Today in History

Today in History Today is Monday, Sept. 20, the 263rd day of 2021. There are 102 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Sept. 20, 2001, during an address to a joint session of Congress, President George W. Bush announced a new Cabinet-level office to fortify homeland security and named Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge its director. On this date: In 1519, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his crew set out from Spain on five ships to find a western passage to the Spice Islands. (Magellan was killed enroute, 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 Cannes Film Festival, lasting 16 days, opened in France. In 1962, James Meredith, a Black student, was blocked from enrolling at the University of Mississippi by Democratic Gov. Ross R. Barnett. (Meredith was later admitted.) In 1967, the Cunard liner RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 was christened by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II in Clydebank, Scotland. In 1973, in their so-called ‘œbattle of the sexes,’� tennis star Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3, at the Houston Astrodome. In 1976, Playboy magazine released an interview in which Democratic presidential nominee Jimmy Carter admitted he’d ‘œlooked on a lot of women with lust.’� In 1984, a suicide car bomber attacked the U.S. Embassy annex in north Beirut, killing at least 14 people, including two Americans and 12 Lebanese. The family sitcoms ‘œThe Cosby Show’� and ‘œWho’s the Boss?’� premiered on NBC and ABC, respectively. In 1995, in a move that stunned Wall Street, AT&T Corporation announced it was splitting into three companies. In 2000, Independent Counsel Robert Ray announced the end of the Whitewater investigation, saying there was insufficient evidence to warrant charges against President and Mrs. Clinton. In 2004, CBS News apologized for a ‘œmistake in judgment’� in its story questioning President George W. Bush’s National Guard service, saying it could not vouch for the authenticity of documents featured in the report. In 2017, Hurricane Maria, the strongest hurricane to hit Puerto Rico in more than 80 years, struck the island, wiping out as much as 75 percent of the power distribution lines and causing an island-wide blackout. Ten years ago: Repeal of the U.S. military’s 18-year-old ‘œdon’t ask, don’t tell’� compromise took effect, allowing gay and lesbian service members to serve openly. A suicide bomber posing as a Taliban peace envoy assassinated former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani (boor-HAHN’-uh-deen ruh-BAH’-nee). Five years ago: In their final speeches at the annual gathering of world leaders, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon railed against leaders who kept ‘œfeeding the war machine’� in Syria, while U.S. President Barack Obama said there was no military solution to the five-year conflict. A Black police officer fatally shot Keith Lamont Scott, a Black man, at a Charlotte, North Carolina, apartment complex, prompting days of civil unrest. (Charlotte-Mecklenburg police later said that the shooting was justified.)