Today is Friday, September 20, the 264th day of 2024. There are 102 days left in the year.
Today in History:
On September 20, 1973, in their so-called “Battle of the Sexes,” tennis star Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3, at the Houston Astrodome.
Also this date:
In 1519, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his crew set out from Spain in five ships to find a western passage to the Spice Islands. (Magellan was killed en route, but one of his ships completed the first circumnavigation three years later.)
In 1946, the first Cannes Film Festival, which lasted 16 days, opened in France.
In 1962, James Meredith, a black student, was blocked from enrolling at the University of Mississippi by Democratic Governor Ross R. Barnett.
In 1964, The Beatles concluded their first full-fledged US tour by performing in a benefit concert at the Paramount Theater in New York.
In 1967, the Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth 2 was christened by Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain in Clydebank, Scotland.
In 2011, the repeal of the US military’s 18-year-old “don’t ask, don’t tell” compromise went into effect, allowing gay and lesbian service members to serve openly.
In 2017, Hurricane Maria, the strongest storm to hit Puerto Rico in more than 80 years, hit the island, wiping out as much as 75 percent of the power distribution lines and causing an island-wide blackout.
In 2019, Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, the site of the nation’s worst commercial nuclear accident in 1979, was shut down by its owner after producing electricity for 45 years.
Today’s birthdays:
- Actress Sophia Loren is 90 years old.
- Author George RR Martin is 76 years old.
- Actor Gary Cole is 68 years old.
- TV news correspondent Deborah Roberts is 64 years old.
- Actor Maggie Cheung is 60 years old.
- Actor Kristen Johnston is 57.
- Rock singers Gunnar and Matthew Nelson are 57 years old.
- Racing driver Juan Pablo Montoya is 49.
- Actor Jon Bernthal is 48 years old.
- Actor Aldis Hodge is 38.
- Mixed martial artist Khabib Nurmagomedov is 36 years old.
- Singer-songwriter Phillip Phillips is 34 years old.