Today in History

Today in History

Today is Friday, Sept. 15, the 258th day of 2017. There are 107 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On September 15, 1940, during the World War II Battle of Britain, the tide turned as the Royal Air Force inflicted heavy losses upon the Luftwaffe.

On this date:

In 1789, the U.S. Department of Foreign Affairs was renamed the Department of State.

In 1807, former Vice President Aaron Burr was acquitted of a misdemeanor charge two weeks after he was found not guilty of treason.

In 1857, William Howard Taft -- who served as President of the United States and as U.S. chief justice -- was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.

In 1917, the first issue of Forbes magazine was published.

In 1935, the Nuremberg Laws deprived German Jews of their citizenship.

In 1942, during World War II, the aircraft carrier USS Wasp was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine; the U.S. Navy ended up sinking the badly damaged vessel.

In 1950, during the Korean conflict, United Nations forces landed at Incheon in the south and began their drive toward Seoul.

In 1963, four black girls were killed when a bomb went off during Sunday services at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. (Three Ku Klux Klansmen were eventually convicted for their roles in the blast.)

In 1972, a federal grand jury in Washington indicted seven men in connection with the Watergate break-in.

In 1981, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to approve the Supreme Court nomination of Sandra Day O'Connor.

In 1997, two of the nation's most popular diet drugs -- dexfenfluramine and fenfluramine -- were pulled off the market because of new evidence they could seriously damage patients' hearts.

In 2000, the 2000 Summer Olympics opened in Sydney, Australia, with a seemingly endless parade of athletes and coaches and a spectacular display; Aborigine runner Cathy Freeman ignited an Olympic ring of fire.

Ten years ago: In his Saturday radio address, President George W. Bush said while "formidable challenges" remained in Iraq, the United States would start shifting more troops into support roles in addition to troop withdrawals announced earlier. Several thousand protesters marched from the White House to the Capitol to demand an end to the Iraq war. Sarah Thomas became the first female official to work a game in the Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly I-A, serving as the line judge in the Jacksonville State-Memphis game (which Memphis won, 35-14). Actress-comedian Brett Somers died in Westport, Connecticut, at age 83.

Five years ago: Four days after the deadly attack on a U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya, al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula called for more attacks on U.S. embassies. The State Department ordered non-essential government personnel and family members to leave its embassies in Sudan and Tunisia and warned U.S. citizens against traveling to the two countries. The National Hockey League locked out its players at 11:59 p.m. EDT; it was the league's fourth shutdown in a decade and one that would cost the league nearly half its season.

One year ago: A report issued by the Republican-led House intelligence committee condemned Edward Snowden, saying the National Security Agency leaker was not a whistleblower and that the vast majority of the documents he stole were defense secrets that had nothing to do with privacy; Snowden's attorney blasted the report, saying it was an attempt to discredit a "genuine American hero." Arizona's first female governor, Democrat Rose Mofford, died in Phoenix at age 94.

Today's Birthdays: Actor Forrest Compton is 92. Comedian Norm Crosby is 90. Actor Henry Darrow is 84. Baseball Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry is 79. Actress Carmen Maura is 72. Opera singer Jessye Norman is 72. Writer-director Ron Shelton is 72. Actor Tommy Lee Jones is 71. Movie director Oliver Stone is 71. Rock musician Kelly Keagy (Night Ranger) is 65. Rock musician Mitch Dorge (Crash Test Dummies) is 57. Football Hall of Famer Dan Marino is 56. Actor Danny Nucci is 49. Rap DJ Kay Gee is 48. Actor Josh Charles is 46. Singer Ivette Sosa (Eden's Crush) is 41. Actor Tom Hardy is 40. Actress Marisa Ramirez is 40. Pop-rock musician Zach Filkins (OneRepublic) is 39. Actor Dave Annable is 38. Actress Amy Davidson is 38. Britain's Prince Harry is 33. TV personality Heidi Montag is 31. Actress Kate Mansi is 30.

Thought for Today: "The lack of a sense of history is the damnation of the modern world." -- Robert Penn Warren, American poet (born 1905, died this date in 1989).