Today in History

Today is Saturday, Sept. 10, the 253rd day of 2022. There are 112 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Sept. 10, 1813, an American naval force commanded by Oliver H. Perry defeated the British in the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812. (Afterward, Perry sent the message, “We have met the enemy and they are ours.”)

On this date:

In 1608, John Smith was elected president of the Jamestown colony council in Virginia.

In 1846, Elias Howe received a patent for his sewing machine.

In 1960, Hurricane Donna, a dangerous Category 4 storm eventually blamed for 364 deaths, struck the Florida Keys.

In 1962, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the University of Mississippi to admit James Meredith, a Black student.

In 1963, 20 Black students entered Alabama public schools following a standoff between federal authorities and Gov. George C. Wallace.

In 1979, four Puerto Rican nationalists imprisoned for a 1954 attack on the U.S. House of Representatives and a 1950 attempt on the life of President Harry S. Truman were freed from prison after being granted clemency by President Jimmy Carter.

In 1987, Pope John Paul II arrived in Miami, where he was welcomed by President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan as he began a 10-day tour of the United States.

In 1991, the Senate Judiciary Committee opened hearings on the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1998, President Clinton met with members of his Cabinet to apologize, ask forgiveness and promise to improve as a person in the wake of the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

In 2005, Cadaver dogs and boatloads of forensic workers fanned out across New Orleans to collect the corpses left behind by Hurricane Katrina; cleanup crews towed away abandoned cars and even began readying a hotel for reopening.

In 2015, New York State approved gradually raising the minimum wage for fast-food workers to $15 an hour — the first time any state had set the minimum that high.

In 2016, John Hinckley Jr., the man who tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981, was released from a Washington mental hospital for good. (Hinckley would be freed from all court oversight in June 2022.)

Ten years ago: An airstrike killed al-Qaida’s No. 2 leader in Yemen along with six others traveling with him in a breakthrough for U.S.-backed efforts to cripple the terror network’s operations in the impoverished Arab nation. Chicago teachers began a seven-day strike, idling nearly 400,000 students in the nation’s third-largest school district. Andy Murray became the first British man since 1936 to capture a Grand Slam title, beating defending champion Novak Djokovic (NOH’-vak JOH’-kuh-vich), 7-6 (10), 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2 to win the U.S. Open in five grueling sets.

Five years ago: After cutting a trail of destruction across the Caribbean, Hurricane Irma blew ashore on the Florida Keys as a Category 4 storm with winds of 130 mph; it would destroy 1,200 homes and damage 3,000 others in the Keys. As Irma headed toward Georgia, Atlanta was under a tropical storm warning for the first time. As he flew home from Colombia, Pope Francis called on President Donald Trump to rethink his decision ending a program protecting young immigrants from deportation; he said anyone who considers himself “pro-life” should keep families together. Miss North Dakota, Cara Mund, was crowned Miss America in Atlantic City, N.J., after saying in an onstage interview that President Donald Trump was wrong to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord.

One year ago: Republican leaders threatened responses ranging from lawsuits to civil disobedience after President Joe Biden’s aggressive push to require millions of American workers to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. New U.S. studies showed that COVID-19 vaccines remained highly effective against hospitalizations and death, even when dealing with the extra-contagious delta variant. A judge ruled that a 19-year-old Wisconsin woman who admitted to helping stab a classmate when she was 12 years old to please online horror character Slender Man could be freed from a mental health institution where she had spent nearly four years.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Greg Mullavey is 89. Jazz vibraphonist Roy Ayers is 82. Actor Tom Ligon is 82. Singer Danny Hutton (Three Dog Night) is 80. Singer Jose Feliciano is 77. Actor Judy Geeson is 74. Former Canadian first lady Margaret Trudeau is 74. Political commentator Bill O’Reilly is 73. Rock musician Joe Perry (Aerosmith) is 72. Country singer Rosie Flores is 72. Actor Amy Irving is 69. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., is 68. Actor-director Clark Johnson is 68. Actor Kate Burton is 65. Movie director Chris Columbus is 64. Actor Colin Firth is 62. Rock singer-musician David Lowery (Cracker) is 62. Actor Sean O’Bryan is 59. Baseball Hall of Famer Randy Johnson is 59. Actor Raymond Cruz is 58. Rock musician Stevie D. (Buckcherry) is 56. Rock singer-musician Miles Zuniga (Fastball) is 56. Actor Nina Repeta (NY’-nuh ruh-PEHT’-ah) is 55. Rapper Big Daddy Kane is 54. Movie director Guy Ritchie is 54. Actor Johnathon Schaech (shehk) is 53. Contemporary Christian singer Sara Groves is 50. Actor Ryan Phillippe (FIHL’-ih-pee) is 48. Actor Kyle Bornheimer is 47. Actor Jacob Young is 43. Rock musician Mikey Way (My Chemical Romance) is 42. Olympic bronze medal figure skater Timothy Goebel (GAY’-bul) is 42. Ballerina Misty Copeland is 40. MLB All-Star first-baseman Joey Votto (VAH’-toh) is 39. Rock musician Matthew Followill (Kings of Leon) is 38. Singer Ashley Monroe (Pistol Annies) is 36. MLB All-Star first-baseman Paul Goldschmidt is 35. Singer Sanjaya Malakar (san-JY’-uh MA’-luh-kar) (“American Idol”) is 33. Actor Chandler Massey is 32. Actor Hannah Hodson is 31. Actor Gabriel Bateman is 18.

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