WEDNESDAY IN HISTORY

Today is Wednesday, Sept. 27, the 270th day of 2017. There are 95 days left in the year.

Highlight in History:

On Sept. 27, 1942, Glenn Miller and his Orchestra performed together for the last time, at the Central Theater in Passaic, New Jersey, prior to Miller’s entry into the Army.

On this date:

In 1540, Pope Paul III issued a papal bull establishing the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, as a religious order.

In 1779, John Adams was named by Congress to negotiate the Revolutionary War’s peace terms with Britain.

In 1854, the first great disaster involving an Atlantic Ocean passenger vessel occurred when the steamship SS Arctic sank off Newfoundland; of the more than 400 people on board, only 86 survived.

In 1928, the United States said it was recognizing the Nationalist Chinese government.

In 1939, Warsaw, Poland, surrendered after weeks of resistance to invading forces from Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union during World War II.

In 1979, Congress gave its final approval to forming the U.S. Department of Education.

In 1991, President George H.W. Bush announced in a nationally broadcast address that he was eliminating all U.S. battlefield nuclear weapons, and called on the Soviet Union to match the gesture.

Ten years ago: Soldiers fired into crowds of anti-government demonstrators in Yangon, Myanmar, reportedly killing at least nine people; Kenji Nagai, 50, a video journalist for Japan’s APF News, was among the dead.

Five years ago: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the U.N. General Assembly that the world had only a matter of months to stop Iran before it could build a nuclear bomb.

One year ago: The United States provided another $364 million in humanitarian aid to Syrians as their nation’s civil war appeared to be getting worse.

Today’s Birthdays: Actress Kathleen Nolan is 84. Actor Wilford Brimley is 83. World Golf Hall of Famer Kathy Whitworth is 78. Rock singer Meat Loaf is 70. Baseball Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt is 68. Comedian Marc Maron is 54. Actress Gwyneth Paltrow is 45. Rapper Lil’ Wayne is 35. Singer Avril Lavigne is 33. Bluegrass singer/musician Sierra Hull is 26.

Thought forT oday: “Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you wish, but you only spend it once.” — Lillian Dickson, American missionary (1901-1983).