Today in History
Today is Monday, Sept. 24, the 267th day of 2018. There are 98 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On September 24, 1789, President George Washington signed a Judiciary Act establishing America’s federal court system and creating the post of attorney general.
On this date:
In 1869, thousands of businessmen were ruined in a Wall Street panic known as “Black Friday” after financiers Jay Gould and James Fisk attempted to corner the gold market.
In 1890, the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Wilford Woodruff, wrote a manifesto renouncing the practice of plural marriage, or polygamy.
In 1896, author F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul, Minnesota.
In 1934, Babe Ruth made his farewell appearance as a player with the New York Yankees in a game against the Boston Red Sox. (The Sox won, 5-0.)
In 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower suffered a heart attack while on vacation in Denver.
In 1960, the USS Enterprise, the first nuclearpowered aircraft carrier, was launched at Newport News, Virginia. “The Howdy Doody Show” ended a nearly 13-year run with its final telecast on NBC.
In 1968, the TV news magazine “60 Minutes” premiered on CBS; the undercover police drama “The Mod Squad” premiered on ABC.
In 1976, former hostage Patricia Hearst was sentenced to seven years in prison for her part in a 1974 bank robbery in San Francisco carried out by the Symbionese Liberation Army. (Hearst was released after 22 months after receiving clemency from President Jimmy Carter.)
In 1988, Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson won the men’s 100-meter dash at the Seoul (sohl) Summer Olympics — but he was disqualified three days later for using anabolic steroids. Members of the eastern Massachusetts Episcopal diocese elected Barbara C. Harris the first female bishop in the church’s history.
In 1991, kidnappers in Lebanon freed British hostage Jack Mann after holding him captive for more than two years. Children’s author Theodor Seuss Geisel (GY’-zul), better known as Dr. Seuss, died in La Jolla, Calif., at age 87.
In 1996, the United States and 70 other countries became the first to sign a treaty at the United Nations to end all testing and development of nuclear weapons. (The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty has yet to enter into force because of the refusal so far of eight nations — including the United States — to ratify it.)
In 2007, United Auto Workers walked off the job at General Motors plants in the first nationwide strike during auto contract negotiations since 1976; a tentative pact ended the walkout two days later.
Ten years ago: Officials reopened Galveston, Texas, to residents who were warned about Hurricane Ike’s debris and disruption of utilities. Japanese lawmakers elected Taro Aso, leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, prime minister.