Today is Friday, Sept. 26, the 269th day of 2014. There are 96 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Sept. 26, 1789, Thomas Jefferson was confirmed by the Senate to be the first United States secretary
of state; John Jay, the first chief justice; Edmund Randolph, the first attorney general.
On this date:
In 1777, British troops occupied Philadelphia during the American Revolution.
In 1892, John Philip Sousa and his newly formed band performed publicly for the first time, at the
Stillman Music Hall in Plainfield, New Jersey.
In 1914, the Federal Trade Commission was established.
In 1918, the Meuse-Argonne offensive, resulting in an Allied victory against the Germans, began during
World War I.
In 1933, the James Hilton novel "Lost Horizon" was first published in London by Macmillan
& Co. Ltd. and in New York by William Morrow & Co.
In 1954, the Japanese commercial ferry Toya Maru sank during a typhoon in the Tsugaru Strait, claiming
more than 1,150 lives.
In 1960, the first-ever debate between presidential nominees took place in Chicago as Democrat John F.
Kennedy and Republican Richard M. Nixon faced off before a national TV audience.
In 1986, William H. Rehnquist was sworn in as the 16th chief justice of the United States, while Antonin
Scalia joined the Supreme Court as its 103rd member.
In 1990, the Motion Picture Association of America announced it had created a new rating, NC-17, to
replace the X rating.