TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2017 On this day in history: 1780 - John Andre, a British spy, was captured with papers revealing that Benedict Arnold was going to surrender West Point, NY, to the British.

1846 - Astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle discovered the planet Neptune.

1957 - Nine black students withdrew from Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas due to the white mob outside.

1964 - The new ceiling painting of the Paris Opera house was unveiled. The work was done by Russian-born artist Marc Chagall.

1965 - Lawyer and judge Roma Mitchell becomes the first female judge in Australia.

1973 - Overthrown Argentine president Juan Peron was returned to power. He had been overthrown in 1955. His wife, Eva Duarte, was the subject of the musical “Evita.”

1986 - Japanese newspapers quoted Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone as saying that minorities lowered the “intelligence level” of America.

1990 - Iraq publicly threatened to destroy Middle East oil fields and to attack Israel if any nation tried to force it from Kuwait.

1991 - UN weapons inspectors find documents detailing Iraq’s secret nuclear weapons program. The find in Baghdad triggered a stand-off with authorities in Iraq.

1993 - Sydney is announced as the venue for the 2000 Olympic Games.

1993 - The Israeli parliament ratified the Israel-PLO accord.

1993 - Blacks were allowed a role in the South African government after a parliamentary vote.

1999 - A 17-month-old girl fell 230 feet from the Capilano Suspension Bridge in North Vancouver, British Columbia. The girl had bruises but no broken limbs from the fall onto a rocky ledge. 2009 - A huge dust storm blankets parts of eastern Australia.