Today In History...

   In 1787 The Constitution of the United States is completed and signed by a
           majority of delegates attending the constitutional convention in
           Philadelphia, PA.
   In 1789 William Herschel discovers Mimas, a satellite of Saturn.
   In 1796 President George Washington gives his farewell speech, declining to
           run for a third term.
   In 1862 Union forces push back a Confederate invasion of Maryland in the
           Civil War Battle of Antietam.
   In 1908 Orville Wright's plane crashes killing Thomas Selfridge who becomes
           the first fatality of powered flight.
   In 1920 The American Professional Football Association, now the NFL, is
           formed in Canton, OH.
   In 1936 The first talent search program, "Major Bowes' Amateur Hour" debuts.
   In 1939 The Soviet Union invades Poland, more than 2 weeks after Nazi
           Germany launches its pre-emptive assault.
   In 1947 James Forrestal is sworn in as the first U.S. Secretary of Defense.
   In 1948 The U.N. mediator for Palestine, Count Folke Bernadotte is
           assassinated in Jerusalem by Jewish extremists.
   In 1949 130 die when the Canadian passenger steamer "Noronic" catches fire
           at a pier in Toronto.
   In 1953 The first successful separation of Siamese twins takes place.
   In 1957 Two male attorneys "stood in" as actress Sophia Loren and producer
           Carlo Ponti were married by proxy in Juarez, Mexico.
   In 1961 "Car 54, Whare Are You?" premieres on NBC-TV.
   In 1962 U.S. space officials announce the selection of nine new astronauts,
           including Neil Armstrong.
   In 1963 "The Fugitive" starring David Janssen premieres on ABC-TV.
   In 1964 "Bewitched" starring Elizabeth Montgomery premieres on ABC-TV.
   In 1965 Rawlings, Wyoming, receives over 2 feet of snow.
   In 1966 "Mission Impossible" premieres on CBS-TV.
   In 1968 Zond 5 completes circumnavigation of the Moon.
   In 1976 NASA publicly unveils the space shuttle Enterprise in Palmdale, CA.
   In 1978 After a meeting at Camp David, Israeli Prime Minister Begin and
           Egyptian President Sadat sign the framework for a peace treaty.
   In 1980 Exiled Nicaraguan President Somoza is assassinated in Paraguay.
   In 1983 Vanessa Williams becomes the first black Miss America, but resigns
           in July when it is discovered she had posed for nude photographs.
   In 1984 Progressive Conservative Brian Mulroney takes office as Canada's
           18th prime minister.
   In 1985 Soyuz T-14 carries 3 cosmonauts to the Salyut 7 space station.
   In 1986 The Senate confirms the nomination of William Rehnquist to become
           the 16th chief justice of the United States.
   In 1986 Seven people are killed, 51 wounded, when a bomb explodes outside a
           Paris department store.
   In 1987 The city of Philadelphia, birthplace of the U.S. Constitution,
           celebrates the 200th anniversary of the historic document.
   In 1988 Opening ceremonies for the Summer Olympics take place in Seoul,
           South Korea.
   In 1988 Haitian President Henri Hamphy is ousted in a coup; Lt. General
           Prosper Avril declared himself president the following day.
   In 1991 The UN General Assembly opens its 46th session, welcoming new
           members Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, North and South Korea, the
           Marshall Islands and Micronesia.
   In 1992 A federal judge overturns the impeachment of former U.S. District
           Judge Alcee Hastings, saying he did not receive a fair trial by the
           Senate, which convicted him in 1989 of perjury and conspiracy.
   In 1992 Special prosecutor Lawrence Walsh calls a halt to his 5 1/2 year
           probe of the Iran-Contra scandal.
   In 1993 President Clinton urges China to cancel an underground nuclear test.
   In 1994 Heather Whitestone of Alabama becomes 74th Miss America and the
           first deaf woman to hold the title.
   In 1995 Hong Kong holds its last legislative election before the 1997
           takeover by China.
   In 1996 A nonpartisan commission recommends that Ross Perot be denied a spot
   In 1996 in presidential debates, saying he had no realistic shot at winning
           the White House; Perot vowed to sue.
   In 1996 Former Vice President Spiro T. Agnew dies in Berlin, MD, at age 77.
   In 1997 Northern Ireland's main Protestant party joins peace talks, bringing
           major players together for first time.
   In 1997 President Clinton rejects a ban on land mines endorsed by 89
           countries.
   In 1997 A UN helicopter slams into a mountain surrounded by fog in central
           Bosnia, killing German diplomat Gerd Wagner, five Americans and six
           others.
   In 1997 Comedian Red Skelton died in Rancho Mirage, CA, at age 84.
   In 2000 A UN refugee worker (Mensah Kpognon) is killed and a second (Sapeu
           Laurence Djeya) kidnapped in Guinea. Djeya was later released.
   In 2000 In Sydney, Australia, U.S. swimmer Tom Dolan wins the 400-meter
           individual medley.
   In 2001 President Bush said the U.S. wanted terrorism suspect Osama bin
           Laden "dead or alive."
   In 2002 After years of denials by his country, North Korean leader Kim Jong 
           Il admits that North Korean spies had abducted about a dozen 
           Japanese citizens decades earlier. 
   In 2002 NBA star Patrick Ewing announces his retirement. 
   In 2007 AOL, once the largest ISP in the U.S., officially announces plans 
           to refocus the company as an advertising business and to relocate its 
           corporate headquarters from Dulles, Virginia to New York.
   In 2008 The IAU named another dwarf planet, Haumea. Classified as the fifth 
           dwarf planet in the Solar System.
   In 2010 The 54-year fun of the soap opera "As The World Turns" ends as its 
           final episode is broadcast.
   In 2011 Occupy Wall Street movement began in Zucotti Park, New York City.