Today is Monday, Sept. 26, the 269th day of 2005. There are 96 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Sept. 26, 1960, the first televised debate between presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon took place in Chicago.
On this date:
In 1777, British troops occupied Philadelphia during the American Revolution.
In 1789, Thomas Jefferson was appointed America’s first secretary of state.
In 1888, poet T.S. Eliot was born in St. Louis, Mo.
In 1914, the Federal Trade Commission was established.
In 1950, United Nations troops recaptured the South Korean capital of Seoul from the North Koreans.
In 1952, philosopher George Santayana died in Rome at age 88.
In 1955, following word that President Eisenhower had suffered a heart attack, the New York Stock Exchange saw its worst price decline since 1929.
In 1980, the Cuban government abruptly closed Mariel Harbor, ending the “freedom flotilla” of Cuban refugees that had begun the previous April.
In 1986, William H. Rehnquist was sworn in as the 16th chief justice of the United States, while Antonin Scalia joined the Supreme Court as its 103rd member.
In 1991, four men and four women began a two-year stay inside a sealed-off structure in Oracle, Ariz., called Biosphere Two. (They emerged from the Biosphere on this date in 1993.)
Ten years ago: Bosnia’s warring factions agreed on guidelines for elections and a future government. The prosecution began its closing argument in the murder trial of O.J. Simpson.
Five years ago: Slobodan Milosevic conceded that his challenger, Vojislav Kostunica, had finished first in Yugoslavia’s presidential election and declared a runoff — a move that prompted mass protests leading to Milosevic’s ouster. At the Sydney Olympics, the U.S. softball team completed a stunning comeback by edging Japan 2-1 in extra innings to win its second straight gold medal. Actor Richard Mulligan died at age 67.
One year ago: Hurricane Jeanne struck near Stuart, Fla., with 120 mph winds, causing an estimated six fatalities. Pakistani forces killed a suspected top al-Qaida operative wanted for his alleged role in the 2002 kidnapping and beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Israel assassinated Izz Eldine Subhi Sheik Khalil, a Palestinian militant from Hamas, with a car bomb in Damascus, Syria.
Today’s Birthdays: Fitness expert Jack LaLanne is 91. Actor Philip Bosco is 75. Country singer David Frizzell is 64. Actor Kent McCord is 63. Television host Anne Robinson is 61. Singer Bryan Ferry is 60. Former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christie Whitman is 59. Singer Lynn Anderson is 58. Singer Olivia Newton-John is 57. Actress Mary Beth Hurt is 57. Actor James Keane is 53. Rock singer-musician Cesar Rosas (Los Lobos) is 51. Country singer Carlene Carter is 50. Actress Linda Hamilton is 49. Country singer Doug Supernaw is 45. Recording executive Andre Harrell is 45. Actress Melissa Sue Anderson is 43. Actor Patrick Bristow is 43. Rock musician Al Pitrelli is 43. Singer Tracey Thorn (Everything But The Girl) is 43. Weather reporter Jillian Barberie is 39. Actor Jim Caviezel is 37. Singer Shawn Stockman (Boyz II Men) is 33. Jazz musician Nicholas Payton is 32. Actor Mark Famiglietti is 26. Singer-actress Christina Milian is 24. Tennis player Serena Williams is 24.
Thought for Today: “The poet’s voice need not merely be the record of man; it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail.” — William Faulkner (1897-1962).
