Today in History: September 7

1876: The original James-Younger Gang is nearly wiped out during an attempted robbery of the First National Bank of Northfield, Minnesota, when armed townspeople open fire on the robbers.  Only Frank and Jesse James escape death or capture.

1867: Financier John Pierpont Morgan is born at Hartford, Connecticut.

1892: Poet John Greenleaf Whittier dies at Hampton Falls, New Hampshire.  The college named for him will get a law school in 1975.

1921: The first Miss America Pageant is held at Atlantic City, New Jersey, as a ploy to keep summer tourists in Atlantic City after Labor Day.  The top four cities for producing Miss Americas?  Los Angeles, Denver, Philadelphia, and Columbus, each with three.

1963: The Pro Football Hall of Fame opens at Canton, Ohio.  The Chicago Bears (26) and Pittsburgh Steelers (22) have the most inductees.

1965: The last episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show, the first TV program to show a housewife wearing pants instead of a dress, airs on CBS.

1971: The last episode of The Beverly Hillbillies airs.  Despite good ratings, CBS cancels it, along with the popular Green Acres and Hee Haw, to get rid of its image as a “rural” network.

1979: Chrysler Corp. asks the U.S. government for $1 billion to help it avoid bankruptcy.

1998: Two Stanford Ph.D. students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, incorporate their new business, which they call Google, Inc.  It will wind up taking too much time for them to complete their studies.