TODAY IN HISTORY

TUESDAY SEP 21, 2021 1989

Hurricane Hugo crashed into Charleston, South Carolina. Twenty-one students in Alton, Texas, died when their school bus, hit by a soft-drink delivery truck, careened into a water-filled pit.

1792

The French National Convention voted to abolish the monarchy.

1912

Magician Harry Houdini first publicly performed his “Water Torture Cell” trick at the Circus Busch in Berlin.

1938

A hurricane struck parts of New York and New England, causing widespread damage and claiming some 700lives.

1948

Milton Berle made his debut as permanent host of “The Texaco Star Theater” on NBC-TV.

1961

The first Boeing CH-47 Chinook military helicopter made its first hovering flight.

1981

The Senate unanimously confirmed the nomination of Sandra Day O’connor to become the first female justice on the Supreme Court.

1982

Amin Gemayel, brother of Lebanon’s assassinated president-elect, Bashir Gemayel, was himself elected president. National Football League players began a 57day strike, their first regularseason walkout ever.

1985

In North Korea and South Korea, family members who had been separated for decades were allowed to visit each other as both countries opened their borders in an unprecedented familyreunion program.

1987

NFL players called a strike, mainly over the issue of free agency.

1996

President Bill Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act denying federal recognition of same-sex marriages, a day after saying the law should not be used as an excuse for discrimination, violence or intimidation against gays and lesbians.

BIRTHDAYS

Author-comedian Fannie Flagg is 80. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer is 78. Former Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear is 77. Musician Don Felder is 74. Author Stephen King is 74. Basketball Hall of Famer Artis Gilmore is 72. Actor-comedian Bill Murray is 71. Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is 64. Movie producer-writer Ethan Coen is 64. Actorcomedian Dave Coulier is 62. Actor David James Elliott is 61.