Today is Monday, Sept. 16, the 260th day of 2024. There are 106 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On Sept. 16, 1893, the largest land run in U.S. history occurred as more than 100,000 white settlers rushed to claim over more than 6 million acres of land in what is now northern Oklahoma.
Also on this date:
In 1810, Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla called on his parishioners to join him in a rebellion against Spanish rule, marking the beginning of the Mexican War of Independence.
In 1908, General Motors was founded in Flint, Michigan, by William C. Durant.
In 1940, Samuel T. Rayburn of Texas was first elected speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; he would hold the post for a record 17 years, spanning three separate terms.
In 1966, the Metropolitan Opera officially opened its new opera house at New York’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts with the world premiere of Samuel Barber’s “Antony and Cleopatra.”
In 1974, President Gerald R. Ford signed a proclamation announcing a conditional amnesty program for Vietnam war deserters and draft evaders.
In 1982, the massacre of more than 1,300 Palestinian men, women and children at the hands of Israeli-allied Christian Phalange militiamen began in west Beirut’s Sabra and Shatila refugee camps.
In 2007, O.J. Simpson was arrested in the alleged armed robbery of sports memorabilia collectors in Las Vegas. (Simpson was later convicted of kidnapping and armed robbery and sentenced to nine to 33 years in prison; he was released in 2017.)
In 2013, Aaron Alexis, a former U.S. Navy reservist, went on a shooting rampage inside the Washington Navy Yard, killing 12 people before being fatally shot police.
In 2018, at least 17 people were confirmed dead from Hurricane Florence as catastrophic flooding spread across the Carolinas.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor George Chakiris is 92. Actor Ed Begley Jr. is 75. Author-historian-filmmaker Henry Louis Gates Jr. is 74. Country singer David Bellamy (The Bellamy Brothers) is 74. Actor Mickey Rourke is 72. Jazz musician Earl Klugh is 71. TV personality Mark McEwen is 70. Baseball Hall of Famer Robin Yount is 69. Magician David Copperfield is 68. Actor Jennifer Tilly is 66. Retired MLB All-Star pitcher Orel Hershiser is 66. Baseball Hall of Famer Tim Raines is 65. Singer Richard Marx is 61. Comedian Molly Shannon is 60. Singer Marc Anthony is 56. News anchor/talk show host Tamron Hall is 54. Comedian-actor Amy Poehler is 53. Singer-songwriter Musiq Soulchild is 47. Rapper Flo Rida is 45. Actor Alexis Bledel is 43. Actor Madeline Zima is 39. Actor Max Minghella is 39. Rock singer-musician Nick Jonas (The Jonas Brothers) is 32. Actor Chase Stokes is 32. Golfer Bryson Dechambeau is 31.