Today is Tuesday, September 20th, the 263rd day of 2022. There are 102 days left in the year.
Today’s highlight in history:
On September 20, 1973, tennis star Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 in their so-called “battle of the sexes” at the Houston Astrodome.
On this date:
In 1519, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his crew of five ships set out from Spain to find a western passage to the Spice Islands. (Magellan was killed en route, but one of his ships eventually circled the world.)
In 1881, Chester A. Arthur was sworn in as the 21st President of the United States, succeeding the assassinated James A. Garfield.
In 1946, the first 16-day Cannes Film Festival opened in France.
In 1962, James Meredith, a black student, was barred from enrolling at the University of Mississippi by Democratic Governor Ross R. Barnett. (Meredith was later admitted.)
In 1964, The Beatles wrapped up their first full US tour with a charity concert at the Paramount Theater in New York.
In 1967, the Cunard liner RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 was christened by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II in Clydebank, Scotland.
In 1973, singer-songwriter Jim Croce died in a plane crash near Natchitoches, Louisiana; he was 30
In 1995, AT&T Corporation announced its split into three companies in a move that stunned Wall Street.
In 2000, independent attorney Robert Ray announced the end of the Whitewater Inquiry, saying there was insufficient evidence to warrant indictments against President and Mrs. Clinton.
In 2001, during an address to a joint session of Congress, President George W. Bush announced a new cabinet-level office to strengthen homeland security and appointed Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge as its director.
In 2011, the repeal of the US military’s 18-year “don’t ask, don’t tell” compromise, allowing gay and lesbian military personnel to serve openly, went into effect.
In 2019, Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, the site of the country’s worst commercial nuclear accident in 1979, was closed by its owner after 45 years of producing electricity.
Ten years ago: On a day when thousands of angry Pakistanis were trying to get to the US Embassy in Islamabad, the embassy aired an ad on Pakistani television in which President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton denounced an anti-Islamic video that was produced in the United States. The space shuttle Endeavor landed on a Boeing 747 at Edwards Air Force Base in California en route to her future retirement home, the California Science Center in Los Angeles.
Five years ago: Hurricane Maria, the strongest hurricane to hit Puerto Rico in more than 80 years, struck the island, destroying up to 75 percent of power distribution lines and causing an island-wide blackout. Rescuers were working flat out at a collapsed school in Mexico City, where a girl was believed to be trapped under rubble after a deadly earthquake; It was later determined that no more children were trapped in the rubble.
A year ago: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau won his third consecutive election but did not get the parliamentary majority he wanted; Trudeau had voiced the concerns of Canadians, who were increasingly angered by those who refused to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Pfizer Announced That Its COVID-19 Vaccine Is Effective For Children Aged 5 To 11; The vaccine was already available to everyone aged 12 and over. (U.S. health officials would approve the vaccine for children ages 5 and older in November 2021.) In a major relaxation of pandemic travel restrictions, the White House said it would allow foreigners to fly into the country starting in November if they had proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test. US officials said more than 6,000 Haitians and other migrants have been evicted from a camp in a Texas border town; Officials defended a response that included immediately deporting the migrants to their impoverished Caribbean country.
Birthdays Today: Actress Sophia Loren is 88. Rock musician Chuck Panozzo is 74. Actor Tony Denison is 73. Actress Debbi Morgan is 71. Jazz musician Peter White is 68. Actor Betsy Brantley is 67. Actor Gary Cole is 66. TV news correspondent Deborah Roberts is 62 Country rock musician Joseph Shreve (Flynnville Train) is 61 Rock musician Randy Bradbury (Pennywise) is 58 Actress Kristen Johnston is 55 Rock singers Gunnar and Matthew Nelson are 55 Rock musician Ben Shepherd is 54 Actor Enuka Okuma is 50. Actor-model Moon Bloodgood is 47. Actor Jon Bernthal is 46. Singer The-Dream is 45. Actor Charlie Weber is 44. Rock musician Rick Woolstenhulme (WOOL’-sten-hyoolm) (Lifehouse) is 43 Rapper Yung Joc is 42. Actor Crystle Stewart is 41. Actor Aldis Hodge is 36. Rock drummer Jack Lawless is 35. Actor Malachi (MAL’-ah-ky) Kirby is 33.
