Today In History
Today is Thursday, Sept. 29, the 273rd day of 2016. There are 93 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT ›
1789: The U.S. War Department established a regular army with the strength of several hundred men.
ON THIS DATE › 1829: London’s reorganized police force, which became known as Scotland Yard, went on duty. ›
1907: The foundation stone was laid for the Washington National Cathedral. ›
1910: The National Urban League had its beginnings in New York as The Committee on Urban Conditions Among Negroes. ›
1965: President Lyndon Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965, creating the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts. ›
1978: Pope John Paul I was found dead in his Vatican apartment just over a month after becoming head of the Roman Catholic Church. ›
1990: The Washington National Cathedral, begun in 1907, was formally completed with President George H.W. Bush overseeing the laying of the final stone atop the southwest pinnacle of the cathedral’s St. Paul Tower.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS
Conductor Richard Bonynge is 86. Writer-director Robert Benton is 84. Singer Jerry Lee Lewis is 81. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., is 74. Actor Ian McShane is 74. Jazz musician Jean-Luc Ponty is 74. Nobel Peace laureate Lech Walesa is 73. Rock singer-musician Mark Farner is 68. Rock singer-musician Mike Pinera is 68. Actor Drake Hogestyn is 63. Broadcast journalist Gwen Ifill is 61. Olympic gold medal runner Sebastian Coe is 60. Singer Suzzy Roche (The Roches) is 60. Comedian-actor Andrew “Dice” Clay is 59. Rock singer John Payne (Asia) is 58. Actor Roger Bart is 54. Singer-musician Les Claypool is 53. Actress Jill Whelan is 50. Rhythmand-blues singer Devante Swing (Jodeci) is 47. Country singer Brad Cotter (TV: “Nashville Star”) is 46. Actress Emily Lloyd is 46. Actress Natasha Gregson Wagner is 46. Actress Rachel Cronin is 45. Actor Z achary Levi is 36. Country singer Katie McNeill (3 of Hearts) is 34. Actor Doug Brochu is 26. Singer Phillip Phillips is 26. Actress Clara Mamet is 22.