Today in History

Today is Wednesday, Sept. 25, the 268th day of 2019. There are 97 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Sept. 25, 1789, the first United States Congress adopted 12 amendments to the Constitution and sent them to the states for ratification. (Ten of the amendments became the Bill of Rights.)

On this date:

In 1775, American Revolutionary War hero Ethan Allen was captured by the British as he led an attack on Montreal. (Allen was released by the British in 1778.)

In 1911, ground was broken for Boston's Fenway Park.

In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson collapsed after a speech in Pueblo, Colo., during a national speaking tour in support of the Treaty of Versailles.

In 1956, the first trans-Atlantic telephone cable officially went into service with a three-way ceremonial call between New York, Ottawa and London.

In 1957, nine black students who'd been forced to withdraw from Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, because of unruly white crowds were escorted to class by members of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division.

In 1962, Sonny Liston knocked out Floyd Patterson in round one to win the world heavyweight title at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

In 1965, the first installment of "In Cold Blood," Truman Capote's account of the 1959 murders of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas, appeared in The New Yorker. (The work was published in book form the following year.)

In 1978, 144 people were killed when a Pacific Southwest Airlines Boeing 727 and a private plane collided over San Diego.

In 1981, Sandra Day O'Connor was sworn in as the first female justice on the Supreme Court.

In 1992, NASA's Mars Observer blasted off on a $980 million mission to the red planet (the probe disappeared just before entering Martian orbit in August 1993).

In 1994, Russian President Boris Yeltsin began a five-day swing through the United States as he arrived in New York, hoping to encourage American investment in his country's struggling economy.

In 1997, President Bill Clinton pulled open the door of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, as he welcomed nine blacks who had faced hate-filled mobs 40 years earlier.

Ten years ago: President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, in Pittsburgh for a G-20 summit, accused Iran of constructing a secret underground uranium enrichment facility and hiding its existence from international inspectors for years. Former Democratic Party chairman Paul G. Kirk Jr. stepped in as the temporary replacement in the Senate for his longtime friend, the late Edward Kennedy.

Five years ago: Attorney General Eric Holder announced his resignation. President Barack Obama, in a sober assessment of international efforts to stem a deadly Ebola outbreak, warned a high-level United Nations gathering that there was a "significant gap" between what had been offered so far and what was actually needed to stem the health crises in West Africa. Derek Jeter capped his Yankee Stadium farewell with a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth inning to give New York a 6-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

One year ago: Bill Cosby was sentenced to three to 10 years in state prison for drugging and molesting a woman at his suburban Philadelphia home. President Donald Trump denounced the "ideology of globalism" and praised his own administration's achievements in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly that drew headshakes and even laughter from fellow world leaders.

Today's Birthdays: Broadcast journalist Barbara Walters is 90. Folk singer Ian Tyson is 86. Polka bandleader Jimmy Sturr is 78. Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates is 76. Actor Josh Taylor is 76. Actor Robert Walden is 76. Actor-producer Michael Douglas is 75. Model Cheryl Tiegs is 72. Actress Mimi Kennedy is 71. Movie director Pedro Almodovar is 70. Actor-director Anson Williams is 70. Actor Mark Hamill is 68. Basketball Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo is 68. Actor Colin Friels is 67. Actor Michael Madsen is 61. Actress Heather Locklear is 58. Actress Aida Turturro is 57. Actor Tate Donovan is 56. TV personality Keely Shaye Smith is 56. Actress Maria Doyle Kennedy is 55. Basketball Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen is 54. Actor Jason Flemyng is 53. Actor Will Smith is 51. Actor Hal Sparks is 50. Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones is 50. Rock musician Mike Luce (Drowning Pool) is 48. Actress Bridgette Wilson-Sampras is 46. Actress Clea DuVall is 42. Actor Robbie Jones is 42. Actor Joel David Moore is 42. Actor Chris Owen is 39. Rapper T. I. is 39. Actor Van Hansis is 38. Actor Lee Norris is 38. Actor/rapper Donald Glover (AKA Childish Gambino) is 36. Actor Zach Woods is 35. Actor Jordan Gavaris is 30. Olympic silver medal figure skater Mao Asada is 29. Actress Emmy Clarke is 28.

Thought for Today: "It is as fatal as it is cowardly to blink (at) facts because they are not to our taste." -- John Tyndall, English physicist (1820-1893).

Copyright 2019, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.