TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 9, the 253rd day of 2020. There are 113 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1776, the second Continental Congress made the term “United States” official, replacing “United Colonies.”
In 1543, Mary Stuart was crowned Queen of Scots at Stirling Castle, nine months after she was born.
In 1850, California became the 31st state of the union.
In 1942, during World War II, a Japanese plane launched from a submarine off the Oregon coast dropped a pair of incendiary bombs in a failed attempt at igniting a massive forest fire; it was the first aerial bombing of the U.S. mainland by a foreign power.
In 1948, the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea (North Korea) was declared.
In 1956, Elvis Presley made the first of three appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” In 1971, prisoners seized control of the maximum-security Attica Correctional Facility near Buffalo, New York, beginning a siege that ended up claiming 43 lives. In 1986, Frank Reed, director of a private school in Lebanon, was taken hostage; he was released 44 months later.
In 1991, boxer Mike Tyson was indicted in Indianapolis on a charge of raping Desiree Washington, a beauty pageant contestant. (Tyson was convicted and ended up serving three years of a sixyear prison sentence.)
In 2005, Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown, the principal target of harsh criticism of the Bush administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina, was relieved of his onsite command.
In 2013, four days of vehicular gridlock began near the George Washington Bridge when two of three approach lanes from Fort Lee, New Jersey, were blocked off; the traffic jam was later blamed on loyalists to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie over the refusal of Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich to endorse Christie for reelection. (Two political insiders were convicted for their roles in the closure; a unanimous Supreme Court later threw out the convictions. Christie denied any prior knowledge of the lane closures, but the episode helped derail his 2016 presidential bid.)
In 2014, Apple unveiled its longanticipated smartwatch, as well as the next generation of its iPhone.
In 2016, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, speaking at an LGBT fundraiser in New York City, described half of Republican Donald Trump’s supporters as “a basket of deplorables,” a characterization for which she would end up expressing regret.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actor Topol is 85. Singer Inez Foxx is 78. Singer Dee Dee Sharp is 75. College Football Hallof-Famer and former NFL player Joe Theismann is 71. Rock musician John McFee (The Doobie Brothers) is 70. Actor Tom Wopat is 69. Actor Angela Cartwright and musician-producer Dave Stewart are 68. Actor Hugh Grant is 60. Actor-comedian Charles Esten (formerly Chip) and actor Constance Marie are 55. Actors David Bennent and Adam Sandler are 54. Rock singer Paul Durham (Black Lab) and actor Julia Sawalha are 52. Model Rachel Hunter is 51. Actors Eric Stonestreet and Henry Thomas are 49. Actor Goran Visnjic is 48. Pop-jazz singer Michael Bublé is 45. Latin singer Maria Rita is 43. Actor Michelle Williams is 40. Actor Julie Gonzalo is 39. Actor Kelsey Asbille, contemporary Christian singer Lauren Daigle and country singer-songwriter Hunter Hayes are 29.