The first disaster relief provided by the American Red Cross benefited thousands of fire victims left destitute this day by the Great Fire of 1881.

It had been a long hot summer in the ‘thumb-area’ of Michigan and small forest fires were burning. A southwest gale fanned the flames into an inferno. The fire raged for three days, scorching over a million acres. 282 people died in the blaze.

The American Association for the Relief of Misery on the Battlefields was a result of the International Red Cross and the forerunner of the American Association of the Red Cross. Clara Barton was instrumental in establishing the American chapter in 1881.

Over one hundred nations now have Red Cross associations. Each national society carries on its own program; however, all are united in their aim to prevent misery in time of war or peace and serve all people, regardless of race, nationality or religion.

The Red Cross flag (white background with a red cross) is the reverse of Switzerland’s flag where the first Red Cross was founded in 1863 … and that’s how the organization got its name.

EVENTS

1882 – The first Labor Day holiday parade was held in New York City. It was sponsored by the Central Labor Union. Some 10,000 workers — all men — participated in the parade.

1885 - Jake Gumper of Ft. Wayne, IN bought the first gasoline pump produced in the United States.

1901 – The National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues was formed in Chicago. It became the first organized baseball league.

1905 - The Treaty of Portsmouth was signed by representatives of Russia and Japan, ending the Russo-Japanese War. Why was it called The Treaty of Portsmouth? It was signed at Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

1906 - Bradbury Robinson executed the first legal forward pass in football. Robinson threw the ball to Jack Schneider of St. Louis University in a game against Carroll College.

1938 – The NBC Red network broadcast Life Can Be Beautiful for the first time. The program was “an inspiring message of faith drawn from life.” The program aired until 1954.

1956 - Johnny Cash hit the record running with I Walk the Line. Cash’s debut hit song climbed to #17 on the pop music charts.

1958 – The first color videotaped program was aired. It was The Betty Feezor Show on WBTV-TV in Charlotte, NC.

1960 - Cassius Clay of Louisville, KY won the gold medal in light heavyweight boxing at the Olympic Games in Rome, Italy. Clay would later change his name to Muhammad Ali and become one of the great boxing champions in the world. In 1996, at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, GA, Muhammad Ali was given the honor of lighting the Olympic flame.

1964 – The Animals’ House of the Rising Sun made it to #1. It stayed at the top until it was replaced three weeks later by Roy Orbison’s Oh, Pretty Woman. Orbison’s smash was just entering the pop charts on this day for a 14-week run.

1971 - J.R. Richard of the Houston Astros tied Karl Spooner’s record by striking out 15 batters in his major-league baseball debut. The Astros beat the San Francisco Giants 5-3.

1972 - PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) terrorists entered the Olympic Village in Munich, Germany, killing 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team.

1972 - Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway won a gold record for their duet, Where is the Love. The song got to number five on the pop music charts and was one of two songs that earned gold for the duo. The other was The Closer I Get To You (1978).

1980 - Switzerland’s St. Gotthard Auto Tunnel, the longest underground motorway in the world, opened. Traffic moved along the 10+ miles that took ten years to build and cost $417 million.

1983 – The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour on PBS (Public Broadcasting System) became the first hourlong network news show.

1984 - Mortimer Zuckerman, a real estate magnate, spent $163 million on a deal. Zuckerman purchased the newsmagazine U.S. News & World Report.

1986 – After 23 years of “oohing” and “aahing,” laughing and kibitzing as host of various talk shows, Merv Griffin aired his final program — for Metromedia Television.

1997 - Mother Teresa (Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu) died of a heart attack at her Missionaries of Charity headquarters in Calcutta, India. The Albanian nun had celebrated her 87th birthday just nine days earlier. The recipient of the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize, Mother Teresa gave hope to millions, caring for, helping and listening to the poor and downtrodden.

1998 - Aerosmith’s I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing debuted at #1 on U.S. music charts. The song, from the movie, Armageddon, was the first single by Aerosmith to reach number one. It stayed at the top through the entire month of September.