TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 23, the 267th day of 2020. There are 99 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1952, Sen. Richard M. Nixon, R-Calif., salvaged his vice-presidential nomination by appearing on television from Los Angeles to refute allegations of improper campaign fundraising in what became known as the “Checkers” speech.
In 63 B.C., Caesar Augustus, the first Roman emperor, was born.
In 1806, the Lewis and Clark expedition returned to St. Louis more than two years after setting out for the Pacific Northwest.
In 1846, Neptune was identified as a planet by German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle.
In 1932, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded.
In 1939, Sigmund Freud, founder of psychoanalysis, died in London at age 83.
In 1949, President Harry S. Truman announced there was evidence the Soviet Union had recently conducted a nuclear test explosion. (The test had been carried out on Aug. 29, 1949.)
In 1955, a jury in Sumner, Mississippi, 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’d entered Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas were forced to withdraw because of a white mob outside.
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 1999, the Mars Climate Orbiter apparently burned up as it attempted to go into orbit around the Red Planet.
In 2001, President George W. Bush returned the American flag to full staff at Camp David, symbolically ending a period of national mourning following the 9/11 attacks.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Singer Julio Iglesias is 77. Actor Paul Petersen (TV: “The Donna Reed Show”) is 75. Actor/ singer Mary Kay Place is 73. Rock star Bruce Springsteen is 71. Director/ playwright George C. Wolfe is 66. Rock musician Leon Taylor (The Ventures) is 65. Actor Rosalind Chao is 63. Golfer Larry Mize is 62. Actor Jason Alexander is 61. Actor Chi McBride is 59. Country musician Don Herron (BR549) is 58. Actor Erik Todd Dellums is 56. Actor LisaRaye is 54. Singer Ani DiFranco is 50. Rock singer Sam (formerly Sarah) Bettens (K’s Choice) and recording executive Jermaine Dupri are 48. Actor Kip Pardue is 44. Actor Anthony Mackie is 42. Pop singer Erik-Michael Estrada (TV: “Making the Band”) is 41. Actor Aubrey Dollar is 40. Actor Brandon Victor Dixon is 39. Actor David Lim is 37. Pop singer Diana Ortiz (Dream) and actor Cush Jumbo are 35. Actor Skylar Astin is 33.