Today in History
Today is Tuesday, Sept. 12, the 255th day of 2023. There are 110 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Sept. 12, 2013, Voyager 1, launched 36 years earlier, became the first man-made spacecraft ever to leave the solar system.
On this date:
In 1913, Olympic legend Jesse Owens was born in Oakville, Alabama.
In 1914, during World War I, the First Battle of the Marne ended in an Allied victory against Germany.
In 1958, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Cooper v. Aaron, unanimously ruled that Arkansas officials who were resisting public school desegregation orders could not disregard the high court’s rulings.
In 1959, the Soviet Union launched its Luna 2 space probe, which made a crash landing on the moon. The TV Western series “Bonanza” premiered on NBC.
In 1962, in a speech at Rice University in Houston, President John F. Kennedy reaffirmed his support for the manned space program, declaring: “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”
In 1977, South African Black student leader and anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko, 30, died while in police custody, triggering an international outcry.
In 1987, reports surfaced that Democratic presidential candidate Joseph Biden had borrowed, without attribution, passages of a speech by British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock (KIHN’-ik) for one of his own campaign speeches. (The Kinnock report, along with other damaging revelations, prompted Biden to drop his White House bid.)
In 1995, the Belarusian military shot down a hydrogen balloon during an international race, killing its two American pilots, John Stuart-Jervis and Alan Fraenckel.
In 2001, stunned rescue workers continued to search for bodies in the World Trade Center’s smoking rubble a day after a terrorist attack that shut down the financial capital, badly damaged the Pentagon and left thousands dead. President George W. Bush, branding the attacks in New York and Washington “acts of war,” spoke of “a monumental struggle of good versus evil” and said that “good will prevail.”
In 2003, in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, U.S. forces mistakenly opened fire on vehicles carrying police, killing eight of them.
In 2005, Federal Emergency Management Agency director Mike Brown resigned, three days after losing his onsite command of the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.
In 2008, a Metrolink commuter train struck a freight train head-on in Los Angeles, killing 25 people.
In 2011, Novak Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal to win his first U.S. Open championship.
In 2021, Max Scherzer of the Los Angeles Dodgers became the 19th pitcher in major league history with 3,000 career strikeouts.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Linda Gray is 83. Singer Maria Muldaur is 81. Actor Joe Pantoliano is 72. Singer-musician Gerry Beckley (America) is 71. Original MTV VJ Nina Blackwood is 71. Former Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is 67. Actor Rachel Ward is 66. Actor Amy Yasbeck is 61. Actor Darren E. Burrows is 57. Rock singer-musician Ben Folds (Ben Folds Five) is 57. Actor-comedian Louis (loo-ee) C.K. is 56. Rock musician Larry LaLonde (Primus) is 55. Golfer Angel Cabrera is 54. Actor-singer Will Chase is 53. Actor Josh Hopkins is 53. Country singer Jennifer Nettles is 49. Actor Lauren Stamile (stuh-MEE’-lay) is 47. Rapper 2 Chainz is 46. Actor Kelly Jenrette is 45. Actor Ben McKenzie is 45. Singer Ruben Studdard is 45. Basketball Hall of Fame player Yao Ming is 43. Singer-actor Jennifer Hudson is 42. Actor Alfie Allen is 37. Actor Emmy Rossum is 37. Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman is 34. Country singer Kelsea Ballerini is 30. Actor Colin Ford is 27.
