Table of Contents
Today is Wednesday, September 18, the 262nd day of 2024. There are 104 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On September 18, 2020, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a major advocate of women’s rights who became the court’s second female justice, died at her home in Washington at age 87, from complications due to pancreatic cancer.
Also on this date:
In 1793, President George Washington laid the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol.
In 1850, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, which created a force of federal commissioners charged with returning escaped slaves to their owners.
The first edition of The New York Times was published in 1851.
In 1947, the National Security Act was enacted, creating a national military establishment and the position of Secretary of Defense.
In 1961, United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold (dahg HAWM’-ahr-shoold) was killed in a plane crash in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia).
In 1970, rock star Jimi Hendrix died in London at the age of 27.
In 1975, newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was captured by the FBI in San Francisco, 19 months after she was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army.
In 2014, voters in Scotland rejected independence and chose to remain part of the United Kingdom in a historic referendum.
Today’s Birthdays:
- Hockey Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman is 91.
- Singer Frankie Avalon is 84.
- Actor Anna Deavere Smith is 74.
- Neurosurgeon-author-politician Ben Carson is 73.
- Basketball Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino is 72.
- Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., is 70.
- Hockey Hall of Famer Peter Šťastný is 68.
- Baseball Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg is 65.
- Actor Holly Robinson Peete is 60.
- R&B singer Ricky Bell (Bell Biv Devoe, New Edition) is 57.
- Basketball Hall of Famer Toni Kukoč is 56.
- Actor Aisha Tyler is 54.
- Actor Jada Pinkett Smith is 53.
- Actor James Marsden is 51.
- Rapper TV presenter Xzibit is 50.
- Comedian-actor Jason Sudeikis is 49.
- Former footballer Ronaldo is 48.
- TV presenter Sara Haines is 47.
- Actor/comedian Billy Eichner is 46.
- Rapper Dizzee Rascal is 40.
- Country singer Tae Kerr (Maddie and Tae) is 29.
- Footballer Christian Pulisic is 26.