Today is Friday, September 20, the 264th day of the year 2024. There are 102 days left in the year.
Today in History:
On September 20, 1973, in the so-called “Battle of the Sexes,” tennis star Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in three sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3, at the Houston Astrodome.
Also on this date:
In 1519, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his crew set sail 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 of the globe three years later.)
In 1946, the first Cannes Film Festival, lasting 16 days, opened in France.
In 1962, James Meredith, a black student, was barred from enrolling at the University of Mississippi by Democratic Governor Ross R. Barnett.
In 1964, the Beatles concluded their first American tour by performing at a benefit concert at the Paramount Theatre in New York.
In 1967, the Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth 2 was christened by Queen Elizabeth II of England in Clydebank, Scotland.
In 2011, the repeal of the U.S. 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 most powerful storm to hit Puerto Rico in more than 80 years, struck the island, destroying up to 75% of the electrical distribution lines and causing an island-wide blackout.
In 2019, Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, site of the country’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.
- Deborah Roberts, a television correspondent, is 64 years old.
- Actress Maggie Cheung is 60 years old.
- Actress Kristen Johnston is 57 years old.
- Rock singers Gunnar and Matthew Nelson are 57 years old.
- Racing driver Juan Pablo Montoya is 49 years old.
- Actor Jon Bernthal is 48 years old.
- Actor Aldis Hodge is 38 years old.
- Mixed martial artist Khabib Nurmagomedov is 36 years old.
- Singer-songwriter Phillip Phillips is 34 years old.
