TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

Sept. 13, 1971

A four-day inmates’ rebellion at the Attica Correctional Facility in western New York ended as police and guards stormed the prison; the ordeal and final assault claimed the lives of 32inmates and 11hostages.

ALSO ON THIS DATE

1759

During the French and Indian War, the British defeated the French on the Plains of Abraham overlooking Quebec City.

1788

The Congress of the Confederation authorized the first national election, and declared New York City the temporary national capital.

1814

During the War of 1812, British naval forces began bombarding Fort McHenry in Baltimore but were driven back by American defenders in a battle that lasted until the following morning.

1948

Republican Margaret Chase Smith of Maine was elected to the U.S. Senate; she became the first woman to serve in both houses of Congress.

1962

Mississippi Gov. Ross Barnett rejected the U.S. Supreme Court’s order for the University of Mississippi to admit James Meredith, a black student, declaring in a televised address, “We will not drink from the cup of genocide.”

1993

At the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat shook hands after signing an accord granting limited Palestinian autonomy.

2001

Two days after the 9⁄11 terror attacks, the first few jetliners returned to the nation’s skies, but several major airports remained closed and others opened only briefly.