TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Monday, Sept. 17, the 260th day of 2018. There are 105 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Sept. 17, 1787, the Constitution of the United States was completed and signed by a majority of delegates attending the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.
On this date:
■ In 1862, more than 3,600 men were killed in the Civil War Battle of Antietam in Maryland.
■ In 1920, the American Professional Football Association—a precursor of the National Football League— was formed in Canton, Ohio.
■ In 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland during World War II, more than two weeks after Nazi Germany had launched its assault.
■ In 1964, the James Bond movie “Goldfinger,” starring Sean Connery, premiered in London. The fantasy sitcom “Bewitched,” starring Elizabeth Montgomery, debuted on ABC-TV.
■ In 1971, citing health reasons, Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black, 85, retired. (Black, who was succeeded by Lewis F. Powell Jr., died eight days after making his announcement.)
■ In 1978, after meeting at Camp David, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat signed a framework for a peace treaty.
■ In 1987, the city of Philadelphia, birthplace of the U.S. Constitution, threw a big party to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the historic document; in a speech at Independence Hall, President Ronald Reagan acclaimed the framing of the Constitution as a milestone “that would profoundly and forever alter not just these United States but the world.”
■ In 1996, former Vice President Spiro T. Agnew died in Berlin, Maryland, at age 77.
■ In 1999, President Bill Clinton lifted restrictions on trade, travel and banking imposed on North Korea 50 years earlier, rewarding it for agreeing to curb missile tests.
■ In 2001, Six days after 9/11, stock prices nosedived but stopped short of collapse in an emotional, flag-waving reopening of Wall Street; the Dow Jones industrial average ended the day down 684.81
at 8,920.70.
■ In 2011, a demonstration calling itself Occupy Wall Street began in New York, prompting similar protests around the U.S. and the world.
Ten years ago: Defense Secretary Robert Gates met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and offered the people of Afghanistan his “personal regrets” for U.S. airstrikes that had killed civilians and said he would try to improve the accuracy of air warfare. A suicide attack on the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen, killed 19 people, including an American woman and six militants.
Five years ago: Engineers declared success as the Costa Concordia cruise ship was pulled completely upright during an unprecedented, 19-hour operation to wrench it from its side where it had capsized off Tuscany in 2012.
One year ago: British authorities said a second suspect was in custody in connection with the bomb that partially exploded two days earlier on a packed London subway.
Today’s Birthdays: Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, is 85. Retired Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter is 79. Singer LaMonte McLemore (The Fifth Dimension) is 83. Retired Basketball Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson is
73. Singer Fee Waybill is 70. Actress Cassandra Peterson (“Elvira, Mistress of the Dark”) is 67. Comedian Rita Rudner is 65. Muppeteer Kevin Clash (former voice of Elmo on “Sesame Street”) is
58. Director-actor Paul Feig is 56. Singer BeBe Winans is
56. TV personality/businessman Robert Herjavec (TV: “Shark Tank”) is 55. Directorproducer Bryan Singer is 53. Rock singer Anastacia is 50. Actor-comedian Bobby Lee is
47. Actress-singer Nona Gaye is 44. Singer-actor Constantine Maroulis is 43. NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson is 43. Pop singer Maile (Misajon (Eden’s Crush) is 42. Country singer-songwriter Stephen Cochran is 39. Country singer Desi Wasdin (3 of Hearts) is 35. Actress Danielle Brooks is 29. Actress-singer Denyse Tontz is 24.
Thought for Today: “The great tragedy of life is not that men perish, but that they cease to love.”—W. Somerset Maugham, English author and dramatist (1874-1965).