Today in History

Today is Monday, Sept. 29, the 272nd day of 2014. There are 93 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Sept. 29, 1789, the U.S. War Department established a regular army with a strength of several hundred men.

On this date:

In 1829, London's reorganized police force, which became known as Scotland Yard, went on duty.

In 1862, Prussia's newly appointed minister-president, Otto von Bismarck, declared the issue of German unification would be decided "not through speeches and majority decisions" but by "iron and blood (Eisen und Blut)."

In 1910, the National Urban League, which had its beginnings as The Committee on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, was established in New York.

In 1938, British, French, German and Italian leaders concluded the Munich Agreement, which was aimed at appeasing Adolf Hitler by allowing Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland.

In 1943, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Italian Marshal Pietro Badoglio signed an armistice aboard the British ship HMS Nelson off Malta.

In 1954, the movie "A Star Is Born," starring Judy Garland and James Mason, had its world premiere at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood.

In 1963, "The Judy Garland Show" premiered on CBS-TV.

In 1978, Pope John Paul I was found dead in his Vatican apartment just over a month after becoming head of the Roman Catholic Church.

In 1982, Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules laced with deadly cyanide claimed the first of seven victims in the Chicago area. (To date, the case remains unsolved.)

In 1989, actress Zsa Zsa Gabor was convicted of battery for slapping Beverly Hills police officer Paul Kramer after he'd pulled over her Rolls-Royce for expired license plates. (As part of her sentence, Gabor ended up serving three days in jail.)

In 1999, The Associated Press reported on the killing of hundreds of South Korean refugees by U.S. soldiers in the early days of the Korean War, beneath a bridge at a hamlet called No Gun Ri. (In 2001, after its own investigation, the U.S. Army affirmed that killings had occurred, but said they were not deliberate.)

In 2005, John G. Roberts Jr. was sworn in as the nation's 17th chief justice after winning Senate confirmation.

Ten years ago: A video surfaced showing Kenneth Bigley, a British hostage held by Iraqi militants, pleading for help between the bars of a makeshift cage. (Bigley was later killed.) The privately built SpaceShipOne rocket plane hurtled past the edge of earth's atmosphere, completing the first stage of a quest to win the $10 million Ansari X Prize.

Five years ago: New York City terrorism suspect Najibullah Zazi pleaded not guilty to conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction in what authorities said was a planned attack on commuter trains. (Zazi later pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction and supporting al-Qaida.) Former Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu (shoo) was sentenced in New York to more than 24 years in prison for his guilty plea to fraud charges and another four years and four months in prison for his conviction at trial for breaking campaign finance laws; he's due to be released in 2030. A tsunami killed nearly 200 people in Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga.

One year ago: NASA's newest delivery service, Orbital Sciences Corp.'s unmanned cargo spacecraft Cygnus, made its first-ever shipment to the International Space Station. Some four dozen people were shot to death at an agricultural college in Gujba, Nigeria, in an attack blamed on Boko Haram. A car bomb tore through a market in Peshawar, Pakistan, killing at least 41 people. On the last day of the season, Miami's Henderson Alvarez pitched one of baseball's most bizarre no-hitters. Alvarez celebrated in the on-deck circle when the Marlins scored on a two-out wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat the Detroit Tigers 1-0.

Today's Birthdays: Actress Lizabeth Scott is 93. Conductor Richard Bonynge is 84. Actress Anita Ekberg is 83. Writer-director Robert Benton is 82. Singer Jerry Lee Lewis is 79. Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is 78. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., is 72. Actor Ian McShane is 72. Jazz musician Jean-Luc Ponty is 72. Nobel Peace laureate Lech Walesa, the former president of Poland, is 71. Television-film composer Mike Post is 70. Actress Patricia Hodge is 68. TV personality Bryant Gumbel is 66. Rock singer-musician Mark Farner is 66. Rock singer-musician Mike Pinera is 66. Country singer Alvin Crow is 64. Actor Drake Hogestyn is 61. Broadcast journalist Gwen Ifill is 59. Former child actor Ken Weatherwax (TV: "The Addams Family") is 59. Olympic gold medal runner Sebastian Coe is 58. Singer Suzzy Roche (The Roches) is 58. Comedian-actor Andrew "Dice" Clay is 57. Rock singer John Payne (Asia) is 56. Actor Roger Bart is 52. Singer-musician Les Claypool is 51. Actress Jill Whelan is 48. Actor Luke Goss is 46. Rock musician Brad Smith (Blind Melon) is 46. Actress Erika Eleniak is 45. Rhythm-and-blues singer Devante Swing (Jodeci) is 45. Country singer Brad Cotter (TV: "Nashville Star") is 44. Actress Emily Lloyd is 44. Actress Natasha Gregson Wagner is 44. Actress Rachel Cronin is 43. Country musician Danick Dupelle (Emerson Drive) is 41. Actor Alexis Cruz is 40. Actor Zachary Levi is 34. Country singer Katie McNeill (3 of Hearts) is 32. Rock musician Josh Farro is 27. Actor Doug Brochu is 24. Singer Phillip Phillips is 24. Actress Clara Mamet is 20.

Thought for Today: "Justice cannot be for one side alone, but must be for both." -- Eleanor Roosevelt, American first lady (1884-1962).

Copyright 2014, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.