Today in History - September 20th

  • 1519 – Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan sets out from Spain on a voyage to find a western passage to the Spice Islands in Indonesia
  • 1870 – Italian troops take control of the Papal States, leading to the unification of Italy
  • 1873 –  Panic sweep the New York Stock Exchange in the wake of railroad bond defaults and bank failures

  • 1881 –  Chester A. Arthur is sworn in as the 21st president of the United States, succeeding James A. Garfield, who had been assassinated
  • 1962 – James Meredith, a black man, is blocked from enrolling at the University of Mississippi by Gov. Ross R. Barnett
  • 1977 – The first wave of Southeast Asian "boat people" arrives in San Francisco under a U.S. resettlement program
  • 1984 – A suicide car bomber attacks the U.S. Embassy annex in north Beirut, killing a dozen people
  • 1998 – After playing in a record 2,632 consecutive games over 16 seasons, Cal Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles sits out a game against the New York Yankees
  • 1999 – Lawrence Russell Brewer is convicted in the dragging death of an African-American man, James Byrd Jr., in Jasper, Texas
  • 2001 – President George W. Bush names Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge to head the new Office of Homeland Security
  • 2004 – CBS News apologizes for a story questioning President George W. Bush's National Guard service, saying it could not vouch for the authenticity of documents featured in the report
  • 2005 – Holocaust survivor and Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal dies at age 96.

Famous and Historical Birthdays - Say Happy Birthday to . . .

  • Guy LaFleur (Hockey Player)
  • Kristen Johnston (Actress)
  • Yung Joc (Rapper)