TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS SATURDAY, SEPT. 22, the 265th day of 2018. There are 100 days left in the year. Autumn arrives at 9:54 p.m. Eastern time.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1949, the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb.
In 1776, during the Revolutionary War, Capt. Nathan Hale, 21, was hanged as a spy by the British in New York.
In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all slaves in rebel states should be free as of January 1, 1863.
In 1911, pitcher Cy Young, 44, gained his 511th and final career victory after he threw a 1-0 shutout for the Boston Rustlers against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field.
In 1927, Gene Tunney successfully defended his heavyweight boxing title against Jack Dempsey in the famous “long-count” fight in Chicago.
In 1959, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev arrived in Iowa for a two-day stopover, during which he visited a corn farm, held talks with former Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson and ate his first hot dog.
In 1961, the Interstate Commerce Commission issued rules prohibiting racial discrimination on interstate buses.
In 1975, Sara Jane Moore attempted to shoot President Gerald R. Ford outside a San Francisco hotel, but missed. Moore served 32 years in prison before being paroled on December 31, 2007.
In 1980, the Persian Gulf conflict between Iran and Iraq erupted into full-scale war.
In 1993, 47 people were killed when an Amtrak passenger train fell off a bridge and crashed into Big Bayou Canot near Mobile, Ala. A tugboat pilot lost in fog pushed a barge into the railroad bridge, knocking the tracks 38 inches out of line just minutes before the train arrived.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Baseball Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda is 91. Actress Anna Karina is 78. Actor Paul Le Mat is 73. Musician King Sunny Ade is 72. Rock singer David Coverdale (Deep Purple, Whitesnake) is 67. Singer Debby Boone and country singer June Forester (The Forester Sisters) are 62. Singer Nick Cave, rock singer Johnette Napolitano and actress Lynn Herring are 61. Singer-musician Joan Jett is 60. Actor Scott Baio is 58. Actresses Catherine Oxenberg and Bonnie Hunt are 57. Actor Rob Stone is 56. Musician Matt Sharp is 49. Rock musician Dave Hernandez is 48. Rhythm-and-blues singer Big Rube (Society of Soul) is 47. Actor James Hillier (TV: “The Crown”) is 45. Actress Daniella Alonso is 40. Actress Ashley Drane (Eckstein) is 37. Actress Katie Lowes is 36. Rock musician Will Farquarson (Bastille) is 35. Actress Tatiana Maslany is 33. Actress Juliette Goglia is 23.