Thursday, September 17th
The 260th day of 2009.
There are 105 days left in the year.
Today's Highlights in History
On Sept. 17, 1862, Union forces hurled back a Confederate invasion of Maryland in the Civil War battle of Antietam. With 23,100 killed, wounded or captured, it remains the bloodiest day in U.S. military history.
On Sept. 17, 1934, Maureen Connolly, the first woman to win the tennis Grand Slam, was born.
On this date in:
1787 - The U.S. Constitution was completed and signed by a majority of delegates attending the constitutional convention in Philadelphia.
1907 - Warren Burger, the 15th chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, was born in St. Paul, Minn.
1920 - The American Professional Football Association - a precursor of the National Football League - was formed in Canton, Ohio.
1939 - The Soviet Union invaded Poland during World War II.
1947 - James V. Forrestal was sworn in as the first U.S. secretary of defense.
1972 - The comedy series "M*A*S*H" premiered on CBS.
1976 - NASA unveiled the space shuttle Enterprise.
1980 - Former Nicaraguan president Anastasio Somoza was assassinated in Paraguay.
1986 - The Senate confirmed the nomination of William H. Rehnquist as the 16th chief justice of the United States.
1992 - Special prosecutor Lawrence Walsh called a halt to his five-and-a-half-year probe of the Iran-Contra scandal.
1994 - Heather Whitestone of Alabama became the first deaf woman to be crowned Miss America.
1996 - Former Vice President Spiro T. Agnew died at age 77.
1997 - Northern Ireland's main Protestant party joined peace talks, bringing the major players together for first time.
1999 - President Bill Clinton lifted restrictions on trade, travel and banking imposed on North Korea a half-century earlier.
2001 - Wall Street trading resumed for the first time since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks - its longest shutdown since the Depression; the Dow lost 684.81 points, its worst one-day point drop to date.
2001 - Pro sporting events resumed after a six-day hiatus following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
2003 - New York Stock Exchange chairman Dick Grasso resigned amid a furor over his $139.5 million pay package.
2004 - Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev claimed responsibility for the Sept. 1-3 school siege in Beslan and other terrorist attacks in Russia that claimed more than 430 lives.
2004 - San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds hit his 700th career home run, joining Babe Ruth (714) and Hank Aaron (755) as the only players to reach the milestone.