TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS MONDAY, SEPT. 25, the 268th day of 2017. There are 97 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History: On September 25, 1957, nine black students who had been forced to withdraw from Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., because of unruly white crowds were escorted to class by members of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division.
In 1690, one of the earliest American newspapers, Publick Occurrences, published its first — and last — edition in Boston.
In 1775, American Revolutionary War hero Ethan Allen was captured by the British as he led an attack on Montreal.
In 1789, the first United States Congress adopted 12 amendments to the Constitution and sent them to the states for ratification.
In 1956, the first trans-Atlantic telephone cable officially went into service. In 1962, Sonny Liston knocked out Floyd Patterson in round one to win the world heavyweight title at Comiskey Park in Chicago.
In 1978, 144 people were killed when a Pacific Southwest Airlines Boeing 727 and a private plane collided over San Diego. In 1981, Sandra Day O’Connor was sworn in as the first female justice on the Supreme Court. In 1992, NASA’s Mars Observer blasted off on a $980 million mission to the red planet. The probe disappeared just before entering Martian orbit in August 1993.
In 1997, President Bill Clinton pulled open the door of Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., as he welcomed nine blacks who had faced hate-filled mobs 40 years earlier.
Today’s Birthdays: Broadcast journalist Barbara Walters is 88. Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates is 74. Actor-producer Michael Douglas is 73. Model Cheryl Tiegs is 70. Movie director Pedro Almodovar and actor-director Anson Williams are 68. Actor Mark Hamill, basketball Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo and polka bandleader Jimmy Sturr are 66. Actor Michael Madsen is 59. Actress Heather Locklear is 56. Actress Aida Turturro is 55. Actor Tate Donovan and TV personality Keely Shaye Smith are 54. Actress Maria Doyle Kennedy is 53. Basketball Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen is 52. Actor Jason Flemyng is 51. Actor Will Smith is 49. Actor Hal Sparks and actress Catherine Zeta-Jones are 48. Actress Bridgette Wilson-Sampras is 44. Actress Clea DuVall and actors Robbie Jones and Joel David Moore are 40. Actor Zach Woods is 33. Olympic silver medal figure skater Mao Asada is 27. Actress Emmy Clarke is 26.