_ On Sept. 22, 1776, in New York City, Nathan Hale, a captain in the Continental Army, is executed by the British for spying. Before being executed, legend holds that Hale said, 'I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.' There is no historical record to prove that Hale actually made this statement._ On Sept. 23, 1846, German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle discovers the planet Neptune at the Berlin Observatory. The blue gas giant has a diameter four times that of Earth and completes an orbit of the sun once every 165 years._ On ...