292th day of 2015, 73 remaining
- Sunrise: 7:22am
- Sunset: 6:27pm
- Moonrise: 1:14pm (29% visible)
- Moonset: 11:42pm
Tides at the Golden Gate:
- High: 5:35am/4:18pm
- Low: 10:15am/11:04pm
Special celebrations today include...
- Constitution Celebrations - Niue
- Samora Machel Day - Mozambique
- Mother Teresa Day - Albania
It's also...
- Evaluate Your Life Day
- National Clean Your Virtual Desktop Day
On this day in...
- 1765 - In the U.S., The Stamp Act Congress met and drew up a declaration of rights and liberties.
- 1781 - British General Charles Lord Cornwallis surrendered to U.S. General George Washington at Yorktown, Virginia. It was to be the last major battle of the American Revolutionary War.
- 1812 - Napoleon Bonaparte's French forces began their retreat out of Russia after a month of chasing the retreating Russian army.
- 1814 - In Baltimore, MD, the first documented performance of "The Defence of Fort McHenry" with music took place at the Holliday Street Theatre. The work was later published under the title "The Star-Spangled Banner."
- 1914 - Government owned vehicles were first used to pick up mail in Washington, DC.
- 1915 - The U.S. recognized General Venustiano Carranza as the president of Mexico. The U.S. imposed embargo to all parts of Mexico except where Carranza was in control.
- 1933 - Basketball was introduced to the 1936 Olympic Games by the Berlin Organization Committee.
- 1937 - "Woman's Day" was published for the first time.
- 1943 - The Moscow Conference of Foreign Ministers began in Russia during World War II. Delegates from the U.S.S.R., Great Britain, the U.S., and China met to discuss war aims and cooperation between the nations.
- 1944 - The play "I Remember Mama" opened on Broadway. Marlon Brando made his debut with his appearance.
- 1944 - The U.S. Navy announced that black women would be allowed into Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES).
- 1950 - The United Nations forces entered the North Korean capital of Pyongyang.
- 1951 - U.S. President Truman singed an act officially ending the state of war with Germany.
- 1959 - Patty Duke, at the age of 12, made her Broadway debut in "The Miracle Worker." The play lasted for 700 performances.
- 1960 - The United States imposed an embargo on exports to Cuba covering all commodities except medical supplies and certain food products.
- 1969 - U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew referred to anti-Vietnam War protesters "an effete corps of impudent snobs."
- 1977 - The Concorde made its first landing in New York City.
- 1983 - The U.S. Senate approved a bill establishing a national holiday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.
- 1984 - Four U.S. employees of the CIA were killed in El Salvador when their plane crashed.
- 1987 - The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 508 points. It was the worst one-day percentage decline, 22.6%, in history.
- 1989 - The U.S. Senate rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that barred the desecration of the American flag.
- 1993 - Benazir Bhutto was returned to the premiership of Pakistan.
- 1998 - In Washington, DC, Microsoft went on trial to defend against an antitrust case.
- 1998 - Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson got his boxing license back after he had lost it for biting Evander Holyfield's ear during a fight.
- 2003 - In London, magician David Blaine emerged from a clear plastic box that had been suspended by a crane over the banks of the Thames River. He survived only on water for 44 days. Blaine had entered the box on September 5.
- 2006 - The Dow Jones industrial average ended the day at 12,011.73. It was the first close above 12,000.
Today's birthday celebrants include (or included)...
- Thomas Browne 1605
- Annie Peck 1850
- Charles Merrill 1885
- Robert Beatty 1909
- Lawanda Page 1920
- Bern Bennett 1921
- George Nader 1921
- Jack Anderson 1922
- John le Carre 1931
- Robert Reed 1932
- Peter Max 1937
- Michael Gambon 1940
- Simon Ward 1941
- Peter Tosh 1944
- Divine 1945
- John Lithgow 1945
- Patricia Ireland 1945
- Jeannie C. Riley 1945
- Patrick Simmons 1948
- Lynn Dickey 1949
- Luke Witte 1950
- Morris Bradshaw 1950
- Charlie Chase 1952
- Nino DeFranco 1956
- Karl Wallinger 1957
- Jennifer Holliday 1960
- Evander Holyfield 1962
- Ty Pennington 1964
- Todd Park Mohr 1965
- Jon Favreau 1966
- Trey Parker 1969
- Chris Kattan 1970
- Cyndi Thomson 1976
- Pete Loeffler 1976
- Benjamin Salisbury 1980
- Gillian Jacobs 1982
