Today in History

Today is Wednesday, Sept. 24, the 267th day of 2014. There are 98 days left in the year. The Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, begins at sunset.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Sept. 24, 1789, President George Washington signed a Judiciary Act establishing America's federal court system and creating the post of attorney general.

On this date:

In 1869, thousands of businessmen were ruined in a Wall Street panic known as "Black Friday" after financiers Jay Gould and James Fisk attempted to corner the gold market.

In 1890, the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Wilford Woodruff, wrote a manifesto renouncing the practice of polygamy.

In 1929, Lt. James H. Doolittle guided a Consolidated NY-2 Biplane over Mitchel Field in New York in the first all-instrument flight.

In 1934, Babe Ruth made his farewell appearance as a player with the New York Yankees in a game against the Boston Red Sox. (The Sox won, 5-0.)

In 1948, Mildred Gillars, accused of being Nazi wartime radio propagandist "Axis Sally," pleaded not guilty in Washington, D.C. to charges of treason. (Gillars, later convicted, ended up serving 12 years in prison.)

In 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower suffered a heart attack while on vacation in Denver.

In 1957, the Los Angeles-bound Brooklyn Dodgers played their last game at Ebbets Field, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-0.

In 1960, the USS Enterprise, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was launched at Newport News, Virginia. "The Howdy Doody Show" ended a nearly 13-year run with its final telecast on NBC.

In 1964, the situation comedy "The Munsters" premiered on CBS television. The adventures series "Daniel Boone," starring Fess Parker, debuted on NBC.

In 1976, former hostage Patricia Hearst was sentenced to seven years in prison for her part in a 1974 bank robbery in San Francisco carried out by the Symbionese Liberation Army. (Hearst was released after 22 months after receiving clemency from President Jimmy Carter.)

In 1988, Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson won the men's 100-meter dash at the Seoul Summer Olympics -- but he was disqualified three days later for using anabolic steroids. Members of the eastern Massachusetts Episcopal diocese elected Barbara C. Harris the first female bishop in the church's history.

In 1991, kidnappers in Lebanon freed British hostage Jack Mann after holding him captive for more than two years. Children's author Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as "Dr. Seuss," died in La Jolla, California, at age 87.

Ten years ago: Iraq's interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, appealed to world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly to unite behind his country's effort to rein in spiraling violence, lighten the foreign debt and improve security ahead of the January elections. Author Francoise Sagan died in Honfleur, France, at age 69.

Five years ago: With President Barack Obama presiding, the U.N. Security Council unanimously endorsed a sweeping strategy aimed at halting the spread of nuclear weapons and ultimately eliminating them. The heads of the Group of 20 nations began a two-day meeting in Pittsburgh aimed at making sure a fledgling global recovery remained on track. Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick tapped former Democratic National Chairman Paul G. Kirk Jr. to temporarily fill the Senate seat held by the late Edward M. Kennedy. Susan Atkins, 61, a member of the Charles Manson "family" who admitted stabbing actress Sharon Tate to death in the cult's 1969 murder rampage, died in prison at Chowchilla, California.

One year ago: President Barack Obama and new Iranian President Hasan Rouhani appeared separately before the U.N. General Assembly, with both leaders speaking up for improved relations and a resumption of stalled nuclear talks, but giving no ground on long-held positions that had scuttled previous attempts to break the impasse. Kenya's president proclaimed victory over the terrorists who'd stormed a Nairobi mall following a bloody four-day siege in which dozens of civilians were killed. A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake rocked southwest Pakistan, killing at least 376 people. Tea party conservative Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, began an old-style filibuster lasting nearly 22 hours over President Barack Obama's health care law.

Today's Birthdays: Rhythm-and-blues singer Sonny Turner (The Platters) is 75. Singer Barbara Allbut Brown (The Angels) is 74. Singer Phyllis "Jiggs" Allbut Sirico (The Angels) is 72. Singer Gerry Marsden (Gerry and the Pacemakers) is 72. News anchor Lou Dobbs is 69. Pro and College Football Hall of Famer Joe Greene is 68. Actor Gordon Clapp is 66. Songwriter Holly Knight is 58. Former U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy II, D-Mass., is 62. Actor Kevin Sorbo is 56. Christian/jazz singer Cedric Dent (Take 6) is 52. Actress-writer Nia Vardalos is 52. Rock musician Shawn Crahan (AKA Clown) (Slipknot) is 45. Country musician Marty Mitchell is 45. Actress Megan Ward is 45. Singer-musician Marty Cintron (No Mercy) is 43. Contemporary Christian musician Juan DeVevo (Casting Crowns) is 39. Actor Ian Bohen (TV: "Teen Wolf") is 38. Actor Justin Bruening is 35. Olympic gold medal gymnast Paul Hamm is 32. Actor Erik Stocklin is 32. Actor Kyle Sullivan is 26.

Thought for Today: "There was never a nation great until it came to the knowledge that it had nowhere in the world to go for help." -- Charles Dudley Warner, American author and editor (1829-1900).

Copyright 2014, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.