Today in History
Today is Saturday, Sept. 16, the 259th day of 2023. There are 106 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlights in History:
On Sept. 16, 2001, President George W. Bush, speaking on the South Lawn of the White House, said there was “no question” Osama bin Laden and his followers were the prime suspects in the Sept. 11 attacks; Bush pledged the government would “find them, get them running and hunt them down.”
On this date:
In 1630, the Massachusetts village of Shawmut changed its name to Boston.
In 1810, Mexico began its revolt against Spanish rule.
In 1908, General Motors was founded in Flint, Michigan, by William C. Durant.
In 1940, Samuel T. Rayburn of Texas was elected Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
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 1972, “The Bob Newhart Show” premiered on CBS.
In 1974, President Gerald R. Ford announced a conditional amnesty program for Vietnam war deserters and draft-evaders.
In 1982, the massacre of between 1,200 and 1,400 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 1987, two dozen countries signed the Montreal Protocol, a treaty designed to save the Earth’s ozone layer by calling on nations to reduce emissions of harmful chemicals by the year 2000.
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 shot dead by police.
In 2016, after five years of promoting a false conspiracy theory about Barack Obama’s birthplace, Republican Donald Trump abruptly reversed course, acknowledging that the president was born in America.
In 2018, at least 17 people were confirmed dead from Hurricane Florence as catastrophic flooding spread across the Carolinas.
In 2021, Jane Powell, a star of Hollywood’s golden age musicals, died at her Connecticut home at age 92.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Janis Paige is 101. Bluesman Billy Boy Arnold is 88. Movie director Jim McBride is 82. Actor Linda Miller is 81. R&B singer Betty Kelley (Martha & the Vandellas) is 79. Musician Kenney Jones (Small Faces; Faces; The Who) is 75. Actor Susan Ruttan is 75. Rock musician Ron Blair (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers; Mudcrutch) is 75. Actor Ed Begley Jr. is 74. Country singer David Bellamy (The Bellamy Brothers) is 73. Actor Mickey Rourke is 71. Actor-comedian Lenny Clarke is 70. Actor Kurt Fuller is 70. Jazz musician Earl Klugh is 70. Actor Christopher Rich is 70. TV personality Mark McEwen is 69. Baseball Hall of Famer Robin Yount is 68. Magician David Copperfield is 67. Country singer-songwriter Terry McBride is 65. Actor Jennifer Tilly is 65. Retired MLB All-Star pitcher Orel Hershiser is 65. Baseball Hall of Famer Tim Raines is 64. Actor Jayne Brook is 63. Singer Richard Marx is 60. Comedian Molly Shannon is 59. Singer Marc Anthony is 55. News anchor/talk show host Tamron Hall is 53. Comedian-actor Amy Poehler is 52. Actor Toks Olagundoye (tohks oh-lah-GOON’-doh-yay) is 48. Country singer Matt Stillwell is 48. Singer Musiq (MYOO’-sihk) is 46. Actor Michael Mosley is 45. Rapper Flo Rida is 44. Actor Alexis Bledel is 42. Actor Sabrina Bryan is 39. Actor Madeline Zima is 38. Actor Ian Harding is 37. Actor Kyla Pratt is 37. Actor Daren Kagasoff is 36. Rock singer Teddy Geiger is 35. Actor-dancer Bailey De Young is 34. Rock singer-musician Nick Jonas (The Jonas Brothers) is 31. Actor Elena Kampouris is 26.
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