ALMANAC

On Sept. 21, 1792, the French National Convention voted to abolish the monarchy.

In 1937 “The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien was published.

In 1949 the People’s Republic of China was proclaimed by its Communist leaders.

In 1970 “NFL Monday Night Football” debuted on ABC as the Cleveland Browns defeated the visiting New York Jets, 31-21.

In 1981 the Senate confirmed Sandra Day O’Connor as the first female member on the Supreme Court.

In 1983, in a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Interior Secretary James Watt described a special advisory panel consisting of “a black … a woman, two Jews and a cripple”; Watt later apologized and resigned.

In 1996 the board of all-male Virginia Military Institute voted to admit women.

In 1998 President Bill Clinton’s videotaped grand jury testimony was publicly broadcast.

In 2003 NASA’s aging Galileo spacecraft deliberately plunged into Jupiter’s turbulent atmosphere, bringing a fiery conclusion to a 14-year exploration of the solar system’s largest planet and its moons.

In 2014 election officials declared Ghani Ahmadzai the winner of Afghanistan’s disputed presidential election.