TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS SATURDAY, SEPT. 23,
the 266th day of 2017. There are 99 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:
On this date in 1952, Sen. Richard M. Nixon, R-Calif., salvaged his vicepresidential nomination by appearing on television from Los Angeles to refute allegations of improper campaign fundraising in what became known as the “Checkers” speech.
In 1780, British spy John Andre was captured along with papers revealing Benedict Arnold’s plot to surrender West Point to the British.
In 1806, the Lewis and Clark expedition returned to St. Louis more than two years after setting out for the Pacific Northwest.
In 1846, Neptune was identified as a planet by German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle.
In 1926, Gene Tunney scored a 10-round decision over Jack Dempsey to win the world heavyweight boxing title in Philadelphia.
In 1955, a jury in Sumner, Mississippi,
acquitted two white men, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, of murdering black teenager Emmett Till.
In 1957, nine black students who’d entered Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas were forced to withdraw because of a white mob outside.
In 1962, New York’s Philharmonic Hall (later renamed Avery Fisher Hall) formally opened as the first unit of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
In 1996, space shuttle Atlantis left Russia’s orbiting Mir station with astronaut Shannon Lucid, who ended her six-month visit with tender goodbyes to her Russian colleagues.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Singer Julio Iglesias is 74. Actor Paul Petersen (TV: “The Donna Reed Show”) is 72. Rock star Bruce Springsteen is 68. Rock musician Leon Taylor (The Ventures) is 62. Actor Jason Alexander is 58. Singer Ani DiFranco is 47. Pop singer ErikMichael Estrada (TV: “Making the Band”) is 38. Pop singer Diana Ortiz (Dream) is 32. Tennis player Melanie Oudin is 26.