Today in history
Today is Monday, Sept. 10, the 253rd day of 2018. There are 112 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Sept. 10, 1963, 20 black students entered Alabama public schools following a standoff between federal authorities and Gov. George C. Wallace. On this date: In 1813, an American naval force commanded by Oliver H. Perry defeated the British in the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812. (Afterward, Perry sent the message, “We have met the enemy and they are ours.”)
In 1846, Elias Howe received a patent for his sewing machine.
In 1919, New York City welcomed home Gen. John J. Pershing and 25,000 soldiers who’d served in the U.S. First Division during World War I.
In 1935, Sen. Huey P. Long died in Baton Rouge two days after being shot in the Louisiana state Capitol, allegedly by Dr. Carl Weiss.
In 1939, Canada declared war on Germany.
In 1960, Hurricane Donna, a dangerous Category 4 storm eventually blamed for 364 deaths, struck the Florida Keys.
In 1962, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the University of Mississippi to admit James Meredith, a black student.
In 1979, four Puerto Rican nationalists imprisoned for a 1954 attack on the U.S. House of Representatives and a 1950 attempt on the life of President Harry S. Truman were freed from prison after being granted clemency by President Jimmy Carter.
In 1987, Pope John Paul II arrived in Miami, where he was welcomed by President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan as he began a 10-day tour of the United States.
In 1991, the Senate Judiciary Committee opened hearings on the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 1993, “The X-Files” premiered on Fox Television.
In 2006, Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts defeated Eli Manning and the New York Giants 26-21 in the first NFL game to feature two brothers starting at quarterback.
Ten years ago: The world’s largest particle collider passed its first major tests by firing two beams of protons in opposite directions around a 17-mile (27-kilometer) ring under the Franco Swiss border.
Five years ago: President Barack Obama, in a nationally broadcast address, said diplomacy held “the potential to remove the threat of chemical weapons” in Syria without the use of force, but declared the U.S. military would be “ready to respond” against President Bashar Assad if other measures failed. An Indian court convicted four men in the fatal gang rape of a young woman on a moving New Delhi bus. (The four were later sentenced to death.) Thomas Bach was elected president of the International Olympic Committee, succeeding Jacques Rogge (zhahk ROH’-geh).
One year ago: After cutting a trail of destruction across the Caribbean, Hurricane Irma blew ashore on the Florida Keys as a Category 4 storm with winds of 130 mph; it would destroy 1,200 homes and damage 3,000 others in the Keys. As Irma headed toward Georgia, Atlanta was under a tropical storm warning for the first time. As he flew home from Colombia, Pope Francis called on President Donald Trump to rethink his decision ending a program protecting young immigrants from deportation; he said anyone who considers himself “pro-life” should keep families together. Miss North Dakota, Cara Mund, was crowned Miss America in Atlantic City, N.J., after saying in an onstage interview that Donald Trump was wrong to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord.