Today In History

Today is Monday, Sept. 25, the 268th day of 2017. There are 97 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

› 1957: Nine black students who’d been forced to withdraw from Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, because of unruly white crowds were escorted to class by members of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division.

ON THIS DATE

› 1690: One of the earliest American newspapers, Publick Occurrences, published its first — and last — edition in Boston.

› 1775: American Revolutionary War hero Ethan Allen was captured by the British as he led an attack on Montreal. (Allen was released by the British in 1778.)

› 1789: The first United States Congress adopted 12 amendments to the Constitution and sent them to the states for ratification. (Ten of the amendments became the Bill of Rights.)

› 1890: President Benjamin Harrison signed a measure establishing Sequoia National Park.

› 1917: Baseball Hall of Famer Phil Rizzuto was born in Brooklyn, New York.

› 1932: The Spanish region of Catalonia received a Charter of Autonomy (however, the Charter was revoked by Francisco Franco at the end of the Spanish Civil War).

› 1956: The first trans-Atlantic telephone cable officially went into service with a three-way ceremonial call between New York, Ottawa and London.

› 1962: Sonny Liston knocked out Floyd Patterson in round one to win the world heavyweight title at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

› 1978: One hundred forty-four people were killed when a Pacific Southwest Airlines Boeing 727 and a private plane collided over San Diego.

› 1981: Sandra Day O’Connor was sworn in as the first female justice on the Supreme Court.

› 1992: NASA’s Mars Observer blasted off on a $980 million mission to the red planet (the probe disappeared just before entering Martian orbit in August 1993).

› 1997: President Bill Clinton pulled open the door of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, as he welcomed nine blacks who had faced hate-filled mobs 40 years earlier.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Broadcast journalist Barbara Walters is 88. Folk singer Ian Tyson is 84. Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates is 74. Actor Josh Taylor is

74. Actor Robert Walden is 74. Actor-producer Michael Douglas is 73. Model Cheryl Tiegs is

70. Actress Mimi Kennedy is 69. Movie director Pedro Almodovar is 68. Actor-director Anson Williams is 68. Actor Mark Hamill is 66. Basketball Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo is 66. Polka bandleader Jimmy Sturr is 66. Actor Colin Friels is 65. Actor Michael Madsen is 59. Actress Heather Locklear is 56. Actress Aida Turturro is

55. TV personality Keely Shaye Smith is 54. Actress Maria Doyle Kennedy is 53. Basketball Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen is 52. Actor Jason Flemyng is 51. Actor Will Smith is 49. Actor Hal Sparks is 48. Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones is

48. Rock musician Mike Luce (Drowning Pool) is 46. Actress Bridgette Wilson-Sampras is 44. Actress Clea DuVall is 40. Actor Robbie Jones is 40. Actor Joel David Moore is

40. Actor Chris Owen is

37. Rapper T.I. is 37. Actor Van Hansis is 36. Actor Lee Norris is 36. Actor/ rapper Donald Glover (aka Childish Gambino) is 34. Actor Zach Woods is 33. Actor Jordan Gavaris is 28. Olympic silver medal figure skater Mao Asada is 27. Actress Emmy Clarke is 26.