Today in History
Today’s highlight:
On Sept. 24, 1789, President George Washington signed a Judiciary Act establishing America’s federal court system and creating the post of attorney general.
On this date:
1869: Thousands of businessmen were ruined in a Wall Street panic known as “Black Friday” after financiers Jay Gould and James Fisk attempted to corner the gold market.
1890: The president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Wilford Woodruff, wrote a manifesto renouncing the practice of plural marriage, or polygamy.
1955: President Dwight D. Eisenhower suffered a heart attack while on vacation in Denver.
1960: The USS Enterprise, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was launched at Newport News, Virginia. “The
Howdy Doody Show” ended a nearly 13-year run with its final telecast on NBC.
1964: The situation comedy “The Munsters” premiered on CBS television. The adventures series “Daniel Boone,” starring Fess Parker, debuted on NBC.
1969: The trial of the Chicago Eight, later seven, began. Five were later convicted of crossing state lines to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic convention, but the convictions were ultimately overturned.
1976: Former hostage Patricia Hearst was sentenced to seven years in prison for her part in a 1974 bank robbery in San Francisco carried out by the Symbionese Liberation Army. Hearst was released after 22 months after receiving clemency from President Jimmy Carter.
1988: Members of the eastern Massachusetts Episcopal diocese elected Barbara C. Harris the first female bishop in the church’s history.
1996: The United States and 70 other countries became the first to sign a treaty at the United Nations to end all testing and development of nuclear weapons. The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty has yet to enter into force because of the refusal so far of eight nations — including the United States — to ratify it.
2001: President George W. Bush ordered a freeze on the assets of 27 people and organizations with suspected links to terrorism, including Islamic militant Osama bin Laden, and urged other nations to do likewise.
2007: United Auto Workers walked off the job at General Motors plants in the first nationwide strike during auto contract negotiations since 1976. A tentative pact ended the walkout two days later.
2018: China and the United States imposed new tariff hikes on each other’s goods; U.S. regulators went ahead with a planned 10% tax on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, and China said it responded with taxes on $60 billion in American goods.
Ten years ago: President Barack Obama and Southeast Asian leaders meeting in New York sent China a firm message over territorial disputes between Beijing and its neighbors, calling for freedom of navigation in seas that China claimed as its own.
Five years ago: A stampede and crush of Muslim pilgrims occurred at an intersection near a holy site in Saudi Arabia; The Associated Press estimated that more than 2,400 people were killed, while the official Saudi toll stood at 769.
One year ago: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi launched a formal impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump; the probe focused partly on whether Trump abused his presidential powers and sought help from the government of Ukraine to undermine Democratic foe Joe Biden.