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Today is Tuesday, September 10, the 254th day of 2024. There are 112 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On September 10, 1991, the Senate Judiciary Committee opened hearings on the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court. The proceedings would become a turning point in the sexual harassment debate when Anita Hill, a law professor who had previously worked under Thomas, came forward with allegations against him.
Also on this date:
In 1608, John Smith was elected president of the Jamestown colony council in Virginia.
In 1846 Elias Howe received a patent for his sewing machine.
In 1960, Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia, running barefoot, won the Olympic marathon in Rome, becoming the first black African to win Olympic gold.
In 1960, Hurricane Donna, a dangerous Category 4 storm responsible for 364 deaths, hit the Florida Keys.
In 1963, twenty black students entered Alabama public schools after a standoff between federal authorities and Alabama Governor George C. Wallace.
In 1979, four Puerto Rican nationalists imprisoned for attacking the U.S. House of Representatives in 1954 and attempting to assassinate President Harry S. Truman in 1950 were released from prison after President Jimmy Carter pardoned them.
In 1987, Pope John Paul II arrived in Miami, where he was welcomed by President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan as he began a ten-day tour of the United States.
In 2005, teams of forensic workers and cadaver dogs spread through New Orleans to collect the bodies left behind by Hurricane Katrina.
In 2008, the European Organization for Nuclear Research’s (CERN) Large Hadron Collider was powered up for the first time, successfully firing the first beam of protons through the 17-mile (27-kilometer) underground ring tunnel.
In 2022, King Charles III was officially proclaimed monarch of Great Britain in a ceremony full of pomp and circumstance, two days after the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
Today’s Birthdays:
- Scientist-author Jared Diamond is 87.
- Jazz/funk musician Roy Ayers is 84.
- Singer José Feliciano is 79.
- Former Canadian first lady Margaret Trudeau is 76.
- Political commentator Bill O’Reilly is 75.
- Rock musician Joe Perry (Aerosmith) is 74.
- Actor Amy Irving is 71.
- Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., is 70.
- Actor-director Clark Johnson is 70.
- Actor Kate Burton is 67.
- Film director Chris Columbus is 66.
- Actor Colin Firth is 64.
- Cartoonist Alison Bechdel is 64.
- Baseball Hall of Famer Randy Johnson is 61.
- Actor Raymond Cruz is 60.
- Rapper Big Daddy Kane is 56.
- Film director Guy Ritchie is 56.
- Actor Ryan Phillippe (FIHL’-ih-pee) is 50.
- Ballerina Misty Copeland is 42.
- Former MLB All-Star Joey Votto is 41.