Today In History

Today is Saturday, Sept. 9, the 252nd day of 2017. There are 113 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

› 1957: President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the first civil rights bill to pass Congress since Reconstruction, a measure primarily concerned with protecting voting rights and which also established a Civil Rights Division in the U.S. Department of Justice.

ON THIS DATE

› 1776: The second Continental Congress made the term “United States” official, replacing “United Colonies.”

› 1850: California became the 31st state of the union.

› 1893: Frances Cleveland, wife of President Grover Cleveland, gave birth to a daughter, Esther, in the White House; it was the first (and, to date, only) time a president’s child was born in the executive mansion.

› 1926: The National Broadcasting Co. (NBC) was incorporated by the Radio Corp. of America.

› 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.

› 1956: Elvis Presley made the first of three appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

› 1976: JVC unveiled its new VHS videocassette recorder during a presentation in Tokyo.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Actress Sylvia Miles is 83. Actor Topol is 82. Rhythm and blues singer Luther Simmons is 75. Singer Inez Foxx is 75. Singer Dee Dee Sharp is

72. Rock musician John McFee (The Doobie Brothers) is 67. Actor Tom Wopat is 66. Actress Angela Cartwright is 65. Musician-producer Dave Stewart is 65. Actor Hugh Grant is 57. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., is 54. Actor-comedian Charles Esten (formerly Chip) is

52. Actress Julia Sawalha is 49. Model Rachel Hunter is 48. Actor Eric Stonestreet is 46. Actor Henry Thomas is 46. Actor Goran Visnjic is 45. Pop-jazz singer Michael Buble’ is 42. Latin singer Maria Rita is 40. Actress Michelle Williams is

37. Author-motivational speaker-businessman Farrah Gray is 33. Contemporary Christian singer Lauren Daigle is 26. Country singer-songwriter Hunter Hayes is 26.