• Today is Wednesday, Sept. 5, the 249th day of 2012. There are 117 days left in the year.
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• Today's Highlight in History:
• On Sept. 5, 1972, terrorism struck the Munich Olympics as members of the Palestinian group Black September attacked the Israeli delegation; 11 Israelis, five guerrillas and a police officer were killed in the resulting siege.
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• On this date:
• In 1774, the first Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia.
• In 1793, the Reign of Terror began during the French Revolution as the National Convention instituted harsh measures to repress counter-revolutionary activities.
• In 1836, Sam Houston was elected president of the Republic of Texas.
• In 1912, American avant-garde composer John Cage was born in Los Angeles.
• In 1914, the First Battle of the Marne, resulting in a French-British victory over Germany, began during World War I.
• In 1939, four days after war had broken out in Europe, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a proclamation declaring U.S. neutrality in the conflict.
• In 1945, Japanese-American Iva Toguri D'Aquino, suspected of being wartime broadcaster "Tokyo Rose," was arrested in Yokohama. (D'Aquino was later convicted of treason and served six years in prison; she was pardoned in 1977 by President Gerald R. Ford.)
• In 1957, the novel "On the Road," by Jack Kerouac, was first published by Viking Press.
• In 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed legislation making aircraft hijackings a federal crime.
• In 1975, President Gerald R. Ford escaped an attempt on his life by Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, a disciple of Charles Manson, in Sacramento, Calif.
• In 1986, four hijackers who had seized a Pan Am jumbo jet on the ground in Karachi, Pakistan, opened fire when the lights inside the plane failed; a total of 22 people were killed in the hijacking.
• In 1997, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II broke the royal reticence over Princess

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