There are 112 days left in the year.
Today's highlight
On Sept. 10, 1991, the Senate Judiciary Committee opened hearings on the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court. The proceedings would become a watershed moment in the discussion of sexual harassment when Anita Hill, a law professor who had previously worked under Thomas, came forward with allegations against him.
On this date
In 1608, John Smith was elected president of the Jamestown colony council in Virginia.
In 1813, an American naval force commanded by Oliver H. Perry defeated the British in the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812. Afterward, Perry sent the message, "We have met the enemy and they are ours."
In 1846, Elias Howe received a patent for his sewing machine.
In 1960, Hurricane Donna, a dangerous Category 4 storm eventually blamed for 364 deaths, struck the Florida Keys.
In 1962, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the University of Mississippi to admit James Meredith, a Black student.
In 1963, 20 Black students entered Alabama public schools following a standoff between federal authorities and Gov. George C. Wallace.
In 1979, four Puerto Rican nationalists imprisoned for a 1954 attack on the U.S. House of Representatives and a 1950 attempt on the life of President Harry S. Truman were freed from prison after being granted clemency by President Jimmy Carter.
In 1987, Pope John Paul II arrived in Miami, where he was welcomed by President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan as he began a 10-day tour of the United States.
In 1998, President Clinton met with members of his Cabinet to apologize, ask forgiveness and promise to improve as a person in the wake of the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
In 2005, cadaver dogs and boatloads of forensic workers fanned out across New Orleans to collect the corpses left behind by Hurricane Katrina; cleanup crews towed away abandoned cars and even began readying a hotel for reopening.
In 2015, New York State approved gradually raising the minimum wage for fast-food workers to $15 an hour — the first time any state had set the minimum that high.
In 2016, John Hinckley Jr., the man who tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981, was released from a Washington mental hospital for good. (Hinckley would be freed from all court oversight in June 2022.)
In 2017, Hurricane Irma, weakened slightly from Category 5 to Category 4, blew ashore on the Florida Keys with winds of 130 mph.
In 2018, Hurricane Florence exploded into a potentially catastrophic Category 4 hurricane as it closed in on North and South Carolina with winds up to 140 mph.
In 2022, King Charles III was officially proclaimed Britain's monarch in a pomp-filled ceremony two days after the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
