In 1857, the song “Jingle Bells” by James Pierpont was copyrighted under its original title, “One Horse Open Sleigh.” (The song, while considered a Christmastime classic, was actually written for Thanksgiving.)
(Thinkstock)
Thinkstock
In 1908, General Motors was founded in Flint, Michigan, by William C. Durant.
This 1908 Cadillac was produced the year GM was formed.
(AP Photo)
AP Photo
In 1974, President Gerald R. Ford announced a conditional amnesty program for Vietnam war deserters and draft-evaders.
Here, President Gerald Ford signs a document proclaiming conditional amnesty for Vietnam War deserters and draft evaders during a signing ceremony at the White House, Sept. 16, 1974.
(AP Photo)
AP Photo
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.)
Here, O.J. Simpson is transferred to the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas, in this Sunday, Sept. 16, 2007 file photo, after being arrested in connection with an alleged armed robbery in Las Vegas. Simpson wanted armed men with him when he confronted two sports memorabilia dealers, according to a co-defendant who pleaded guilty and has agreed to testify for the prosecution in the armed robbery case.
(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
AP Photo/Jae C. Hong
In 1994, a federal jury in Anchorage, Alaska, ordered Exxon Corp. to pay $5 billion in punitive damages for the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill (the U.S Supreme Court later reduced that amount to $507.5 million).
Exxon Valdez oil tanker along side The Exxon Baton Rouge in Prince William, Alaska after it ran aground on 26 March, 1989 creating an oil spill.
(AP Photo)
AP Photo
In 2007, contractors for the U.S. security firm Blackwater USA guarding a U.S. State Department convoy in Baghdad opened fire on civilian vehicles, mistakenly believing they were under attack; 14 Iraqis died.
FILE – In this March 31, 2004 file photo, Iraqis chant anti-American slogans as charred bodies hang from a bridge over the Euphrates River in Fallujah, west of Baghdad. The private security company Blackwater USA triggered a major battle in the Iraq war in 2004 by sending an unprepared team of guards into the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, a move that led to their horrific deaths and a violent response by U.S. forces, according to a congressional report.
(AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed, FIle)
AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed, FIle
In 2008, Gen. David Petraeus stepped aside as Gen. Ray Odierno took over as the top American commander of the Iraq war.
FILE – In this June 23, 2011 file photo, then-CIA Director-desigate Gen. David Petraeus testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Pentagon says it will not demote retired Army Gen. David Petraeus, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified information while CIA director, an incident stemming from an affair with his biographer.
(AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)
AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File
In 2013, Aaron Alexis, a former U.S. Navy reservist, went on a shooting rampage inside the Washington Navy Yard, killing 12 victims before being shot dead by police.
FILE – In this Sept. 19, 2013 file photo, military personnel walks past an entrance to the Washington Navy Yard in Washington. Two years after the shooting at the Washington Navy Yard, families whose loved ones died are filing multimillion dollar lawsuits against companies they say could have prevented it from happening.
(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
On Sept. 16, 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.
On this date:
In 1810, Mexico began its revolt against Spanish rule.
In 1857, the song “Jingle Bells” by James Pierpont was copyrighted under its original title, “One Horse Open Sleigh.” (The song, while considered a Christmastime classic, was actually written for Thanksgiving.)
In 1893, more than 100,000 settlers swarmed onto a section of land in Oklahoma known as the “Cherokee Strip.”
In 1908, General Motors was founded in Flint, Michigan, by William C. Durant.
In 1919, the American Legion received a national charter from Congress.
In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Selective Training and Service Act. Samuel T. Rayburn of Texas was elected Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
In 1964, the rock-and-roll show “Shindig!” premiered on ABC-TV.
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 1994, a federal jury in Anchorage, Alaska, ordered Exxon Corp. to pay $5 billion in punitive damages for the 1989 Exxon Valdez (val-DEEZ’) oil spill (the U.S Supreme Court later reduced that amount to $507.5 million). Two astronauts from the space shuttle Discovery went on the first untethered spacewalk in ten years.
In 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.”
In 2007, contractors for the U.S. security firm Blackwater USA guarding a U.S. State Department convoy in Baghdad opened fire on civilian vehicles, mistakenly believing they were under attack; 14 Iraqis died. 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.)
Ten years ago: Gen. David Petraeus stepped aside as Gen. Ray Odierno took over as the top American commander of the Iraq war. President George W. Bush got a firsthand look at the fury that Hurricane Ike had unleashed on the Gulf Coast with stops in Houston and Galveston, Texas, and a helicopter tour.
Five years ago: Aaron Alexis, a former U.S. Navy reservist, went on a shooting rampage inside the Washington Navy Yard, killing 12 victims before being shot dead by police.
One year ago: Tropical Storm Maria, which would batter the Caribbean as a powerful hurricane, formed in the Atlantic. British police said they had arrested an 18-year-old man in connection with the bomb that partially exploded a day earlier in a London subway car. California lawmakers voted to move the state’s presidential primary up by about three months to March, a move that would force candidates to mount expensive campaigns earlier.
