TODAY IN HISTORY

Today is Friday, Sept. 18, the

262nd day of 2020. There are 104 days left in the year.

ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY

On Sept. 18, 1850, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, which created a force of federal commissioners charged with returning escaped slaves to their owners.

1793 — President George Washington laid the cornerstone of the US Capitol.

1927 — The Columbia Phonograph Broadcasting System (later CBS) made its on-air debut with a basic network of 16 radio stations.

1947 — The National Security Act, which created a National Military

Establishment and the position of Secretary of Defense, went into effect.

1961 — United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold was killed in a plane crash in northern Rhodesia.

1970 — Rock star Jimi Hendrix died in London at age 27.

1975 — Newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was captured by the FBI in San Francisco, 19 months after being kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army.

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.

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.)

2014 — Voters in Scotland rejected independence, opting to remain part of the United Kingdom in a historic referendum.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Singer Jimmie Rodgers is 87. Actor Robert Blake is 87. Gospel singer Bobby Jones is 82. Singer Frankie Avalon is 80. Actor Beth Grant is

71. Rock musician Kerry Livgren is

71. Actor Anna Deavere Smith is 70. The US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Ben Carson, is 69. Basketball Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino is 68. College Football Hall of Famer and retired NFL player Billy Sims is 65. Movie director Mark Romanek is 61. Baseball Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg is 61. Altcountry-rock musician Mark Olson is 59. Singer Joanne Catherall (Human League) is 58. 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 is 49. Opera singer Anna Netrebko is 49. Actor Jada Pinkett

Smith is 49. Actor James Marsden is 47. Actor Emily Rutherfurd is 46. Actor Travis Schuldt is 46. Rapper Xzibit is 46. Comedian-actor Jason Sudeikis is 45. Actor Sophina Brown is 44. Actor Barrett Foa is 43. Talk show host Sara Haines (TV: “GMA3: Strahan, Sara & Keke”) is 43. Actor/comedian Billy Eichner is 42. Actor Alison Lohman is 41. Designer Brandon Maxwell is 36. Congressman and former NFL player Anthony Gonzalez, R-Ohio, is 36. Actors Brandon and Taylor Porter are 27. Actor Patrick Schwarzenegger is 27. Country singer Tae Dye (Maddie and Tae) is 25. Actor C.J. Sanders is 24.