September 16th - Important events on this day in history, Cherokee Strip, General Motors, Metropolitan Opera opens

Today in History - September 16th

1630 – The Massachusetts village of Shawmut changes its name to Boston
1810 – Mexicans begin a successful revolt against Spanish rule
1893 – Hundreds of thousands of settlers take part in a land run in Oklahoma's "Cherokee Strip”

1908 – General Motors is formed in Flint, Mich., by William Durant
1919 – The American Legion is incorporated by an act of Congress
1940 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs into law the Selective Training and Service Act, which set up the first peacetime military draft in U.S. history
1966 – The Metropolitan Opera opens its new home at New York City's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
1972 –"The Bob Newhart Show" premieres on CBS
1987 – Two dozen countries sign the Montreal Protocol, a treaty designed to save the Earth's ozone layer by calling on nations to reduce emissions of harmful chemicals
1988 –Tom Browning of the Cincinnati Reds pitchsd a perfect game in a 1-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers
2004 – Hurricane Ivan plows into the Gulf Coast with 130 mph wind and a major storm surge; Ivan was blamed for at least 115 deaths, 43 in the United States
2006 – The Vatican says Pope Benedict XVI "sincerely" regrets offending Muslims with his reference to an obscure medieval text characterizing some of the teachings of Islam's founder as "evil and inhuman," but the statement stopped short of the apology demanded by Islamic leaders
2007 – A deadly shooting in Baghdad involving the U.S. security firm Blackwater USA left 17 Iraqi civilians dead

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