Friday, September 25th
The 268th day of 2009.
There are 97 days left in the year.
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Today's Highlights in History
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On Sept. 25, 1957, with 300 United States Army troops standing guard, nine black children were escorted to Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, days after unruly white crowds had forced them to withdraw. (Go to article.)
On Sept. 25, 1897, William Faulkner, the Nobel Prize-winning author of the American South, was born. Following his death on July 6, 1962, his obituary appeared in The Times. (Go to obit. | Other Birthdays)
Editorial Cartoon of the Day
On September 25, 1880, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Samuel J. Randall, the Democratic speaker of the house, and the presidential election of 1880. (See the cartoon and read an explanation.)
On this date in:
1493 Christopher Columbus set sail from Cadiz, Spain, with a flotilla of 17 ships on his second voyage to the Western Hemisphere.
1513 Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama to reach the Pacific Ocean.
1775 American Revolutionary War hero Ethan Allen was captured by the British as he led an attack on Montreal.
1789 The first United States Congress adopted 12 amendments to the Constitution and sent them to the states for ratification. (Ten of the amendments became the Bill of Rights.)
1890 Mormon president Wilford Woodruff issued a manifesto formally renouncing the practice of polygamy.
1897 Author William Faulkner was born in New Albany, Miss.
1919 President Woodrow Wilson collapsed after a speech in Pueblo, Colo., during a tour in support of the Treaty of Versailles.
1956 The first trans-Atlantic telephone cable went into service.
1980 Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, 32, choked to death on his own vomit after a drinking binge.
1981 Sandra Day O'Connor was sworn in as the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
2001 Saudi Arabia cut its relations with Afghanistan's ruling Taliban.
2001 Michael Jordan announced he was returning to basketball with the NBA's Washington Wizards.
2003 France reported a death toll of 14,802 from a heat wave.
2006 The Louisiana Superdome, a symbol of misery during Hurricane Katrina, reopened for a New Orleans Saints game.
Current Birthdays
Barbara Walters turns 80 years old today.
AP Photo/Evan Agostini TV personality Barbara Walters ("The View") turns 80 years old today.
76 Ian Tyson
Folk singer (Ian and Sylvia)
70 Joe Russell
R&B singer (The Persuasions)
66 Robert Gates
Secretary of Defense
66 Robert Walden
Actor ("Lou Grant")
65 Michael Douglas
Actor
62 Cheryl Tiegs
Model
60 Mimi Kennedy
Actress
60 Anson Williams
Actor ("Happy Days")
58 Mark Hamill
Actor ("Star Wars")
58 Bob McAdoo
Basketball Hall of Famer
58 Jimmy Sturr
Polka bandleader
57 Colin Friels
Actor
51 Michael Madsen
Actor
48 Heather Locklear
Actress ("Melrose Place," "Spin City")
47 Aida Turturro
Actress ("The Sopranos")
46 Tate Donovan
Actor ("Damages")
43 Jason Flemyng
Actor
44 Scottie Pippen
Basketball player
41 Will Smith
Actor
40 Hal Sparks
Actor ("Queer as Folk")
40 Catherine Zeta-Jones
Actress
38 Mike Luce
Rock musician (Drowning Pool)
36 Bridgette Wilson-Sampras
Actress
34 Matt Hasselbeck
Football player
32 Clea DuVall
Actress
29 Chris Owen
Actor
29 T.I.
Rapper
28 Rocco Baldelli
Baseball player
28 Lee Norris
Actor
24 Diana Ortiz
Singer (Dream)
18 Emmy Clarke
Actress ("Monk")
Historic Birthdays
William Faulkner
9/25/1897 - 7/6/1962
American Nobel Prize-winning novelist and short story writer (1949)
(Go to obit.)
67 Francesco Borromini
9/25/1599 - 8/2/1667
Italian Baroque architect
75 Claude Perrault
9/25/1613 - 10/9/1688
French physician, architect and engineer
45 Melville Bissell
9/25/1843 - 3/15/1889
American inventor of the carpet sweeper
66 Mark Rothko
9/25/1903 - 2/25/1970
American Abstract Expressionist painter
66 Columbus Iselin
9/25/1904 - 1/5/1971
American oceanographer
76 Red Smith
9/25/1905 - 1/15/1982
American syndicated sports columnist
68 Dmitry Shostakovich
9/25/1906 - 8/9/1975
Russian composer
81 John V. Dodge
9/25/1909 - 4/23/1991
American publishing executive of the Encyclopedia Britannica
50 Glenn Gould
9/25/1932 - 10/4/1982
Canadian pianist
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