1492 – The crew of the Pinta, one of Christopher Columbus’ ships, mistakenly thought that they had spotted land.

1493 – Christopher Columbus left Spain with 17 ships on his second voyage to the Western Hemisphere.

1513 – The Pacific Ocean was discovered by Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa when he crossed the Isthmus of Panama. He named the body of water the South Sea. He was truly just the first European to see the Pacific Ocean.

1690 – One of America’s earliest newspapers published its first and last edition. The “Publik Occurences Both Foreign and Domestik” was published at the London Coffee House in Boston, MA, by Benjamin Harris.

1775 – Ethan Allen was captured by the British during the American Revolutionary War. He was leading the attack on Montreal.

1789 – The first U.S. Congress adopted 12 amendments to the Constitution. Ten of the amendments became the Bill of Rights.

1847 – During the Mexican-American War, U.S. forces led by General Zachary Taylor captured Monterrey Mexico.

1882 – The first major league double header was played. It was between the Worcester and Providence teams.

1890 – The Sequoia National Park was established as a U.S. National Park in Central California.

1890 – Mormon President Wilford Woodruff issued a Manifesto in which the practice of polygamy was renounced.

1919 – U.S. President Woodrow Wilson collapsed after a speech in Pueblo, CO. The speaking tour was in support of the Treaty of Versailles.

1933 – Tom Mix was heard on NBC Radio for the first time. His show ran until June of 1950.

1956 – A transatlantic telephone-cable system began operation between Newfoundland and Scotland.

1957 – 300 U.S. Army troops stood guard as nine black students were escorted to class at Central High School in Little Rock, AR. The children had been forced to withdraw 2 days earlier because of unruly white mobs.

1965 – Willie Mays, at the age of 34, became the oldest man to hit 50 home runs in a single season. He had also set the record for the youngest to hit 50 ten years earlier.

1973 – The three crewmen of Skylab II landed in the Pacific Ocean after being on the U.S. space laboratory for 59 days.

1978 – Melissa Ludtke, a writer for “Sports Illustrated“, filed a suit in U.S. District Court. The result was that Major League Baseball could not bar female writers from the locker room after the game.

1981 – Sandra Day O’Connor became the first female justice of the U.S. Supreme Court when she was sworn in as the 102nd justice. She had been nominated the previous July by U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

1983 – A Soviet military officer, Stanislav Petrov, averted a potential worldwide nuclear war. He declared a false alarm after a U.S. attack was detected by a Soviet early warning system. It was later discovered the alarms had been set off when the satellite warning system mistakenly interpreted sunlight reflections off clouds as the presence of enemy missiles.

1986 – An 1894-S Barber Head dime was bought for $83,000 at a coin auction in California. It is one of a dozen that exist.

1987 – The booty collected from the Wydah, which sunk off Cape Cod in 1717, was auctioned off. The worth was around $400 million.

1990 – The U.N. Security Council voted to impose an air embargo against Iraq. Cuba was the only dissenting vote.

1991 – The U.N. Security Council unanimously ordered a worldwide arms embargo against Yugoslavia and all of its warring factions.

1992 – In Orlando, FL, a judge ruled in favor of 12-year-old Gregory Kingsley. He had sought a divorce from his biological parents.

1992 – The Mars Observer blasted off on a mission that cost $980 million. The probe has not been heard from since it reached Mars in August of 1993.

1995 – Ross Perot announced that he would form the Independence Party.

1997 – NBC sportscaster Marv Albert pled guilty to assault and battery of a lover. He was fired from NBC within hours.

1997 – Mark & Brian received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

2001 – Michael Jordan announced that he would return to the NBA as a player for the Washington Wizards. Jordan became the president of basketball operations for the team on January 19, 2000.

2002 – U.S. forces landed in Ivory Coast to aid in the rescue foreigners trapped in a school by fighting between government troops and rebel troops. Rebels had attempted to take over the government on September 19.

2012 – China launched its first aircraft carrier into service.

What:

West winds 15 to 30 mph with gusts up to 45 mph expected.

Where:

Middle Chehalis River Valley, Southern Hood Canal, Foothills and Valleys of Pierce and Southern King Counties, Foothills and Valleys of Thurston and Lewis Counties, Lowlands of Lewis and Southern Thurston Counties, Lowlands of Pierce and Southern King Counties, Olympia and Southern Puget Sound, and Willapa and Black Hills.

When:

From 10 AM this morning to 5 PM PDT this afternoon.

Impacts: Gusty winds will blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result.

Summary: Winds this strong can make driving difficult, especially for high-profile vehicles. Use extra caution.

Issued By: NWS Seattle WA

Today brings rain showers, a high near 58°F and a low near 47°F, humidity between 65% and 91%, winds up to 15 mph, and a UV index of 1.

A Wind Advisory overlaps with these conditions, with gusts up to 45 mph possible.

The chance of moderate rain is supported by 0.51 inches expected.

Impact & Risk Assessment

The main concern today is the increasing wind.

• West winds may reach 15 to 30 mph with gusts to 45 mph.
• Light rain showers this morning may make roads slick.
• Loose outdoor items may blow around.
• Driving could be harder for taller vehicles.

Stay aware of changes through the afternoon as winds strengthen, then slowly fade by evening.

Timeline / Situation Update

Yesterday was calmer with lighter winds. Today brings increasing gusts from late morning through afternoon. Tomorrow trends quieter with sunnier skies and lighter breezes.

Preparedness & Safety Steps

• Bring lightweight outdoor items inside.
• Keep phones charged in case of brief outages.
• When driving, use both hands on the wheel.
• Keep pets indoors during the windiest hours.

For more details, click for more details

Smithsonian

More than 15 years after it was first established, the National Museum of African American History and Culture opens on the National Mall on September 24, 2016. Barack Obama, the nation’s first African American president, leads the ceremony and officially opens the museum by ringing the Freedom Bell, a bell from an African American Baptist church founded in 1776.

As far back as 1915, there had been proposals for a museum recognizing the achievements of African Americans. In 1929, President Herbert Hoover approved a commission to create such an institution, but it never received funding. Various attempts were made to pass legislation establishing a museum through Congress, including multiple bills introduced by Georgia congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis, but even after the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution joined the effort in the 1990s it still took more than a decade.

Source: history.com

The trial for eight antiwar activists charged with inciting violent demonstrations at the August 1968 Democratic National Convention opens in Chicago before Judge Julius Hoffman. Initially there were eight defendants, but one, Bobby Seale of the Black Panthers, denounced Hoffman as a racist and demanded a separate trial. The seven other defendants, including David Dellinger of the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam (MOBE); Rennie Davis and Tom Hayden of MOBE and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS); and Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman of the Youth International Party (Yippies), were accused of conspiring to incite a riot.

At the height of the antiwar and civil rights movements, these young leftists had organized protest marches and rock concerts at the Democratic National Convention. During the event, clashes broke out between the protesters and the police and eventually turned into full-scale rioting, complete with tear gas and police beatings. The press, already there to cover the Democratic convention, denounced the overreaction by police and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley’s handling of the situation.

The Chicago Seven were indicted for violating the Rap Brown law, which had been tagged onto the Civil Rights Bill earlier that year by conservative senators. The law made it illegal to cross state lines in order to riot or to conspire to use interstate commerce to incite rioting. President Johnson’s attorney general, Ramsey Clark, refused to prosecute the case.

Source: history.com