TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS TUESDAY, SEPT. 18, the 261st day of 2018. There are 104 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1975, newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was captured by the FBI in San Francisco, 19 months after being kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army.
In 1850, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, which created a force of federal commissioners charged with returning escaped slaves to their owners.
In 1851, the first edition of The New York Times was published.
In 1947, the National Security Act, which created a National Military Establishment and the position of Secretary of Defense, went into effect.
In 1970, rock star Jimi Hendrix died in London at age 27.
In 1987, the psychological thriller “Fatal Attraction,” starring Michael Douglas and Glenn Close, was released by Paramount Pictures.
In 1994, tennis star Vitas Gerulaitis, 40, was found dead in the guest cottage of a friend’s home in Southampton, N.Y., of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning.
In 2001, a week after the Sept. 11 attack, President George W. Bush said he hoped to “rally the world” in the battle against terrorism and predicted that all “people who love freedom” would join. Letters postmarked Trenton, N.J., that later tested positive for anthrax were sent to the New York Post and NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw.
In 2007, O.J. Simpson was charged with seven felonies, including kidnapping, in the alleged armed robbery of sports memorabilia collectors in a Las Vegas casino-hotel room. (Simpson, sentenced to nine to 33 years in prison, was released on parole in October 2017.)
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Singer Jimmie Rodgers, and actors Robert Blake and Fred Willard are 85. Singer Frankie Avalon is 78. Actress Beth Grant and rock musician Kerry Livgren are 69. The U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Ben Carson, is 67. Basketball Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino is 66. Alt-country-rock musician Mark Olson is 57. Singer Joanne Catherall (Human League) is 56. Actress Holly Robinson Peete is 54. Rhythmand-blues singer Ricky Bell (Bell Biv Devoe and New Edition) is 51. Actress Aisha Tyler is 48. Former racing cyclist Lance Armstrong, opera singer Anna Netrebko and actress Jada Pinkett Smith are 47. Actor James Marsden is 45. Actress Emily Rutherfurd, actor Travis Schuldt and rapper Xzibit are 44. Comedian-actor Jason Sudeikis is 43. Actress Sophina Brown is 42. Actor Barrett Foa and talk show co-host Sara Haines (TV: “Good Morning America”) are 41.