Today In History

Associated Press

On Sept. 18, 1961, United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold was killed in a plane crash in northern Rhodesia.

On this date in:
1759- The French surrendered Quebec to the British.
1793- President George Washington laid the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol.
1810- Chile declared its independence from Spain.
1850- Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, which allowed slaveowners to reclaim slaves who had escaped to other states.
1851-The first edition of The New York Times was published.
1905- Actress Greta Garbo was born in Stockholm, Sweden.
1927- The Columbia Phonograph Broadcasting System (later CBS) debuted with a network of 16 radio stations.
1947- The National Security Act, which unified the Army, Navy and newly formed Air Force into a national military establishment, went into effect.
1970- Rock musician Jimi Hendrix died of a drug overdose at age 27.
1975- Newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was captured by the FBI in San Francisco, 19 months after being kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army.
1997- Coopers & Lybrand and Price Waterhouse agreed to merge to create the world’s biggest accounting firm.
2009- Tens of thousands of protesters rallied in defiance of Iran’s Islamic leadership, clashing with police and confronting state-run anti-Israel rallies.

Today’s Birthdays:
Comedian-actor Jason Sudeikis (“Saturday Night Live”) turns 40 years old today.
Robert Bennett Former U.S. senator R-Utah 82
Robert Blake, Actor (“Baretta”), 82
Jimmie Rodgers, Singer, 82
Fred Willard, Actor, 82
Frankie Avalon, Singer, 75
Anna Deavere Smith, Actress, 65
Rick Pitino, College basketball coach, 63
Ryne Sandberg, Baseball Hall of Famer, 56
Holly Robinson Peete, Actress, 51
Aisha Tyler, Actress, 45
Jada Pinkett Smith, Actress, 44
James Marsden, Actor, 42
Alison Lohman, Actress, 36

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