Today in history
On Sept. 22, 1776, during the Revolutionary War, Capt. Nathan Hale, 21, was hanged as a spy by the British in New York.
In 1792, the first French Republic was proclaimed.
In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all slaves in rebel states should be free as of Jan. 1, 1863.
In 1911, pitcher Cy Young, 44, gained his 511th and final career victory as he hurled a 1-0 shutout for the Boston Rustlers against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field.
In 1927, Gene Tunney successfully defended his heavyweight boxing title against Jack Dempsey in the famous "long-count" fight in Chicago.
In 1938, the musical comedy revue "Hellzapoppin'," starring Ole (OH'-lee) Olsen and Chic Johnson, began a three-year run on Broadway.
In 1949, the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb.
In 1950, Omar N. Bradley was promoted to the rank of fivestar general, joining an elite group that included Dwight D. Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, George C. Marshall and Henry H. "Hap" Arnold.
In 1964, the musical "Fiddler on the Roof," starring Zero Mostel, opened on Broadway, beginning a run of 3,242 performances. The secret agent series "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.," starring Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, premiered on NBC-TV.
In 1975, Sara Jane Moore attempted to shoot President Gerald R. Ford outside a San Francisco hotel, but missed. (Moore served 32 years in prison before being paroled on Dec. 31, 2007.)
In 1985, rock and country music artists participated in "Farm Aid," a concert staged in Champaign, Illinois, to help the nation's farmers.
In 1991, the London newspaper The Mail published an interview with former intelligence agent John Cairncross, who admitted being the "fifth man" in the Soviet Union's notorious British spy ring.
In 1996, actress-singer Dorothy Lamour died at her North Hollywood home at age 81.
“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.” — George Eliot, English author (1819-1880).