Today in History

Today is Tuesday, Sept. 29, the 273rd day of 2020. There are 93 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Sept. 29, 2005, John G. Roberts Jr. was sworn in as the nation's 17th chief justice after winning Senate confirmation.

On this date:

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

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

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 1962, Canada joined the space age as it launched the Alouette 1 satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The musical "My Fair Lady" closed on Broadway after 2,717 performances.

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

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 1999, The Associated Press reported on the killing of hundreds of South Korean refugees by U.S. soldiers in the early days of the Korean War, beneath a bridge at a hamlet called No Gun Ri. (In 2001, after its own investigation, the U.S. Army affirmed that killings had occurred, but said they were not deliberate.)

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.

Ten years ago: Anti-austerity protests erupted across Europe; Greek doctors and railway employees walked off the job, Spanish workers shut down trains and buses, and one man rammed a cement truck into the Irish parliament to protest the country's enormous bank bailouts. Actor Tony Curtis, 85, died in Henderson, Nevada.

Five years ago: President Barack Obama, hosting a U.N. gathering of world leaders, pledged all possible tools -- military, intelligence and economic -- to defeat the Islamic State group, but acknowledged the extremist group had taken root in Syria and Iraq, was resilient and was continuing to expand. NCAA banned the SMU men's basketball team from the postseason and suspended coach Larry Brown for nine games, saying he had lied to investigators and ignored a case of academic fraud by a player.

One year ago: In an interview that aired on CBS' "60 Minutes," Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said he took "full responsibility" for the grisly killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but he denied allegations that he had ordered it. Low-price fashion chain Forever 21, once a hot destination for teen shoppers, announced that it had filed for bankruptcy protection and said it would close as many as 178 stores.

Today's Birthdays: Conductor Richard Bonynge is 90. Writer-director Robert Benton is 88. Singer Jerry Lee Lewis is 85. Soul-blues-gospel singer Sherman Holmes is 81. Former Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., is 78. Actor Ian McShane is 78. Jazz musician Jean-Luc Ponty is 78. Nobel Peace laureate Lech Walesa is 77. Television-film composer Mike Post is 76. Actor Patricia Hodge is 74. TV personality Bryant Gumbel is 72. Rock singer-musician Mark Farner is 72. Rock singer-musician Mike Pinera is 72. Country singer Alvin Crow is 70. Actor Drake Hogestyn is 67. Olympic gold medal runner Sebastian Coe is 64. Singer Suzzy Roche (The Roches) is 64. Comedian-actor Andrew "Dice" Clay is 63. Rock singer John Payne (Asia) is 62. Actor Roger Bart is 58. Singer-musician Les Claypool is 57. Actor Jill Whelan is 54. Actor Ben Miles is 54. Actor Luke Goss is 52. Rock musician Brad Smith (Blind Melon) is 52. Actor Erika Eleniak is 51. Rhythm-and-blues singer Devante Swing (Jodeci) is 51. Country singer Brad Cotter (TV: "Nashville Star") is 50. Actor Emily Lloyd is 50. Actor Natasha Gregson Wagner is 50. Actor Rachel Cronin is 49. Country musician Danick Dupelle (Emerson Drive) is 47. Actor Alexis Cruz is 46. Actor Zachary Levi is 40. Actor Chrissy Metz (TV: "This Is Us") is 40. Actor Kelly McCreary (TV: "Grey's Anatomy") is 39. Country singer Katie McNeill (3 of Hearts) is 38. Rock musician Josh Farro is 33. NBA All-Star Kevin Durant is 32. Actor Doug Brochu is 30. Singer Phillip Phillips is 30. Pop singer Halsey is 26. Actor Clara Mamet is 26.