TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS SUNDAY, SEPT. 25, the 269th day of 2016. There are 97 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1956, the first trans-Atlantic telephone cable officially went into service with a three-way ceremonial call between New York, Ottawa and London.
In 1513, Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and sighted the Pacific Ocean.
In 1690, one of the earliest American newspapers, Publick Occurrences, published its first — and last — edition in Boston.
In 1775, American Revolutionary War hero Ethan Allen was captured by the British as he led an attack on Montreal. Allen was released by the British in 1778.
In 1789, the first United States Congress adopted 12 amendments to the Constitution and sent them to the states for ratification. Ten of the amendments became the Bill of Rights.
In 1890, President Benjamin Harrison signed a measure establishing Sequoia National Park.
In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson collapsed after a speech in Pueblo, Colo., during a national speaking tour in support of the Treaty of Versailles.
In 1932, the Spanish region of Catalonia received a Charter of Autonomy. The charter was, however, revoked by Francisco Franco at the end of the Spanish Civil War.
In 1957, nine black students forced to withdraw from Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., because of unruly white crowds were escorted to class by members of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division.
In 1962, Sonny Liston knocked out Floyd Patterson in Round One to win the world heavyweight title at Comiskey Park in Chicago.
In 1978, 144 people were killed when a Pacific Southwest Airlines Boeing 727 and a private plane collided over San Diego. In 1981, Sandra Day O’Connor was sworn in as the first female justice on the Supreme Court. In 1991, Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie died in Lyon, France, at age 77.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Broadcast journalist Barbara Walters is 87. Folk singer Ian Tyson is 83. Actor-producer Michael Douglas is 72. Model Cheryl Tiegs is 69. Actress Mimi Kennedy is 68. Movie director Pedro Almodovar and actor-director Anson Williams are 67. Actor Mark Hamill, Basketball Hall-of-Famer Bob McAdoo and polka bandleader Jimmy Sturr are 65. Actor Colin Friels is 64. Actor Michael Madsen is 58. Actress Heather Locklear is 55. Actress Aida Turturro is 54. Actress Maria Doyle Kennedy is 52. Basketball Hall-of-Famer Scottie Pippen is 51. Actor Jason Flemyng is 50. Actor Will Smith is 48. Actor Hal Sparks and actress Catherine Zeta-Jones are 47. Actress Bridgette Wilson-Sampras is 43. Actress Clea DuVall, and actors Robbie Jones and Joel David Moore are 39. Actor Chris Owen is 36. Actors Van Hansis and Lee Norris are 35. Actor/rapper Donald Glover (aka Childish Gambino) is 33. Actor Zach Woods is 32. Actor Jordan Gavaris is 27. Olympic silver medal figure skater Mao Asada is 26. Actress Emmy Clarke is 25.