TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS FRIDAY, SEPT. 18, the 262nd day of 2020. There are 104 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:
On this date in 1850, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, which created a force of federal commissioners charged with returning escaped slaves to their owners.
In 1759, the French formally surrendered Quebec to the British.
In 1793, President George Washington laid the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol.
In 1927, the Columbia Phonograph Broadcasting System (later CBS) made its on-air debut with a basic network of 16 radio stations.
In 1947, the National Security Act, which created a National Military Establishment and the position of Secretary of Defense, went into effect.
In 1959, during his U.S. tour, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev visited Wall Street, the Empire State Building and the grave of President Franklin D. Roosevelt; in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly, Khrushchev called on all countries to disarm.
In 1961, United Nations SecretaryGeneral Dag Hammarskjold was killed in a plane crash in northern Rhodesia.
In 1965, the situation comedies “I Dream of Jeannie” and “Get Smart” premiered on NBC.
In 1970, rock star Jimi Hendrix died in London at age 27.
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 2001, a week after the Sept. 11 attack, letters postmarked Trenton, New Jersey, that later tested positive for anthrax were sent to the New York Post and NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Singer Jimmie Rodgers and actor Robert Blake are 87. Gospel singer Bobby Jones is 82. Singer Frankie Avalon is 80. Basketball Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino is 68. College Football Hall-of-Famer and retired NFL player Billy Sims is 65. Actor Holly Robinson Peete is 56. Rhythm-and-blues singer Ricky Bell (Bell Biv Devoe and New Edition) is 53. Actor Aisha Tyler is 50. Former racing cyclist Lance Armstrong, opera singer Anna Netrebko and actor Jada Pinkett Smith are 49. Comedian-actor Jason Sudeikis is 45. Actor Sophina Brown is 44. Actor Barrett Foa and talk show host Sara Haines (TV: “GMA3: Strahan, Sara & Keke”) are 43. Actor/comedian Billy Eichner is 42. Actor Alison Lohman is 41. Designer Brandon Maxwell, and congressman and former NFL player Anthony Gonzalez, R-Ohio, are 36. Actors Brandon and Taylor Porter, and Patrick Schwarzenegger are 27. Country singer Tae Dye (Maddie and Tae) is 25. Actor C.J. Sanders is 24.