Unix Timestamp: 1222387200
Friday, September 26. 2008, 12:00:00 AM UTC

At least 10 people are dead in Metro Manila after Tropical Storm Ketsana hits the northern Philippines. //www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iRUDyeGrHCZ6Bd9LyEdrne0FN6hA (AFP) //newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20090926-227047/Floods-submerge-Metro-Manila-areas ("Philippines Inquirer") //news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8276347.stm (BBC) //www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=508807publicationSubCategoryId=63 ("Philippine Star")

Typhoon Ketsana begins to cause record amounts of rainfall in Manila, Philippines, leading to the declaration of a state of calamity in 25 provinces.

United States District Court judge Ann Aiken rules that two sections of the USA PATRIOT Act are unconstitutional because they allow search warrants to be issued without a showing of probable cause. //edition.cnn.com/2007/US/law/09/26/patriot.act.ap/index.html?eref=rss_us (AP via CNN)

The India national cricket team starts a victory parade in Mumbai after winning the inaugural 2007 ICC World Twenty20. //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7013585.stm (BBC)

Zambian archbishop Emmanuel Milingo is excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church by Pope Benedict XVI. //news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/5381888.stm (BBC)

U.S. Army Reservist Lynndie England is convicted by a military jury on 6 of 7 counts, in connection with the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal.

Iraq – Constitution: Secretary of State Colin Powell, responding to a rapid timetable self-rule demands from France (and others), states the United States would set a deadline of six months for Iraqi leaders working under the coalition occupation to produce a new constitution. The constitution would clear the way for elections and the installation of a new leadership next year. //www.iht.com/articles/111463.html//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3141490.stm

Iraq – Terrorism: Mortar rounds hit killing at least seven civilian Iraqis in the town square of Baquba. At least 20 civilian were wounded. Also, Akila al-Hashemi, a member of Iraq's Governing Council, was buried in Najaf a day after she died from wounds inflicted by an unidentified gunmen. //www.iht.com/articles/111548.html

The Congress of the United States passes a joint resolution, which authorizes the President to use the United States Armed Forces as he deems necessary and appropriate, against Iraq.

The Senegalese passenger ferry "Joola" capsizes in a storm off the coast of Gambia 1,863 are killed.

The Beltway sniper attacks begin with 5 shootings in Montgomery County, Maryland.

The trial against former Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti, who is accused of Mafia connections, begins.

Vietnam announces that it has withdrawn the last of its troops from the State of Cambodia, ending an 11-year occupation.

The United Kingdom and the People\'s Republic of China sign the initial agreement to return Hong Kong to China in 1997.

The United Kingdom and the People's Republic of China sign the initial agreement to return Hong Kong to China in 1997.

The Australian yacht "Australia II" wins the America\'s Cup, the first successful challenge to the New York Yacht Club's 132-year defence of the sailing trophy.

The "Soyuz T-10a" mission ends in a successful pad abort at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, when a pad fire occurs at the base of the Soyuz U rocket during the launch countdown. the escape tower system, attached to the top of the capsule containing the crew and Soyuz spacecraft fired immediately pulling the crew safe from the vehicle, a few seconds before the rocket explodes, destroying the launch complex.

Thermals take Australian parachutist Rich Collins up to during a jump he almost blacks out due to lack of oxygen. He releases his main parachute to fall to lower altitude and lands by his reserve parachute.

The Mariel Boatlift officially ends.

The Laguna Fire starts in San Diego County, burning .

Rachel Carson's book "Silent Spring" is released, giving rise to the modern environmentalist movement.

Civil war erupts in Yemen.

A flash flood in Barcelona, Spain, kills more than 440 people.

The leading candidates for President of the United States, Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy, made the first televised debate.

West Side Story has its first appearance on Broadway and runs for 732 performances.

The Japanese ferry "Toya Maru" sinks during a typhoon in the Tsugaru Strait. More than 1,100 people are killed.

The first meeting of Narcotics Anonymous is held (the first planning session was held August 17).

Rationing of cane sugar ends in the UK.

Earl Warren is appointed Chief Justice of the United States by U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower.

October – The UNIVAC 1103 is the first commercial computer to use random access memory.

September 28 ndash A blue sun is seen over Europe: the effect is due to ash coming from the Canadian forest fires 4 months previously.

Indonesia is admitted to the United Nations.

On the middle front of the Gothic Line, Brazilian troops control the Serchio valley region after 10 days of fighting.

Operation Market Garden ends in an Allied withdrawal.

September ndash Start of Dutch famine (Hongerwinter) in the occupied northern part of the Netherlands.

WWII: The United States imposes a total embargo on all scrap metal shipments to Japan.

In a vitriolic speech at Berlin's Sportpalast, Hitler defies the world and implies war with Czechoslovakia will begin at any time.

Street and Smith Publications launches a half-hour radio program, "The Shadow", with Orson Welles in the title role.

A tornado destroys the town of Tico, Mexico.

In Bavaria, Gustav Ritter von Kahr declares independence from Berlin.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is established by the Federal Trade Commission Act.

October ndash A committee of the Delegation for the Adoption of an International Auxiliary Language, made up of academics including Otto Jespersen, Wilhelm Ostwald and Roland Eotvos meet in Paris to select a language for international use. The committee ultimately decides to reform Esperanto.

New Zealand and Newfoundland become dominions.

New ZealanddolphinPelorus Jack is individually protected by Order in Council under the Sea Fisheries Act.

Godalming in England becomes the first town to have its streets illuminated by electric light (hydroelectrically generated).

First case reports in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, of the Great Epizootic of 1872 (equine influenza, or the horse flu) which will substantially disrupt life in North America by mid-December.

U.S. presidential election, 1872: Ulysses S. Grant defeats Horace Greeley.

The Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College begins its first academic session (the university is later renamed Virginia Tech).

The first Shriners Temple (called Mecca) is established in New York City.

Women\'s suffrage: In defiance of the law, American suffragist Susan B. Anthony votes for the first time (on November 18 she is served an arrest warrant and in the subsequent trial she is fined $100 ndash she never pays the fine).

A new Act of Succession is adopted by the Riksdag of the Estates and Jean Baptiste Bernadotte becomes heir to the Swedish throne.

American Revolution ndash British troops occupy Philadelphia during the Revolutionary War.

Peter Stuyvesant recaptures Dutch Ft. Casimir and defeats the New Sweden (Delaware) colony.

The Billy Mitchell volcano on the island of Bougainville undergoes a catastrophic eruption (VEI 6).

The first session of the Jewish "Vaad" (Council of Four Lands) is held in Lublin, Poland 70 delegates of Jewish local "qahals" meet to discuss taxation and other issues important to Jewish communities.

Francis Drake completes the second circumnavigation of globe.ref name=Pocket On This Day

Jesuit missionaries arrive at the court of Akbar, Ruler of the Moghul Empire.

Battle of Warns: The Frisians defeat the forces of Holland under William IV, Count of Hainaut, in the midst of the Friso-Hollandic Wars.

The Fall of Ruad, the last Crusader stronghold in the Levant.

Pope Celestine II succeeds Pope Innocent II as the 165th pope.

Battle of Compiègne: Ragenfrid defeats Theudoald, becoming Mayor of the Palace of Neustria and Burgundy.

Umayyad Caliphal-Walid I is succeeded by Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik.

Empress Gemmei of Japan is succeeded by Empress Genshō.

A major earthquake hits Turkey.//www.aonline-aon.com/public/topics/aon_intelligence/report02.asp A-online