Today in History

Today is Sunday, Sept. 29, the 272nd day of 2019. There are 93 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Sept. 29, 1789, the U.S. War Department established a regular army with a strength of several hundred men.

On this date:

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

In 1918, Allied forces began their decisive breakthrough of the Hindenburg Line during World War I.

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 1975, baseball manager Casey Stengel died in Glendale, California, at age 85.

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 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.)

In 1989, actress Zsa Zsa Gabor was convicted of battery for slapping Beverly Hills police officer Paul Kramer after he'd pulled over her Rolls-Royce for expired license plates. (As part of her sentence, Gabor ended up serving three days in jail.)

In 2000, Israeli riot police stormed a major Jerusalem shrine and opened fire on stone-throwing Muslim worshippers, killing four Palestinians and wounding 175.

In 2001, President George W. Bush condemned Afghanistan's Taliban rulers for harboring Osama bin Laden and his followers as the United States pressed its military and diplomatic campaign against terror.

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

Ten years ago: New York City terrorism suspect Najibullah Zazi pleaded not guilty to conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction in what authorities said was a planned attack on commuter trains. (Zazi later pleaded guilty; he spent nearly a decade helping the U.S. identify and prosecute terrorists, and was rewarded with a sentence that effectively amounted to time already served.) Former Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu was sentenced in New York to more than 24 years in prison for his guilty plea to fraud charges and another four years and four months in prison for his conviction at trial for breaking campaign finance laws; he's due to be released in 2030. A tsunami killed nearly 200 people in Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga.

Five years ago: In a blistering speech to the United Nations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Hamas and the Islamic State group were "branches of the same poisonous tree," both bent on world domination through terror, just as the Nazis had done. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai was sworn in as Afghanistan's new president, replacing Hamid Karzai in the country's first democratic transfer of power since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion toppled the Taliban.

One year ago: Tesla and its CEO, Elon Musk, agreed to pay a total of $40 million to settle a government lawsuit alleging that Musk had duped investors with misleading statements about a proposed buyout of the company.

Today's Birthdays: Conductor Richard Bonynge is 89. Writer-director Robert Benton is 87. Singer Jerry Lee Lewis is 84. Soul-blues-gospel singer Sherman Holmes is 80. Former Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., is 77. Actor Ian McShane is 77. Jazz musician Jean-Luc Ponty is 77. Nobel Peace laureate Lech Walesa is 76. Television-film composer Mike Post is 75. Actress Patricia Hodge is 73. TV personality Bryant Gumbel is 71. Rock singer-musician Mark Farner is 71. Rock singer-musician Mike Pinera is 71. Country singer Alvin Crow is 69. Actor Drake Hogestyn is 66. Olympic gold medal runner Sebastian Coe is 63. Singer Suzzy Roche (The Roches) is 63. Comedian-actor Andrew "Dice" Clay is 62. Rock singer John Payne (Asia) is 61. Actor Roger Bart is 57. Singer-musician Les Claypool is 56. Actress Jill Whelan is 53. Actor Ben Miles is 53. Actor Luke Goss is 51. Rock musician Brad Smith (Blind Melon) is 51. Actress Erika Eleniak is 50. Rhythm-and-blues singer Devante Swing (Jodeci) is 50. Country singer Brad Cotter (TV: "Nashville Star") is 49. Actress Emily Lloyd is 49. Actress Natasha Gregson Wagner is 49. Actress Rachel Cronin is 48. Country musician Danick Dupelle (Emerson Drive) is 46. Actor Alexis Cruz is 45. Actor Zachary Levi is 39. Actress Chrissy Metz (TV: "This Is Us") is 39. Actress Kelly McCreary (TV: "Grey's Anatomy") is 38. Country singer Katie McNeill (3 of Hearts) is 37. Rock musician Josh Farro is 32. NBA All-Star Kevin Durant is 31. Actor Doug Brochu is 29. Singer Phillip Phillips is 29. Pop singer Halsey is 25. Actress Clara Mamet is 25.

Thought for Today: "Nobody knows enough, but many know too much." -- Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, Austrian author (1830-1916).