Today in History

Today in History

Today is Friday, Sept. 29, the 272nd day of 2017. There are 93 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On September 29, 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.)

On this date:

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

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

In 1902, William Topaz McGonagall, affectionately considered Britain's possibly worst-ever poet, died in Edinburgh, Scotland.

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

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 1957, the San Francisco-bound New York Giants played their last game at the Polo Grounds, losing to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-1. The Brooklyn Dodgers played their last game before moving to Los Angeles, losing to the Phillies 2-1 in Philadelphia.

In 1967, author Carson McCullers died in Nyack, New York, at age 50.

In 1977, the Billy Joel album "The Stranger" was released by Columbia Records.

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 1987, Henry Ford II, longtime chairman of Ford Motor Co., died in Detroit at age 70.

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

Ten years ago: President George W. Bush signed a bill to prevent a government shutdown, but lambasted Democrats controlling Congress for sending him the stopgap measure while they continued to work on more than a dozen spending bills funding the day-to-day operations of 15 Cabinet departments. Actress Lois Maxwell, who starred as Miss Moneypenny in 14 James Bond movies, died in Fremantle, Australia, at age 80.

Five years ago: Omar Khadr, the last Western detainee held at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, returned to Canada after a decade in custody. Former New York Times publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger died at the age of 86.

One year ago: A New Jersey Transit commuter train slammed into the Hoboken station, killing one person and injuring more than 100 others.

Today's Birthdays: Conductor Richard Bonynge is 87. Writer-director Robert Benton is 85. Singer Jerry Lee Lewis is 82. Soul-blues-gospel singer Sherman Holmes is 78. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., is 75. Actor Ian McShane is 75. Jazz musician Jean-Luc Ponty is 75. Nobel Peace laureate Lech Walesa is 74. Television-film composer Mike Post is 73. Actress Patricia Hodge is 71. TV personality Bryant Gumbel is 69. Rock singer-musician Mark Farner is 69. Rock singer-musician Mike Pinera is 69. Country singer Alvin Crow is 67. Actor Drake Hogestyn is 64. Olympic gold medal runner Sebastian Coe is 61. Singer Suzzy Roche (The Roches) is 61. Comedian-actor Andrew "Dice" Clay is 60. Rock singer John Payne (Asia) is 59. Actor Roger Bart is 55. Singer-musician Les Claypool is 54. Actress Jill Whelan is 51. Actor Ben Miles is 51. Actor Luke Goss is 49. Rock musician Brad Smith (Blind Melon) is 49. Actress Erika Eleniak is 48. Rhythm-and-blues singer Devante Swing (Jodeci) is 48. Country singer Brad Cotter (TV: "Nashville Star") is 47. Actress Emily Lloyd is 47. Actress Natasha Gregson Wagner is 47. Actress Rachel Cronin is 46. Country musician Danick Dupelle (Emerson Drive) is 44. Actor Alexis Cruz is 43. Actor Zachary Levi is 37. Actress Chrissy Metz (TV: "This Is Us") is 37. Actress Kelly McCreary (TV: "Grey's Anatomy") is 36. Country singer Katie McNeill (3 of Hearts) is 35. Rock musician Josh Farro is 30. Actor Doug Brochu is 27. Singer Phillip Phillips is 27. Actress Clara Mamet is 23.

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