Today in History

Today is Tuesday, September 22, the 265th day of 2015. There are 100 days left in the year. The Jewish Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, begins at sunset.

Today's Highlight in History:

On September 22, 1975, Sara Jane Moore attempted to shoot President Gerald R. Ford outside a San Francisco hotel, but missed. (Moore served 32 years in prison before being paroled on December 31, 2007.)

On this date:

In 1515, Anne of Cleves, who became the fourth wife of England's King Henry VIII, was born in Dusseldorf.

In 1776, during the Revolutionary War, Capt. Nathan Hale, 21, was hanged as a spy by the British in New York.

In 1792, the first French Republic was proclaimed.

In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all slaves in rebel states should be free as of January 1, 1863.

In 1911, pitcher Cy Young, 44, gained his 511th and final career victory as he hurled a 1-0 shutout for the Boston Rustlers against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field.

In 1927, Gene Tunney successfully defended his heavyweight boxing title against Jack Dempsey in the famous "long-count" fight in Chicago.

In 1938, the musical comedy revue "Hellzapoppin'," starring Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson, began a three-year run on Broadway.

In 1949, the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb.

In 1950, Omar N. Bradley was promoted to the rank of five-star general, joining an elite group that included Dwight D. Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, George C. Marshall and Henry H. "Hap" Arnold.

In 1964, the musical "Fiddler on the Roof," starring Zero Mostel, opened on Broadway, beginning a run of 3,242 performances. The secret agent series "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.," starring Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, premiered on NBC-TV.

In 1985, rock and country music artists participated in "Farm Aid," a concert staged in Champaign, Illinois, to help the nation's farmers.

In 1995, an AWACS plane carrying U.S. and Canadian military personnel crashed on takeoff from Elmendorf Air Force Base near Anchorage, Alaska, killing all 24 people aboard.

Ten years ago: Hurricane Rita, weakened to Category 4 status, closed in on the Texas coast, sending hundreds of thousands of people fleeing on a frustratingly slow, bumper-to-bumper exodus. John Roberts' nomination as U.S. chief justice cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee on a bipartisan vote of 13-5.

Five years ago: Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi committed suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge into the Hudson River after an intimate gay encounter in his dormitory room was allegedly captured by a webcam and streamed online by his roommate without his knowledge. (Dharun Ravi was convicted of invasion of privacy, bias intimidation and other counts and served less than a month in jail.) South African Ernie Els was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame; Doug Ford and two-time major winner Jock Hutchison from Scotland were elected through the Veteran's Category. "American Idol" announced that Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler would join Randy Jackson as judges the next season. Pop singer Eddie Fisher, 82, died in Berkeley, California.

One year ago: The United States and five Arab nations launched airstrikes against the Islamic State group in Syria, sending waves of planes and Tomahawk cruise missiles against an array of targets.

Today's Birthdays: Baseball Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda is 88. Former NBA Commissioner David Stern is 73. Actor Paul Le Mat is 70. Musician King Sunny Ade is 69. Capt. Mark Phillips is 67. Rock singer David Coverdale (Deep Purple, Whitesnake) is 64. Actress Shari Belafonte is 61. Singer Debby Boone is 59. Country singer June Forester (The Forester Sisters) is 59. Singer Nick Cave is 58. Rock singer Johnette Napolitano is 58. Actress Lynn Herring is 58. Classical crossover singer Andrea Bocelli is 57. Singer-musician Joan Jett is 57. Actor Scott Baio is 55. Actress Catherine Oxenberg is 54. Actress Bonnie Hunt is 54. Actor Rob Stone is 53. Musician Matt Sharp is 46. Rock musician Dave Hernandez is 45. Rhythm-and-blues singer Big Rube (Society of Soul) is 44. Actress Mireille Enos is 40. Actress Daniella Alonso is 37. Actor Michael Graziadei is 36. Actress Ashley Drane (Eckstein) is 34. Actress Katie Lowes is 33. Rock musician Will Farquarson (Bastille) is 32. Actor Tom Felton is 28. Actress Juliette Goglia is 20.

Thought for Today: "Life resembles a novel more often than novels resemble life." -- George Sand, French author (1804-1876).

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