Tuesday, September 15th
The 258th day of 2009.
There are 107 days left in the year.
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Today's Highlights in History
On Sept. 15, 1963, four black girls were killed when a bomb went off during Sunday services at a Baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama, in the deadliest act of the civil rights era. (Go to article.)
On Sept. 15, 1857, William Howard Taft, the only person to serve as both United States president and chief justice of the United States Supreme Court, was born. Following his death on March 8, 1930, his obituary appeared in The Times. (Go to obit. | Other Birthdays)
Editorial Cartoon of the Day
On September 15, 1906, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about publisher William Randolph Hearst's campaign for governor of New York. (See the cartoon and read an explanation.)
On this date in:
1776 British forces occupied New York City during the American Revolution.
1821 Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador became independent from Spain.
1857 William Howard Taft, the 27th president who later served as chief justice, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.
1917 Russia was proclaimed a republic by Alexander Kerensky, the head of a provisional government.
1935 The Nuremberg Laws deprived German Jews of their citizenship and made the swastika the official symbol of Nazi Germany.
1940 The Royal Air Force inflicted heavy losses on the Luftwaffe as the tide turned in the Battle of Britain during World War II.
1950 During the Korean War, United Nations forces landed at Inchon in the south and began their drive toward Seoul.
1997 The IRA-allied Sinn Fein party entered Northern Ireland's peace talks for the first time.
2004 National Hockey League owners agreed to lock out the players. (The 2004-05 season was eventually canceled.)
2005 President George W. Bush, addressing the nation from storm-ravaged New Orleans, acknowledged the government failed to respond adequately to Hurricane Katrina and urged Congress to approve a massive reconstruction program.
2008 Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection - the largest in U.S. history.
