DAILY ALMANAC
Today is Friday, Sept. 17, the 260th day of 2021. There are 105 days left in the year.
On this date in:
1787: The Constitution of the United States was completed and signed by a majority of delegates attending the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.
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.)
1954: The novel “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding was first published by Faber & Faber of London.
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.”
1994: Heather Whitestone of Alabama was crowned the first deaf Miss America.
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.
Singer-turned-photographer Lamonte Mclemore of the Fifth Dimension is 86. Singer Fee Waybill of The Tubes is 73. Actor Elvira is 70. Comedian Rita Rudner is 68. Puppeteer Kevin Clash (formerly Elmo on “Sesame
Street”) is 61. Actor-director Paul Feig is 59. Director Baz Luhrmann (“Moulin Rouge”) is 59. Singer Bebe Winans is 59. Businessman Robert Herjavec
(“Shark Tank”) is 58. Actor Kyle Chandler (“Friday Night Lights”) is 56. Rapper Doug E. Fresh is 55. Actor Malik Yoba (“New York Undercover”) is 54. Singer Anastacia is 53. Actor Matthew Settle
(“Gossip Girl”) is 52. Rapper Vinrock of Naughty by Nature is 51. Actor Bobby Lee (“Harold and Kumar” films) is 50. Singer Marcus Sanders of Hi-five is 48. Singer-actor Nona Gaye (“The Matrix” films) is 47. Drummer Chuck Comeau of Simple Plan is 42. Actor Billy Miller (“General Hospital,” “The Young and the Restless”) is 42.