Today is Monday, Sept. 25, the 268th day of 2006 with 97
to follow. The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Venus
and Saturn. The evening stars are Mercury, Jupiter, Uranus,
Neptune, Mars and Pluto.
Those born on this date under the sign of Libra include:
Novelist William Faulkner in 1897;
Sports columnist Walter "Red" Smith in 1905;
Russian composer Dimitri Shostakovich in 1906;
Actor Aldo Ray in 1926;
Reporter Barbara Walters in 1931 (age 75);
Actor Robert Walden in 1943 (age 63);
Actor/producer Michael Douglas in 1944 (age 62);
Actors Mark Hamill in 1951 (age 55), Christopher Reeve in
1952, Heather Locklear in 1961 (age 45), and Tate Donovan
in 1963 (age 43);
Basketball player Scottie Pippen in 1965 (age 41);
Actor Will Smith in 1968 (age 38);
Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones in 1969 (age 37).
On this date in history:
In 1513, Spanish explorer Vasco Balboa crossed the Isthmus
of Panama and became the first known European to see the
Pacific Ocean.
In 1690, the first American newspaper, called "Publick
Occurrences, Both Foreign and Domestic," appeared in Boston.
In 1789, the first U.S. Congress adopted 12 amendments to
the Constitution. Ten were ratified and became known as "The
Bill of Rights."
In 1882, the first major league baseball doubleheader was
played between the Providence, R.I., and Worchester, Mass.,
teams.
In 1957, under escort from the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne
Division, nine black students entered all-white Central High
School in Little Rock, Ark.
In 1981, Sandra Day O'Connor was sworn in as the first woman
U.S. Supreme Court justice.
In 1984, Jordan announced it would restore relations with
Egypt, something no Arab country had done since 17 Arab
nations broke relations with Cairo over the Egyptian-Israeli
peace treaty of 1979.
In 1991, President Alfredo Christiani of El Salvador and
five commanders of the guerrilla forces reached an agreement
that was seen as prelude to a cease-fire.
Also in 1991, the United States and Israel agreed to post-
pone consideration of Israel's request for $10 billion to
help settle Soviet immigrants.
In 1992, a judge in Orlando, Fla., granted a 12-year-old
boy's precedent-setting petition to "divorce" his mother.
Also in 1992, NASA launched a $511 million probe to Mars in
the first U.S. mission to the planet in 17 years. Eleven
months later, the probe would fail.
In 1996, Israeli police opened fire on Palestinians rioting
over the new tunnel entrance beneath the Temple Mount. The
fighting ended four days later with about 70 killed and
hundreds injured, Palestinians and Israelis alike.
In 1998, Hurricane Georges battered the Florida Keys with
105-mph winds.
In 2000, Yugoslav voters rejected Incumbent Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic in his bid for re-election but
he refused to accept the results.
In 2003, one of three women on the Iraqi governing council,
Akila al-Hashemi, died after being shot outside her home
five days earlier.
Also in 2003, the U.S. House gave the Federal Trade
Commission explicit authority to create a national "do not
call" directory to protect against telemarketers and other
unwanted telephone calls.
In 2004, Hurricane Jeanne struck Florida's east coast with
115 mph winds after battering the Bahamas with high winds
and torrents of rain.
Also in 2004, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights
said more than 1 million people relocated by the Darfur
conflict in Sudan were living in a "climate of fear."
In 2005, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Hurricane
Rita pushed more water over crippled New Orleans-area levees
that had unleashed devastating flooding to much of the city
in the wake of Hurricane Katrina a month earlier, but did
not create any new structural damage.