TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY2016. ThereIS FRIDAY,are 99 days SEPT. left 23,in the the year. 267th day of TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:
date in 1846, Neptune was identified as On a this planet by German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle. In 1779,
of American during warshipthe RevolutionaryBon Homme War, Richard,the crew commanded by John Paul Jones, captured HMS Serapis in a battle off Yorkshire, England; however, the seriously damaged Bon Homme Richard sank two days later.
In 1806, the Lewis and Clark expedition returned to St. Louis more than two years after setting out for the Pacific Northwest.
In 1926, Gene Tunney scored a ten-round decision over Jack Dempsey to win the world heavyweight boxing title in Philadelphia.
In 1952, in what became known as the “Checkers” speech, Sen. Richard M. Nixon, R-Calif., salvaged his vice-presidential nomination by appearing on television to refute allegations of improper campaign fundraising.
In 1955, a jury in Sumner, Miss., acquitted two white men, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, of murdering black teenager Emmett Till. (The two men later admitted to the crime in an interview with Look magazine.)
In 1957, nine black students who had entered Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas were forced to withdraw because of a white mob outside.
In 1962, New York’s Philharmonic Hall (later renamed Avery Fisher Hall) formally opened as the first unit of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. “The Jetsons,” an animated cartoon series about a Space Age family, premiered as the ABC television network’s first
program in color.
In 1973, former Argentine president Juan Peron won a landslide election victory that returned him to power; his wife, Isabel, was elected vice president. In 1987, Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., withdrew from the Democratic presidential race following questions about his use of borrowed quotations and the portrayal of his academic record.
In 1996, space shuttle Atlantis left Russia’s orbiting Mir station with astronaut Shannon Lucid, who ended her six-month visit with tender goodbyes to her Russian colleagues.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Singer Julio Iglesias is 73. Actor Paul Petersen (TV: “The Donna Reed Show”) is 71. Actress-singer Mary Kay Place is 69. Singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen is 67. Director-playwright George C. Wolfe (Film: “Nights in Rodanthe”) is 62. Rock musician Leon Taylor (The Ventures) is 61. Actress Rosalind Chao is 59. Golfer Larry Mize is 58. Actor Jason Alexander is 57. Singer Ani DiFranco is 46. Rock singer Sarah Bettens (K’s Choice) and recording executive Jermaine Dupri are 44. Actor Kip Pardue is 40. Actor Anthony Mackie is 38. Pop singer Erik-Michael Estrada (TV: “Making the Band”) is 37. Actress Aubrey Dollar is 36. Pop singer Diana Ortiz (Dream) is 31. Tennis player Melanie Oudin is 25.