Today in history
Today is Monday, Sept. 18, the 261st day of 2017. There are 104 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History
On September 18, 1947, the National Security Act, which created a National Military Establishment and the position of Secretary of Defense, went into effect.
On this date
In A. D. 14, the Roman Senate officially confirmed Tiberius as the second emperor of the Roman Empire, succeeding the late Augustus.
In 1793, President George Washington laid the cornerstone of the U. S. Capitol.
In 1810, Chile made its initial declaration of independence from Spain with the forming of a national junta.
In 1927, the Columbia Phonograph Broadcasting System ( later CBS) made its on- air debut with a basic network of 16 radio stations.
In 1931, an explosion in the Chinese city of Mukden damaged a section of Japaneseowned railway track; Japan, blaming Chinese nationalists, invaded Manchuria the next day.
In 1959, during his U. S. tour, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev visited Wall Street, the Empire State Building and the grave of President Franklin D. Roosevelt; in a speech to the U. N. General Assembly, Khrushchev called on all countries to disarm.
In 1961, United Nations Secretary- General Dag Hammarskjold ( dahg HAWM’ahr- shoold) was killed in a plane crash in northern Rhodesia.
In 1970, rock star Jimi Hendrix died in London at age 27.
In 1975, newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was captured by the FBI in San Francisco, 19 months after being kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army.
In 1981, a museum honoring former President Gerald- R. Ford was dedicated in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
In 1987, the psychological thriller “Fatal Attraction,” starring Michael Douglas and Glenn Close, was released by Paramount Pictures.
In 1990, the city of Atlanta was named the site of the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Ten years ago: President George W. Bush, cheered on by Iraq war veterans and their families on the White House’s South Lawn, urged lawmakers to back his plan to withdraw some troops from Iraq but keep at least 130,000 through the summer of 2008 or longer. O. J. Simpson was charged with seven felonies, including kidnapping, in the alleged armed robbery of sports memorabilia collectors in a Las Vegas casinohotel room. ( Simpson, sentenced to nine to 33 years in prison, is scheduled to be released on parole in October 2017.)
Five years ago: Chicago teachers voted to suspend their strike and return to the classroom after more than a week on picket lines, ending a combative stalemate with Mayor Rahm Emanuel over evaluations and job security. NFL Films President Steve Sabol, 69, died in Moorestown, New Jersey.
One year ago: At the United Nations, the United States, Japan and South Korea roundly condemned North Korea’s latest nuclear test and called for tough new measures to further isolate the communist state. The Los Angeles Rams defeated the Seattle Seahawks 9- 3 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in a game that marked the return of pro football to the nation’s second- largest market for the first time in nearly 22 years.
In Gee Chun of South Korea won the Evian Championship with the lowest 72hole score in major championship history, finishing at 21- under 263 for a fourstroke victory.