On this Day... September 2

CEBU, Philippines – In 1910, the first professional woman pilot made her first solo flight. She was Blanche Stuart Scott, and she was also the first automobile saleswoman, the first woman to make a long-distance flight, the first woman to make an Immelmann turn in a plane, the first woman test pilot, and the first woman jet passenger - which she became on the 38th anniversary of today's flight. She was also said to be the first female airplane passenger - which in fact wasn't true. When she'd turned up at the Tijuana airfield to make the flight, she found that the plane had been destroyed. However, the Associated Press reporter had already filed his story, and she promised to keep his secret - so that he could keep his job!

.In 1935, a murderous hurricane struck the Florida Keys. With 20-foot waves and winds gusting at 250 miles an hour, it destroyed the Overseas Railroad. In the heavy seas a huge ocean-going tanker could make no headway, and after eight hours ended up back where it started! Of the 400 killed, 121 were army veterans who'd been sent to Florida by an embarrassed government when they demanded a bonus for having fought in France. Their makeshift homes, surrounded by mangrove swamps, weren't built to stand more than a breeze and they were smashed to pieces. When one ex-doughboy was found skewered to a tree by a four-by-two plank through his kidneys, he refused a doctor's offer of morphine. "When you pull it out I'll be dead," he said. "Get me a couple of beers."

- from Today's the Day! By Jeremy Beadle

In Christian history -

. In 1921, the first general synod of the African Orthodox Church convened in New York City. This branch of the Protestant Episcopal Church was established in 1919 by George A. McGuire, who was also elected the denomination's first bishop.

- from This Day in Christian History

By William D. Blake

In the Philippines -

. In 1914, Fred Ruiz Castro, a well-known jurist and former Chief Justice, considered as Father of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, was born in Laoag, Ilocos Norte. He was Chief Justice of the Philippines from January 5, 1976 until his death on April 19, 1979 while on an official trip to India. He was one of the advocates for the integration of the Philippine Bar, paving the way for the establishment of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines in the 1970s. Notably, he is also behind the creation of the Supreme Court Reports Annotated, which is currently the voluminous source of decisions of the Supreme Court used by law practitioners and students. Castro approved of the Martial Law years, as reflected in his decisions, opinions and public statements. In a speech to the 8th World Peace Through Law Conference held in Manila, Castro proclaimed: "Martial law is known to the west as the drastic solution to a violent situation ... In the Philippines, this primary purpose remains, but it has been enlarged to embrace also the extirpation of the ills and conditions which spawned the riots, the anarchy and the rebellion!"

- www.kahimyang.info

In Cebu -

.In 1595, Fr. Antonio Sendeño, one of the outstanding figures of the early Jesuit missions in the Philippines, died at the early age of 60, in Cebu. He was buried in the newly-constructed Jesuit chapel in the city.

- from Cebuano Studies Center, University of San Carlos