Today in History

Today in History

Today is Thursday, Sept. 14, the 257th day of 2017. There are 108 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On September 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key was inspired to write the poem "Defence of Fort McHenry" (later "The Star-Spangled Banner") after witnessing the American flag flying over the Maryland fort following a night of British naval bombardment during the War of 1812.

On this date:

In 1829, the Treaty of Adrianople was signed, ending war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire.

In 1861, the first naval engagement of the Civil War took place as the USS Colorado attacked and sank the Confederate private schooner Judah off Pensacola, Florida.

In 1867, the first volume of "Das Kapital" by Karl Marx was published in Hamburg, Germany.

In 1901, President William McKinley died in Buffalo, New York, of gunshot wounds inflicted by an assassin; Vice President Theodore Roosevelt succeeded him.

In 1927, modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan died in Nice, France, when her scarf became entangled in a wheel of the sports car she was riding in.

In 1941, Vermont passed a resolution enabling its servicemen to receive wartime bonuses by declaring the U.S. to be in a state of armed conflict, giving rise to headlines that Vermont had "declared war on Germany."

In 1954, the Soviet Union detonated a 40-kiloton atomic test weapon.

In 1964, Pope Paul VI opened the third session of the Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, also known as "Vatican II." (The session closed two months later.)

In 1975, Pope Paul VI declared Mother Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton the first U.S.-born saint.

In 1982, Princess Grace of Monaco, formerly actress Grace Kelly, died at age 52 of injuries from a car crash the day before; Lebanon's president-elect, Bashir Gemayel, was killed by a bomb.

In 1986, President Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy, appeared together on radio and television to appeal for a "national crusade" against drug abuse.

In 1991, the government of South Africa, the African National Congress and the Inkatha Freedom Party signed a national peace pact.

Ten years ago: Defense Secretary Robert Gates raised the possibility of cutting U.S. troop levels in Iraq to 100,000 by the end of 2008, well beyond the cuts President George W. Bush had approved. In Iraq, some 1,500 mourners called for revenge as they buried the leader of the Sunni revolt against al-Qaida, Adbul-Sattar Abu Risha, who had been assassinated in a bombing claimed by an al-Qaida front.

Five years ago: Fury over an anti-Muslim film ridiculing the Prophet Muhammad spread across the Muslim world, with deadly clashes near Western embassies in Tunisia and Sudan, an American fast-food restaurant set ablaze in Lebanon, and international peacekeepers attacked in the Sinai. A French gossip magazine's publication of topless photos of Prince William's wife, Kate, prompted an immediate (and still pending) lawsuit from the royal couple and statements of outrage from palace officials.

One year ago: Hillary Clinton's campaign released a letter from her doctor saying the Democratic presidential nominee was "recovering well" from pneumonia and remained "fit to serve as President of the United States." President Barack Obama said the U.S. was lifting economic sanctions and restoring trade benefits to former pariah state Myanmar as he met with former political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi, the nation's de facto leader. Tyre King, a 13-year-old boy, was fatally shot by Columbus, Ohio, police after authorities said he pulled a BB gun from his pants.

Today's Birthdays: Actress Zoe Caldwell is 84. Feminist author Kate Millett is 83. Actor Walter Koenig is 81. Basketball Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown is 77. Singer-actress Joey Heatherton is 73. Actor Sam Neill is 70. Singer Jon "Bowzer" Bauman (Sha Na Na) is 70. Rock musician Ed King is 68. Actor Robert Wisdom is 64. Rock musician Steve Berlin (Los Lobos) is 62. Country singer-songwriter Beth Nielsen Chapman is 61. Actress Mary Crosby is 58. Singer Morten Harket (a-ha) is 58. Country singer John Berry is 58. Actress Melissa Leo is 57. Actress Faith Ford is 53. Actor Jamie Kaler is 53. Actress Michelle Stafford is 52. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is 52. Rock musician Mike Cooley (Drive-By Truckers) is 51. Actor Dan Cortese is 50. Contemporary Christian singer Mark Hall is 48. Actor-writer-director-producer Tyler Perry is 48. Actor Ben Garant is 47. Rock musician Craig Montoya (Tri Polar) is 47. Actress Kimberly Williams-Paisley is 46. Actor Andrew Lincoln is 44. Rapper Nas is 44. Actor Austin Basis is 41. Country singer Danielle Peck is 39. Pop singer Ayo is 37. Actor Sebastian Sozzi is 35. Actor Adam Lamberg is 33. Singer Alex Clare is 32. Actor Chad Duell (TV: "General Hospital") is 30. Actress Jessica Brown Findlay is 30. Actor-singer Logan Henderson is 28.

Thought for Today: "America has been called a melting pot, but it seems better to call it a mosaic, for in it each nation, people or race which has come to its shores has been privileged to keep its individuality, contributing at the same time its share to the unified pattern of a new nation." -- King Baudouin I of Belgium (1930-1993).