Today in History

Today is Monday, Sept. 23, the 266th day of 2019. There are 99 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Sept. 23, 1806, the Lewis and Clark expedition returned to St. Louis more than two years after setting out for the Pacific Northwest.

On this date:

In 63 B.C., Caesar Augustus, the first Roman emperor, was born.

In 1780, British spy John Andre was captured along with papers revealing Benedict Arnold's plot to surrender West Point to the British.

In 1846, Neptune was identified as a planet by German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle.

In 1926, Gene Tunney scored a ten-round decision over Jack Dempsey to win the world heavyweight boxing title in Philadelphia.

In 1949, President Harry S. Truman announced there was evidence the Soviet Union had recently conducted a nuclear test explosion. (The test had been carried out on Aug. 29, 1949.)

In 1952, Sen. Richard M. Nixon, R-Calif., salvaged his vice-presidential nomination by appearing on television from Los Angeles to refute allegations of improper campaign fundraising in what became known as the "Checkers" speech.

In 1955, a jury in Sumner, Mississippi, acquitted two white men, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, of murdering black teenager Emmett Till. (The two men later admitted to the crime in an interview with Look magazine.)

In 1957, nine black students who'd entered Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas were forced to withdraw because of a white mob outside.

In 1987, Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., withdrew from the Democratic presidential race following questions about his use of borrowed quotations and the portrayal of his academic record.

In 2001, President George W. Bush returned the American flag to full staff at Camp David, symbolically ending a period of national mourning following the 9/11 attacks.

In 2002, Gov. Gray Davis signed a law making California the first state to offer workers paid family leave.

In 2005, Hurricane Rita, down to Category 3, steamed toward refinery towns along the Texas-Louisiana coast, creating havoc even before it arrived; levee breaks caused new flooding in New Orleans, and 23 people were killed when a bus carrying nursing-home evacuees caught fire in Texas.

Ten years ago: President Barack Obama addressed the U.N. General Assembly, where he challenged world leaders to shoulder more of the globe's critical burdens, warning they could no longer castigate the U.S. as a go-it-alone bully while still demanding it cure all ills.

Five years ago: In the first international test for his climate-change strategy, President Barack Obama pressed world leaders at the United Nations to follow the United States' lead on the issue. The U.S. struck the al-Qaida-linked Khorasan group with Tomahawk missiles and other ordnance near Aleppo in northwestern Syria based on fears it was planning terrorist attacks on the U.S. and Europe. A man wearing his work uniform opened fire inside a UPS sorting facility in Birmingham, Alabama, a day after he was fired from the company, killing two supervisors before committing suicide.

One year ago: As negotiators reached agreement on a hearing at which Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and the woman accusing him of sexual assault, Christine Blasey Ford, would testify, there was a second allegation of sexual misconduct by Kavanaugh; the second accuser said it took place during Kavanaugh's first year at Yale University. More than a week after Hurricane Florence slammed into the Carolinas, rivers continued to rise, with thousands of coastal residents being warned that they may need to leave their homes. Capping a comeback from four back surgeries, Tiger Woods won the Tour Championship in Atlanta, the 80th victory of his PGA Tour career and his first in more than five years.

Today's Birthdays: Singer Julio Iglesias is 76. Actor Paul Petersen (TV: "The Donna Reed Show") is 74. Actress-singer Mary Kay Place is 72. Rock star Bruce Springsteen is 70. Director/playwright George C. Wolfe is 65. Rock musician Leon Taylor (The Ventures) is 64. Actress Rosalind Chao is 62. Golfer Larry Mize is 61. Actor Jason Alexander is 60. Actor Chi McBride is 58. Country musician Don Herron (BR549) is 57. Actor Erik Todd Dellums is 55. Actress LisaRaye is 53. Singer Ani DiFranco is 49. Rock singer Sam (formerly Sarah) Bettens (K's Choice) is 47. Recording executive Jermaine Dupri is 47. Actor Kip Pardue is 43. Actor Anthony Mackie is 41. Pop singer Erik-Michael Estrada (TV: "Making the Band") is 40. Actress Aubrey Dollar is 39. Actor Brandon Victor Dixon is 38. Actor David Lim is 36. Pop singer Diana Ortiz (Dream) is 34. Actress Cush Jumbo is 34. Actor Skylar Astin is 32. Tennis player Melanie Oudin is 28.

Thought for Today: "I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house." -- Nathaniel Hawthorne, American author (1804-1864).

Copyright 2019, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.