Today’s highlight in history
On Sept. 13, 2002, the earliest known online use of the term “selfie” (a photographic self-portrait, usually taken with a smartphone) occurred on an Australian Broadcasting Corp. website forum; it came from a man named Nathan Hope, who denied coining the term, saying it was “common slang.”
On this date
In 1814, during the War of 1812, British naval forces began bombarding Fort McHenry in Baltimore but were driven back by American defenders in a battle that lasted until the following morning.
In 1923, Miguel Primo de Rivera, the captain general of Catalonia, seized power in Spain.
In 1959, Elvis Presley first met his future wife, 14-yearold Priscilla Beaulieu, while stationed in West Germany with the U.S. Army. (They married in 1967, but divorced in 1973.)
In 1962, Mississippi Gov. Ross Barnett rejected the U.S. Supreme Court’s order for the University of Mississippi to admit James Meredith, a black student, declaring in a televised address, “We will not drink from the cup of genocide.”
In 1971, a four-day inmates’ rebellion at the Attica Correctional Facility in western New York ended as police and guards stormed the prison; the ordeal and final assault claimed the lives of 32 inmates and 11 hostages.
In 1989, Fay Vincent was elected commissioner of Major League Baseball, succeeding the late A. Bartlett Giamatti.
In 1997, funeral services were held in Calcutta, India, for Nobel peace laureate Mother Teresa.
Ten years ago: The NFL fined New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick $500,000 and the team $250,000 for spying on the New York Jets during a game.
Five years ago: New York City’s Board of Health passed a ban on the sale of big sodas and other sugary drinks, limiting the size sold at restaurants, concession stands and other eateries to 16 ounces.
One year ago: Former Israeli President Shimon Peres, 93, suffered a major stroke (he died 15 days later).