Today in History
Today’s highlight:
On Sept. 17, 1787, the Constitution of the United States was completed and signed by a majority of delegates attending the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.
On this date:
1862: More than 3,600 men were killed in the Civil War Battle of Antietam in Maryland.
1908: Lt. Thomas E. Selfridge of the U.S. Army Signal Corps became the first person to die in the crash of a powered aircraft, the Wright Flyer, at Fort Myer, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C.
1937: The likeness of President Abraham Lincoln’s head was dedicated at Mount Rushmore.
1939: The Soviet Union invaded Poland during World War II, more than two weeks after Nazi Germany had launched its assault.
1944: During World War II, Allied paratroopers launched Operation Market Garden, landing behind German lines in the Netherlands. After initial success, the Allies were beaten back by the Germans.
1947: James V. Forrestal was sworn in as the first U.S. Secretary of Defense.
1971: Citing health reasons, Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black, 85, retired. Black, who was succeeded by Lewis F. Powell Jr., died eight days after making his announcement.
1978: After meeting at Camp David, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat signed a framework for a peace treaty.
1987: The city of Philadelphia, birthplace of the U.S. Constitution, threw a big party to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the historic document; in a speech at Independence Hall, President Ronald Reagan acclaimed the framing of the Constitution as a milestone “that would profoundly and forever alter not just these United States but the world.”
1997: Comedian Red Skelton died in Rancho Mirage, California, at age 84.
2001: Six days after 9/11, stock prices nosedived but stopped short of collapse in an emotional, flag-waving reopening of Wall Street; the Dow Jones industrial average ended the day down 684.81 at 8,920.70.
2011: A demonstration calling itself Occupy Wall Street began in New York, prompting similar protests around the U.S. and the world.
Ten years ago: A scientist and his wife who once worked at a top-secret U.S. nuclear laboratory were arrested after an FBI sting operation and charged with conspiring to help develop a nuclear weapon for Venezuela. After pleading guilty, Pedro Leonardo Mascheroni was sentenced to five years in federal prison while his wife, Marjorie Roxby Mascheroni, received a year and a day; the U.S. government never alleged that Venezuela or anyone actually working for it had sought U.S. secrets.
Five years ago: General Motors agreed to pay $900 million to fend off criminal prosecution over the deadly ignitionswitch scandal, striking a deal that brought criticism down on the Justice Department for not bringing charges against individual employees; GM also announced it would spend $575 million to settle the majority of the civil lawsuits filed over the scandal. .
One year ago: Broadcast journalist Cokie Roberts, who had chronicled Washington for NPR and ABC News, died of complications from breast cancer at the age of 75.