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Today in History

Today in History

Today is Saturday, Sept. 26, the 270th day of 2020. There are 96 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Sept. 26, 1960, the first-ever debate between presidential nominees took place as Democrat John F. Kennedy and Republican Richard M. Nixon faced off before a national TV audience from Chicago.

On this date:

In 1777, British troops occupied Philadelphia during the American Revolution.

In 1789, Thomas Jefferson was confirmed by the Senate to be the first United States secretary of state; John Jay, the first chief justice; Edmund Randolph, the first attorney general.

In 1888, poet T.S. Eliot was born in St. Louis, Missouri.

In 1955, following word that President Eisenhower had suffered a heart attack, the New York Stock Exchange saw its worst price decline since 1929.

In 1964, the situation comedy 'œGilligan's Island'ť premiered on CBS-TV.

In 1986, William H. Rehnquist was sworn in as the 16th chief justice of the United States, while Antonin Scalia joined the Supreme Court as its 103rd member.

In 1990, the Motion Picture Association of America announced it had created a new rating, NC-17, to replace the X rating.

In 1991, four men and four women began a two-year stay inside a sealed-off structure in Oracle, Arizona, called Biosphere 2. (They emerged from Biosphere on this date in 1993.)

In 1996, President Clinton signed a bill ensuring two-day hospital stays for new mothers and their babies.

In 2003, President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin (POO'-tihn) opened a two-day summit at Camp David.

In 2005, Army Pfc. Lynndie England was convicted by a military jury in Fort Hood, Texas, on six of seven counts stemming from the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal. (England was sentenced to three years in prison; she ended up serving half that time.)

In 2016, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton participated in their first debate of the presidential campaign at Hofstra University in New York; Clinton emphatically denounced Trump for keeping his personal tax returns and business dealings secret from voters while Trump repeatedly cast Clinton as a 'œtypical politician.'ť

Ten years ago: Gloria Stuart, the 1930s Hollywood beauty who later became the oldest Academy Award acting nominee as the spunky survivor in 'œTitanic,'ť died in Los Angeles at age 100.

Five years ago: Visiting Philadelphia on the final leg of his six-day U.S. trip, Pope Francis extolled America's founding ideals of liberty and equality while warning that religious freedom was under threat around the globe. Speaking at a U.N. summit on new development goals, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged billions in aid to the world's poorest countries and said Beijing would forgive debts of those worst-off.

One year ago: President Donald Trump lashed out at the person who gave information to the whistleblower accusing him of abusing his office, saying that the individual was 'œclose to a spy'ť who could have committed treason; he said of spies, 'œWe used to handle it a little differently than we do now.'ť Jacques Chirac, a two-term French president who had been the first French leader to acknowledge the country's role in the Holocaust, died at the age of 86. Figures released by the Census Bureau showed that a measure of income inequality in the United States had increased in 2018 to its highest level in more than 50 years of tracking.

Today's Birthdays: Retired baseball All-Star Bobby Shantz is 95. Country singer David Frizzell is 79. Actor Kent McCord is 78. Television host Anne Robinson is 76. Singer Bryan Ferry is 75. Actor Mary Beth Hurt is 74. Singer Olivia Newton-John is 72. Actor James Keane is 68. Rock singer-musician Cesar Rosas (Los Lobos) is 66. Country singer Carlene Carter is 65. Actor Linda Hamilton is 64. Country singer Doug Supernaw is 60. Rhythm-and-blues singer Cindy Herron (En Vogue) is 59. Actor Melissa Sue Anderson is 58. Actor Patrick Bristow is 58. Rock musician Al Pitrelli is 58. Singer Tracey Thorn (Everything But The Girl) is 58. TV personality Jillian Barberie is 54. Contemporary Christian guitarist Jody Davis (Newsboys) is 53. Actor Jim Caviezel (kuh-VEE'-zuhl) is 52. Actor Tricia O'Kelley is 52. Actor Ben Shenkman is 52. Actor Melanie Paxon is 48. Singer Shawn Stockman (Boyz II Men) is 48. Music producer Dr. Luke is 47. Jazz musician Nicholas Payton is 47. Actor Mark Famiglietti (fah-mihl-YEH'-tee) is 41. Singer-actor Christina Milian (MIHL'-ee-ahn) is 39. Tennis player Serena Williams is 39. Actor Zoe Perry is 37.

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