TODAY IN HISTORY

Sept. 26, 1960

The first-ever debate between presidential nominees took place as Democrat John F. Kennedy and Republican Richard M. Nixon faced off before a national TV audience from Chicago.

ALSO ON THIS DATE

1777

British troops occupied Philadelphia during the American Revolution.

1789

Thomas Jefferson was confirmed by the Senate to be the first United States secretary of state; John Jay, the first chief justice; Edmund Randolph, the first attorney general.

1892

John Philip Sousa and his newly formed band performed publicly for the first time at the Stillman Music Hall in Plainfield, N.J.

1955

Following word that President Eisenhower had suffered a heart attack, the New York Stock Exchange saw its worst price decline since 1929.

1986

William H. Rehnquist was sworn in as the 16th chief justice of the United States, while Antonin Scalia joined the Supreme Court as its 103rd member.

1991

Four men and four women began a two-year stay inside a sealed-off structure in Oracle, Ariz., called Biosphere 2.

2003

President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin opened a two-day summit at Camp David.

2013

It was revealed that some workers at the National Security Agency had misused the government’s secret surveillance systems at least 12times over the previous decade, including instances where they spied on spouses, boyfriends or girlfriends, according to embarrassing new details disclosed by the agency’s inspector general.