Today is Tuesday, Sept. 27, the 270th day of 2005. There are 95 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Sept. 27, 1964, the Warren Commission issued a report concluding that Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone in assassinating President Kennedy.
On this date:
In 1779, John Adams was named to negotiate the Revolutionary War’s peace terms with Britain.
In 1854, the first great disaster involving an Atlantic Ocean liner occurred when the steamship Arctic sank with 300 people aboard.
In 1928, the United States said it was recognizing the Nationalist Chinese government.
In 1939, Warsaw, Poland, surrendered after weeks of resistance to invading forces from Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union during World War II.
In 1942, Glenn Miller and his Orchestra performed together for the last time, at the Central Theater in Passaic, N.J., prior to Miller’s entry into the Army.
In 1954, “Tonight!” hosted by Steve Allen, made its debut on NBC TV.
In 1959, a typhoon battered the main Japanese island of Honshu, killing nearly 5,000 people.
In 1979, Congress gave final approval to forming the Department of Education, the 13th Cabinet agency in U.S. history.
In 1989, Columbia Pictures Entertainment Inc. agreed to a $3.4 billion cash buyout by Sony Corp.
In 1994, more than 350 Republican congressional candidates gathered on the steps of the U.S. Capitol to sign the “Contract with America,” a 10-point platform they pledged to enact if voters sent a GOP majority to the House.
Ten years ago: At the O.J. Simpson trial, the prosecution and defense presented dueling summations. The government unveiled its redesigned $100 bill, featuring a larger, off-center portrait of Benjamin Franklin.
Five years ago: In Sydney, Australia, the U.S. Olympic baseball team beat Cuba 4-0 to capture its first baseball gold medal. Venus Williams became only the second player to win Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Olympics in the same year with her 6-2, 6-4 victory over Elena Dementieva. (The first was Steffi Graf, in 1988.)
One year ago: President Bush asked Congress for more than $7.1 billion to help Florida and other Southeastern states recover from their lashing by four hurricanes. A Justice Department audit said the FBI had a backlog of hundreds of thousands of hours of untranslated audio recordings from terror and espionage investigations. NBC announced that “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno would be succeeded by “Late Night” host Conan O’Brien in 2009.
Today’s Birthdays: Former Illinois Sen. Charles Percy is 86. Actress Jayne Meadows is 85. Movie director Arthur Penn is 83. Actress Sada Thompson is 76. Actress Kathleen Nolan is 72. Actor Wilford Brimley is 71. Actor Claude Jarman Jr. is 71. Author Barbara Howar is 71. Producer Don Cornelius (“Soul Train”) is 69. Singer-musician Randy Bachman (Bachman-Turner Overdrive) is 62. Actress Liz Torres is 58. Actor A Martinez is 57. Actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa is 55. Rock musician Greg Ham (Men At Work) is 52. Singer Shaun Cassidy is 47. Rock singer Stephan Jenkins (Third Eye Blind) is 41. Actor Patrick Muldoon is 37. Singer Mark Calderon is 35. Actress Amanda Detmer is 34. Actress Gwyneth Paltrow is 33. Country musician Patrick Bourque (Emerson Drive) is 28. Rock singer Brad Arnold (3 Doors Down) is 27. Rapper Lil’ Wayne is 23. Singer Avril Lavigne is 21.
Thought for Today: “A man who is afraid will do anything.” — Jawaharlal Nehru, Indian statesman (1889-1964).