TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Tuesday, Sept. 22, the 266th day of 2020. There are 100 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Sept. 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all slaves in rebel states should be free as of January 1, 1863.
On this date:
■ In 1761, Britain’s King George III and his wife, Charlotte, were crowned in Westminster Abbey.
■ In 1949, the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb.
■ In 1964, the musical “Fiddler on the Roof,” starring Zero Mostel, opened on Broadway, beginning a run of 3,242 performances. The secret agent series “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,” starring Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, premiered on NBC-TV.
■ In 1975, Sara Jane Moore attempted to shoot President Gerald R. Ford outside a San Francisco hotel, but missed.
■ In 1980, the Persian Gulf conflict between Iran and Iraq erupted into full-scale war.
■ In 1989, the Irish Republican Army bombed the Royal Marines School of Music in Deal, Kent, England, killing 11 band members. Songwriter Irving Berlin died in New York City at age 101.
■ In 1993, 47 people were killed when an Amtrak passenger train fell off a bridge and crashed into Big Bayou Canot near Mobile, Alabama. (A tugboat pilot lost in fog pushed a barge into the railroad bridge, knocking the tracks 38 inches out of line just minutes before the train arrived.)
■ In 1995, an AWACS plane carrying U.S. and Canadian military personnel crashed on takeoff from Elmendorf Air Force Base near Anchorage, Alaska, killing all 24 people aboard.
■ In 2014, the United States and five Arab nations launched airstrikes against the Islamic State group in Syria, sending waves of planes and Tomahawk cruise missiles against an array of targets.
Ten years ago: Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi committed suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge into the Hudson River after an intimate gay encounter in his dormitory room was captured by a
webcam and streamed online by his roommate without his knowledge. (Dharun Ravi was convicted of invasion of privacy, bias intimidation and other counts and served less than a month in jail.) South African Ernie Els was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame; Doug Ford and two-time major winner Jock Hutchison from Scotland were elected through the Veteran’s Category.
Five years ago: Pope Francis arrived from Cuba on the first visit of his life to the United States; President Barack Obama, his wife and daughters personally welcomed the pontiff at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington. Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Seattle for a three-day visit before heading to Washington. Volkswagen AG acknowledged putting emissions-cheating software in millions of vehicles worldwide.
One year ago: “Game of Thrones” won the best drama series Emmy Award for its final season, tying its record of 12 years in a single year for the third time, while Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s “Fleabag” was comedy’s big winner, winning best comedy series and best actress for its star and creator.
Today’s Birthdays: Baseball Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda is 93. Dancer/choreographer/singer Toni Basil is
77. Actor Paul Le Mat is 75. Musician King Sunny Adé is
74. Capt. Mark Phillips is 72. Rock singer David Coverdale (Deep Purple, Whitesnake) is
69. Actor Shari Belafonte is
66. Singer Debby Boone is 64. Singer Nick Cave is 63. Rock singer Johnette Napolitano is 63. Actor Lynn Herring is
63. Classical crossover singer Andrea Bocelli is 62. Singer-musician Joan Jett is 62. Actor Scott Baio is 60. Actor Catherine Oxenberg is 59. Actor Bonnie Hunt is
59. Musician Matt Sharp is 51. Rock musician Dave Hernandez is 50. Rhythm-andblues singer Big Rube (Society of Soul) is 49. Actor James Hillier (TV: “The Crown”) is 47. Actor Mireille Enos is 45. Actor Daniella Alonso is 42. Actor Michael Graziadei is 41. Actor Ashley Drane (Eckstein) is 39. Actor Tatiana Maslany is 35. Actor Tom Felton is 33. Actor Juliette Goglia is 25.