Today in History
Today is Monday, Sept. 11, the 254th day of 2023. There are 111 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Sept. 11, 2001, nearly 3,000 people were killed as 19 al-Qaida hijackers seized control of four jetliners, sending two of the planes into New York’s World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon and the fourth into a field in western Pennsylvania.
On this date:
In 1789, Alexander Hamilton was appointed the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.
In 1814, an American fleet scored a decisive victory over the British in the Battle of Lake Champlain in the War of 1812.
In 1936, Boulder Dam — later renamed the Hoover Dam — began operation as President Franklin D. Roosevelt pressed a key in Washington to signal the startup of the dam’s first hydroelectric generator.
In 1941, groundbreaking took place for the Pentagon. In an anti-Semitic speech, Charles A. Lindbergh told an America First rally in Des Moines, Iowa, that “the British, the Jewish and the Roosevelt administration” were pushing the United States toward war.
In 1954, the Miss America pageant made its network TV debut on ABC.
In 1967, the comedy-variety program “The Carol Burnett Show” premiered on CBS.
In 1972, the Munich Summer Olympics, where 11 Israeli athletes and several others were killed, ended.
In 1973, Chilean President Salvador Allende (ah-YEN’-day) died during a violent military coup.
In 1997, Scotland voted to create its own Parliament after 290 years of union with England.
In 2006, in a prime-time address, President George W. Bush invoked the memory of the victims of the 9/11 attacks as he staunchly defended the war in Iraq, though he acknowledged that Saddam Hussein was not responsible for the attacks.
In 2008, presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama put aside politics as they visited ground zero together on the anniversary of 9/11 to honor its victims.
In 2012, a mob armed with guns and grenades launched a fiery nightlong attack on a U.S. diplomatic outpost and a CIA annex in Benghazi, Libya, killing U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans
In 2016, Hillary Clinton abruptly left a 9/11 anniversary event at ground zero in New York after feeling “overheated,” according to her campaign, and hours later her doctor disclosed that the Democratic presidential nominee had pneumonia.
In 2022, Javier Marías, Spain’s most prestigious novelist for most of his life, died at age 70.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Earl Holliman is 95. Comedian Tom Dreesen is 84. Movie director Brian De Palma is 83. Singer-actor-dancer Lola Falana is 81. Rock musician Mickey Hart (The Dead) is 80. Guitarist Leo Kottke is 78. Actor Phillip Alford is 75. Actor Amy Madigan is 73. Rock singer-musician Tommy Shaw (Styx) is 70. Sports reporter Lesley Visser is 70. Actor Reed Birney is 69. Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh (jay) Johnson is 66. Musician Jon Moss (Culture Club) is 66. Actor Scott Patterson is 65. Rock musician Mick Talbot (The Style Council) is 65. Actor/director Roxann Dawson is 65. Actor John Hawkes is 64. Actor Anne Ramsay is 63. Actor Virginia Madsen is 62. Actor Kristy McNichol is 61. Musician-composer Moby is 58. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is 58. Business reporter Maria Bartiromo is 56. Singer Harry Connick Jr. is 56. Actor Taraji (tuh-RAH’-jee) P. Henson is 53. Actor Laura Wright is 53. Rock musician Jeremy Popoff (Lit) is 52. Blogger Markos Moulitsas is 52. Singer Brad Fischetti (LFO) is 48. Rock musician Jon Buckland (Coldplay) is 46. Rapper Ludacris is 46. Rock singer Ben Lee is 45. Actor Ariana Richards is 44. Country singer Charles Kelley (Lady A) is 42. Actor Elizabeth Henstridge is 36. Actor Tyler Hoechlin (HEK’-lihn) is 36. Actor Mackenzie Aladjem is 22.
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