On this day... September 5

On this day...

September 5 1774 – In response to the British Parliamentenacting the Intolerable Acts, representatives from twelve of Britain's North American coloniesconvened the First Continental Congress atCarpenters' Hall in Philadelphia. 1793 – French Revolution: The National Convention began theReign of Terror, a ten-month period of systematic repression and mass executions by guillotine of perceived enemies within the country. 1914 – World War I: The First Battle of the Marne began with French forces engaging the advancing German army at the Marne River near Paris. 1945 – Cold War: Soviet cipher clerk Igor Gouzenko defected to Canada with over 100 documents on Soviet espionage activities andsleeper agents. 1977 – NASA launched the robotic space probe Voyager 1(pictured), currently the farthest spacecraft from Earth.