Today in History

Today is Thursday, September 18, the 261st day of 2014. There are 104 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On September 18, A.D. 14, the Roman Senate officially confirmed Tiberius as the second emperor of the Roman Empire, succeeding the late Augustus.

On this date:

In 1759, the French formally surrendered Quebec to the British.

In 1793, President George Washington laid the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol.

In 1810, Chile made its initial declaration of independence from Spain with the forming of a national junta.

In 1927, the Columbia Phonograph Broadcasting System (later CBS) made its on-air debut with a basic network of 16 radio stations.

In 1931, an explosion in the Chinese city of Mukden damaged a section of Japanese-owned railway track; Japan, blaming Chinese nationalists, invaded Manchuria the next day.

In 1947, the National Security Act, which created a National Military Establishment, went into effect.

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

In 1964, Irish playwright Sean O'Casey, 84, died in Torquay, England. The situation comedy "The Addams Family," inspired by the Charles Addams cartoons, premiered on ABC-TV.

In 1970, rock star Jimi Hendrix died in London at age 27.

In 1975, newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was captured by the FBI in San Francisco, 19 months after being kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army.

In 1984, retired U.S. Air Force Col. Joe Kittinger became the first person to complete a solo balloon flight across the Atlantic Ocean as he landed in Italy, four days after leaving Maine.

In 1994, tennis star Vitas Gerulaitis, 40, was found dead in the guest cottage of a friend's home in Southampton, New York, of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning.

Ten years ago: A divided U.N. Security Council approved a resolution threatening oil sanctions against Sudan unless the government reined in Arab militias blamed for a killing rampage in Darfur. Hollywood divorce lawyer Marvin Mitchelson died in Beverly Hills, California, at age 76. Pioneer adult filmmaker Russ Meyer died in Los Angeles at age 82. Miss Alabama Deidre Downs was crowned Miss America. Pop singer Britney Spears married her fiance, dancer Kevin Federline, in a surprise ceremony. (The couple divorced nearly three years later.)

Five years ago: Tens of thousands of protesters rallied in defiance of Iran's Islamic leadership, clashing with police and confronting state-run anti-Israel rallies. Writer-editor Irving Kristol, known as the godfather of neoconservatism, died at 89. The final episode of "Guiding Light" aired on CBS, ending a 72-year run on radio and television.

One year ago: Syrian President Bashar Assad, in a Fox News Channel interview, said a United Nations report finding "clear and convincing evidence" sarin nerve gas was used in Syria painted an "unrealistic" account, and denied his government had orchestrated the attack. Former heavyweight boxing champion Ken Norton, 70, died in Las Vegas.

Today's Birthdays: Singer Jimmie Rodgers is 81. Actor Robert Blake is 81. Former Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, is 81. Actor Fred Willard is 81. Actor Eddie Jones is 80. Gospel singer Bobby Jones is 76. Singer Frankie Avalon is 74. Actress Beth Grant is 65. Rock musician Kerry Livgren is 65. Actress Anna Deavere Smith is 64. Basketball Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino is 62. College Football Hall of Famer and retired NFL player Billy Sims is 59. Movie director Mark Romanek is 55. Baseball Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg is 55. Alt-country-rock musician Mark Olson is 53. Singer Joanne Catherall (Human League) is 52. Actress Holly Robinson Peete is 50. Rhythm-and-blues singer Ricky Bell (Bell Biv Devoe and New Edition) is 47. Actress Aisha Tyler is 44. Racing cyclist Lance Armstrong is 43. Opera singer Anna Netrebko is 43. Actress Jada Pinkett Smith is 43. Actor James Marsden is 41. Actress Emily Rutherfurd is 40. Actor Travis Schuldt is 40. Rapper Xzibit is 40. Comedian-actor Jason Sudeikis is 39. Actress Sophina Brown is 38. Actor Barrett Foa is 37. TV correspondent Sara Haines is 37. Actress Alison Lohman is 35. Actors Brandon and Taylor Porter are 21. Actor C.J. Sanders is 18.

Thought for Today: "It's my rule never to lose me temper till it would be detrimental to keep it." -- Sean O'Casey (1880-1964).

Copyright 2014, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.