir. Popov won half the legal rights, but ultimately lost his restaurant, and there was not enough after the split to cover the legal fees. The ball sold at auction for $450,000.
http://abc7news.com/archive/7296528/
    2008 – A train collision in Chatsworth, near Los Angeles between a Metrolink commuter train and a Union Pacific freight train kills 25 people.
    2011 – In New York City at Ground Zero, a 9/11 Memorial Museum opens to the public.
    2012 – During the presidential campaign, candidate Mitt Romney says President Barack Obama's reaction to the attacks on U.S. missions in Benghazi, Cairo and other U.S. embassies was to 'sympathize' with the assailants; the President claimed the attacks were the result of protests to a movie released on YouTube months before that mocked Mohammed.
    2013 - NASA's Voyager 1 space probe makes history by advancing past the solar system - becoming the first man-made object to reach interstellar space.
    2017 – Apple introduced the iPhone X costing $999, along with iPhone 8.

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