Today in History
Sep 23, 2021, 9:00 PM | Updated: 9:17 pm
Today in History
Today is Friday, Sept. 24, the 267th day of 2021. There are 98 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Sept. 24, 2001, President George W. Bush ordered a freeze on the assets of 27 people and organizations with suspected links to terrorism, including Islamic militant Osama bin Laden, and urged other nations to do likewise.
On this date:
In 1789, President George Washington signed a Judiciary Act establishing America’s federal court system and creating the post of attorney general.
In 1869, thousands of businessmen were ruined in a Wall Street panic known as “Black Friday” after financiers Jay Gould and James Fisk attempted to corner the gold market.
In 1929, Lt. James H. Doolittle guided a Consolidated NY-2 Biplane over Mitchel Field in New York in the first all-instrument flight.
In 1934, Babe Ruth made his farewell appearance as a player with the New York Yankees in a game against the Boston Red Sox. (The Sox won, 5-0.)
In 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower suffered a heart attack while on vacation in Denver.
In 1960, the USS Enterprise, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was launched at Newport News, Virginia. “The Howdy Doody Show” ended a nearly 13-year run with its final telecast on NBC.
In 1969, the trial of the Chicago Eight (later seven) began. (Five were later convicted of crossing state lines to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic convention, but the convictions were ultimately overturned.)
In 1976, former hostage Patricia Hearst was sentenced to seven years in prison for her part in a 1974 bank robbery in San Francisco carried out by the Symbionese Liberation Army. (Hearst was released after 22 months after receiving clemency from President Jimmy Carter.)
In 1991, children’s author Theodor Seuss Geisel (GY’-zul), better known as Dr. Seuss, died in La Jolla, Calif., at age 87.
In 1996, the United States and 70 other countries became the first to sign a treaty at the United Nations to end all testing and development of nuclear weapons. (The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty has yet to enter into force because of the refusal so far of eight nations — including the United States — to ratify it.)
In 2015, a stampede and crush of Muslim pilgrims occurred at an intersection near a holy site in Saudi Arabia; The Associated Press estimated that more than 2,400 people were killed, while the official Saudi toll stood at 769.
In 2019, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi launched a formal impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump; the probe focused partly on whether Trump abused his presidential powers and sought help from the government of Ukraine to undermine Democratic foe Joe Biden. (Trump would be acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate on two impeachment charges.)
Ten years ago: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev proposed Vladimir Putin as a presidential candidate for 2012, paving the way for Putin’s return to office four years after he was legally forced to step aside. NASA’s dead six-ton Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite fell to Earth, 20 years after being deployed from the space shuttle Discovery.
Five years ago: The new Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture opened its doors in Washington, D.C. Police arrested a suspect in a shooting at the Cascade Mall in Burlington, Washington. The shooting a day earlier left five people dead.
One year ago: Protesters again gathered in Louisville, Kentucky, and in New York, Philadelphia and other cities to protest the decision by a Kentucky grand jury not to indict the officers involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor. President Donald Trump’s refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he were to lose the November election drew swift blowback from both parties in Congress, with Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell saying that the winner “will be inaugurated on January 20th.” Trump was booed by spectators in the streets near the Supreme Court as he arrived to pay respects to the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Florida prosecutors dropped a misdemeanor charge against New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft after courts blocked their use of video that allegedly showed him paying for massage parlor sex.
Today’s Birthdays: R&B singer Sonny Turner (The Platters) is 82. Singer Phyllis “Jiggs” Allbut Sirico (The Angels) is 79. Political commentator Lou Dobbs is 76. Pro and College Football Hall of Famer Joe Greene is 75. Actor Gordon Clapp is 73. Actor Harriet Walter is 71. Songwriter Holly Knight is 65. Actor Kevin Sorbo is 63. Actor-writer Nia Vardalos is 59. Rock musician Shawn Crahan (AKA Clown) (Slipknot) is 52. Country musician Marty Mitchell is 52. Actor Megan Ward is 52. Singer-musician Marty Cintron (No Mercy) is 50. Contemporary Christian musician Juan DeVevo (Casting Crowns) is 46. Actor Ian Bohen is 45. Actor Justin Bruening is 42. Olympic gold medal gymnast Paul Hamm (hahm) is 39. Actor Erik Stocklin is 39. Actor Spencer Treat Clark is 34. Actor Grey Damon is 34. Actor Kyle Sullivan is 33. Actor Ben Platt is 28.
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