TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

Sept. 14, 1814

Francis Scott Key was inspired to write the poem “Defence of Fort McHenry” after witnessing the American flag flying over the Maryland fort following a night of British naval bombardment during the War of 1812.

ALSO ON THIS DATE

1812

Napoleon Bonaparte’s troops entered Moscow following the Battle of Borodino to find the Russian city largely abandoned and parts set ablaze.

1847

During the Mexican-American War, U.S. forces under Gen. Winfield Scott took control of Mexico City.

1861

The first naval engagement of the Civil War took place as the USS Colorado attacked and sank the Confederate private schooner Judah off Pensacola, Florida.

1901

President William McKinley died in Buffalo, New York, of gunshot wounds inflicted by an assassin; Vice President Theodore Roosevelt succeeded him.

1927

Modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan died in Nice, France, when her scarf became entangled in a wheel of the sports car she was riding in.

1963

Mary Ann Fischer of Aberdeen, S.D., gave birth to four girls and a boy, the first known surviving quintuplets in the United States.

1982

Princess Grace of Monaco, formerly actress Grace Kelly, died at age 52 of injuries from a car crash the day before; Lebanon’s president-elect, Bashir Gemayel, was killed by a bomb.

1991

The government of South Africa, the African National Congress and the Inkatha Freedom Party signed a national peace pact.

1994

On the 34th day of a strike by players, Acting Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig announced the 1994 season was over.