Today's Highlight in History:
On Sept. 26, 1789, during the administration of President George Washington, Thomas Jefferson was confirmed by the Senate to be the first U.S. secretary of state; John Jay, the first chief justice of the United States; Edmund Randolph, the first U.S. attorney general; and Samuel Osgood, the first U.S. postmaster general.
On this date:
In 1777, British troops occupied Philadelphia during the American Revolution.
In 1888, poet T.S. Eliot was born in St. Louis, Mo.
In 1892, John Philip Sousa and his newly formed band performed publicly for the first time, at the Stillman Music Hall in Plainfield, N.J.
In 1898, composer George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn, New York.
In 1918, the Meuse-Argonne offensive, resulting in an Allied victory against the Germans, began during World War I.
In 1950, United Nations troops recaptured the South Korean capital of Seoul from the North Koreans.
In 1955, following word that President Dwight D. Eisenhower had suffered a heart attack, the New York Stock Exchange saw its worst price decline since 1929.
In 1960, the first debate between presidential candidates took place as John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon faced off in Chicago before a national TV audience.
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 1991, four men and four women began a two-year stay inside a sealed-off structure in Oracle, Ariz., called Biosphere 2. (They emerged from Biosphere on this date in 1993.)
In 1994, the high-profile double murder trial of football legend O.J. Simpson, accused of killing his ex-wife and a friend, began in Los Angeles. He was acquitted.
In 1996, the space shuttle Atlantis landed, bringing astronaut Shannon Lucid to Earth. Her six-month tour aboard the Mir space station set a record for a woman in space, as well as a record stay for any U.S. astronaut. Richard Allen Davis, the killer of 12-year-old Polly Klaas, was sentenced to death in San Jose, Calif.
In 1997, a Garuda Indonesia Airbus A-300 crashed while approaching Medan Airport in north Sumatra, killing all 234 people aboard.
Ten years ago: Police responding to a 911 call from an apartment in Rogers, Ark., found a dying 13-year-old boy, Jesse Dirkhising, who'd been bound to a bed and repeatedly raped. (Two men, Davis Don Carpenter and Joshua Macabe Brown, were later sentenced to life in prison without parole.) America won its first Ryder Cup since 1993 after trailing the European team going into the final round. (To the anger of the Europeans, U.S. players, along with caddies, officials and wives, stormed the green to congratulate Justin Leonard for a 45-foot putt that all but won the tournament for the Americans.)
In 2000, Slobodan Milosevic conceded that his challenger, Vojislav Kostunica, had finished first in Yugoslavia's presidential election. Milosevic declared a runoff, a move that prompted mass protests leading to his ouster.
Five years ago: Hurricane Jeanne struck near Stuart, Fla., with 120 mph winds, resulting in five U.S. deaths. Pakistani forces killed Amjad Hussain Farooqi, a suspected top al-Qaida operative wanted for his alleged role in the 2002 kidnapping and beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Israel assassinated Izz Eldine Subhi Sheik Khalil, a Palestinian militant from Hamas, with a car bomb in Damascus, Syria.
In 2005, Army Pfc. Lynndie England was convicted by a military jury on six counts stemming from the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal. (She was later sentenced to three years in prison.)
In 2005, international weapons inspectors backed by Protestant and Catholic clergymen announced the Irish Republican Army's full disarmament.
In 2006, former Enron chief financial officer Andrew Fastow was sentenced by a federal judge in Houston to six years in prison for his role in the fallen energy company's bankruptcy.
One year ago: In their first debate of the presidential campaign, held at the University of Mississippi, Republican John McCain portrayed himself as a battle-tested elder running against a naive rookie, while Democrat Barack Obama suggested McCain was a hothead who'd made the wrong choices on the Iraq war, corporate taxes and more. Swiss pilot Yves Rossy leapt from a plane over Calais, France, and crossed the English Channel on a homemade jet-propelled wing in 13 minutes.
Today's Birthdays: Fitness expert Jack LaLanne is 95. Retired baseball All-Star Bobby Shantz is 84. Actor Philip Bosco is 79. Actress Donna Douglas is 77. Actor Richard Herd is 77. South African nationalist Winnie Mandela is 73. Country singer David Frizzell is 68. Actor Kent McCord is 67. TV host Anne Robinson is 65. Singer Bryan Ferry is 64. Singer Lynn Anderson is 62. Singer Olivia Newton-John is 61. Actress Mary Beth Hurt is 61. Actor James Keane is 57. Rock singer-musician Cesar Rosas (Los Lobos) is 55. Country singer Carlene Carter is 54. Actress Linda Hamilton is 53. Country singer Doug Supernaw is 49. R&B singer Cindy Herron (En Vogue) is 48. Actress Melissa Sue Anderson is 47. Actor Patrick Bristow is 47. Rock musician Al Pitrelli is 47. Singer Tracey Thorn (Everything But The Girl) is 47. TV personality Jillian Barberie is 43. Actor Jim Caviezel is 41. Singer Shawn Stockman (Boyz II Men) is 37. Jazz musician Nicholas Payton is 36. Actor Mark Famiglietti is 30. Singer-actress Christina Milian is 28. Tennis player Serena Williams is 28.
Today In Entertainment History September 26
In 1955, actress Debbie Reynolds married singer Eddie Fisher. They divorced in 1959.
In 1956, Elvis Presley's hometown of Tupelo, Miss., declared "Elvis Presley Day."
In 1957, "West Side Story" opened on Broadway.
In 1962, "The Beverly Hillbillies" premiered on CBS.
In 1964, "Gilligan's Island" premiered on CBS. Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman" hit No. 1 on the pop charts.
Forty years ago, in 1969, The Beatles' last studio album, "Abbey Road," was released in the U. K. "The Brady Bunch" premiered on ABC.
In 1975, the movie version of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" made its premiere in Westwood, Calif.
In 1986, "Crocodile Dundee" opened in theaters nationwide.
In 1990, the Motion Picture Association of America announced the creation of the NC-17 rating, replacing the X rating for films with mature subject matter.
In 2003, singer Robert Palmer died of a heart attack in Paris. He was 54.
In 2007, music producer Phil Spector's murder case ended in mistrial. He was accused of kiling actress Lana Clarkson in his home in 2003. He was convicted in his second trial.
One year ago: Hollywood screen legend and philanthropist Paul Newman died in Westport, Conn., at age 83.
Thought for Today:"Whatever you think, be sure it is what you think; whatever you want, be sure that is what you want; whatever you feel, be sure that is what you feel." And: "We know too much and are convinced of too little. Our literature is a substitute for religion and so is our religion." — T.S. Eliot, American-Anglo poet (born on this date in 1888, died 1965).
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