September 20
Today in America's Present Past
1565 | Spaniards capture Fort Carline, Florida, and massacre French occupants.
1664 | Maryland enacts the first anti-amalgamation law.
1737 | Edward Marshall completes his run as a part of the Walking Purchase, forcing the transfer of 1.2 million acres to the Pennsylvania Colony.
1744 | Revolutionary War hero Thomas Grosvenor was born.
1777 | War of Independence: Battle of Paoli.
1786 | The “Paper Money Riot” commenced in New Hampshire.
1814 | “Star Spangled Banner” published as a song by Francis Scott Key.
1848 | The American Association for the Advancement of Science was created.
1850 | Civil Rights: Slave Trade abolished in Washington, D.C.
1870 | William Tweed was accused of robbing the New York treasury.
1873 | Panic shuts down Wall Street for ten days.
1877 | Chase National Bank opened.
1878 | Novelist Upton Sinclair was born.
1881 | POTUS: Republican President Arthur was sworn in.
1884 | Publisher Maxwell Perkins was born.
1884 | Civil Rights: Equal Rights Party nominates female candidates for President and Vice-President.
1899 | Philosopher Leo Strauss was born.
1926 | Gangster Bugs Moran attempted to assassinate Al Capone.
1932 | Chief Wovoka died.
1939 | Boxer Joe Louis defends heavyweight title at Briggs Stadium, Detroit.
1939 | Entrepreneur Robert L. Gerry III was born.
1947 | Fiorello La Guardia died.
1948 | Novelist George R. R. Martin was born.
1961 | Student James Meredith is refused enrollment at the University of Mississippi.
1970 | Singer Jim Morrison found guilty of “open profanity and indecent exposure.”
1973 | Singer Jim Croce died.
1976 | Playboy magazine publishes an interview with President Carter, including the quote, “I’ve looked on a lot of women with lust.”
1976 | Journalist Ainsley Earhardt was born.
1984 | War on Terror: Islamic terrorists bomb the U.S. Embassy annex in Beirut, Lebanon.
2001 | POTUS: Republican President Bush declares a “War on Terror.”
2002 | Actor Laurence Fishburne weds Gina Torres.